MAGNUS EN1080 10 Year Anniversary Edition (ZBOX-EN1080)

Details

THE 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY EDITION MAGNUS EN1080 is ZOTAC‘s second generation of water cooling Mini PC. It ascends gaming to the Virtual Reality with an Intel 6th Generation Skylake Core i7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce® GTX 1080 graphics - the first Mini PC to equip NVIDIA‘s new generation flagship graphics. The unique SPECTRA lighting system gives the system a glow of its own, and users can customize the lighting with the SPECTRA utility.

• Resources
  • MAGNUS EN1080 10 Year Anniversary Edition (ZBOX-EN1080) -- Product Page
  • Windows Drivers: https://www.zotac.com/se/files/download/by_product?p_nid=607475&driver_type=All&os=All
  • Linux Drivers: https://webclone.zotac.com/eu/files/download/by_product?p_nid=607474&driver_type=All&os=All
  • Generic Driver Page (find the section titled "ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1080 ArcticStorm Thermaltake 10 週年版" )
    Windows version says: "FireStorm_V2.0.0.014TT for GTX 1080 ArcticStorm Thermaltake 10 Year Anniversary Edition"
  • How I finally fixed my 4k video stuttering problem, a warning to everyone trying or eventually going to try getting a 4k movie PC up and running

• Processor
  • Intel Core i7-6700 (quad-core 3.4 GHz, up to 4.0 GHz)
• Graphics
  • Discrete: Intel Corporation HD Graphics 630 (rev 04)
  • PCI: NVIDIA GeForce® GTX 1080 w/ 8GB GDDR5x
  • Video Output:
    • 2 x DisplayPort 1.3
    • 3 x HDMI 2.0
  • Max 4 displays at a time
• Storage
  • 2.5“ SATA 6.0Gbps HDD/SSD bay
  • M.2 PCIE x4 / SATA SSD slot (22/42,22/60,22/80)
  • 3-in-1 SD/SDHC/SDXC SD Card Reader

For some reason, I had the following Linux kernel parameters set ( among others ) on this device for Ubuntu 16.04. I presume that some of this was necessary at one point:

...
splash fbcon=font:TER6x12 pcie_aspm=off i915.preliminary_hw_support=1 nouveau.modeset=0 snd_hda_intel.audio=1 vt.handoff=1
...

ChatGPT says...

Regarding i915.preliminary_hw_support=1:

The Linux boot parameter i915.preliminary_hw_support=1 was used to enable early support for upcoming Intel graphics hardware in the i915 driver before the hardware was officially supported. This was often necessary for new graphics hardware that was not yet fully supported in the Linux kernel.

However, this boot parameter has been deprecated and removed in recent versions of the Linux kernel, and is no longer necessary or functional. As of kernel version 4.3, preliminary hardware support was enabled by default in the i915 driver, and as of kernel version 4.15, this boot parameter was completely removed.

This means that if you're using a modern version of the Linux kernel, you do not need to use this boot parameter, and it will have no effect if you do. Your Intel HD Graphics 630 should be fully supported by the i915 driver without needing any special boot parameters.

If you're having trouble with your graphics, you should ensure that your Linux kernel and your Mesa drivers are up-to-date, as these provide the most recent support for Intel graphics hardware.

Regarding pcie_aspm=off:

The Linux boot parameter pcie_aspm=off is used to disable Active State Power Management (ASPM) for PCI Express (PCIe) devices.

ASPM is a power management protocol that allows an operating system to save power by setting PCIe devices to low power states when they're not in use. There are two ASPM states: L0s, which reduces power when there's no data to transmit, and L1, which reduces power further when the device is idle.

However, ASPM can sometimes cause issues, including instability or reduced performance, especially on systems with older or non-compliant hardware. If you're experiencing such issues, you might use pcie_aspm=off to disable ASPM and see if that resolves the problem.

Keep in mind that disabling ASPM can potentially increase power consumption, so it's generally recommended to leave it enabled if you're not experiencing any issues.

Regarding nouveau.modeset=0:

The Linux boot parameter nouveau.modeset=0 is used to disable kernel mode-setting for the Nouveau driver, which is the open source graphics driver for Nvidia graphics cards.

Kernel mode-setting (KMS) is a method for setting resolution and depth in the framebuffer for graphics cards. It allows native resolution in the framebuffer and can provide a nice graphical boot sequence.

However, there can be occasions where you may want to disable KMS. For example, you might want to install proprietary Nvidia drivers instead of using the open-source Nouveau drivers. The proprietary drivers often offer better performance or compatibility, but cannot be used at the same time as Nouveau. In such cases, disabling Nouveau with nouveau.modeset=0 prevents it from loading at boot time, which allows the proprietary drivers to load instead.

After you have installed the proprietary drivers, you might want to blacklist the Nouveau drivers to prevent them from loading in the future. This is typically done by adding a line to a file in /etc/modprobe.d/ (e.g., /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf) that reads blacklist nouveau.

Remember to be careful when modifying these settings, as they can affect the boot process and display of your system. Always make sure you have a way to undo your changes, such as by making a backup of any configuration files you modify.