Linux Hybrid Graphics

Improved support for AMD hybrid graphics users

2012-01-27T03:04:00.000-08:00

A team member recently reported that the HP Pavilion dv7 model with a Hybrid graphics AMD 6700M HD and Intel coniguration is now fully supported in Linux by the recently released AMD graphics driver version 12.1:

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/linux/Pages/radeon_linux.aspx

Hybrid graphics setup is now fully working, with switching from low power to high performance on demand and including suspend/resume support.

Bumblebee version 3.0 "Tumbleweed" release

2012-01-20T02:00:00.000-08:00

The Bumblebee Project proudly presents version 3.0 of Bumblebee, a project
aiming to support NVIDIA Optimus technology under Linux. After two months of
hard work this version has finally been considered stable enough for release.

If you thought that Bumblebee was dead, it's still alive and kicking! See
http://wiki.bumblebee-project.org/FAQ

The project has been fully rewritten in the C programming language, providing
increased performance and reliability, mostly thanks to a new developer in the
project, Jaron Viëtor (a.k.a. Thulinma). That bring the number of main developers to
4, the three other ones being Peter Wu (a.k.a. Lekensteyn), Joaquín Ignacio
Aramendía (a.k.a. Samsagax) and Bruno Pagani (a.k.a. ArchangeGabriel).

The most important new feature is automatic power management support. Yes, in
Bumblebee 3.0 "Tumbleweed", you've got Power Management working out of the box,
without any manual configuration needed. That's not the only one though, the
full changelog could be found at
http://bumblebee-project.org/release-notes-3.0

This rewrite of the project was an occasion for updating available
documentations, wikis and instructions that can be found on the web. However,
please be aware that we cannot update all sites that exist and that a lot
misinformation is still spread. The best way to be sure to have the latest
instructions is checking our wiki at
http://wiki.bumblebee-project.org or follow us at
Twitter http://bumblebee-project.org/twitter,
Facebook http://bumblebee-project.org/facebook or
Google Plus http://bumblebee-project.org/g+.

Currently, packages for ArchLinux, Ubuntu and Mandriva have been packaged.
Below are installation instructions for some distributions:
Arch Linux:https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Bumblebee
Ubuntu:https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bumblebee
Debian: https://wiki.debian.org/Bumblebee
Mandriva: There's a bumblebee package in their repositories.
Other distributions can find more generic installation instructions at
http://wiki.bumblebee-project.org/Install-and-usage

We currently do not accept donations. The Paypal account referred by the
tinyurl "Bumblebee Project" belongs to Martin Juhl (MrMEEE), former
developer of Bumblebee and his own fork, Ironhide.

The team is looking for users having the necessary knowledge to build packages
for other popular distributions, if you're interested please join
#bumblebee-dev on Freenode. We'll then link our documentation to the one from
your distribution.

Now that Bumblebee 3.0 has been released, we will continue improving it.
Therefore we seek developers experienced in building Compositing Window
Managers, a goal we want to achieve for version (far).(away).

If you run into problems, be sure to read
http://wiki.bumblebee-project.org/Troubleshooting.
Although we aim at stability, (compatibility) issues may still occur which can
be reported by following the instructions on
http://wiki.bumblebee-project.org/Reporting-Issues.

The Bumblebee Project Team.

New bumblebee version nearing release

2012-01-19T04:08:00.001-08:00

The Bumblebee developers team has been working on several improvements into a new version of bumblebee that will be released soon. Among the new features to be expected is the safe and seamless integration of discrete Nvidia card on/off switching with optirun calls to specific programs.

For more, follow http://twitter.com/Team_Bumblebee

Support for mode nvidia/intel models in bbswitch

2012-01-15T02:32:00.000-08:00

Support for models that have the nvidia DSM method on the integrated Intel video card instead of the nvidia one. This includes at the Acer Travelmate 8472TG and Acer Aspire 5745G.

http://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/bbswitch/blob/master/NEWS

bbswitch: new tool to switch on/off nvidia graphics cards

2012-01-09T07:06:00.000-08:00

There is now a new tool to switch on/off nvidia graphics cards on hybrid systems in Linux. This tool is different in the way it works to acpi_call, and should allow many laptop models to have safe on/off switching of the discrete nvidia graphics card.

For more info, have a look at the README in the github page:

http://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/bbswitch

1000 active members!

2012-01-09T07:04:00.000-08:00

Hybrid Graphics as a X11 extension

2012-01-02T06:59:00.000-08:00

One of our team members has had some discussions about Hybrid Graphics and Linux with developers at Nvidia. As a result of this discussions, consensus emerged that the best way to implement Hybrid Graphic Systems like Optimus is an X11 Extension, as it is not considered part of a kernel module to decide on which device an Xorg call should end.

More info about the X11 extension idea soon.

Laptops wishing for better support in 2012

2012-01-02T06:50:00.000-08:00

People in the Linux Hybrid Graphics team has updated on the support status for their Linux laptops, and the requests go from the not perfect to the not supported at all:

There is a big question mark over the new Nvidia GTX 660M cards, and information is needed from notebooks with this cards.

The Sony Vaio Z series Z1/Z12 models are still not playing well with bumblebee/ironhide/acpi_call and only cold rebooting will achieve graphics card switching.

The Samsung RF511 can use optirun, but there are no enable/disable calls available at the moment. Please submit your DSDT info if you have this or related models, specially if you have updated your BIOS lately.

The Asus N61JV seems to lack support, please give us more details on trying to install the hybrid graphics packages bumblebee/ironhide/acpi_call if you have this model.

The HP Envy 13 circa 2009 has a Intel GMA4500MHD+ATI Radeon Mobility HD 4330 and the discrete card won't work with bumblebee/ironhide/acpi_call. Please report your progress in the mailing list (ml) if you've been able to have it working.

The HP dm4-1162sf ATI+intel is in a similar situation, although the binary ATI drivers v11.8 worked on Ubuntu 10.04 or Debian Stable. On newer distros/kernel other hardware are better supported (sound and intel graphic driver for example) but ATI fails in all case...

The Dell XPS14z, Dell L502X have partial support. Is it working for you? Email the ml.

The Thinkpad W520 can use bumblebee/ironhide, but lacks the ability to save battery power by deactivating the graphics card while on a session, although it can bee rebooted and cold swiched off using the BIOS.

More updates soon!

42403EG ThinkPadT520

2011-12-29T04:41:00.000-08:00

Method (_PS0, 0, NotSerialized)
{
If (ISOP ())
{
If (DGOS)
{
\VHYB (0x02, 0x00)
Sleep (0x64)
\VHYB (0x00, 0x01)
Sleep (0x0A)
Store (0x01, \_SB.PCI0.LPC.PCRS)
Store (0x01, \_SB.PCI0.LPC.PCRQ)
Sleep (0x64)
\VHYB (0x02, 0x01)
Sleep (0x01)
\VHYB (0x08, 0x01)
Store (0x0A, Local0)
Store (0x32, Local1)
While (Local1)
{
Sleep (Local0)
If (\LCHK (0x01))
{
Break
}

Decrement (Local1)
}

Store (0x00, \_SB.PCI0.LPC.PCRQ)
\VHYB (0x04, 0x00)
\SWTT (0x01)
Store (Zero, DGOS)
}
Else
{
If (LNotEqual (VSID, 0x21D117AA))
{
\VHYB (0x04, 0x00)
}
}

\VHYB (0x09, \_SB.PCI0.PEG.VID.HDAS)
}
}

Method (_PS1, 0, NotSerialized)
{
Noop
}

Method (_PS2, 0, NotSerialized)
{
Noop
}

Method (_PS3, 0, NotSerialized)
{
If (ISOP ())
{
If (LEqual (\_SB.PCI0.PEG.VID.OMPR, 0x03))
{
\SWTT (0x00)
\VHYB (0x08, 0x00)
Store (0x0A, Local0)
Store (0x32, Local1)
While (Local1)
{
Sleep (Local0)
If (\LCHK (0x00))
{
Break
}

Decrement (Local1)
}

\VHYB (0x02, 0x00)
Sleep (0x64)
\VHYB (0x00, 0x00)
Store (One, DGOS)
Store (0x02, \_SB.PCI0.PEG.VID.OMPR)
}
}
}

0855.LenovoIdeaPadY470

2011-12-28T11:50:00.001-08:00

Method (_PS0, 0, NotSerialized)
{
If (DGOS)
{
\_SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._ON ()
Store (Zero, DGOS)
Store (Zero, MLTF)
}
}

Method (_PS3, 0, NotSerialized)
{
Store (MLTF, OPTF)
If (LEqual (\_SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP.OMPR, 0x03))
{
\_SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._OFF ()
Store (One, DGOS)
Store (0x02, \_SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP.OMPR)
}
}

Acer Aspire5750G V1.11

2011-12-28T02:06:00.001-08:00

Method (_PS0, 0, NotSerialized)
{
If (DGOS)
{
GLSC ()
\_SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._ON ()
GLSR ()
Store (Zero, DGOS)
Store (Zero, MLTF)
}
}
--
Method (_PS3, 0, NotSerialized)
{
If (LEqual (\_SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP.OMPR, 0x03))
{
GLSC ()
\_SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._OFF ()
GLSR ()
Store (One, DGOS)
Store (0x02, \_SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP.OMPR)
}
}

4236NVG ThinkPadT420

2011-12-28T02:05:00.000-08:00

Method (_PS0, 0, NotSerialized)
{
If (ISOP ())
{
If (DGOS)
{
\VHYB (0x02, 0x00)
Sleep (0x64)
\VHYB (0x00, 0x01)
Sleep (0x0A)
Store (0x01, \_SB.PCI0.LPC.PCRS)
Store (0x01, \_SB.PCI0.LPC.PCRQ)
Sleep (0x64)
\VHYB (0x02, 0x01)
Sleep (0x01)
\VHYB (0x08, 0x01)
Store (0x0A, Local0)
Store (0x32, Local1)
While (Local1)
{
Sleep (Local0)
If (\LCHK (0x01))
{
Break
}

Decrement (Local1)
}

Store (0x00, \_SB.PCI0.LPC.PCRQ)
\VHYB (0x04, 0x00)
\SWTT (0x01)
Store (Zero, DGOS)
}
Else
{
If (LNotEqual (VSID, 0x21D017AA))
{
\VHYB (0x04, 0x00)
}
}

\VHYB (0x09, \_SB.PCI0.PEG.VID.HDAS)
}
}

Method (_PS3, 0, NotSerialized)
{
If (ISOP ())
{
If (LEqual (\_SB.PCI0.PEG.VID.OMPR, 0x03))
{
\SWTT (0x00)
\VHYB (0x08, 0x00)
Store (0x0A, Local0)
Store (0x32, Local1)
While (Local1)
{
Sleep (Local0)
If (\LCHK (0x00))
{
Break
}

Decrement (Local1)
}

\VHYB (0x02, 0x00)
Sleep (0x64)
\VHYB (0x00, 0x00)
Store (One, DGOS)
Store (0x02, \_SB.PCI0.PEG.VID.OMPR)
}
}
}

Asus U36SD

2011-12-28T01:59:00.001-08:00

Method (_PS0, 0, NotSerialized)
{
Store (Zero, \_SB.PCI0.GFX0._PSC)
If (LNotEqual (\_SB.PCI0.GFX0.DGPS, 0x00))
{
\_SB.PCI0.PEG0.GFX0.DON ()
\SGPL (0x23, 0x01, 0x01)
Store (Zero, \_SB.PCI0.GFX0.DGPS)
}
}

Method (_PS3, 0, NotSerialized)
{
If (LEqual (\_SB.PCI0.GFX0.P3MO, 0x01))
{
\_SB.PCI0.PEG0.GFX0.DOFF ()
\SGPL (0x23, 0x01, 0x00)
Store (0x03, \_SB.PCI0.GFX0._PSC)
Store (0x01, \_SB.PCI0.GFX0.DGPS)
}

Store (0x00, \_SB.PCI0.GFX0.P3MO)
}

Samsung 300E4A5A7A with PS0/PS3

2011-12-28T01:58:00.000-08:00

Method (_PS0, 0, NotSerialized)
{
If (DGOS)
{
\_SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._ON ()
Store (Zero, DGOS)
Store (Zero, MLTF)
}
}

Method (_PS3, 0, NotSerialized)
{
If (LEqual (\_SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP.OMPR, 0x03))
{
\_SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._OFF ()
Store (One, DGOS)
Store (0x02, \_SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP.OMPR)
}
}

Bumblee on Lenovo Ideapad Y570

2011-12-26T09:46:00.000-08:00

Following the added support by the Nouveau driversfor the GPU in the Lenovo Ideapa Y570, Nvidia has recently added the 0DEB PCI ID (10DE:0DEB) to their drivers.
This means this laptop model is now supported by Bumblebee/Ironhide, and one can use the dicrete Nvidia graphics card on specified applications by installing Bumblebee/Ironhide under Linux.
This is for a NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M 1GB card, which has been seen on a bunch of different laptop albeit with slightly different names.

There are almost a dozen 555M GPU variants available. Every single one uses a GF106 chip with DDR3 or GDDR5 except for the Lenovo Ideapad Y570 which has a GF108 chip with GDDR5.

The 500M series has been a bit of a chipset mess for Nvidia. Some Dell users found ways to BIOS mod their GF108 525M into a 550M, but it's not an easy task.

As an example, the Asus G53SW/G73SW has a GF106 460M with a 192-bit bus and GDDR5. The supposed successor, the Asus G53SX, has a GF116 560M with a 128-bit bus and GDDR5. Yet at the same time, G74SX, the successor of the G73SW, has a GF116 560M with the expected 192-bit GDDR5.

Please join the Launchpad team and use the mailing list for more on this.

We are approaching 1000 team members!

2011-12-19T12:27:00.001-08:00

The year 2011 is ending and the Launchpad hybrid graphics Linux team is approaching 1000 team members!

It's been a year of consolidation for the team members whose efforts in reporting on and improving the features of hybrid graphics systems in Linux are paying off. We now have a bumblebee/ironhide implementation for using the GPU on specific applications, with some systems also having the ability of switching on/off the graphics card on demand.

There have been attempts to bring Nvidia VDPAU video acceleration to the hybrid graphics systems, and these continue to be made to make sure they pave the way for smooth video playing in Linux.

The upstream Linux kernel and graphics drivers have received the source code produced by either members of the team or other open source contributors, which will ensure a seamless integration into all Linux distributions in the future.

Please make sure that you join the team if you haven't already. Even if your system already has decent support, your joining the team shows that there is a large Linux user base that will benefit of further improvements.

Keep reporting via the usual channels, like the mailing list and launchpad bug reporting tool.

Video acceleration for Optimus laptops -- what is the status?

2011-12-14T09:10:00.000-08:00

Eric Appleman has taken some time to detail the situation of having
VDPAU acceleration on Optimus laptops. VDPAU is a method to use the
computing power of a GPU card to produce high-quality video and audio
while offloading the main CPU from the task. Eric has been making
great contributions in this area for Optimus configurations. Here are
the details:

There are 2 primary means of using VDPAU. Bumblebee+Xpra and
Bumblebee+Windump. Both methods have pros and cons: Windump is fast,
maintains v-sync if you use a compositor, but has rather tricky window
management. On the other side, Xpra is has a good window management,
but screen updates can be disappointing.

