Nvidia graphics adapter, display backlight, part II

[buntuLo]

I added the mactel repository to my system, and enabled nvidia_bl_dkms, but I can't seem to get any further.
There is no nvidia line in my /etc/modules file
I think something isn't installed properly.
Any thoughts? -Sterling

that line has to be added manually in /etc/modules, and at the same time the line
mbp_nvidia_bl
has to be removed or commented out. finally reboot the system.

[alexmurray]

lspci & lspci -n outputs on a MBP 5,1:

alex@alex-laptop:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 Host Bridge (rev b1)
00:00.1 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation MCP79 Memory Controller (rev b1)
00:03.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 LPC Bridge (rev b2)
00:03.1 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation MCP79 Memory Controller (rev b1)
00:03.2 SMBus: nVidia Corporation MCP79 SMBus (rev b1)
00:03.3 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation MCP79 Memory Controller (rev b1)
00:03.4 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation Device 0a98 (rev b1)
00:03.5 Co-processor: nVidia Corporation MCP79 Co-processor (rev b1)
00:04.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP79 OHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev b1)
00:04.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP79 EHCI USB 2.0 Controller (rev b1)
00:06.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP79 OHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev b1)
00:06.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP79 EHCI USB 2.0 Controller (rev b1)
00:08.0 Audio device: nVidia Corporation MCP79 High Definition Audio (rev b1)
00:09.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 PCI Bridge (rev b1)
00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: nVidia Corporation MCP79 Ethernet (rev b1)
00:0b.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation MCP79 SATA Controller (rev b1)
00:0c.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 PCI Express Bridge (rev b1)
00:15.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 PCI Express Bridge (rev b1)
00:16.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 PCI Express Bridge (rev b1)
00:17.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 PCI Express Bridge (rev b1)
02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce 9600M GT (rev a1)
04:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4322 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller (rev 01)
05:00.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Agere Systems FW643 PCI Express1394b Controller (PHY/Link) (rev 06)

alex@alex-laptop:~$ lspci -n
00:00.0 0600: 10de:0a82 (rev b1)
00:00.1 0500: 10de:0a88 (rev b1)
00:03.0 0601: 10de:0aae (rev b2)
00:03.1 0500: 10de:0aa4 (rev b1)
00:03.2 0c05: 10de:0aa2 (rev b1)
00:03.3 0500: 10de:0a89 (rev b1)
00:03.4 0500: 10de:0a98 (rev b1)
00:03.5 0b40: 10de:0aa3 (rev b1)
00:04.0 0c03: 10de:0aa5 (rev b1)
00:04.1 0c03: 10de:0aa6 (rev b1)
00:06.0 0c03: 10de:0aa7 (rev b1)
00:06.1 0c03: 10de:0aa9 (rev b1)
00:08.0 0403: 10de:0ac0 (rev b1)
00:09.0 0604: 10de:0aab (rev b1)
00:0a.0 0200: 10de:0ab0 (rev b1)
00:0b.0 0101: 10de:0ab5 (rev b1)
00:0c.0 0604: 10de:0ac4 (rev b1)
00:15.0 0604: 10de:0ac6 (rev b1)
00:16.0 0604: 10de:0ac7 (rev b1)
00:17.0 0604: 10de:0ac7 (rev b1)
02:00.0 0300: 10de:0647 (rev a1)
04:00.0 0280: 14e4:432b (rev 01)
05:00.0 0c00: 11c1:5901 (rev 06)

[_mario_]

lspci & lspci -n outputs on a MBP 5,1: ...

that's interesting. according to your output, there's only one graphics adapter listed (9600M GT). where's the 9400M? i initially thought i drove the wrong adapter. but no it's the 9600M GT. maybe Apple does something different on the MBP5,1.

btw: does NvClock work on your machine? the CVS version? you can check it out and compile like this:

cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@nvclock.cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/nvclock co -P nvclock
cd nvclock
configure
make

(you might need some additional development packages/tools.)

thanks & ciao,
Mario

[_mario_]

... moreover the brightness sliders in the power manager are there, but they have no effects.

that means it did detect the hal interface, but unfortunately the driver doesn't seem to work on the MBP5,1. see the conversation with alexmurray. and if you can, it would be nice to follow the steps described there to trace down the problem.

about the function keys under kde, they all works on my old laptop running 7.10 and kde3.5, using some asus-acpi modules.
cia'cia', Lo.

KDE4 is different from KDE3, but, nevertheless, it should at least react upon the media player and volume keys, because they are available on other machines as well.

