hybrid-graphics-linux team mailing list archive

[Michal Kottman <k0mpjut0r@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Sun, 2011-02-13 at 17:57 +0000, Frederico Alves wrote:
> Hello guys, i'm a bit lost here. I've been reading a lot on linux
> hybrid graphics possibilitys, i even tried some scripts, none worked.

I too have K52JC, and I initially developed acpi_call for it. Maybe we
have a different meaning for "works". The acpi_call and the test_off.sh
script are made to power down the Nvidia card, because it drains battery
even if not used.
 
>  I have nvidia 310M and intel HD graphics on my system, 1GB mem.
> Currently i'm using ubuntu 10.10, what are exactly the right methods
> for my testing? my main doubts are these:
> 
> What exactly are our main goals here? getting the "switch cards"
> working, or getting the nvidia driver working?

That is a long-term goal and a dream on everyone on this list. While the
drivers are being developed, the only thing you can do is try to power
down the Nvidia GPU.

> Because right now i can't install any nvidia driver, or else my ubuntu
> boots in command line mode. So, if i can't install the nvidia card, it
> means i can't use it. And if i can't use it, i don't see the point of
> getting a script to switch my graphics to nvidia! I'm confused.

I share 

> Also, i heard some people talking about the bios setup. Now this is
> the funny part, when i first bought this laptop, i remember going to
> bios and there was actually an option on the graphic card. something
> like "enable windows 7" or something like that, there were 2 settings
> i can choose.

The choices are "Hybrid/Windows 7" and "Reserved". The first means that
Optimus is enabled on Windows, the other that only Intel card is enabled
(but Nvidia still drains battery).

> Now the weird part... after some days playing with windows 7, i
> decided to update my bios to the latest firmware. and guess what? that
> graphic options completely disapear. I have no longer that settings
> available, they're missing. So, going to bios won't work for me now.
> not anymore.

Thanks for the info, I won't update my BIOS now :)

> So, after that said, i'm sure wanting to contribute to these community
> with my tests, but i don't know exactly what commands to do or stuff
> to install. cheers

Try running this (you need to have git installed):

git clone http://github.com/mkottman/acpi_call.git
cd acpi_call 
make
sudo insmod acpi_call.ko
./test_off.sh

You should notice an increase in available time of battery.