One of the newer things that Eric has been looking into is VAAPI and
VDPAU while using the open-source Nouveau driver. The media player VLC
supports H264 VAAPI and mplayer/mplayer2 can decode VP8 over VDPAU,
but it requires patches to both mplayer and the Mesa
libraries. Windump or Xpra would still be needed in this
configuration.

Meanwhile, Dave Airlie's PRIME/DriverScreen developments could be soon
incorporated into most Linux distributions. In theory, the code should
be ready by early 2012 and in most distributions as early as Fall
2012.

Between now and then, Eric will be looking into adding proper window
management to Windump, although it looks like a difficult job. This
would require loading a second X server, instead of attaching virtual
screens to drivers on a single X server, which is the preferred option
for bumblebee and ironhide.

VDPAU is one of the methods to have video and audio GPU-acceleration
in Linux, although it's still largely restricted to the Nvidia
proprietary drivers. Although some other open-source drivers can use
VDPAU, like the Radeon Gallium drivers through XvBA backend and
experimental trees like Emeric's Nouveau VP8 acceleration, the
environment is still incomplete and lacking big important features for
many hardware configurations.

For Nouveau, VDPAU on Nvidia cards (NV50/NVC0) and Optimus support are
two separate yet eventually convergent goals. The feature matrix for
Nouveau is still showing a 'to-do/to-finish' in 'hardware accelerated
video decoding' [1].

So, in the immediate future, VAAPI on Nouveau could be a primary
method of acceleration until VDPAU lands. The benefits of either
method may be short-lived for H264 fans. This is because there is an
ongoing transition from 8-bit compression to 10-bit compression. While
most consumer-level video cards can support hardware-accelerated 8-bit
decoding, this is not the case for 10-bit decoding at the moment, and
this situation could not change for at least a few years.

So where does this leave VDPAU with the Nvidia blob on Optimus
laptops? Aaron Plattner, Nvidia's Linux driver guy, says he is
encouraged by Dave's Xserver overhaul and would be willing to support
it. This is easier said than done, since it requires for Linux
distributions to ship with a cutting-edge X stack and kernel that
would support the new code.

Ultimately, for both Nouveau and the Nvidia driver, the new
development efforts under the Wayland framework are still a big
unknown, and it's still early to envision how it will affect Optimus
and VDPAU.

Thanks to Eric Appleman for the information on the hybrid-graphics
mailing list.

GPU hot-plugging

2011-10-23T01:32:00.001-07:00

David Airlie has demonstrated success in the first phase of his X.Org GPU/driver hot-plugging work, which eventually may lead to proper dynamic GPU switching under X.
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTAwNDY

Request for info to users of nvidia (including optimus) laptops

2011-10-07T06:41:00.000-07:00

Ben Skeggs (Red Hat) needs of some help from NVIDIA laptop owners. If you have a NVIDIA laptop, including Optimus models, please follow the instructions on this message to provide him with the information he needs:
http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/nouveau/2011-October/009368.html
Thanks in advance!

Ironhide branch first release including Ubuntu Natty packages

2011-08-24T06:26:00.001-07:00

martinjuhl has released a new branch of his bumblebee code named Ironhide:

This version features:

* Graphical User Interface for Configuration and Submitsystem.
* Tests build into the Configuration, for easy bug reporting.
* Major cleanup, removed all content not related to Ubuntu.
* Updated VirtualGL.

The Ironhide packages conflict with bumblebee, so you should be asked to remove the old packages when installing Ironhide. If your having problems getting ironhide to work, please reboot after uninstalling bumblebee, and then rerun ironhide-configuration.

https://launchpad.net/~mj-casalogic/+archive/ironhide/

Installation notes:

If you want newer versions of the nvidia packages, the X-org edgers repository works great with Ironhide:

https://launchpad.net/~xorg-edgers/+archive/ppa

When new versions come out, just rerun the configuration.

Report problems/issues here:

https://github.com/MrMEEE/ironhide/issues

The new Bumblebee Project is still available here:

https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee

Tweaks to Extend The Battery Life of Intel Linux Notebooks @ www.phoronix.com

2011-08-24T02:20:00.001-07:00

Tweaks to Extend The Battery Life of Intel Linux Notebooks @ www.phoronix.com

There is number of arguments that can be passed to the open-source Intel Linux DRM kernel driver to reduce power consumption. These enable power-saving features of the Intel Linux graphics driver that aren't enabled by default at this time, commonly because for some hardware configurations they can cause stability problems or other issues.

i915.i915_enable_rc6=1 - RC6 was enabled by default for a while, but then it ended up being too buggy for some hardware configuration so it had to be disabled. For affected systems on the current code-base, enabling RC6 can cause GPU hangs. The Intel RC6 feature allows the GPU to enter a lower power state when the GPU is idling.

i915.i915_enable_fbc=1 - This kernel option enables FBC (frame-buffer compression) for the Intel graphics driver. Frame-buffer compression is not enabled by default since for some systems when frame-buffer compression is active there is a bug where the screen is not being properly repainted when using a compositing window manager. As implied by the name, frame-buffer compression will compress the buffer of what's to be drawn to the screen so that less memory bandwidth is used on screen refreshes, and as a result, less memory being confused.

i915.lvds_downclock=1 - This kernel option will down-clock the LVDS refresh rate, which can increase power savings as a result. However, for systems that do not properly support LVDS down-clocking, the screen can begin to flicker during use.

These options can be added to GRUB boot-loader when booting the system, to the grub.cfg file to be made permanent, or can be passed if manually loading the Intel i915 kernel module.

Lenovo IdeaPad Z570, Z470 and Z370 with hybrid graphics

2011-08-21T09:58:00.001-07:00

Lenovo IdeaPad Z570, Z470 & Z370 multimedia notebooks get Sandy Bridge

Lenovo‘s updated Z Series multimedia notebooks have had in injection of Intel’s latest Sandy Bridge processors, with the IdeaPad Z570, Z470 and Z370 built around 15.6-, 14- and 13.3-inch displays respectively and a choice of Core i3, i5 or i7 CPUs. The IdeaPad Z470 and Z370 come with eye-catching fuchsia, sky blue or dark brown transparent covers, while the Z570 is a little more sensible with an Accutype chiclet keyboard and metallic-effect casing.

Inside there’s NVIDIA GeForce 410M 1GB graphics on the Z370 and GeForce 525M 2GB graphics on the Z470 and Z570; RAM is up to 8GB while storage is up to a 1TB, 7200rpm HDD. There’s a choice of DVD or Blu-ray, along with optional Bluetooth, while WiFi b/g/n and gigabit ethernet are both standard.

Problems with HDMI in a Linux hybrid graphics laptop? Please report to xorg

2011-08-20T03:04:00.001-07:00

The display drivers will sometimes not play well with the HDMI output to your external monitor in a linux hybrid graphics laptop. Some models have HDMI output connected to the discrete nvidia or ATI card, whereas some have it connected to the Intel integrated card.

If you are having problems with HDMI output, please submit a bug report to the xorg package. Open a terminal window and type:

apport-bug xorg

(Choose 'Yes' if you see a warning about end of technical support)

Then type a description of your problem in the launchpad web page that will appear in your browser.

If you cannot follow these steps while the laptop is connected to the external screen, please still submit the bug report with the laptop disconnected from the external screen, since most useful information will still be processed.

Once submitted, please send an email to the launchpad hybrid-graphics-linux mailing list with the launchpad bug id. It will be something like:

http://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/829981

Thanks!

A BIOS update has been released for the AMD muxless HP dv6/dv7 61xx series

2011-08-07T23:13:00.001-07:00

A BIOS update has been released for the AMD muxless HP dv6/dv7 61xx series.

This for laptops with a 6470M(?) or 6770M.

The update enables Fixed Mode in the BIOS for discrete-only operation

with the Sandy Bridge IGP acting as a mux.

ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp54001-54500/sp54024.exe

Bumblebee error messages after update, extended solution

2011-08-03T21:24:00.001-07:00

Bumblebee error messages after update, extended solution:

$ sudo update-alternatives --remove-all gl_conf

$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure nvidia-current

If it fails, then

$ sudo apt-get install --reinstal nvidia-current

Dell Alienware M11xR3 (release 3), Linux and Bumblebee

2011-08-02T09:27:00.001-07:00

Dell Alienware M11xR3 (release 3), Linux and Bumblebee:

Alienware m11xr3 and bumblebee: Unity working on Ubuntu 11.04.

Current issues:

* Laptop may lock up during stress testing

* Laptop locked up when left on over night

* Batter life not good, a bit over 2 hours on normal use (browsing, editing documents).

* Linux LED changing utility has not been updated for the R3 version of this laptop.

VDPAU Linux hybrid graphics: Integrating bumblebee and hybrid-windump

2011-07-29T22:22:00.001-07:00

Work is underway to develop the hybrid-windump solution within bumblebee to have VDPAU working in Linux hybrid graphics laptops.

Although there are still issues with the nvidia binary packages, the solution seems to be near:

http://github.com/MrMEEE/bumblebee/issues/531

MSI GE620DX @ www.engadget.com

2011-07-28T23:38:00.001-07:00

MSI outs its latest GE620DX gaming laptop, orcs prepare for virtual slaughter

Spilled Mountain Dew on your last laptop during that marathon session of Starcraft II? MSI's got your back buddy, with its newly announced GE620DX. There's a serious bit of dedicated gaming punch lying under this notebook's brushed metal finish thanks to its 2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, an NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M card and the audio tag team of MSI Premium Sound and THX's True Studio Pro. In addition to its 15.6-inch 1366 x 768 HD display, this "dream machine" sports a 720p camera, an HDMI out port and USB 3.0. The company's also thrown in a GPU Boost feature, which frees up the internal graphics chip should you be running any graphics-intensive apps. Unfortunately, your zerg Swarm-slaying hands will have to wait for an official price and retail date, but when you do get a hold of it, make sure to keep that caffeinated brew far from the keyboard.

Help Needed: Anybody got a Toshiba Satellite...

2011-07-22T02:59:00.001-07:00

Help Needed:
Anybody got a Toshiba Satellite P750 (P750/02J) running Linux that could upload the ACPI info as explained here?

http://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/752542

To compile your DSDT and SSDTs information, install if you haven't already the acpidump and iasl tools:

sudo apt-get install acpidump iasl
### or
sudo yum install pmtools iasl

Then run the following commands on a bash terminal:

mkdir ~/acpiinfo ; cd ~/acpiinfo
sudo acpidump > acpidump.txt
# enter password
sudo acpixtract acpidump.txt
ls *.dat | while read i; do iasl -d "${i}"; done
name=`sudo dmidecode -s system-product-name`
mkdir "${name}" && cp *.dsl "${name}"/
tar czf "${name}.tar.gz" "${name}"/ && ls -l "$( pwd )/${name}".tar.gz

This will create a tar.gz file that you can attach to the bug report.
Finally, for posting the information in the bug report, you can check the laptop and graphics card model identifiers with these commands:

sudo dmidecode -s system-product-name && sudo dmidecode -s system-version
lspci -vnnn | perl -lne 'print if /^\d+\:.+(\[\S+\:\S+\])/' | grep VGA

This information will allow the full development of hybrid graphics features for Linux. Thanks for your help!

Bug #752542 in Launchpad Bug Reporter: "ACPI DSDT info"

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HP to offer a switch for their line of HP AMD BACON hybrid laptops

2011-07-20T02:16:00.001-07:00

Our team member E. P. has pointed out that HP will issue a BIOS update that will allow users to switch from the default Dynamic mode to Fixed mode in HP AMD BACON hybrid graphics laptops:

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Display-and-Video/Official-HP-statement-on-Switchable-Graphics-and-Open-GL/td-p/766285

We understand that there is a concern about switchable graphics and OpenGL functionality.

Switchable Graphics:

HP has a document about how to configure the ATI® Mobility Radeon® Switchable graphics feature. This

document also describes the differences between fixed and dynamic switchable graphic modes and how

to use each effectively.

See: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&docname=c02731962

Open GL Functionality:

To operate certain OpenGL applications, you will need to install the latest graphics driver (SP 53025)

which can be found here: ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp53001-53500/sp53025.exe . This download

provides Intel Graphics Driver version 8.15.10.2219 to support the Intel GPU in HP notebooks with

switchable graphics. The AMD graphics card in newer HP Pavilion dv6 and dv7 Series models may not

run certain Open GL software.

Update: There is a BIOS update in the works that will allow you to switch from the default Dynamic mode to Fixed mode. Switching to Fixed Mode will allow you to run Open GL programs on the AMD Radeon graphics processor. We will let you know as soon as this is available.

Acer TravelMate 8481 with nvidia optimus @ www.engadget.com

2011-07-17T04:56:00.001-07:00

Acer TravelMate 8481 lands late August, £700 price tag in tow

By Christopher Trout posted Jul 17th 2011 6:34AM

Back in May, we caught a glimpse of Acer's TravelMate 8481, rocking an extra thin bezel and 13 hours of battery life for the road-weary sojourner. At the time, Acer was touting a mid-June launch, but we've just received word that the Core i7-packing notebook won't make it into carry-ons until late August. As of now, we've only got UK pricing -- £699, to be exact -- leading us to wonder when the thing will make the journey stateside. As per usual, we will keep you abreast of the details as they roll in. Until then, you can peep the full PR after the break.

Show full PR text

Acer TravelMate 8481
The ultimate road-smart companion

London, 15th July 2011 – Professionals spending most of their working life on the go need a notebook that is up to any challenge. A notebook capable of combining top performance with optimal security and extended battery life. Add to the mix a slim and light design and you have the TravelMate 8481, a true road warrior.

With the TravelMate 8481 there is no need to make compromises. First of all, it deliver all the power required for serious business on-the-go via the 2nd generation Intel® Core™ processors that not only allows to run business productivity applications 60% faster than the previous generation, but it delivers smart performance that adapts to the task at hand, enabling more responsive multitasking while ensuring energy efficiency.

Furthermore, thanks to Intel® HD Graphics 3000 the new model provides an impressive visual performance for sharper images and richer color. Using Intel® Wireless Display technology, it can share presentations or videos on HD displays or TVs via an easy to set up wireless connection. Smooth HD video playback and exceptionally clear image and sound will make any presentation really impressive.

The TravelMate 8481 is also available with discreet graphic options. Featuring NVIDIA® Optimus™ technology, NVIDIA GPUs boost graphic performance without impacting on battery life. In addition, multi-monitor support takes productivity to the next level, allowing easier multitasking.

Asus U41SV hybrid graphics linux -- acpi_call DSDT info

2011-07-14T02:08:00.001-07:00

One of the team members posted the DSDT info for a ASUS U41SV laptop. The two calls to turn on/off the card are like this:

\_SB.PCI0.PEG0.GFX0.DOFF

\_SB.PCI0.PEG0.GFX0.DON

Code snippet:

If (LEqual (_T_0, 0x03))

{

And (Local0, 0x03, Local0)

If (LEqual (Local0, 0x01))

{

\_SB.PCI0.PEG0.GFX0.DON ()

Return (0x01)

}

Else

{

If (LEqual (Local0, 0x02))

{

\_SB.PCI0.PEG0.GFX0.DOFF ()

Return (0x00)

}

Else

{

Return (\_SB.PCI0.PEG0.GFX0.DSTA ())

}

Return (0x01)

}

Sony VAIO Z series 2011 includes hybrid graphics option via a docking station

2011-07-13T19:02:00.001-07:00

For the seasoned Linux users, the Sony VAIO Z series has seen 3 updates in the last 3 years, the sony-vaioz-09, sony-vaioz-10, and now the sony-vaioz-11, sporting a docking station with a discrete AMD graphics card:

Sony’s New VAIO Z Series Is Available Now, Lightest 13-inch High Performance Notebook

Sony’s much anticipated VAIO Z Series ultraportable notebooks have arrived. This new VAIO Z Series is touted as the “world’s lightest 13-inch standard voltage PC” and features an ultra slim design that’s thinner and lighter than the MacBook Air while packing in high performance specs with Intel’s latest Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 processors.

