Wallpaper not running on selected gpu

[foobar41]

Describe the bug The wallpaper is running on integrated Intel GPU which spikes to 100% when running Fluids, so I wanted to run the app on the NVIDIA GPU I got (RTX 3060). Browsing through wiki I found out changing GPU in control panel in the following programs will do the work:

<install_location>/Plugins/UI/Lively.UI.WinUI.exe <install_location>/Plugins/Cef/Lively.PlayerCefSharp.exe <install_location>/Plugins/Mpv/mpv.exe

But even after changing the GPU in control panel the wallpaper seems to run on integrated intel GPU. I have tried restarting the PC as well but no use.

Expected behavior The wallpaper should be running on selected GPU

Desktop:

• OS: Windows 11 Home
  • Running Fluids wallpaper

Additional context Also sometimes I observe the wallpaper seems so stop working and resumes after a while when left unbothered, there is an open issue about this but just felt it is worth mentioning

Log file (Important) lively_log_20230417_172735.zip

[rocksdanister]

1. Can you try assigning <install_location>/Lively.exe to also use dgpu?
2. Can you also try assigning in Windows control panel in addition to nvidia/amd control panel?

[foobar41]

I have tried assigning <install_location>/Lively.exe to NVIDIA GPU but no change I don't have an idea on how to assign from windows control panel

[rocksdanister]

Try searching Graphics settings in startmenu

[foobar41]

I assigned GPU as NVIDIA GPU from windows settings for the following:

<install_location>\Lively Wallpaper\Lively.exe <install_location>\Lively Wallpaper\Plugins\Cef\Lively.PlayerCefSharp.exe <install_location>\Lively Wallpaper\Plugins\Mpv\mpv.exe <install_location>\Lively Wallpaper\Plugins\UI\Lively.UI.WinUI.exe <install_location>\Lively Wallpaper\Plugins\Watchdog\Lively.Watchdog.exe

Now the wallpaper appears stuck and is not dynamic anymore

Even when I deselect the current wallpaper, it is not reverting back to my original wallpaper

[rocksdanister]

Don't assign Watchdog, try restarting Windows? maybe it needs to be plugged into wall?

[foobar41]

Okay I removed watchdog and restarted windows, wallpaper still appears to be stuck. I tried uninstalling and then installing Lively Wallpaper app. It seems to load wallpapers fine but GPU issue still remains. It runs on integrated intel GPU

[sirlupusdev]

If you were to go into the Task Manager, you'd see that the wallpaper process does utilise the selected graphics card. However, the problem is that Windows uses an integrated application "Desktop Window Manager" to actually render the wallpaper for some reason - at least on Windows 11. And for some odd reason you can't set the preferred graphics card of that process - it always uses the default/integrated one. This is mainly an issue with Windows - however, you can try disabling the integrated card or setting nvidia as the default one, maybe that helps. Clarification: This is my experience on a Windows 11 Pro Laptop with two GPUs, it might differ for you, so I recommend checking which process is actually using the GPU ressources.

[rocksdanister]

"Desktop Window Manager" utilization should not be high unless if the laptop system is missing a hardware MUX switch then yes the buffer data needs to move from dgpu to igpu always before reaching display.

[JHudd435]

Same issue here on a lenovo P71. Desktop Window manager pushes integrated GPU up to 80 or 90 percent while dedicated GPU at 20 percent.

[Gawasna]

I also had the same problem, but just recently found a solution, at least on my laptop, I'm not an expert and I don't know if my method works on other laptops, but if you use mp4 for wallpaper, you can try this :>

Restating my problem: I use mp4 for lively wallpaper (mpv.exe), lively uses GPU0 (integrated card) by default, during runtime the integrated GPU is used a lot for 3D along with a little for video decode (over 70%)

My solution: -Make sure you have added the High Performance option for lively.exe and its mpv.exe in the Graphics settings -Open NVIDIA Control Panel, in the 3D Settings section, select Manage 3D Settings, in the "I would like to use the following 3D settings" section select Program Setting -> Add -> Add 2 paths of Lively.exe and mpv.exe of it, select each one, in "Select the preferred graphics processor for this program" -> change to High-Performance NVIDIA Processor for both -> Apply (optional) on the toolbar, select Desktop -> Display GPU Activity Icon in notification area (to make sure lively is running on the NVIDIA card)

Detail:

You can view it here:

Before:

After:

[Gawasna]

@rocksdanister Can you take a look at my solution? 👉👈

[rocksdanister]

I don't have a dual GPU system so can't verify.

[zero-stroke]

@rocksdanister Can you take a look at my solution? 👉👈

This totally worked for me, except I didn't have the "Select the preferred graphics processor" option in nvidia control panel, I instead had to go to graphics settings in windows and select mpv.exe and lively.exe to the dedicated gpu. Windows 11

[rocksdanister]

Does the wallpaper continue to work even if the dgpu turns off (Nvidia optimus.) ?

[zero-stroke]

The setting is called graphics "preference" so it probably just defaults to whatever other gpu you have if you disconnect your dedicated gpu