Intel Arc GPU missing from Apps

[n8hoven]

I recently picked up an Intel Arc A380 and installed into my TrueNAS-SCALE-Bluefin system, however have been unable to allocate it to apps and instead it is showing the GPU resource as an "nvidia.com/gpu" configuration instead. Previously I have ran a nvidia 30 series card to test the hardware encoding.

The card is read by the system fine as shown in the 'isolated GPU PCI Id's but for some reason I am just not able to allocate apps to utilise it. Looking at the forums, it seems some people are able to use intel GPU devices so it may be an issue on my end, however as they are relatively new and somewhat difficult to search for the case may be because it is simply unsupported as of yet.

I apologise in advance for my lack of codes, I have no idea where to look for this and how to assist anyone who would be kind enough to help (I've gone through so many pages on google and the forums which is why I've created an account and posted this thread)

 

[gobygoby]

I had the same problem. I wonder if it is a driver issue or if you need an Intel CPU to be able to allocate the Arc A380.

Here is what happened for me:
I started with an i4790 CPU and an Arc A380. The both the iGPU and the A380 showed up in the Plex "GPU Configuration" drop down and I was able to allocate them for Plex. Plex dashboard showed the hardware encoding was working, and the quality was very good, so I really don't think I was using the i4790 built in encoding. (I've read that the A380 pairs nicely with iGPUs so maybe they were working together).
Then I upgraded my motherboard and CPU to a Ryzen 3600x and the A380 disappeared from the dropdown. I gave the old motherboard away, so I can't replicate the original setup.
I replaced the A380 with a 3060 graphics card, and I was able to allocate it to Plex.

I would love to put the A380 back in the Truenas system if anyone has any suggestions on how to get it to work.

 

[n8hoven]

I had the same problem. I wonder if it is a driver issue or if you need an Intel CPU to be able to allocate the Arc A380.

Here is what happened for me:
I started with an i4790 CPU and an Arc A380. The both the iGPU and the A380 showed up in the Plex "GPU Configuration" drop down and I was able to allocate them for Plex. Plex dashboard showed the hardware encoding was working, and the quality was very good, so I really don't think I was using the i4790 built in encoding. (I've read that the A380 pairs nicely with iGPUs so maybe they were working together).
Then I upgraded my motherboard and CPU to a Ryzen 3600x and the A380 disappeared from the dropdown. I gave the old motherboard away, so I can't replicate the original setup.
I replaced the A380 with a 3060 graphics card, and I was able to allocate it to Plex.

I would love to put the A380 back in the Truenas system if anyone has any suggestions on how to get it to work.

Unfortunately I am running an intel i7-12700 (got it cheap). I’ve since replaced the GPU with a 3060 as well and is now seamless so it may just be to do with Truenas support to intel GPUs

 

[FrostyCat]

I don't think the ARC GPUs have a Kubernetes device plugin yet, I would be surprised if they do since they are very new to the market.

 

[LarsR]

And i saw in another post that someone said linux support for intel arc gpus lands with kernel 6.2 and scale is 5.25 or something like that.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Unfortunately I am running an intel i7-12700 (got it cheap). I’ve since replaced the GPU with a 3060 as well and is now seamless so it may just be to do with Truenas support to intel GPUs

Support for the Alder Lake iGPUs should be present in Bluefin - were you able to use the integrated/GT1 graphics at any point?

I don't have an ARC GPU on hand, but I believe that it requires Linux kernel 6.2 as @LarsR indicates above.

 

[mkarwin]

I don't think the ARC GPUs have a Kubernetes device plugin yet, I would be surprised if they do since they are very new to the market.

Actually I think they've had it available for a few months now, maybe with problematic support for newer A750/770 cards. At least Kubernetes use of Intel dGPUs is explained at Intel device plugin for Kubernetes so maybe this is supported...

 

[mkarwin]

And i saw in another post that someone said linux support for intel arc gpus lands with kernel 6.2 and scale is 5.25 or something like that.