The new VAIO Z Series notebook is designed to work in tandem with a Power Media Dock that delivers the power of an AMD Radeon HD 6650M graphics card with 1GB VRAM, a slot loading optical drive, one USB 3.0 port, two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, and VGA ports. Thanks to this pairing, the new Z Series is now a half pound lighter than its predecessor and weighs only 2.5 pounds.

The sleek chassis measures just 0.66-inch thin and is made of a combination of aluminum and carbon fiber. It is designed to be fully flat without any protruding ports or unnecessary seams. Battery life is rated for up to 8 hours and can be boosted to 16 hours with the purchase of an optional large-capacity sheet battery that attaches flush on the bottom.

The notebook is equipped with the latest Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 processors that can be turbo boosted to 3.4GHz and has dual-channel SSD drives with RAID tehcnology. It also sports Intel’s Light Peak port, also known on Apple products as the Thunderbolt port, that promises up to 10Gbps of blazing fast bi-directional data transfer speeds.

Other things to note include the notebook’s 16:9 aspect ratio display that’s available in either 1920×1080 or 1600×900 resolution levels with anti-glare coating. The notebook comes in three colors carbon black, carbon indigo, and premium carbon black. It is available now for pre-orders at Sony’s website and retails starting at around $2000.

ASUS U36JC from 4 to 7 hours of battery life with linux acpi_call

2011-07-13T12:15:00.001-07:00

One of the linux hybrid graphics team members has reported that the ASUS U36JC laptop will go from 4 hours to 7 hours of battery life using acpi_call to switch on/off the nvidia card:

system-version
U36JC
1.0

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0046] h(rev 18) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: nVidia Corporation GT218 [GeForce 310M] [10de:0a70] (rev ff) (prog-if ff

Bumblebee for Ubuntu in two lines

2011-07-11T00:21:00.001-07:00

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:mj-casalogic/bumblebee

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install bumblebee

Gateway laptops with nvidia optimus and AMD Fusion configurations @ www.engadget.com

2011-07-07T11:42:00.001-07:00

Gateway updates its ID and NV laptops with USB 3.0, Sandy Bridge and Llano internals

By Dana Wollman posted Jul 7th 2011 8:00AM

Acer's had its day (or two) unveiling back-to-school laptops, and now it's its sister brand Gateway's turn. The outfit just announced the 15.6-inch NV series and the 14-inch ID47, both of which include USB 3.0 and a choice of Sandy Bridge processors. (In the case of that entry-level NV, you can also opt for one of AMD's fresh-off-the-line Llano chips.) But the company did more than just give its notebooks a spec bump -- it also tweaked their designs, adding a chiclet keyboard to the NV series, while the metal-clad ID's trackpad is 20 percent larger and no longer glows like a mood ring. The ID47 also has a 14-inch display crammed into a chassis usually paired with 13.3-inch panels, as well as a non-removable battery that promises up to eight hours of juice. (The NV is rated for up to four hours.) And, in an unusual twist, our friends in Canada will get additional choices, including a 15.6-inch version of the ID, as well as select models with NVIDIA Optimus. Both the ID47 and NV55 / NV57 are available now, with the ID starting at $629.99 and $799 Canadian, and the NV fetching $529.99 and $499 Canadian. Check out the various configurations after the break, with lots 'o photos below.

Update: Lots of you are asking about the screen resolution on these guys. It's not in the press release, but the answer is 1366 x 768, across the board.

Gateway ID47

Gateway NV55 / NV57

Gateway ID47 and NV55 / NV57 hands-on

Gateway ID47H03h ($799.00 Canadian, available in Canada)

2.3 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5-2410M processor
14-inch LED-backlit Display
NVIDIA GeForce Optimus GT 540M graphics with 1GB video memory
6GB DDR3 RAM
750GB 5400RPM SATA hard drive
Digital media card reader
8X DVD-SuperMulti double-layer drive
802.11b/g/n WiFi
Bluetooth 3.0
1.3 megapixel webcam
Dolby Home Theater v4 Audio Enhancement
Two stereo speakers
One USB 3.0 Port and twoUSB 2.0 Ports
One HDMI Port
Multi-gesture touchpad
Social Networks key
6-cell Li-ion battery (6000 mAh)
Up to eight hours of battery life
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Microsoft Office Starter 2010
Dimensions: 12.97 x 8.95 x .85-1.14 inches
4.6 lbs.

Gateway ID57H03h ($899.99 Canadian, available in Canada)

2.3GHz Intel dual-core Core i5-2410M processor
15.6-inch LED-backlit Display
NVIDIA GeForce Optimus GT 540M Graphics with 2GB video memory
8GB DDR3 RAM
750GB 5400RPM SATA hard drive
Digital media card reader
8X DVD-SuperMulti double-layer drive
802.11b/g/n WiFi
Bluetooth 3.0
1.3 megapixel webcam
Dolby Home Theater v4 Audio Enhancement
Two stereo speakers
One USB 3.0 Port and twoUSB 2.0 Ports
One HDMI Port
Multi-gesture touchpad
Social Networks key
6-cell Li-ion battery (6000 mAh)
Up to eight hours of battery life
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Microsoft Office Starter 2010
Dimensions: 12.97 x 8.95 x .85-1.14 inches
4.6 lbs.

Gateway NV55S05u ($629.99, available in the US)

1.5GHz quad-core AMD A8-3500M APU ight LED-backlit Display
AMD A60M Fusion chipset
6GB DDR3 RAM
AMD Radeon HD 6620G Graphics
640GB 5400RPM SATA hard drive
8X DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive
802.11b/g/n WiFi
1.3 Megapixel webcam
High-Definition Stereo Speakers
One USB 3.0 Port, and two USB 2.0 ports
One HDMI port with HDCP Support
Gateway MyBackup function key
Multi-gesture touchpad
Dedicated Numeric Keypad
Gateway Social Networks key
6-cell Li-Ion (4400 mAh) battery
Up to four hours of battery life
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Microsoft Office Starter 2010
Dimensions: 15 x 9.96 x .99-1.31 inches
5.7 lbs.

Acer Aspire TimelineX 3830T, 4830T, 5830T Notebooks @ www.ecoustics.com

2011-07-05T08:48:00.001-07:00

Acer Aspire TimelineX 3830T, 4830T, 5830T Notebooks

Posted by Admin on June 08, 2011 - 11:58 pm: Edit • Reply • New

Acer updated its Aspire TimelineX series notebooks with a new sleek and stylish, thin and light design complemented by long battery life and the latest technology and new entertainment features, including Dolby Home Theater v4 Audio.

The notebook's upscale look and feel centers around its uncluttered, elegant design. The notebooks have a clean layout with a large touchpad and chiclet keyboard to promote both enjoyment and productivity. Available in three sizes -- the 13.3-inch 3830T, 14-inch 4830T and 15.6-inch 5830T -- the designs measure about an inch thin and are very lightweight.

Powered by the latest second-generation Intel Core i5 and i3 processors with Turbo Boost technology. In addition, Acer PowerSmart Technology provides extra long battery uptime of up to nine hours on models with integrated graphics and up to eight hours for models with discrete graphics, as well as a long battery lifecycle of up to four years.

The new Aspire TimelineX notebook PCs are perfect for entertainment thanks to new High-Definition audio support with Dolby Home Theater v4 Audio that delivers crisp and clear sound through its two built-in 3DSonic Stereo speakers and when connected to a home theater system. The notebooks also have HDMI 1080p output, so customers can use a convenient single cable connection to deliver HD video and audio to an external source. In addition, the notebooks have a USB 3.0 port for fast transfers. Plus, the port can charge USB devices even when the notebook is turned off.

The new Acer Aspire TimelineX models feature an HD Widescreen CineCrystal LED-backlit display with 16:9 HD True Cinematic View and excellent 1366x768 resolution for stunning clarity and viewing at any angle. Several models in the new line come with integrated NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M or 520M graphics with NVIDIA Optimus technology to deliver crystal-clear images, brilliant color and lifelike video while maximizing battery life. Additional models feature Intel HD Graphics to provide superb visual performance with sharp images and rich color.

The thin and light TimelineX Series is ideal for staying in touch on the go. The HD webcam has a high 1280x1024 resolution and is placed in the center of the notebook for convenient video-chatting and capturing photos and video. The built-in digital microphone supports the webcam to convey excellent voice quality, while minimizing background noise and echoes. All of the new models have 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi for connecting to wireless networks as well as Gigabit Ethernet LAN for a reliable wired connection. Also, many configurations include Bluetooth.

The Acer Aspire TimelineX 3830T thin and light notebook has a 13.1-inch display, weighs only 4.12 pounds and measures only 0.87-1.15 inches thin. Both the Acer TimelineX 4830T (14-inch screen, 4.88 pounds) and Acer Aspire TimelineX 5830T (15.6-inch screen, 5.6 pounds) come with integrated DVD drives and feature a dedicated numeric keypad for quick and easy number input.

The new Acer Aspire TimelineX notebooks also come with Acer clear.fi, a cross-platform solution for media enjoyment and sharing with DLNA-compliant devices, so customers can easily access, store and enjoy digital media from almost anywhere in an office, home or from the cloud.

Price and Availability

Acer TimelineX 3830T (13.1-inch) → check price
Acer TimelineX 4830T (14.0-inch) → check price
Acer TimelineX 5830T (15.6-inch) → check price

The Acer TimelineX Series notebooks are available at retailers now in the United States at Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Prices starting at $599.99, with standard one-year parts and labor warranty.

HP dv6z with hybrid crossfire @ www.engadget.com

2011-07-05T07:12:00.001-07:00

HP Pavilion dv6z Quad laptop with AMD Llano

By Sharif Sakr posted Jul 4th 2011 7:37PM

AMD's Llano platform might not satisfy everyone's power-lust when housed in a desktop, but stick one of these all-in-one beauties in a laptop and you're good to go. The new HP Pavilion dv6z Quad notebook -- one of 11 new Fusion-powered models from HP -- is a case in point, having just arrived at the company's online store. The base model promises battery life of up to almost six hours, "discrete-class" integrated Radeon graphics with 512MB of video memory, and a 1.4GHz quad-core processor that can be clocked up to 2.3GHz using AMD's Turbo technology. Oh yeah, and there's the real benefit of switching to AMD: that base configuration costs just $650, versus a minimum of $999 for the Intel-equipped dv6t. For the money, you'll also get 6GB of DDR3 memory, a 640GB 5400rpm HDD, a 1366 x 768 display (yes, a glossy one), HDMI output, and a pair of USB 3.0 ports in addition to two of the USB 2.0 variety. We ought to clarify that the sexy steel gray version on the left will cost you $25 extra, but hey, who wants to be "umber gray?"

Alienware M18x with hybrid graphics @ news.cnet.com

2011-06-28T21:22:00.001-07:00

Many of the Linux hybrid graphics team members are using Alienware laptops, which are well supported by acpi_call and bumblebee. The Alienware M18x should be no different:

Nvidia GTX 580M top-end laptop graphics unveiled; already showing up in Origin and Alienware systems

Today Nvidia unveiled its latest high-end laptop GPUs, the GTX 570M and 580M. That's not a huge surprise: the new GTX cards round out the "500 series" of GT and GTX graphics that have been available throughout the year. One feature Nvidia's particularly touting is the GTX 580's Optimus automatic switching, which should offer up "5 hours of battery life in Facebook," in case you measure your juice through social networking.

Nvidia promises that the GTX 580M is the fastest laptop graphics card anywhere, ever--the benchmark comparisons were leveled against the AMD Radeon 6970M. That bears watching, but at least know for now that the GTX 580M will be available on the Alienware M18x in single- or dual-card configurations and soon on the Alienware M17x, as well as on Origin's EON laptops, the Clevo P170HM3 and P270WM. MSI's GT780R gaming laptop will feature the slightly stepped-down GTX 570M.

We'll report more when we have a GTX 580M laptop to test, but here's one question that bears answering: who's gaming with top-end graphics

Alienware M18x: upgraded with the GeForce GTX 580M.

(Credit: Dell)

Acer 5742G hybryid graphics

2011-06-25T07:15:00.001-07:00

One of the team members reported on the Acer 7542G DSDT method for hybrid graphics:

Used "\_SB.PCI0.P0P2.VGA.PX02". Power went down by 5mW & battery life increased by about an hour.

We will add method to the main acpi_call branch soon.

Asus U36 with nvidia optimus @ www.engadget.com

2011-06-23T11:52:00.001-07:00

Remember to check-out http://launchpad.net/~hybrid-graphics-linux for Linux nvidia optimus support.

ASUS U36 ultraportable laptop now available in UK, £699 for 'world's thinnest standard voltage i5'

The nanometer-coated ASUS U36 is the world's thinnest notebook with standard voltage Intel Core i5 processor

The U36 notebook is the world's thinnest laptop to harness the power of a standard voltage Intel® Core™ i5 processor, giving you the freedom to stay light and connected on the move without compromising on mobile performance.

ASUS Super Hybrid Engine (with the ability to switch off USB 3.0 functionality) combined with NVIDIA graphics and Optimus technology saves power for when it's needed most to deliver an incredible 11.5 hours battery life*.

With an ultra-thin chassis (only 19mm thick) made from lightweight magnesium alloy with nanometer coating, the U36 is not only practical by repelling dirt, water and fingerprint marks, but is a head-turning accessory for even the most fashion-conscious users, both at home and on the go.

Two videos, including a hands-on demonstration of its key features, are available at http://techinstyle.tv/products/the-stunning-u36-ultra-portable-notebook-launches-in-the-uk.

The U36 is priced at £699 inc VAT and is available now in-store and online from Micro Anvika (www.anvika.com/product/asus-u36jc-rx197x-13-3-w7p-4gb-500gb/asu14503) and before the end of June from Comet www.comet.co.uk

Key Features:

* Standard voltage Intel® Core™ i5 processor

* Ultra-thin chassis only 19mm thick and weighing 1.44kg

* Up to 11.5 hours battery life*

* ASUS Super Hybrid Engine with USB 3.0 toggle

* NVIDIA Graphics with Optimus technology

* Magnesium alloy finish with nanometer coating

* 13.3" HD TFT display (1366 x 768)

* 500GB storage

* 802.11 b/g/n wireless

* 5 in 1 card reader

Enjoy maximum power without the burden:

Unlike other ultra-thin notebooks (which use low voltage CPUs to gain cooling and power consumption benefits) the U36 has broken the mould in design innovation by unleashing the superior performance of a standard voltage Intel® Core™ i5 processor from within a delightfully sleek 19mm chassis.

This bold step forward is owed to ASUS's dual heat pipe design, which effectively dissipates heat from the processor without adding any extra bulk – keeping the notebook cool and your bag even lighter.

