Dell wifi interface not showing after loading module

[Dylanus]

I installed the firmware-misc-nonfree and that certainly got rid of a couple of error messages. I'll install the kernel and have a look at the bumble bee stuff tonight and let you know how I go.

[Dylanus]

So, I've switched to GNOME now, as KDE was freezing, not shutting down properly, and generally doing alarming things. So far GNOME seems a bit more stable, but I'll have to wait and see.
Currently systemctl status shows one failed unit and says the state is degraded, but there's a lot of output. Is there a way to get it to tell me exactly what has failed? I'm not sure if it's relevant to what we're trying to achieve, but it would be good to find out.
Can you let me know how to install the kernel and drivers in your repo? I tried search for linux-image, but there were too many options. Also, it looks like that step is required to install bumblebee. I ran the checks on the page you linked to for Nvidia graphics.
gxlgears runs without a problem.
This is the output for glxinfo | grep OpenGL:

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OpenGL vendor string: Intel Open Source Technology Center
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa DRI Intel(R) HD Graphics (Coffeelake 3x8 GT2) 
OpenGL core profile version string: 4.5 (Core Profile) Mesa 18.1.9
OpenGL core profile shading language version string: 4.50
OpenGL core profile context flags: (none)
OpenGL core profile profile mask: core profile
OpenGL core profile extensions:
OpenGL version string: 3.0 Mesa 18.1.9
OpenGL shading language version string: 1.30
OpenGL context flags: (none)
OpenGL extensions:
OpenGL ES profile version string: OpenGL ES 3.2 Mesa 18.1.9
OpenGL ES profile shading language version string: OpenGL ES GLSL ES 3.20
OpenGL ES profile extensions:

When I try to run optirun glxinfo, however, whether as root or not, it takes a long time, and if I kill it it gives back messages like 'bad file descriptor', mouse not found, or it just freezes the whole computer.
I'm hoping new drivers will resolve all this.
If you can let me know how to install the kernel and drivers from your repo, I'll get that done and see if it fixes things. Thanks.

[stevepusser]

If you have Synaptic and are running 64-bit, you can search for and install the "linux-image-4.18.0-2-amd64" package to get the 4.18.10 kernel, or the "linux-image-4.19.0-1-amd64" package to get the 4.19.5 kernel. Then install module-assistant, reboot to the new kernel, run "uname -a" to confirm you're running the new kernel, and run as root or with sudo:

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m-a prepare

to get the kernel headers and compilers necessary to build kernel drivers like Nvida.

After that, you can follow the Debian wiki entry on how to install Bumblebee. I install inxi and run

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inxi -G

versus

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optirun inxi -G

to test if it's working.

There are some tweaks in the wiki for Dell that you may need to do, and I also have some that aren't in the wiki.

Let me add virtualgl packages to that repo; it's also very useful.

[Dylanus]

I installed the kernel. That switched over without an issue. I did get some output there which made me think something else is missing:

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Processing triggers for initramfs-tools (0.130) ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.18.0-2-amd64
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8107e-2.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8107e-1.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168h-2.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168h-1.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168g-3.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168g-2.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8106e-2.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8106e-1.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8411-2.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8411-1.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8402-1.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168f-2.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168f-1.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8105e-1.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168e-3.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168e-2.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168e-1.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168d-2.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168d-1.fw for module r8169

Is that for RealTek? I'm not sure which module that is.
I ran m-a prepare without a problem. I tried running

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m-a a-i nvidia-kernel

but that stopped at 88% and didn't progress for another 8 hours, so I killed it. I tried running

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apt-get install bumblebee primus

, following the wiki instructions, but it said they were both the latest versions. Do I need bumblebee from another repo? How do I tell what is still missing?

[stevepusser]

The firmware-realtek package will provide Realtek firmware.

What happens when you run, per the wiki,

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apt-get install bumblebee-nvidia primus

https://wiki.debian.org/Bumblebee#From_repository

[Dylanus]

When I run that, I get this:

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Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
primus is already the newest version (0~20150328-4).
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 bumblebee-nvidia : Depends: glx-alternative-nvidia (>= 0.6.92) but it is not going to be installed
                    Depends: nvidia-driver but it is not going to be installed or
                             nvidia-legacy-340xx-driver but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-legacy-304xx-driver but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-kernel-dkms but it is not going to be installed or
                             nvidia-legacy-340xx-kernel-dkms but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-legacy-304xx-kernel-dkms but it is not installable or
                             nvidia but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-current but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-current-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-driver-binary but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-304 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-304-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-304 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-310 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-310-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-310 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-313 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-313-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-313 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-319 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-319-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-319 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-325 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-325-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-325 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-331 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-331-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-331 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-334 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-334-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-334 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-337 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-337-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-337 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-340 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-340-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-340 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-343 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-343-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-343 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-346 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-346-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-346 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-349 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-349-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-349 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-352 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-352-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-352 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-355 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-355-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-355 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-358 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-358-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-358 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-361 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-361-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-361 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-364 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-364-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-364 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-367 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-367-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-367 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-375 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-375-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-375 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-378 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-378-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-378 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-381 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-381-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-381 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-384 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-384-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-384 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-387 but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-387-updates but it is not installable or
                             nvidia-experimental-387 but it is not installable
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

What did I do wrong? Do I need to run some sort of update, or specify which repo to search?
Running

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apt-get autoremove

and

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apt-get update

doesn't fix the issue either.
[By the way, I will be away for several days this weekend, but I will try anything you suggest as soon as I get back.]

[stevepusser]

Is my repository still enabled?

[Dylanus]

Yes it is.

[llivv]

don't we put newly added modprobe modules in the modules file anymore?

[stevepusser]

What does

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apt policy glx-alternative-nvidia nvidia-driver

show, then?

[Dylanus]

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glx-alternative-nvidia:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 0.8.8~obs
  Version table:
     0.8.8~obs 500
        500 http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/stevenpusser:/new-hardware-support/Debian_9.0  Packages
nvidia-driver:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 390.87-2~obs1
  Version table:
     390.87-2~obs1 500
        500 http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/stevenpusser:/new-hardware-support/Debian_9.0  Packages

Does that mean the driver is installed?

[stevepusser]

...

Does that mean the driver is installed?

Well, what do you think this means?

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nvidia-driver:
  Installed: (none)

It seems pretty obvious to me. Now we have to figure out why. Those results should also show the older stock Debian versions available, but they don't, so something is wrong with your repositories. Let's find out what.

Can you show the result of

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inxi -r

(install inxi if necessary first--if you can't install inxi, something is really wrong)

[Dylanus]

Of course. Sorry, I wasn't paying enough attention.
This is the output:

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Repos:     Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list
           deb http://ftp.au.debian.org/debian/ stretch main
           deb-src http://ftp.au.debian.org/debian/ stretch main
           deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security stretch/updates main
           deb-src http://security.debian.org/debian-security stretch/updates main
           deb http://ftp.au.debian.org/debian/ stretch-updates main
           deb-src http://ftp.au.debian.org/debian/ stretch-updates main
           deb http://ftp.au.debian.org/debian/ stretch-backports main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/home:stevenpusser:new-hardware-support.list
           deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/stevenpusser:/new-hardware-support/Debian_9.0/ /
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/slack.list
           deb https://packagecloud.io/slacktechnologies/slack/debian/ jessie main

Looks to me like it's fine. I remember some changes when I updated after adding that file as well. Should I put the line directly in sources.list?