Yep, the alternative is using Intel DKMS packages where newer kernel is not available, eg. in enterprise-favored LTS distros with LTS kernels only. So possibly with TrueNAS some extra work would be needed to get it working before kernel 6.2+ lands as an LTS selected for TrueNAS...

 

[mkarwin]

Well getting A380 and ARC family working in TrueNAS apps from TrueCharts for correct media processing offloading would be a very good point now that Asrock is to release NAS-box friendly A380 HH/LP single slot model/SKU with PCIe-only power. Priced nigh on where nVidia P400 and T400 sit nowadays, with QSV support more widespread than NVenc/NVdec or AMF, it looks to be next best thing for media server besides Alveo u30 that costs more than 5 times as much...
Only it needs to be supported flawlessly in any media storing/serving OS/service stack...

 

[NickF]

TrueNAS SCALE Bluefin is based on Debian 11 Bullseye, which is where the kernel being in the 5.1 family is coming from. 5.10 was replaced by 5.15 as LTS, so that's how Bluefin got it over Angelfish.

Debian 12 Bookworm was JUST RELEASED last month with kernel 6.1, and to the best of my knowledge and understanding that is what TrueNAS SCALE Cobia will be based on.

Debian version history - Wikipedia​

As for the Linux Kernel story in general?

Linux kernel version history - Wikipedia​

• 6.1 is the newest LTS release.
• 6.2 will likely only ever exist on Linux ethusiast/hobbyist systems running Arch, and was already deprecated in favor of 6.3: https://9to5linux.com/linux-kernel-...fe-users-urged-to-upgrade-to-linux-kernel-6-3
• As of literally yesterday, 6.3 was already deprecated https://9to5linux.com/linux-kernel-6-3-reaches-end-of-life-users-urged-to-upgrade-to-linux-6-4
• Linux Kernel 6.4 is set to be end of life in September

So, If I were you, I wouldn't wait around for anything newer than 6.1 on TrueNAS until 2024

This is squarely an Intel problem that was created by Intel. This does not just affect TrueNAS SCALE, but literally every other distro that uses the LTS branch of Linux kernel. I don't think it's fair to ask the safety of other people's data be compromised for Plex. Unstable short-term Linux Kernels will impact many more things than just Intel graphics cards. Perhaps consider a known-working graphics card like an NVIDIA GTX 1650. Prices have really come down since this thread was started.

 

[FrostyCat]

Actually I think they've had it available for a few months now, maybe with problematic support for newer A750/770 cards. At least Kubernetes use of Intel dGPUs is explained at Intel device plugin for Kubernetes so maybe this is supported...

That's great, but does it work yet with the DKMS driver? I do not have an ARC GPU to test.

 

[Zandr Milewski]

That's great, but does it work yet with the DKMS driver? I do not have an ARC GPU to test.

I have an A380 in a box running Cobia RC1.(6.1.50 kernel)
I'd love to get this running, so if you have any pointers on how to get the DKMS drivers installed, please send them along. I'll probably spend some time on this over the weekend.

 

[FrostyCat]

I have an A380 in a box running Cobia RC1.(6.1.50 kernel)
I'd love to get this running, so if you have any pointers on how to get the DKMS drivers installed, please send them along. I'll probably spend some time on this over the weekend.

Sorry I do not have any instructions.

 

[Zandr Milewski]

Just a quick follow-up: It looks like all the DKMS solutions are packaged for distros that are not Bookworm (RHEL, Ubuntu, etc.) There actually is experimental support in 6.1 for the Arc GPUs, but it's behind a force_probe flag. If you add that to the kernel, my a380 is detected, but that's not enough to get it working in a container. The other path is to run Sid in a VM, which is probably what I'll be doing for a while. Of course, the other issue is that my machine doesn't support ReBAR, so there will be a short detour into UEFI patching. :)