Up to 11.5 hours battery life for all-day computing:

The U36 notebook integrates ASUS's Super Hybrid Engine technology which intelligently manages energy consumption based on whether you're simply checking emails and browsing the net, or using more power-hungry applications such as video editing or playing games.

The NVIDIA graphics card ensures movies and games are blasted out in crystal clear quality for a smooth, uninterrupted experience, whilst Optimus technology cleverly switches between onboard or discrete graphics without any user intervention, so it won't waste power where it's not needed.

With up to 10 hours battery life* as standard, the U36 also offers the ability to switch off USB 3.0 functionality in order to squeeze an extra 1.5 hours on top for a whopping overall 11.5 hours* battery life and the reassurance that you won't be left in the dark away from home.

Stay on trend with the sleek and soft magnesium alloy finish:

The U36's slender chassis is just 19mm at the thickest point, and is designed using ultra-light magnesium alloy for a truly chic finish that is incredibly lightweight (1.44kg).

What's more, with a soft-touch nanometer coating the U36 is repellent of dirt, fingerprints and even water (no more panic when it starts to drizzle), whilst the seamless chiclet keyboard is easier to clean and prevents the build-up of dust. This thoughtful design helps to keep the laptop looking beautiful even after hours of exposure to every kind of environment from the home to trains or when stowed in hand luggage.

With metallic choices in silver or black, the U36 is bang on-trend this season and the ideal choice for a tech chic style both at home and away.

Pricing and Availability:

The U36 is priced at £699 inc VAT and is available now in-store and online from Micro Anvika (www.anvika.com/product/asus-u36jc-rx197x-13-3-w7p-4gb-500gb/asu14503) and before the end of June from Comet www.comet.co.uk

Powerful Asus U41JF with nvidia optimus in a thin and light design @ www.asus.com

2011-06-15T02:32:00.001-07:00

Here are the specs for the Asus U41JF model, another powerful hybrid-graphics laptop from ASUS:

U41JF

Intel® Core™ i5 Processor

ASUS U41 Series brings power in a thin and light design

Powered by a Super Hybrid Engine-boosted standard voltage Intel® Core™ i3 or i5 processor
Super Hybrid Engine extends battery life to 10 hours for all-day, on-the-go computing
Elegant design that comes in under an inch thick for maximum portability.

Add To Compare List Print

Fujitsu LifeBook T901 with nvidia optimus @ akihabaranews.com

2011-06-15T01:17:00.001-07:00

For those into tablet PCs, here is a new model with nvidia optimus from Fujitsu:

Fujitsu’s LifeBook T901 tablet PC available now

If you loved the Fujitsu LifeBook T900 convertible tablet PC, then you’ll love the newest tablet PC available from Fujitsu, the LifeBook T901, which is now available to the US market.

This follow-up to the T900 features a 13.3-inch 1280 x 768 resolution LCD that supports NVIDIA Optimus graphics, Windows 7 Professional 32-bit, has five-finger gesture support for $100 extra, and other upgrades include a 2nd gen Intel Core processor with options up to the i7-2620M (2.70 GHz, 4 MB L3 cache) with Turbo Boost up to 3.4 GHz, HDMI, an integrated fingerprint sensor, the onboard drive is now SATA II, formerly SATA, with storage up to 500GB 7200 rpm HDD or 256GB SSD and a modular bay allows a Blu-Ray writer option or you can use it for a second battery or hard drive.

The T900 comes with Intel HD 3000 integrated graphics as the base option, but an upgrade to NVIDIA NVS 4200M GPU (1 GB Video RAM) with Optimus technology is also available, although the added graphics adds a wait until June for this tablet PC.

Sound like a great deal? Get it now starting at $1,899.

Blingtastic Toshiba Qosmio X770 with nvidia optimus @ www.engadget.com

2011-06-14T02:09:00.001-07:00

Now that acpi_call, byo-switcheroo and bumblebee are making life a bit easier for hybrid-graphics linux users, we can afford to have a look at what other laptops are popping up out there. Here is the blingtastic Toshiba Qosmio X770 model:

Toshiba outs blingtastic Qosmio X770 for the US market, new P, C, and L series laptops

By Dana Wollman posted Jun 14th 2011 3:00AM

See that refined beast? You're looking at the Toshiba Qosmio X770 -- that European gaming behemoth we ogled from afar last month -- and in a matter of weeks, it'll continue its world tour to land on US shores. To recap, the company shrunk the screen from 18.4 inches to a more manageable 17.3, gave it a paint job that ever-so-subtly fades from red to gunmetal gray, and added a matching red backlit keyboard. This beefy guy comes in $1,199 and $1,899 configurations, with the higher-end model packing a 3D display, quad-core Core i7 CPU, and a 1.25TB hybrid hard drive, and the lower end offering a dual-core Core i5 CPU and a 750GB HDD. Either way, though, you'll get NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M graphics, 1.5GB of video memory, and MaxxAudio3 sound enhancement software.

Meanwhile, Toshiba streamlined its consumer laptops for those non-gamers in the back-to-school crowd, axing the A and M lines, and leaving just the P series, for "premium." It'll include 14-, 15.6-, and 17.3-inch models, all decked out in a textured, two-tone Fuxion X2 finish and featuring USB sleep-and-charge ports, HDMI-out, Harman Kardon speakers, and that same MaxxAudio 3 utility. Depending on the configuration, you can also score NVIDIA GeForce GT540M graphics, Intel Wireless Display, a 4G radio, a Blu-ray drive, and a 3D screen (only on the 15-incher). On the inside, you've got your choice of Intel Core i3, i5, and i7 CPUs or a spankin' new A6-3400M accelerated processing unit from AMD. Look for the 14-inch P745 with a starting price of $699, and 15-inch P755 and the 17-inch P775 for $629 and up.

And, rounding out its portfolio, Toshiba refreshed its budget Satellite L700 series with Core 2011 processors and new AMD A4 and A6 APUs, while the entry-level Satellite C800 gets AMD Fusion C-50 and E-350 APU options. None of these laptops go on sale until later this month, so for now you can content yourself with those up-close-and-personal hands-on shots below.

Toshiba Qosmio X770

Toshiba Satellite P700 Series

Show full PR text

Hybrid graphics Linux on Samsung sf310-S03

2011-06-11T13:00:00.001-07:00

One of the team members reported that acpi_call works with samsung sf310-S03:

acpi to turn on:

echo _ON $(acpi_call "\_SB.PCI0.P0P2.PEGP._ON")
echo _PS0 $(acpi_call "\_SB.PCI0.P0P2.PEGP._PS0")

acpi to turn off:

echo NVOP $(acpi_call "\_SB.PCI0.P0P2.PEGP._OFF")
echo _PS3 $(acpi_call "\_SB.PCI0.P0P2.PEGP._PS3")

PS0 & PS3 are power state values: PS0 is fully powered and PS3 is powered off.

vsync needs to be disabled or your tests with the intel card will be useless:
$ export vblank_mode=0

Thanks @alphac for your post!

Hybrid Graphics Linux @ launchpad.net reaches 700 active members!

2011-06-08T05:01:00.001-07:00

It was on Feb 2010 that the Hybrid Graphics Linux Launchpad team was created, and since then the team members have been successful in bringing decent switchable graphics and GPU offloading capabilities to Linux with projects like vga_switcheroo, acpi_call or bumblebee:

Bumblebee -- allows you to run specific programs on the discrete graphic card, inside of an X session using the integrated graphic card. Works on Nvidia Optimus cards -- by Martin Juhl
asus_switcheroo -- a solution for Intel/Nvidia switching on ASUS and other laptops with a similar hardware mux -- by Alex Williamson
byo_switcheroo -- a solution to build your own handler (like acpi_call) to switch between cards with vga_switcheroo -- by Alex Williamson
vga_switcheroo -- the original GPU switching solution primarily for Intel/ATI notebooks -- by David Airlie
acpi_call -- allows you to switch off discrete graphics card to improve battery life -- by Michal Kottman
PRIME -- long-term Optimus solution in progress -- by David Airlie
hybrid-windump -- dump window using Nvidia onto Intel display -- by Florian Berger and Joakim Gebart

If you have a hybrid graphics laptop and use Linux, please join the team. If you are already subscribed and are annoyed by receiving too many emails, please don't deactivate your account, just add a filter to your email manager, all emails to the list contain this tag:

[Hybrid-graphics-linux]

For more information:

https://launchpad.net/~hybrid-graphics-linux

http://hybrid-graphics-linux.tuxfamily.org

Follow this blog for updates...

Samsung RF511 linux hybrid graphics optimus

2011-06-08T01:35:00.001-07:00

One of the team members reported the L702X acpi_call script also works for the Samsung

RF511 and possibly for the RF711 model:

https://lists.launchpad.net/hybrid-graphics-linux/msg00677.html

Find the step-by-step instructions here:

http://linux-hybrid-graphics.blogspot.com/2011/06/dell-l702x-linux-hybrid-graphics-step.html

Dell L702X Linux hybrid graphics step-by-step

2011-06-07T02:39:00.001-07:00

sudo apt-get install git

# type password

git clone http://github.com/mkottman/acpi_call.git

cd acpi_call

make

sudo insmod acpi_call.ko

# Download the script

wget http://lists.launchpad.net/hybrid-graphics-linux/sh3hFub0KkvH.sh

mv sh3hFub0KkvH.sh dellL702X.sh

chmod +x dellL702X.sh

# Try to switch the card off

./dellL702X.sh off

# Try to switch the card back on

./dellL702X.sh on

Aspire TimelineX AS3830TG with hybrid graphics @ www.engadget.com

2011-06-06T23:38:00.001-07:00

Acer announces redesigned Aspire TimelineX Series laptops, prices start at $599

By Dana Wollman posted Jun 7th 2011 12:01AM

If Acer's current Aspire TimelineX notebooks look a little too dull for your tastes, have a peek at that industrial-looking number in the picture above. The company just redesigned its line of skinny laptops, and refreshed them with Sandy Bridge processors while it was at it. The 13.1-inch 3830T, 14-inch 4830T, and 15.6-inch 5830T all have that two-tone aluminum design (also available in black), along with USB 3.0, a choice of Core i3 and Core i5 CPUs, and Acer's clear.fi software for sharing media among DLNA devices. The 14- and 15.6-inch versions have onboard optical drives and number pads, and, on select models, you can choose a discrete NVIDIA GeForce GT520M or GT540M card. However, the screen resolution is going to be 1366 x 768 regardless of which you pick. The 3830T, 4830T, and 5830T are available now, starting at $799, $699, and $599, respectively, and you can find specs for a handful of models after the break.

Acer Aspire TimelineX 3830T, 4830T, and 5830T

Acer Aspire TimelineX series hands-on

Acer Aspire TimelineX AS3830TG-6431 ($779.99)
_ 2nd Generation Intel Core i5-2410M Processor 2.30GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 2.90GHz
_ 13.3" HD Widescreen CineCrystal™ LED-backlit display (1366x768 resolution, 16:90 aspect ratio)
_ Mobile Intel HM65 Express Chipset
_ 4096MB DDR3 Dual-Channel 1066MHz Memory
_ NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M with 1GB DDR3 VRAM
_ 500GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
_ 1.3 Megapixel HD Webcam
_ Multi-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader
_ 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi CERTIFIED
_ 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
_ Bluetooth 3.0+HS
_ Dolby Advanced Home Theater v4 Audio Enhancement
_ Two Built-in Acer 3DSonic Stereo Speakers
_ High Definition Audio Support
_ 2 - USB 2.0 Ports & 1 - USB 3.0 Port
_ 1 - HDMI Port with HDCP Support
_ VGA Port
_ Multi-Gesture Touchpad
_ Media Control Function Keys
_ 6-cell Li-ion Battery (6000 mAh)
_ Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
_ Microsoft® Office Starter 2010
_ 4.12 lbs. (system unit only)

Acer Aspire TimelineX AS4830T-6642 ($699.99)
_ 2nd Generation Intel Core i5-2410M Processor 2.30GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 2.90GHz
_ 14" HD Widescreen CineCrystal™ LED-backlit display (1366x768 resolution, 16:90 aspect ratio)
_ Mobile Intel HM65 Express Chipset
_ 4096MB DDR3 Dual-Channel 1066MHz Memory
_ Intel HD Graphics 3000
_ 640GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
_ 8X DVD-super multi double-layer drive
_ 1.3 Megapixel HD Webcam
_ Multi-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader
_ 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi CERTIFIED
_ 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
_ Bluetooth 3.0+HS
_ Dolby Advanced Home Theater® v4 Audio Enhancement
_ Two Built-in Acer 3DSonic Stereo Speakers
_ High Definition Audio Support
_ 2 USB 2.0 Ports & 1 - USB 3.0 Port
_ 1 HDMI Port with HDCP Support
_ VGA Port
_ Multi-Gesture Touchpad
_ Dedicated Numeric Keypad
_ Media Control Function Keys
_ 6-cell Li-ion Battery (6000 mAh)
_ Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
_ Microsoft Office Starter 2010
_ 4.88 lbs. (system unit only)

Acer Aspire TimelineX AS5830T-6862 ($599.99)
_ 2nd Generation Intel Core i3-2310M Processor 2.1GHz
_ 15.6" HD Widescreen CineCrystal™ LED-backlit display (1366x768 resolution, 16:90 aspect ratio)
_ Mobile Intel HM65 Express Chipset
_ 4096MB DDR3 Dual-Channel 1066MHz Memory
_ Intel HD Graphics 3000 with 128 dedicated system memory
_ 640GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
_ 8X DVD-super multi double-layer drive
_ 1.3 Megapixel HD Webcam
_ Multi-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader
_ Dolby Advanced Home Theater v4 Audio Enhancement
_ Two Built-in Acer 3DSonic Stereo Speakers
_ 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi CERTIFIED
_ 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
_ Bluetooth 3.0+HS
_ High Definition Audio Support
_ 3 USB 2.0 Ports & 1 - USB 3.0 Port
_ 1 HDMI Port with HDCP Support
_ VGA Port
_ Multi-Gesture Touchpad
_ Dedicated Numeric Keypad
_ Media Control Function Keys
_ 6-cell Li-ion Battery (6000 mAh)
_ Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
_ Microsoft Office Starter 2010
_ 5.6 lbs. (system unit only)

Lenovo T420 Linux hybrid graphics bumblebee and acpi_call

2011-06-06T07:16:00.001-07:00

One of the team member found a way to switch on/off the card on the Lenovo T420 4180W1H model using this acpi_call script:

https://lists.launchpad.net/hybrid-graphics-linux/shmIj3d0AfAT.sh

This email has all the details:

https://lists.launchpad.net/hybrid-graphics-linux/msg01387.html

Dell XPS L702X Nvidia Optimus Linux bumblebee and acpi_call

2011-06-05T11:49:00.001-07:00

One of our hybrid graphics team members has wriiten a dellL702X script to turn on/off the nvidia card from the Dell XPS L702X model using acpi_call.

Attachment: dellL702X.sh

For more info on acpi_call and its integration into bumblebee, check the launchpad website:

http://launchpad.net/~hybrid-graphics-linux

Virtu Universal for Sandy Bridge chips in Windows @ www.engadget.com

2011-06-02T02:15:00.001-07:00

LucidLogix brings GPU virtualization to AMD notebooks, all-in-ones, keeps sharing the graphics love

By Christopher Trout posted Jun 1st 2011 9:38PM

Late last year, LucidLogix introduced us to Virtu, the GPU virtualization software that makes disparate GPUs play nice on Sandy Bridge PCs, and now its extending the love to AMDBulldozer and Brazos machines. The latest version of the software, dubbed Virtu Universal, also extends GPU virtualization to all-in-ones and notebooks (on both AMD and Intel), enabling simple switching between discrete graphics and the integrated ilk. What's more, the program ushers in the debut of Virtual Vsync, which claims to bring "maximum gaming frame rates and responsiveness, while eliminating distracting and image-distorting visual tearing."

