Silence of the fan

[oshunluvr]

I believe switcheroo is part of linux-firmware-nonfree.

[Fintan]

I just installed linux-firmware-nonfree

No change

Edit: my drivers are all free (non-prop.)

[SteveRiley]

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HybridGraphics

vga_switcheroo is the kernel mechanism that allows you to switch between GPUs if your machine has a hardware mux. Note that this method is not supported by all machines and only works if you are using the opensource driver (nouveau, radeon) and not the proprietary ones (nvidia, fglrx).

[Fintan]

HI Steve.
As noted I have it working on my 13.10 install but not on my 13.04 on the same machine. Again, yes I am not using prop. dirvers but opensource drivers.

[SteveRiley]

What's the output of

grep -i switcheroo /boot/config-*

on 13.04 and 13.10?

[Fintan]

Just a minute. On 13.10:
fintan3@fintanws4:~$ grep -i switcheroo /boot/config-*
/boot/config-3.10.0-0-generic:CONFIG_VGA_SWITCHEROO=y
/boot/config-3.10.0-2-generic:CONFIG_VGA_SWITCHEROO=y
/boot/config-3.10.0-6-generic:CONFIG_VGA_SWITCHEROO=y
/boot/config-3.11.0-11-generic:CONFIG_VGA_SWITCHEROO=y
/boot/config-3.11.0-12-generic:CONFIG_VGA_SWITCHEROO=y
/boot/config-3.11.0-2-generic:CONFIG_VGA_SWITCHEROO=y
/boot/config-3.11.0-3-generic:CONFIG_VGA_SWITCHEROO=y
/boot/config-3.11.0-4-generic:CONFIG_VGA_SWITCHEROO=y
/boot/config-3.11.0-5-generic:CONFIG_VGA_SWITCHEROO=y
/boot/config-3.11.0-7-generic:CONFIG_VGA_SWITCHEROO=y
/boot/config-3.11.0-8-generic:CONFIG_VGA_SWITCHEROO=y
/boot/config-3.9.0-7-generic:CONFIG_VGA_SWITCHEROO=y
fintan3@fintanws4:~$


I'll have to boot into 13.04 for the rest.

13.04:
fintan@fintanws1:~$ grep -i switcheroo /boot/config-*
CONFIG_VGA_SWITCHEROO=y
fintan@fintanws1:~$

[SteveRiley]

The kernels are configured correctly. You've got a bit of a mystery it seems. What are the versions of the Radeon drivers on 13.04 and 13.10?

[Fintan]

I am using xorg-edgers on both:

According to muon
13.04:
1:7.1.99

13.10 to follow.
Hmm.. can't seem to find a versions button on my 13.10 muon.

What is the cli command?

[SteveRiley]

What is the name of the package you are checking?

[Fintan]

xserver-xorg-video-ati,
xserver-xorg-video-radeon

[Fintan]

Oh, I just found it. It was hidden at the bottom of my screen when I clicked on technical details.

Version 1.7.2.0

[SteveRiley]

Hm, I'm sorry but I'm out of ideas. Long ago I gave up trying to get any kind of graphics switching to work. I've configured my T520 to always use the nVidia hardware mainly for simplification; I've disabled Intel graphics completely.

[Fintan]

That I can understand. How did you achieve that? My ext. card is radeon but I still have the feeling that it is faster than my internal intel.

[SteveRiley]

It's a configuration option in the firmware menu. The T520 offers three choices:

* Integrated -- Intel graphics
* Discrete -- nVidia graphics
* Optimus -- switchable graphics

I selected the second one. The firmware hides the Intel graphics completely in this mode.

[Fintan]

I see. you set that in the bios?