Trying to switch from one graphic card to the other

[Robert24]

Hello everyone,

First of all, I'm not sure this is the right forum to post in. From one side, I'm new to linux and ubuntu, so I post it here, from the other it is related to some hardware issue so maybe it should go in the Hardware forum.

Basically I have two graphic cards: one intel which is good for most of what I do and requires little energy, one Nvidia which is more powerful. I would like to be able to switch safely from one to the other. I did some research online and the closest guideline I could find is this one:
https://www.linuxbabe.com/desktop-li...cs-card-ubuntu
but since it is for Ubuntu and not Kubuntu, there are things which are a bit different. Typically, for the second point, I don't know how to find which card my computer is actually using. Following the advice in a comment at the end of this page I managed to do the first step:

me:~$ lspci -k | grep -E -A2 -i 'VGA|3D'
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Skylake Integrated Graphics (rev 06)
Subsystem: Lenovo Skylake Integrated Graphics
Kernel driver in use: i915_bpo
--
02:00.0 3D controller: NVIDIA Corporation GM108M [GeForce 940MX] (rev a2)
Kernel driver in use: nvidia
Kernel modules: nvidiafb, nouveau, nvidia_384_drm, nvidia_384


I tried to do it with the GUI but all I could find is this:


My questions are:

1) Do you know a place with a complete guideline for kubuntu (I looked on this forum but didn't find it)?
2) Is there any risk at doing this switch? I'm a bit anxious at the idea of having the GUI stopping because I do some mistake.
3) Do you know in particular how to know (using the console or the GUI) how to know which card I'm using currently?
4) Any recommendations?

Here are informations concerning my machine:

Kubuntu release: 16.04
KDE Plasma Version: 5.5.5
Qt Version: 5.5.1
Kernel version: 4.4.0-104-generic
OS-type 64-bit
Grub version: Version: 0.97-29ubuntu68
Other operating system: windows 10
Laptop: Lenovo T460p
CPU: Quad core Intel Core i7-6700HQ (-HT-MCP-) cache: 6144 KB
GPU: I have two cards:
Card-1: Intel Skylake Integrated Graphics
Card-2: NVIDIA GM108M [GeForce 940MX]
RAM: 16 GB
Hard Drives: 512 GB SSD S-ATA

Have a nice day

[oshunluvr]

You're looking for Bumblebee

[jpenguin]

Kubuntu is just *buntu with KDE, the GUI is different.

[GreyGeek]

Install the nvidia-378 or 384 driver and the programs it recommends. It will cause your DE to default to NVidia but it offers a GUI interface that allows you to switch between Nouveau and NVidia.

[Robert24]

Thanks a lot for all your answers. This forum is definitely amazing.

@jpenguin Indeed! But in the tutorial I found online (like this one: https://www.linuxbabe.com/desktop-li...cs-card-ubuntu), there were explicit mentions to the GUI of Ubuntu (unity right?) like in step 2 and 3, and I didn't know what was the equivalent in linux. But thanks for the answer!

@GreyGeek I think that I already have the nvidia 384 driver (see the print screen uploaded in my first message). This morning I discover that I have a GUI tool already installed on my machine called ``NVIDIA X Server", and I can switch between my Intel and Nvidia graphic cards, so your intuition was right. Thanks a lot!

@oshunluvr Thanks for telling me about this tool. I didn't know it. I saved the link, but as for now I managed to follow the advice of GreyGeek and found this ``NVIDIA X Server" which is super simple to use, I think will stick with the simple solution.

Best and thanks again!

[jpenguin]

Right, you just aren't gonna find many kubuntu tutorials online. Look for *buntu CLI tutorials, and you can always find help here at the forums

[Robert24]

Thanks for the tip jpenguin. I'll keep it in mind!