Linux support: current list of nvidia optimus laptops -- report at Launchpad website

2011-05-30T03:33:00.001-07:00

The hybrid-graphics-linux launchpad group has been seeing lots of users try the acpi_call, byo-switcheroo and bumblebee solutions for hybrid graphics laptops in Linux. Many of the laptops are now well supported both for the nvidia and the AMD/ATI configurations, but there is a list of them for which support is still not complete. See below the list of current laptops with the nvidia optimus solution. If you have one of them and use Linux, please have a look at the Launchpad website:

https://launchpad.net/~hybrid-graphics-linux

Current list of nvidia optimus laptops

--------------------

Alienware M11x

ASUS K93C

ASUS K73C

ASUS K53SD

ASUS K43SD

ASUS N53SV

ASUS N53SD

ASUS N73

ASUS N43SL/SV/SD

ASUS N71JV

ASUS N82JV

ASUS U30JC

ASUS U35JC

ASUS U45JC

ASUS U33JC

ASUS U43JC

ASUS U53JC

ASUS UL30JT

ASUS UL80JT

ASUS N53JN

ASUS N73JN

ASUS N61JV

Clevo W170HM

Clevo W150HM

Clevo B5100

Dell XPS 14

Dell XPS 15

Dell XPS 17

Falcon Northwest TLX

Lenovo ThinkPad T410s

Lenovo Y460

Lenovo Z360

MSI GE620

Packard Bell EasyNote TX86 (SJM50-CP)

Sager NP5125

Sager NP7110

Toshiba Satellite A665

Toshiba Satellite A665-S6058

Toshiba Satellite M645-S4055

Dell XPS 15z with nvidia optimus @ www.engadget.com

2011-05-23T19:35:00.001-07:00

Dell XPS 15z review

By Sean Hollister posted May 23rd 2011 9:09PM

Review

For years, Dell's been teasing supermodel-thin laptops, each one flawed out of the gate: too pricey, too underpowered, and with underwhelming battery life. This time, Dell told us we'd get something different -- a laptop without compromise. Recently, Round Rock killed off the Adamo and nixed the XPS 14, and then rumors started to spin -- a spiritual successor would be the slimmest 15.6-inch notebook we'd ever seen, be crafted from "special materials" and yet cost less than $1,000. Dell even stated that it would have an "innovative new form factor" of some sort.

The company neglected to mention it would look like a MacBook Pro.

This is the Dell XPS 15z, and we're sorry to say it's not a thin-and-light -- it's actually a few hairs thicker than a 15-inch MacBook Pro, wider, and at 5.54 pounds, it weighs practically the same. It is, however, constructed of aluminum and magnesium alloy and carries some pretty peppy silicon inside, and the base model really does ring up at $999. That's a pretty low price to garner comparisons to Apple's flagship, and yet here we are. Has Dell set a new bar for the notebook PC market? Find out after the break.

Dell XPS 15z unboxing and hands-on

Design

Clean lines, smooth curves, and vast expanses of beautifully textured metal, cool to the touch -- the MacBook Pro has captivated Apple fans for years, and there's no doubt Dell's trying to capture much of the same charm. From the aluminum chassis to the placement of the speakers, DVD drives and majority of ports... heck, even the tiny arrow key bars on the backlit keyboard and feet on the bottom of the chassis are cribbed from Apple's product.

It's honestly difficult to find anything on the entire notebook that feels wholly original, though there are a few Dell tweaks -- the speakers and vents have the same pattern as those on the Inspiron Duo, and last year's XPS lineup contributed its distinctive hinged screen, which lies flat on top of the notebook rather than forming a traditional clamshell case. You'll also find plenty of chrome trim, ringing both the chassis and the oversized touchpad.

But let's get this out of the way right now: though the XPS 15z most definitely looks like a MacBook Pro and sports similar materials, you'll wind up disappointed if you're expecting the same exacting attention to detail. You're looking at an aluminum and magnesium alloy sandwich here, not a unibody frame, and much of that metal is thin enough to flex under a little bit of pressure. While typing, we noticed that if we put a little weight on the keyboard, we'd oh-so-slightly squish the whole frame, not enough to make a lasting impression, but enough to audibly restrict airflow to the system fan. And -- at least in our pre-production model -- that aforementioned chrome trim had rough edges that slightly chafed our wrists. We also have to laugh at Dell's decision to place all the I/O ports in a row on the left-hand side, just like Apple's rig, as we've often felt Cupertino sacrificed function for form in so doing.

Dell XPS 15z vs. 15-inch MacBook Pro (2011)

Still, it's a very attractive machine...

Display / Speakers / Keyboard / Trackpad

...and it looks even better when you lift the lid to find this optional 300-nit 1920 x 1080 screen. Yes, while Apple fans still have to settle for a 1680 x 1050 pixel picture in a 15-inch chassis, an extra $150 buys the XPS 15z a full 1080p display, allowing for high-res movies, games, and wonderfully roomy split-screen multitasking. It's a pretty bright, beautiful picture on this particular screen, too, and though the contrast isn't quite as high as we'd like, Dell's software will automatically adjust the backlight to give you the best out of your blacks and whites. It's also quite glossy, unfortunately, and viewing angles are pretty terrible here, as the picture becomes far less vibrant if you shift your head even slightly to the left or right.

That's a shame, considering that the XPS 15z's speakers sound like they're designed to be shared. We're not sure what kind of drivers lie beneath those patterned grilles, but they sure are loud, and create a wide soundstage perfect for movies and games even though they have little bass to speak of. They're also a little shrill at maximum volume, but they're still a cut above most laptop speakers we've used.

Dell's been on a chiclet keyboard bent as of late -- following the global trend -- and while opinions differ regarding whether floating islands or distinct grids make for better typing, we can't complain about the sea of squares on the XPS 15z. As we've already alluded to, Mac users will find themselves completely at home with the layout, and the keys themselves are fairly friendly, too -- rounded, comfortable, slightly convex little squares and rectangles with a smooth, rubbery action and nice big tactile guides on the home row. There's no dedicated numpad here, a bit of a shame considering that there's definitely space, but we suppose some things have to be sacrificed for symmetry and a pair of speakers loud enough to fill the room.

Speaking of symmetry, you'll find the XPS 15z trackpad front and center in the experience, and we're happy to say it's a fairly pleasant one -- the oversized Cypress pad is quick, responsive and accurate for single-finger input, and comes with a pair of large, clicky and satisfying mouse buttons. What's more, it does two, three and four-finger multitouch gestures, though you'll note we didn't include them in the "quick, responsive and accurate" part. Some work amazingly well (swipe four fingers sideways to engage Windows Flip 3D, then drag one to flip through your open apps) and some fail miserably (far too often, the trackpad detected a pinch-to-zoom motion when we intended to do two-finger scrolling). You can tailor gestures at whim in the Cypress settings page, but we were surprised to find that our changes didn't stick. The next time we rebooted the machine, those problematic default settings were back again.

Did we mention that the entire palmrest is made of magnesium alloy, including those speaker grilles? The whole surface you interact with is smooth, durable, and dirt-resistant too, as the only way we were able to leave a visible fingerprint was by touching the glossy screen itself. We should note, however, that the metallic surface is a double-edged sword here. We noticed that our fingers were getting mighty toasty during a benchmark, as if the computer was venting hot air right right onto our skin, and during an intensive session of Bulletstorm, we found the magnesium spacers between the crucial WASD keys was burning hot to the touch. It seems that Dell may have put some important silicon right underneath those keys, so you may want an external keyboard at your next LAN party.

Performance and battery life

Yes, you heard us right, a LAN -- the XPS 15z may not be a gaming rig per se, but for $999 there's more than enough power under the hood for a few frag sessions. Even the base model is loaded with a dual-core 2.3GHz Intel Core i5-2410M processor, switchable NVIDIA GeForce GT525M graphics with 1GB of memory, and 6GB of DDR3 RAM, a 7200RPM hard drive and loads of high-end connectivity. You'll find a gigabit Ethernet jack keeping the power socket company around back, two USB 3.0 ports on the left-hand side, along with one eSATA / USB 2.0 combo port, one Mini DisplayPort, and an HDMI 1.4 jack, a pair of 3.5mm headphone and microphone jacks on the right, and a dual-band Intel 802.11a/g/n WiFi radio inside.

What can all that do in practice? Well, we're actually not quite sure about those particular specs, since we actually received the 2.7GHz Core i7-2620M version with 2GB of dedicated graphics memory and 8GB of RAM. That kind of rig will run you $1,534, but it'll also do some potent processing.

Case in point: We launched our Chrome browser with a dozen Engadget tabs, started playing a DVD copy of Hitch, fired up a 720p windowed version of Batman: Arkham Asylum, and started opening windowed 1080p movie trailers for The Dark Knight all at the same time... and it was only after the third concurrent trailer on top of our perfectly playable game session and DVD movie that we started noticing a little slowdown. In other words, multitasking is a go, and in case you're wondering, Windows told us that particular load still only used 80 percent of our available CPU cycles.

The XPS 15z also pulled its weight in a dedicated gaming scenario, playing that same Batman: Arkham Asylum at 1080p with all settings maxed save AA, and managed to deliver 30FPS on average. Similarly, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare gave us around 40FPS with 4xAA and all settings maxed. Bulletstorm proved pretty taxing, though: we had to drop resolution to 1366 x 768 and reduce details to medium to make that game playable. If you're aching for some more theoretical benchmarks, our XPS 15z pulled scores of E1511, P894 and X282 in 3DMark11, and earned 8023 PCMarks in PCMark Vantage and 7,317 in 3DMark06. By the by, boot times weren't amazing, but they're certainly not bad, as we clocked 40 seconds for the machine to load into Windows, or about a minute for the machine to finish loading startup programs and be completely ready for use.

	PCMarkVantage	3DMark06	Battery Life
Dell XPS M15z (Core i7-2620M, GeForce GT525M 2GB)	8,023	7,317	3:41 / 4:26
MacBook Pro (Core i7-2720QM, Radeon 6750M)	8,041	10,262	7:27
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 (Core i5-2410M)	7,787	3,726	3:31 / 6:57
Samsung Series 9 (Core i5-2537M)	7,582	2,240	4:20
Lenovo ThinkPad X220	7,635	3,517	7:19
ASUS U36Jc (Core i5 / NVIDIA GeForce 310M)	5,981	2,048 / 3,524	5:30
ASUS U33Jc-A1 (Core i3-370M, GeForce 310M)	5,574	1,860 / 3,403	5:10
Toshiba Portege R705 (Core i3-350M)	5,024	1,739 / 3,686	4:25
Notes: the higher the score the better. For 3DMark06, the first number reflects score with GPU off, the second with it on.

We'd mentioned that Dell's previous attempts at premium systems failed price, power and battery life tests. With the XPS 15z, well... two out of three ain't bad. Despite the fact that the NVIDIA Optimus GPU turns off when not fully taxed (powering the laptop's display with integrated Intel HD 3000 Graphics instead), we weren't able to get much more than three and a half hours of regular use out of our review unit. Turning to our standard battery drain test (where we loop a standard-definition video with the screen at roughly 65 percent brightness, and with WiFi on), we saw much the same thing -- 3 hours, 41 minutes of use from the sealed 8-cell, 2.6Ah battery. It occurred to us that perhaps Optimus wasn't actually switching off the discrete GPU at the most appropriate intervals, and sure enough, we were able to eke out a little more runtime by completely disabling it, but you're still looking at 4 hours, 26 minutes of use. That's not bad, all things considered, but it's a good sight worse than the 8.5 hours of life that Dell's advertising here, and if the company wants to make a dent in the MacBook Pro's armor, it'll have to do better than that.

Software and Stage UI

The XPS 15z comes with the usual array of mostly unobtrusive bloatware, including a trial subscription to Norton Antivirus, the token copies of Microsoft Office Starter and Roxio for your disc burning needs -- but there is one thing out of the ordinary, and that's Dell's Stage UI. That's right -- the company's divorced its custom touchscreen interface from the Inspiron Duo and Streak, and turned it into a launcher bar that sits at the bottom of your desktop. There's no need to fear for your Windows 7 taskbar, though, as Stage buttons are just shortcuts to quickly launch your favorite multimedia, and the gallery, audio, video and podcast players are actually rather good-looking in our honest opinion. If you don't care for the bloat, it's all quickly uninstalled. Everybody wins.

Dell XPS 15z Stage UI and benchmarks

Wrap-up

These two laptops are not equals, but they never had to be -- for hundreds upon hundreds of dollars less than the Mac competition, Dell's unleashed an attractive, powerful and definitely desirable Windows PC -- perhaps desirable enough to woo buyers who prefer Windows but love the Mac aesthetic. We suspect that's Dell's plan here, because while we really appreciate the XPS 15z's metal construction and choice parts, it hasn't really changed the game.

It's no lighter, thinner or particularly better armed than the competition, and when it tried to borrow the MacBook Pro's flair it picked up some of Apple's failings along the way. We're not just talking about the inability to having chunky USB peripherals plugged in at the same time, but rather the ability to configure and upgrade the machine at will. While that dual-core Core i7 processor, NVIDIA GT525M GPU, 8-cell battery and DVD drive are nice to have, that's the best you'll get here -- even though Dell's slightly chunkier XPS 15 is configurable with quad-core processors, faster video options and a Blu-ray drive to deliver extra value to that 1080p screen.

When Dell tells you that the XPS 15z has no compromises, that's not quite the case -- it's a solid choice at this price point, but corners were cut to get there.

NVIDIA announces Optimus for Desktops @ www.anandtech.com

2011-05-22T23:40:00.001-07:00

NVIDIA Synergy to Bring Optimus to Desktops

Bumblebee @ liliputing.com

2011-05-22T22:29:00.001-07:00

Liliputing's article about Bumblebee:

Bumbleebee brings NVIDIA Optimus graphics switching to Linux

More Bumblebee updates -- automatic switching with acpi_call

2011-05-22T03:15:00.001-07:00

Martin Juhl has been relentlessly working on bumblebee and he just started working on automatic switching support for Ubuntu, while work is also being done to support other distributions.

The idea is to have the nvidia card always switched off and automatically switch it on when a program is executed using optirun. Once the program finishes, the card will automatically switch off again. The current implementation uses acpi_call, so only laptop models supported in acpi_call will have this feature working, at least for a while.

For more information:

http://github.com/MrMEEE/bumblebee

http://twitter.com/#!/martinjuhl

PD: Martin's Bumblebee Project open source efforts are being fuelled by RedBull, find his donations account below if you want to buy him more:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=mj%40casalogic%2edk&lc=US&item_name=The%20Bumblebee%20Project%20by%20Martin%20Juhl&amount=3%2e00&currency_code=EUR&currency_code=EUR&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_donateCC_LG%2egif%3aNonHosted

Optimus Fun Merged For Linux 2.6.40 Kernel @ www.phoronix.com

2011-05-11T03:07:00.001-07:00

[Phoronix] Optimus Fun Merged For Linux 2.6.40 Kernel

MXM is a laptop graphics card form-factor + interface specification, and David Airlie added an initial stub driver to talk to the MXM WMI interface.

Testers needed: intel/nvidia: bumblebee now with 32bit and 64bit support

2011-05-11T02:44:00.001-07:00

Try bumblebee for simultaneously using the intel and nvidia cards:
sudo apt-get install git
# type password
git clone http://github.com/MrMEEE/bumblebee.git
cd bumblebee/
sudo ./install.sh
optirun glxgears
optirun glxspheres
# check the speed and compare to running:
glxgears
glxspheres
# If you have google-chrome installed, you can try it with/without optirun and report the FPS values on the mailing list:
optirun google-chrome http://webglsamples.googlecode.com/hg/aquarium/aquarium.html

If you get stuck at any point, generate a bug report with:
sudo sh ./install-files/bumblebee-bugreport

Create a bugreport on github (URL below) and email mj@casalogic.dk the
bug report file in attachment along with the issue number:

http://github.com/MrMEEE/bumblebee/issues

Samsung SF310 with nvidia optimus @ www.pcmag.com

2011-05-11T01:54:00.001-07:00

Samsung SF310 Review & Rating | PCMag.com

product 0.3

May 10, 2011

Samsung SF310

editor rating good
Write a
Review

VIEW SLIDESHOW

Pros
Intel Core i5-480M processor. Nvidia GeForce 310M graphics with automatic switching. Lots of extra features, like Bluetooth 3.0, Sleep-and-Charge, and quick restarts. Good battery life.
Cons
Covered ports are less accessible. Wimpy speakers. Middling performance. Internal battery can't be accessed or replaced by buyer. Small hard drive.
Bottom Line
Some buyers will be intrigued by features like Bluetooth 3.0, Sleep-and-Charge funcationality, and quick restarts, but more discerning buyers may shun the Samsung SF310 for its underutilized components and small hard drive.

Updates in github.com/awilliam code

2011-05-02T02:53:00.001-07:00

The code in github.com/awilliam repository has been updated:

Before the update, when only using asus-switcheroo to power off the
discrete graphics card, it wasn't uncommon for the system to
eventually lock up. This seems to be the result of the nouveau driver
getting a -1 interrupt back and killing the system. The jprobes and
kretprobes code re-request it appropriately.

Updated list of laptops with MXMX:MXDS:_DSM ACPI combination

2011-05-02T02:45:00.001-07:00

People in the team have been providing details on the ACPI tables for more laptop models.

A few weeks ago, a new module was written that enables login/logout switching via this module:

https://github.com/awilliam/asus-switcheroo

If your laptop is in the list below and you want to try the new module, you can execute the following

commands in a terminal:

sudo apt-get install git
# enter your password
git clone git://github.com/awilliam/asus-switcheroo.git
cd asus-switcheroo
make
modprobe -r nouveau
insmod ./asus-switcheroo.ko
modprobe nouveau

Here is an updated list of the laptops with the MXMX:MXDS:_DSM ACPI combination:

03 Acer.5742G.DSDT.dsl {        MXDS => 18      MXMX => 8       _DSM => 19 }
03 Acer.5935g.DSDT.dsl {        MXDS => 18      MXMX => 8       _DSM => 5 }
03 Acer.Aspire.5935.DSDT.dsl { MXDS => 18      MXMX => 8       _DSM => 5 }
03 Asus.K42Jc.DSDT.dsl {        MXDS => 2       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 4 }
03 Asus.K52Jc.DSDT.dsl {        MXDS => 2       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 4 }
03 Asus.K53SV.DSDT.dsl {        MXDS => 2       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 8 }
03 Asus.N53Jf.DSDT.2.dsl {      MXDS => 2       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 4 }
03 Asus.N53Jf.DSDT.dsl {        MXDS => 2       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 4 }
03 Asus.N53Jg.DSDT.dsl {        MXDS => 2       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 4 }
03 Asus.N53SN.DSDT.dsl {        MXDS => 2       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 6 }
03 Asus.N53SV.DSDT.dsl {        MXDS => 2       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 6 }
03 Asus.N61JV.DSDT.dsl {        MXDS => 2       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 8 }
03 Asus.N71JV.DSDT.dsl {        MXDS => 2       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 4 }
03 Asus.N73JF.DSDT.dsl {        MXDS => 2       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 5 }
03 Asus.N73SV.DSDT.dsl {        MXDS => 2       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 8 }
03 Asus.P52JC.DSDT.dsl {        MXDS => 2       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 4 }
03 Asus.U30JC.DSDT.dsl {        MXDS => 2       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 4 }
03 Asus.U33JC.DSDT.dsl {        MXDS => 1       MXMX => 1       _DSM => 1 }
03 Asus.U35JC.DSDT.2.dsl {      MXDS => 2       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 4 }
03 Asus.U35JC.DSDT.dsl {        MXDS => 2       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 4 }
03 Asus.U36JC.DSDT.dsl {        MXDS => 2       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 4 }
03 Asus.UL30VT.DSDT.dsl {       MXDS => 2       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 5 }
03 Asus.UL50VT.DSDT.dsl {       MXDS => 2       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 5 }
03 Asus.UL80VT.1.0.DSDT.dsl {   MXDS => 2       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 5 }
03 HP.dm3.DSDT.dsl {    MXDS => 18      MXMX => 10      _DSM => 6 }
03 HP.SLIC-MPC.DSDT.dsl {       MXDS => 18      MXMX => 10      _DSM => 6 }
03 Lenovo.T410.2516CTO.DSDT.dsl {       MXDS => 5       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 5 }
03 Lenovo.T410s.DSDT.2.dsl {    MXDS => 5       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 5 }
03 Lenovo.T410s.DSDT.dsl {      MXDS => 5       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 5 }
03 Lenovo.T510.DSDT.dsl {       MXDS => 5       MXMX => 2       _DSM => 5 }
03 Sony.Vaio.VPCZ136GG.DSDT.dsl {       MXDS => 14      MXMX => 10      _DSM => 19 }
03 Sony.Vaio.VPCZ13V9E.DSDT.dsl {       MXDS => 14      MXMX => 10      _DSM => 19 }
03 Sony.VGN-Z12GN_B.DSDT.dsl { MXDS => 14      MXMX => 10      _DSM => 5 }
03 Sony.VGN-Z51XG.DSDT.dsl {    MXDS => 14      MXMX => 10      _DSM => 5 }
03 Sony.VPCZ12C5E.DSDT.dsl {    MXDS => 14      MXMX => 10      _DSM => 19 }

github.com/awilliam module explained

2011-04-22T07:27:00.001-07:00

An updated README for this module now provides a theory of operation for the vga switcheroo:

https://github.com/awilliam/asus-switcheroo/blob/master/README

To switch between the integrated and discrete cards, a vga switcher subsystem exists in recent Linux kernels that takes into account different clients - the cards - and handles them according to what the user wants - with the handler.

Right now a client has to be associated to an X session, so to switch clients, one has to logout, switch and login again. The Optimus PRIME project for multi-GPU support aims at a more seamless use of both cards at the same time (see http://xorg.freedesktop.org/wiki/SummerOfCodeIdeas).

Back to the awilliam's module, the handler primarily manages the multiplexing of for the displays between the devices using ACPI. This module is an ACPI based handler that makes the right ACPI calls to notify the cards to the X session.

Now one of the tricky bits is that one has to make use of the available ACPI calls, and these are sometimes vendor-specific. A bunch of ASUS models and a few other laptop models have the MXMX-MXDS ACPI method, which works like this: the handler first calls the MXMX method followed by the MXDS method to produce the right hardware switch. The parameters don't seem to matter much for the tested laptops so far, but we might find that this is different for other laptop models. This vendor-specific ACPI calling is not ideal, and it would be better to have the details of the more generic WMI MXM interface, that extends ACPI.

Linux Nouveau intel/nvidia working with github.com/awilliam module for Asus UL30VT - Asus UL50VT - Asus UL80VT 1 0 - HP dm3 - HP SLIC-MPC - Lenovo T410 2516CTO - Lenovo T410s - Lenovo T510 - Sony Vaio VPCZ136GG - Sony Vaio VPCZ13V9E - Sony VGN-Z51XG - Sony VPCZ12C5E

2011-04-21T02:49:00.001-07:00

Hi,

There is a new module that provides hybrid graphics functionalities
using the nouveau drivers. Both the Intel and Nvidia cards can be used
with this method. It has been tested on an Asus UL30VT, but should
work for the following laptop models:

Asus.UL30VT
Asus.UL50VT
Asus.UL80VT.1.0
HP.dm3
HP.SLIC-MPC
Lenovo.T410.2516CTO
Lenovo.T410s
Lenovo.T510
Sony.Vaio.VPCZ136GG
Sony.Vaio.VPCZ13V9E
Sony.VGN-Z51XG
Sony.VPCZ12C5E
Acer 5742G
Acer 5935g
Acer Aspire 5935
Asus K42Jc
Asus K52Jc
Asus N53Jf
Asus N53Jf
Asus N53SN
Asus N53SV
Asus N61JV
Asus N71JV
Asus N73SV
Asus P52JC
Asus U30JC
Asus U33JC
Asus U35JC
Asus U35JC
Asus U36JC

People with these laptop models willing to give it a try, please read
the following:

https://github.com/awilliam/asus-switcheroo/blob/master/README

git clone git://github.com/awilliam/asus-switcheroo.git
cd asus-switcheroo; make; modprobe -r nouveau; insmod ./asus-switcheroo.ko; modprobe nouveau

and report back by replying to this email thread:

https://lists.launchpad.net/hybrid-graphics-linux/msg00801.html

Cheers,

Albert.

Asus bamboo upgraded to Sandy Bridge @ www.engadget.com

2011-04-20T11:48:00.001-07:00

This laptop comes with an Nvidia Optimus configuration: Integrated Intel® GMA HD and
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 520M with 1GB DDR3 VRAM.

ASUS' bamboo-plated U43SD laptop graduates to Sandy Bridge, so does plain-jane U41SV -- Engadget

When we reviewed ASUS' first bamboo laptop, we raved about more than just its unconventional looks -- we were also impressed with its solid performance. So we're pleased, although not at all surprised, that ASUS is refreshing the line with Intel's latest Sandy Bridge processors. The U43SD doesn't appear to stray from its predecessor's industrial design (save for its bigger 14-inch screen), but it steps up to the latest Core i3 and Core i5 processors, along with NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M graphics with 1GB of video memory. You can also choose from 5,400RPM and 7,200RPM hard drive options and either a six- or eight-cell battery. While the company was at it, it also quietly unveiled another Sandy Bridge laptop, the U41SV, which offers the same configuration options as the U43SD -- and a plainer design. No word on pricing, and a cursory search turned up no availability. For now, though, you can have a gander at some official photos lifted from ASUS' own product pages.

ASUS U43SD

ASUS U41SV

New ASUS U31SD with Nvidia Optimus @ www.engadget.com

2011-04-19T08:53:00.001-07:00

ASUS works Sandy Bridge magic on thin-and-light U31E, U31SD, and U36SD -- Engadget

It appears that ASUS is finally ready to show its line of thin-and-light machines some Sandy Bridge love. Swedish site Technytt claims to have the exclusive scoop on a trio of laptops -- the U31SD, U31E, and U36SD -- that will find their way to retail channels in late May. The U31SD is already showing up on the ASUS site, with the option of either a Core i5 2410M or Core i3 2310M , and a choice of Intel integrated graphics or a 1GB GeForce GT 520M card. All three 13.3-inch machines will reportedly have similar specs, though the U31E will supposedly lack a discrete graphics option. The U31SD tips the scales at a perfectly portable 3.9 pounds and it's safe to assume the U36SD will match up size-wise with the svelte U36JG, which is just 0.75-inches thick and weighs 3.5 pounds. There's no official word from ASUS regarding price or availability but, while you wait to get your paws on one, feast your eyes on the U31SD in the gallery below.

New asus-switcheroo module

2011-04-19T03:08:00.001-07:00

Akex Williamson at RedHat, one of the hybrid graphics linux team members, has written a new kernel module called asus-switcheroo:

https://github.com/awilliam/asus-switcheroo/blob/master/README

This module, that has mostly been tested on an Asus UL30VT and works only with the nouveau drivers, can switch from the Intel to the Nvidia card with the nouveau drivers by presenting the Nvidia card to the Intel drivers. It currently uses jprobe to notify the presence or absence of the nvidia card to the intel i915 driver.

Although using the discrete graphics card with this module is still experimental at the time of this writing (20110419), the module should allow for using both cards with the nouveau drivers, provided the adequate ACPI methods are present in the laptop's BIOS.

Please use the mailing list to give your feedback on this module:

https://launchpad.net/~hybrid-graphics-linux

Asus U36JC review @ www.techradar.com

2011-04-18T05:25:00.001-07:00

Here is the review for another ultraportable hybrid graphics laptop with Nvidia Optimus configuration. The ACPI has a switch off method (\_SB.PCI0.PEG1.GFX0.DOFF), see the Launchpad mailing list for more details.

Asus U36JC-RX197X review from TechRadar UK's expert reviews of Laptops and netbooks

Asus has continued building its popular ultra-portable laptop line with its U36JC-RX197X. Blending fantastic design with impressive power and portability isn't an easy task, but Asus has done it with aplomb, making this a fantastic option for those after non-compromised portability.

Weighing in at 1.6kg, this light machine is a pleasure to carry around all day. The 395-minute battery life is also impressive, narrowly beating the HP Pavilion dm4, and will keep you productive on the road for over six hours.

The chassis boasts excellent build quality, with everything from the lid to the panels offering barely any flex under pressure. This makes it suited to life on the move and provides great protection for the internal components. The unusual matt-black finish hides dirt and smudges well, but also looks and feels fantastic.

Great keyboard

The excellent build quality extends to the keyboard, which, similar to the Lenovo IdeaPad Z560, provides easy typing action. We worked with office documents for hours on end with the Asus U36JC, and found the keyboard to be firm and intuitive to use. An impressive feat, considering the diminutive size of the chassis.

The 13.3-inch screen features a 1366 x 768-pixel resolution, and images are sharp and detailed. We noticed a yellow tint to the panel, however, which means photos and films don't look their best. But as this laptop is designed primarily for the business market, rather than creative industries that need precise colour reproduction, this shouldn't be an issue.

Asus has managed to cram a powerful Intel 2.66GHz Core i5 480M processor and 4096MB of RAM into the tiny chassis, and the result is an impressive performance – especially considering the diminutive form factor. You'll be able to smoothly multitask any number of applications, so the Asus U36JC laptop is ideally suited for those who need great performance and portability.

The same can be said for the Nvidia GeForce 310M graphics chip, which features Optimus technology. Although this ultra-portable laptop doesn't provide the level of performance of the Samsung P580 or Acer Aspire 7741G, those looking to edit photos and even HD video are catered for.

Benchmarks:

Battery life: 395 minutes
MobileMark 2007: 252
3DMark 2003: 9771

A host of decent features include Asus' ExpressGate software, a quick-booting operating system for viewing the web and your emails, as well as USB 3.0, which is great for transferring high quantities of data to a compatible external hard drive.

We immensely enjoyed our time with the Asus U36JC and, while it won't suit those after a big-screen laptop, for regular travellers seeking power, style and mobility, it's outstanding.

Follow TechRadar Reviews on Twitter: http://twitter.com/techradarreview

AMD Llano brings "Fusion" to hybrid graphics laptops @ arstechnica.com

2011-04-06T02:53:00.001-07:00

Here is an interesting read from arstechnica.com. AMD's Llano CPU/GPU combo starts shipping...

AMD ships Llano, the ultimate HTPC processor

It has been five years since the AMD/ATI merger promised us the "Fusion" of a CPU and GPU onto a single die, and on Monday AMD finally made good on that promise with the shipping of the company's first true multicore CPU/GPU combo parts, codenamed "Llano." Sure, the Brazos platform launch was technically the first time that AMD put a CPU and GPU onto the same die, but Llano is supposed to be what the company originally intended with Fusion—a combination of CPU cores and vector hardware that's somehow more "integrated" than a normal on-die GPU. (The exact way in which the latter is true is not clear to me; if anyone knows, feel free to enlighten.)

The picture above is from AMD's blog post announcing that Llano is shipping to OEMs, and it shows the workers in the company's Singapore factory surrounding a box that presumably contains one of the first batches of Llano processors.

AMD is calling Llano's combination of a CPU and GPU on the same die an APU, for "accelerated processing unit." Whatever you call it, it's pretty certain that even tech-savvy customers are never going to see Llano as anything other than another CPU/GPU combo part like Brazos and Sandy Bridge. No matter, though—the Llano parts will have their own place in the processor ecosystem, and it will be different from that of Sandy Bridge.

There is no chance that Llano's CPU core will outperform that of Sandy Bridge, given that the former is a straight-up derivative of AMD's existing Phenom II core. But Llano's GPU is another matter entirely. AMD has used their considerable experience in building best-in-class integrated graphics processors (IGPs) to pack a ton of GPU performance onto each Llano die. Llano will be a great gaming portable, and Llano desktops should offer extremely good price/performance ratios for gamers.

If Intel can get the performance of Sandy Bridge's trailing-edge GPU design up to the point where it can outperform low-end discrete graphics cards, then Llano should do even better. Llano's DirectX11-class GPU will beat Sandy Bridge's GPU by a comfortable margin, and should compete with mid-range discrete solutions. Intel won't have anything comparable until its Ivy Bridge launch early next year.

So from now until Ivy Bridge comes up, AMD will have the budget performance notebook and desktop segment pretty much to itself with Llano. Llano will also make a monster of a home theater PC chip, because you'll be able to build a relatively cheap HTPC with some serious gaming chops.

AMD has said that the first Llano parts will show up in laptops, with desktop parts likely to follow later in the summer. The company isn't giving out any details on which specific products are shipping, though—we'll probably get this info as part of an official launch, soon.

Testing AMD Catalyst 11.4 pre-release on Linux hybrid graphics

2011-03-31T06:00:00.001-07:00

A new version of the Catalyst binary driver has been pre-released:
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=OTI3Mg

This is AMD's closed-source binary driver, nothing to do with vga_switcheroo.

One of the team members has submitted a bug report here:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/fglrx-installer/+bug/745955

More methods for acpi_call

2011-03-23T04:16:00.001-07:00

The git log for the acpi_call source code shows recent additions to the list of switch on/off methods found in the DSDT.dsl table files provided by the Linux Hybrid Graphics team members. The lastest one is for the Asus N53SN laptop.

For more details on acpi_call, see https://launchpad.net/~hybrid-graphics-linux

commit 984592a4b3b42468f684da928bd10db1fa054964
Date:   Wed Mar 23 09:32:13 2011 +0000

    adding method from another Asus N model

commit fda3afe87f434cf1611ed1fe5b2fe26b554319e5
Date:   Thu Mar 3 20:34:37 2011 +0100

    Added Asus 1215n files by Pete Eberlein forgotten in manual merge.

commit 9da5be8957ffec0d45447e8f967203bc1a32e832
Date:   Mon Dec 13 19:54:18 2010 +0000

    adding method for Asus EeePC 1015PN

commit 39152d2a0e429927995232beeae7381caa7831d3
Date:   Mon Dec 6 12:20:18 2010 +0000

    adding HP.Pavilion.Dv6-3031ss method

commit 36a13f3615ea6f826a0775c4cd1b5f20b13100c7
Date:   Tue Nov 23 10:32:40 2010 +0000

    adding method Samsung Q330

Linux Optimus PRIME and GPU hot-switching -- David Airlie -- 20110319

2011-03-19T06:57:00.001-07:00

The Google Summer of Code 2011 is upon us, and it's time again to bring back those open-source projects under the Xorg umbrella that will benefit from the keen attention of bright students sll over the world. And everything is good news so far for the linux hybrid graphics project. There is interest in working on improving the Linux support, and David Airlie has given an update about the current status:

[GSOC] greetings

wrt to these two projects,

the PRIME work is currently being redone, I was able to play openarena on an nv50 displaying on an ironlake yesterday afternoon. I'm also hoping Ben can get the nvidia PCOPY engine going. I'm hoping to push the various bits upstream on this effort and at try and figure out how to configure things for users. I'll hopefully write up a design document so people can review the design before I push the code out.

The hot-switch work is a lot more work, we really need to implement ARB_robustness extension in the GL drivers we care about, and then port compositors to use the GLX_create_context API so the composting can handle the GPU switch happening. I've got most of the X server side duplication working but there is a lot of validation of a lot of corner cases to be done before I'd be happy pushing it (in my dynerama branch of my Xserver).

Good news for linux hybrid graphics on nvidia -- nouveau drivers leap forward @ www.phoronix.com

2011-03-19T06:48:00.001-07:00

This is good news for those on hybrid graphics laptops that got them to work with nouveau drivers but are unable to install and use the binary closed-source nvidia drivers. As you can read here:

[Phoronix] On Low-End GPUs, Nouveau Speeds Past The NVIDIA Driver

the results of the phoronix benchmarking show that nouveau, steadily improving since it was merged into the Linux kernel, promises to deliver great performance on different nvidia GPUs.

Promising prospects for linux hybrid graphics in Google Summer of Code 2011 @ www.phoronix.com

2011-03-16T19:01:00.001-07:00

[Phoronix] Multi-GPU PRIME & GPU Hot-Switching Proposal

a Russian student developer has just voiced two ambitious proposals: Multi-GPU PRIME support and GPU hot-switching.

The Russian student developer, Антонов Николай, is interested in either open-source PRIME multi-GPU support or multi-graphics card hot-switching support to be worked on as this year's Google Summer of Code.

Open-source GPU PRIME support came about a few days over a year ago as an attempt to provide multi-vendor graphics processor offloading / multi-GPU rendering. The PRIME name comes from David Airlie, the author of the original code, dubbing it off NVIDIA's Optimus Technology that was introduced a month prior. Unlike Optimus, PRIME could theoretically work with any open-source graphics driver regardless of hardware vendor. However, the only active work on PRIME lasted for a matter of days and so David looked for someone else to take over this work. Now there may be that chance with the 2011 Google Summer of Code.

The other alternative project that Antonov has expressed interest in is graphics card hot-switching for X.Org. This would be interesting for being able to pop-in a second GPU without blowing out an existing X.Org Server or simply for dual-GPU notebooks to flip from the integrated to discrete graphics seamlessly. It's along the lines of last year's switcheroo work, but more integrated into the X.Org Server for seamless switching.

With these two features, however, there is some display-server-specific work, so any X.Org Server code wouldn't necessarily provide direct benefit to the Wayland Display Server.

Switch on/off Nvidia card on Dell Vostro 3700/3500

2011-03-14T02:58:00.001-07:00

This URL provides the details to switch on/off the Nvidia card on a Dell Vostro 3700 or 3500 laptop:

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=882737#p882737

When the nvidia card is switched on, it uses the nouveau drivers, and some stability issues have been found.

Video: Matthew Garrett @ linux.conf.au -- Making laptops work with Linux

2011-02-10T05:07:00.001-08:00

Here is the link for a video where Matthew Garrett explains, in truly pessimistic tone, why it was so difficult to get APM, then ACPI, then WMI to work on Linux laptops:

http://linuxconfau.blip.tv/file/4719842/

A lot of what people try to do with hybrid graphics linux is to simply read ACPI tables and figure out what the different calls might do, but this is a process that hasn't been helped by any wisely crafted tools so far.

*By the way, TRP4 is a "transient" receptor protein in Drosophila :-)

Linux Dell XPS L501X - switching nvidia off

2011-02-07T05:06:00.001-08:00

One of the hybrid-graphics-linux team members has found a way to switch off the nvidia graphics card from the Dell XPS L501X laptop model. Here are the details of the process:

https://lists.launchpad.net/hybrid-graphics-linux/msg00450.html

For more information, join the hybrid-graphics-linux team and reply to the email in the mailing list:

https://lists.launchpad.net/hybrid-graphics-linux/

An update on the hybrid-graphics-linux launchpad mailing list

2011-02-01T01:30:00.001-08:00

This is a summary of what has been happening on the hybrid-graphics-linux launchpad mailing list.

We now have over 410 team members, which shows that a lot of hybrid graphics laptops are being used among the Linux community.

This mailing list is the best place to post your questions/comments regarding hybrid-graphics and linux. Although some people use the comments in this blog to post their laptop details and their investigations, if you want to have a prompt reply, join the launchpad team and use the mailing list.

Here is an update of the latest emails to the mailing list:

Latest Dell Vostro 3300 and 3400 models with Intel i5 and nvidia 310M with no ACPI method found to work. Slightly older Dell Vostro 3700 model (system version A10) has a working SB.PCI0.P0P1.PEGP._OFF method.

Lots of people with Asus models, like the K52, N73, N53, P52, etc, some with working ACPI methods, not all of them.

Lots of people with the Dell XPS L501x (also L701X) model: there is still no known way to control the nvidia card on this models in Linux. It would be great to find a way to switch on/off the card for these models, since they seem to be selling well.

People report their successes and failures with the Dell Alienware M11x R2 model

People report their successes and failures with Asus 1215N: there is a lot of information around for this laptop model. There is also a Asus 1015PN model, it seems to be slightly different than the other.

The Lenovo Ideapad Z360 has no ACPI method for switching on/off the nvidia card yet.

The Samsung QX410 model was found to have a SB.PCI0.P0P2.PEGP._OFF method to switch off the nvidia card.

Dell XPS L401x L501x L701x series with Nvidia Optimus

2010-12-30T01:54:00.001-08:00

The Dell XPS L401x L501x L701x series is a refresh of the XPS line and comes with an Nvidia Optimus configuration.

A DSDT.dsl table from a Dell XPS L501x model was submitted here:

http://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/312756

See the link below for a review:

Dell XPS L501x: An Excellent Mainstream Notebook - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

More NVIDIA Optimus models

2010-12-22T02:23:00.000-08:00

Support for NVIDIA Optimus models in Linux is still far from perfect, although more and more laptop models come with this configuration.

There are now more than 300 Linux users who joined the hybrid-graphics-linux Launchpad Team, and new developments are being incorporated

to the mainline Linux kernel to improve support of this graphics configurations.

Here are two new models that have been recently announced:

Digital Storm's xm15

Equipped with a 2.4GHz Core i5-520M, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a 320GB HDD and NVIDIA's GT 425M (1GB).

Acer Aspire 5742G with NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M

drm-nvidia-switch developments by David Airlie @ www.phoronix.com

2010-12-07T00:49:00.001-08:00

[Phoronix] Intel, NVIDIA Hybrid GPU Switching On Linux Nears

A month after making some small progress towards "hybrid graphics switching" on Linux to allow notebooks with dual GPUs (usually a low-power integrated graphics processor and a performance-oriented but high-powered discrete GPU), Red Hat's David Airlie is beginning to get things working for Intel and NVIDIA GPU combos on notebooks such as the Lenovo ThinkPad T410. Hybrid graphics on Linux still sucks, but at least it's getting better.

In a branch dubbed "drm-nvidia-switch" of David Airlie's Linux kernel DRM testing tree he has the kernel portion working for switching between the Intel IGP and the NVIDIA GPU with the open-source i915 and Nouveau DRM/KMS drivers, respectively. However, some bits are still missing and this will not work in all notebooks, but testing is just being done on the ThinkPad.

More details on this Linux GPU switching achievement can be found on David Airlie's blog.

More ultrathin hybrid graphics laptops: Asus U31JG

2010-11-26T07:19:00.001-08:00

Asus U31 13.3-inch ultrathin comes soon

The Asus U31 features some quite impressive specs for an ultrathin and we are looking at a 13.3-inch 1366x768 LED backlit screen, Intel's Core i3-370M/380M or Core i5-460M CPU, up to 4GB of DDR3 memory, up to 500GB of HDD space, 802.11bgn WiFi, and a 6-cell battery,

The Asus U31 will be available in two versions, the U31F and U31JG. The difference is the graphics card as the U31F features Intel's GMA 4500M while the U31JG will come with Nvidia's DirectX 11 ready, Geforce GT 415M with 1GB of memory. The U31JG will of course feautre Nvidia's Optimus technology for automatic GPU switching, something that we talked about for a couple of times.

As noted, the new U31 should appear in Europe by the end of December with a retail/e-tail price starting at €799.

You can find more here.

Hybrid graphics nvidia drivers for Asus U43JC

2010-11-02T03:08:00.001-07:00

One of the ASUS U/UL series Linux users has found a way to enable the nvidia drivers by blacklisting the intel chip:

[ubuntu] ASUS N61Jv / N71Jv / N82Jv / UL50Vf anyone? - Page 3 - Ubuntu Forums

There's a workaround for some people. I have the u43jc and you can use the 320m by installing the nvidia drivers, blacklisting the intel chip and rebooting. If you don't disable the intel chip, you'll get stuck on the Checking battery state...

Only problem is that the 310 is the only one running and the battery gets slurped up pretty quick.

If it doesn't work, you can boot in safe graphics and reset everything.

I guess we'll just have to watch closely for updated nv drivers

Asus EEEPC 1215N hybrid graphics -- modified acpi_call with returning acpi_object results

2010-10-29T02:41:00.000-07:00

Reposting a report by peberlein in the launchpad hybrid-graphics-linux mailing list about the Asus EEEPC 1215N hybrid graphics. Instructions:

git clone http://github.com/peberlein/acpi_call.git
cd acpi_call
make
sudo insmod acpi_call.ko
./asus1215n.sh

[Hybrid-graphics-linux] Asus 1215N success

I successfully powered down the Nvidia device in my Asus 1215N. I modified the apci_call module and created a script to power it off and on. Here is the github fork:

http://github.com/peberlein/acpi_call

I owe a huge thanks to Mkottman for acpi_call and George Shearer for m11xr2hack. Those sources were excellent for learning about acpi and buffers.

I modified the acpi_call module to allow byte buffers to be passed as parameters, and also to return the acpi_object result in /proc/acpi/call. Being able to see the result helped me figure out some of the state in the acpi methods.

The 1215N is similar to the m11x r2 in that it requires a special method (_DSM) being called with buffer arguments before the _PS3 method will turn the power off. I also found that the _PS0 method turns the power back on. After turning off the power, the power state appears to be set in the _PSC object: 0x0 when on, and 0x3 when off. Except this isn't accurate after the system has been put in standby - the power is on (according to the battery rate) but the_PSC is still 0x3. I have to use the script to turn the power off again after coming out of standby.

Linux hybrid graphics working on Sony vaio VPCZ13 models

2010-10-26T06:08:00.001-07:00

One of the sony-vaio-z-series launchpad team members has reported the way to successfully switch on/off the nvidia card in VPCZ13 models:

Re: [Sony-vaio-z-series] Ubuntu on VPCZ13*

- Adam's kernel 2.6.36.0

- Installed sony-laptop-zseries-0.9np7

- Grub load options: "i8042.reset i8042.nomux i8042.nopnp i8042.noloop acpi_osi=\"!Windows 2006\" acpi_backlight=vendor"

Asus EEEPC 1015PN laptop hybrid graphics linux

2010-10-23T09:09:00.001-07:00

One of the hybrid-graphics-linux team member has posted an email to the mailing list with details about the Asus EEPC 1015PN laptop in Linux:

[Hybrid-graphics-linux] EEEPC 1015PN Optimus with ION

The nVidia ION (GT238) is always activated on gnu/linux, and works with nouveau or the nvidia drivers. The Asus EEEPC 1015PN has an atom N550 CPU which includes a with a GMA 3150. One can use the nvidia ION on windows, or switch the netbook into the optimus mode, which enables the GMA 3150 to work in parallel with the ION (used only when necessary in this mode). It requires a reboot.

The Intel GMA is not activated at all under linux, and the only way to switch it on, is to reboot on Windows, and switch the optimus ON.

One can then find the PCI adresses for both GPU devices:

ION -- PCI 0000:04:00:0
Intel GMA -- PCI 0000:00:02:0

By tweaking the xorg.conf file, one can start X on the Intel GMA, but the ION is still activated.

The modified acpi_call method for the Asus EEEPC 1215PN, doesn't work on this model to switch off the nvidia ION card.

VGA switcheroo and acpi_call -- status so far

2010-10-12T05:05:00.001-07:00

Some months ago, David Airlie wrote VGA switcheroo as a system to enable hybrid graphics hot switching via logout/login from a X session.

David initially implemented this on an ATI hybrid laptop, but immediately after the first implementation, with Matthew Garrett's help, he also committed some code to enable it on nvidia hybrid configurations. This wasn't thoroughly tested at the time due to the lack of hardware, but different users in the hybrid-graphics-linux launchpad team have reported their success stories with VGA switcheroo.

Compared to VGA switcheroo, acpi_call is a module to test what ACPI method is available to switch on/off the discrete graphics card. Many nvidia laptop configurations have different ACPI methods, so in order to switch on/off the nvidia card, one needs to call the right method for the laptop.

It is in theory possible to put together the work done on acpi_call and VGA switcheroo, so that most of the laptop configurations would have the hot switching feature via logout/login in Linux. There is a bit of work to be done in code integration, hopefully someone will pick this up and work on it, since there are now more than 200 users who would benefit from it.

For more information:

http://asusm51ta-with-linux.blogspot.com/

http://airlied.livejournal.com/71434.html

Nouveau testing for the memory timing management code @ www.phoronix.com

2010-10-11T10:12:00.001-07:00

[Phoronix] Nouveau Needs Help With Timing Management

For those owners of NVIDIA graphics hardware that are already using -- or interested in using -- the open-source Nouveau driver that is developed by the community as an alternative to NVIDIA's proprietary driver, the developers could use some help. Martin Peres has issued a testing request for people to try out new code for the Nouveau driver that deals with memory timing management.

Martin and two other developers have been working on adding memory timings support to Nouveau so that they can be tightened and loosened accordingly when manipulating the memory clock. It was just recently that the Nouveau driver began to reach a state of having working power management. The Nouveau developers have written up some code, but the video BIOS table that stores these vRAM timings contains a lot of "magic" (or still some uncertainty from their clean-room reverse-engineering), so they would like some help in the form of BIOS and register dumps across more NVIDIA GPUs.

For those interested in helping out this open-source project working towards a fully open-source NVIDIA 2D/3D driver, see this mailing list message and there is a GitHub Wiki page. An NV40 class GPU or newer is needed and the Wiki page covers how to produce a NVIDIA BIOS dump and peeking the graphics card's strap and selected timings.

Howto Linux hybrid graphics on Asus Eee 1215N

2010-10-11T10:09:00.001-07:00

One of the hybrid-graphics Launchpad team members has reported about the use of a modified version of acpi_call to swich on/off the nvidia optimus card on the Asus Eee 1215N models:

[Hybrid-graphics-linux] Asus 1215N success

I successfully powered down the Nvidia device in my Asus 1215N. I modified the apci_call module and created a script to power it off and on. Here is the github fork:

http://github.com/peberlein/acpi_call

I owe a huge thanks to Mkottman for acpi_call and George Shearer for m11xr2hack. Those sources were excellent for learning about acpi and buffers.

I modified the acpi_call module to allow byte buffers to be passed as parameters, and also to return the acpi_object result in /proc/acpi/call. Being able to see the result helped me figure out some of the state in the acpi methods.

The 1215N is similar to the m11x r2 in that it requires a special method (_DSM) being called with buffer arguments before the _PS3 method will turn the power off. I also found that the _PS0 method turns the power back on. After turning off the power, the power state appears to be set in the _PSC object: 0x0 when on, and 0x3 when off. Except this isn't accurate after the system has been put in standby - the power is on (according to the battery rate) but the_PSC is still 0x3. I have to use the script to turn the power off again after coming out of standby.

HOWTO Allienware M11x r2 nvidia optimus hybrid graphics Linux

2010-10-05T00:52:00.001-07:00

[This is an old post, check the launchpad website for acpi_call and bumblebee]
https://launchpad.net/~hybrid-graphics-linux

One of the hybrid-graphics team members has posted the detailed instructions on how to switch on/off the discrete nvidia graphics card on the optimus (r2) models for the Alienware M11x laptop:

http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showpost.php?p=1402584&postcount=45

This works with a modified module that calls ACPI methods with the right parameters to switch on/off the graphics card. The code is here:
m11xr2hack-dot-c.txt
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=20129&d=1285685272
Makefile.txt
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=20130&d=1285685283

More on CUDA and OpenCL comparisons

2010-09-27T04:15:00.001-07:00

[1005.2581] A Performance Comparison of CUDA and OpenCL

CUDA and OpenCL offer two different interfaces for programming GPUs. OpenCL is an open standard that can be used to program CPUs, GPUs, and other devices from different vendors, while CUDA is specific to NVIDIA GPUs. Although OpenCL promises a portable language for GPU programming, its generality may entail a performance penalty. In this paper, we compare the performance of CUDA and OpenCL using complex, near-identical kernels. We show that when using NVIDIA compiler tools, converting a CUDA kernel to an OpenCL kernel involves minimal modifications. Making such a kernel compile with ATI's build tools involves more modifications. Our performance tests measure and compare data transfer times to and from the GPU, kernel execution times, and end-to-end application execution times for both CUDA and OpenCL.

More on CUDA

2010-09-24T09:58:00.001-07:00

CUDA support in OpenCV announced at GTC - The H Open Source: News and Features

At the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, NVIDIA announced that the Open Source Computer Vision
(OpenCV) library, which includes image processing algorithms, will,
from the start of next year, be able to utilise the computing power of
NVIDIA GPUs by making use of CUDA GPU acceleration.
The OpenCV source code repository already contains some initial GPGPU
functionality, but a full initial release of the CUDA support is
scheduled to arrive in Spring 2011. According to Gary Bradski, senior
researcher at Willow Garage, which is involved in maintaining the
library, many OpenCV algorithms run five to ten times faster with GPU
assistance. OpenCV contains more than 500 algorithms for functions such
as image processing, face and body recognition and real time recording
and is available, free-of-charge, under the BSD licence.

More on hybrid-graphics for Asus U43JC

2010-09-23T01:43:00.001-07:00

Ran kernel 2.6.28 with dsdt from initramfs support:
Modified the _SP3 method I attached above, and removed the first condition (line 15029), and its corresponding closing bracket.

If (LEqual (P3MO, 0x01)) {
}

After removing the lines, ran

echo '\_SB.PCI0.RP00.VGA._PS3' > /proc/acpi/call

and miraculously power consumption went down from 20W to 12W.

Up to eight hours of battery life.

Questions for anyone with even a remote knowledge of ACPI.

First of all, assumed that LEqual stands for "Less than or equal to". Under this assumption, how P3MO would ever be greater than 0x01 because it isn't changed to anything but zero or one?

This is every line I found P3MO on...

14781: Name (P3MO, 0x00)
14885: Store (One, \_SB.PCI0.RP00.VGA.P3MO)
14889: Store (Zero, \_SB.PCI0.RP00.VGA.P3MO)
15157: Store (0x00, P3MO)

Intel Intelligent Power Sharing Driver (IPS)

2010-09-21T09:02:00.001-07:00

[PATCH 0/6] Include support for the Intel Intelligent Power Sharing Driver (IPS) - Kernel team discussions - ArchiveOrange

Intel Core i3/5 platforms with integrated graphics support both CPU and
GPU turbo mode.  CPU turbo mode is opportunistic: the CPU will use any
available power to increase core frequencies if thermal headroom is
available.  The GPU side is more manual however; the graphics driver
must monitor GPU power and temperature and coordinate with a core
thermal driver to take advantage of available thermal and power headroom
in the package.

The intelligent power sharing (IPS) driver is intended to coordinate
this activity by monitoring MCP (multi-chip package) temperature and
power, allowing the CPU and/or GPU to increase their power consumption,
and thus performance, when possible.  The goal is to maximize
performance within a given platform's TDP (thermal design point).

Sony Vaio VPCZ12 DSDT hybrid graphics info

2010-09-07T05:21:00.001-07:00

The Sony Vaio VPCZ12 model comes with a ACPI DSDT table that has two methods to allow for switching on/off the discrete graphics card:
_SB.PCI0.P0P2.DGPU._ON
_SB.PCI0.P0P2.DGPU._OFF

                                If (LEqual (_T_0, 0x03))
                                {
                                    Store (0xA003, P80H)
                                    Increment (CNTD)
                                    If (LEqual (And (Arg3, 0x03), Zero))
                                    {
                                        Return (^^P0P2.DGPU._STA ())
                                    }

                                    If (LEqual (And (Arg3, 0x03), One))
                                    {
                                        ^^P0P2.DGPU._ON ()
                                        Return (One)
                                    }

                                    If (LEqual (And (Arg3, 0x03), 0x02))
                                    {
                                        ^^P0P2.DGPU._OFF ()
                                        Return (Zero)
                                    }
                                }

Asus.N61Jv ACPI DSDT hybrid graphics

2010-09-07T04:50:00.001-07:00

Here is a snippet of the hybrid graphics switching ACPI DSDT table for the Asus N61Jv laptop:

    Scope (\_SB.PCI0.PEGR.GFX0)
    {
        OperationRegion (HDAY, SystemMemory, 0xF8100000, 0x0FF0)
        Field (HDAY, ByteAcc, NoLock, Preserve)
        {
                    Offset (0x48B),
                ,   1,
            HDAE,   1
        }

        Name (DGPS, Zero)
        Name (_PSC, Zero)
        Method (_PS0, 0, NotSerialized)
        {
            Store (0xD0, DBG8)
            Store (Zero, _PSC)
            If (LNotEqual (DGPS, Zero))
            {
                Store ("PS0: Need to power on dGPU", Debug)
                \_SB.PCI0.PEGR.GFX0._ON ()
                Store (Zero, DGPS)
                Sleep (0x01F4)
                Store (Zero, HDAE)
                \_SB.PCI0.LPCB.EC0.WRAM (0x0458, 0x43)
                \_SB.PCI0.LPCB.EC0.TSES ()
            }
        }

        Method (DON, 0, NotSerialized)
        {
            _ON ()
        }

[..]

       Method (_PS3, 0, NotSerialized)
        {
            Store (0xD3, DBG8)
            If (LEqual (\OMPR, 0x03))
            {
                Store ("PS3: Driver wants to power off dGPU", Debug)
                If (LEqual (DGPS, Zero))
                {
                    \_SB.PCI0.LPCB.EC0.TSDS ()
                    \_SB.PCI0.PEGR.GFX0._OFF ()
                    Store (One, DGPS)
                    \_SB.PCI0.LPCB.EC0.WRAM (0x0458, 0x4B)
                }

                Store (0x02, \OMPR)
                Store ("PS3: OMPR=2 now", Debug)
            }

            Store (0x03, _PSC)
        }

        Method (CLKS, 1, Serialized)
        {
            Store (\_SB.PCI0.SBUS.RBLK (0xD2, 0x00, 0x0C), CLKD)
            If (Arg0)
            {
                Or (CB08, 0x03, CB08)
            }
            Else
            {
                And (CB08, 0xFC, CB08)
            }

            \_SB.PCI0.SBUS.WBLK (0xD2, 0x00, 0x0C, CLKD)
        }

        Method (DOFF, 0, NotSerialized)
        {
            _OFF ()
        }

Howto Linux hybrid graphics Asus N71Jv

2010-08-21T04:48:00.001-07:00

Linux Hybrid Graphics: Using acpi_call module to switch on/off discrete graphics card in Linux

Asus N71JV - TY079V

./test_off.sh

Trying \_SB.PCI0.P0P1.VGA._OFF: failed

Trying \_SB_.PCI0.OVGA.ATPX: failed

Trying \_SB_.PCI0.OVGA.XTPX: failed

Trying \_SB.PCI0.P0P2.PEGP._OFF: failed

Trying \_SB.PCI0.MXR0.MXM0._OFF: failed

Trying \_SB.PCI0.PEG1.GFX0._OFF: works!

Asus N71Jv 1.0

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0046] (rev 12)

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: nVidia Corporation Device [10de:0a35] (rev a2)

Howto Linux hybrid graphics HP Pavilion dm4-1063cl

2010-08-20T08:44:00.001-07:00

Linux Hybrid Graphics: Using acpi_call module to switch on/off discrete graphics card in Linux

HP Pavilion dm4-1063cl
with Intel (integrated) and ATI (Discrete)
Compiling acpi_call and here's the result:

Trying \_SB.PCI0.P0P1.VGA._OFF: failed
Trying \_SB_.PCI0.OVGA.ATPX: failed
Trying \_SB_.PCI0.OVGA.XTPX: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.P0P2.PEGP._OFF: works!

Here is an init script with this to disable the discrete card for now, because the battery drains quicly with the two cards on.

#!/bin/bash
insmod /home/mansor/acpi_call/acpi_call.ko
echo '\_SB.PCI0.P0P2.PEGP._OFF' > /proc/acpi/call

Asus N82JV hybrid graphics Linux

2010-08-17T00:47:00.001-07:00

On a Asus N82JV

Trying \_SB.PCI0.PEG1.GFX0._OFF: works!

A "grep rate /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0/state" command showed a difference of about 7.5W in battery usage.

Acer Aspire 4745G hybrid graphics Linux

2010-08-17T00:45:00.001-07:00

Acer Aspire 4745G, Ubuntu 10.04 64bit.

here's the output after installing the acpi_call.ko module and running the test_off script:

Trying \_SB.PCI0.P0P1.VGA._OFF: failed
Trying \_SB_.PCI0.OVGA.ATPX: failed
Trying \_SB_.PCI0.OVGA.XTPX: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.P0P2.PEGP._OFF: works!

it disabled the discrete ati hd 5470 graphics leaving only the intel integrated graphics.