ciao,
Mario

[buntuLo]

all the following output is obtained on a mbp5.1 running the nvidia-bl-dkms module instead of the mbp_bvidia_bl one.
here's the output of lspci and lspci -n:

lo@lomac:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 Host Bridge (rev b1)
00:00.1 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation MCP79 Memory Controller (rev b1)
00:03.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 LPC Bridge (rev b2)
00:03.1 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation MCP79 Memory Controller (rev b1)
00:03.2 SMBus: nVidia Corporation MCP79 SMBus (rev b1)
00:03.3 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation MCP79 Memory Controller (rev b1)
00:03.4 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation Device 0a98 (rev b1)
00:03.5 Co-processor: nVidia Corporation MCP79 Co-processor (rev b1)
00:04.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP79 OHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev b1)
00:04.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP79 EHCI USB 2.0 Controller (rev b1)
00:06.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP79 OHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev b1)
00:06.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP79 EHCI USB 2.0 Controller (rev b1)
00:08.0 Audio device: nVidia Corporation MCP79 High Definition Audio (rev b1)
00:09.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 PCI Bridge (rev b1)
00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: nVidia Corporation MCP79 Ethernet (rev b1)
00:0b.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation MCP79 SATA Controller (rev b1)
00:0c.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 PCI Express Bridge (rev b1)
00:15.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 PCI Express Bridge (rev b1)
00:16.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 PCI Express Bridge (rev b1)
00:17.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 PCI Express Bridge (rev b1)
02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce 9600M GT (rev a1)
04:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4322 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller (rev 01)
05:00.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Agere Systems FW643 PCI Express1394b Controller (PHY/Link) (rev 06)

lo@lomac:~$ lspci -n
00:00.0 0600: 10de:0a82 (rev b1)
00:00.1 0500: 10de:0a88 (rev b1)
00:03.0 0601: 10de:0aae (rev b2)
00:03.1 0500: 10de:0aa4 (rev b1)
00:03.2 0c05: 10de:0aa2 (rev b1)
00:03.3 0500: 10de:0a89 (rev b1)
00:03.4 0500: 10de:0a98 (rev b1)
00:03.5 0b40: 10de:0aa3 (rev b1)
00:04.0 0c03: 10de:0aa5 (rev b1)
00:04.1 0c03: 10de:0aa6 (rev b1)
00:06.0 0c03: 10de:0aa7 (rev b1)
00:06.1 0c03: 10de:0aa9 (rev b1)
00:08.0 0403: 10de:0ac0 (rev b1)
00:09.0 0604: 10de:0aab (rev b1)
00:0a.0 0200: 10de:0ab0 (rev b1)
00:0b.0 0101: 10de:0ab5 (rev b1)
00:0c.0 0604: 10de:0ac4 (rev b1)
00:15.0 0604: 10de:0ac6 (rev b1)
00:16.0 0604: 10de:0ac7 (rev b1)
00:17.0 0604: 10de:0ac7 (rev b1)
02:00.0 0300: 10de:0647 (rev a1)
04:00.0 0280: 14e4:432b (rev 01)
05:00.0 0c00: 11c1:5901 (rev 06)

i read in other posts that the choice of graphic card in macos is saved in some efi variables, and that the boot process through refit and grub doesn't allow to activate the 9400m. if it is true, it sounds very much like apple hided the possibility for other oses to build up a comparable power management on the new machines.

going on, nvclock installed from repositories doesn't recognise the card, but when forced it gives:

lo@lomac:~$ nvclock -T -f
Error: temperature monitoring isn't supported on your videocard.

lo@lomac:~$ nvclock -info -f
-- General info --
Card:           Unknown Nvidia card
Architecture:   G96 C1
PCI id:         0x0
GPU clock:      -2147483.750 MHz
Bustype:        PCI
-- Memory info --
Amount:         256 MB
Type:           64 bit SDR
Clock:          -2147483.750 MHz

the gui 'nvidia x-server settings' works properly, it now shows a reasonable gpu core temp of 55 deg C (both fans at 4000 rpm).
'sensors' works too, and i report that for the mbp5.1 'temp8' corresponds to the 9600mgt gpu core.

unluckily i didn't manage to compile the cvs version of nvclock:

lo@lomac:~/nvclock$ sudo apt-get remove nvclock
lo@lomac:~/nvclock$ sudo apt-get install cvs
lo@lomac:~/nvclock$ cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@nvclock.cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/nvclock co -P nvclock
lo@lomac:~/nvclock$ sudo apt-get install pkg-config
lo@lomac:~/nvclock$ ./configure
(...)
checking for x11... configure: error: "X11 required for nvcontrol support"

tried to look for a X11 dev package, can't figure out which one.

about the function keys, i was actually wrong: the media player controls do work (in amarok), together with volume up/down. the ones not working are: display brightness up/down, keyboard backlight up/down, volume mute, eject cd.

one more note: every time apt-get finishes installing nvidia-bl-dkms, kmix (kde audio mixer) crashes and restarts.
ciaa', Lo.

[ercoppa]

checking for x11... configure: error: "X11 required for nvcontrol support"

Try with:

./configure --disable-nvcontrol

Greets, ercoppa.

[buntuLo]

thanks Ercoppa, that did it. i didn't pay attention about the 'macbook aluminium' page being updated, and not the 'macbook5-1/intrepid' one (which i thought was a replacement).
anyhow, the cvs version of nvclock does detect properly the card, but nvclock -S does not change the brightness for me.
the power manager sliders do not work, nor the echo command does.
cia'cia', Lo.

[cyberdork33]

i didn't pay attention about the 'macbook aluminium' page being updated, and not the 'macbook5-1/intrepid' one (which i thought was a replacement).

It is... You should not be using or updating the old "Macbook Aliuminum" Page.

[buntuLo]

ooh ok, i said this cause the instructions for installing nvclock from cvs are only on the old aluminium page. if this trick works for many people (even if not for me), shall we add it to the new doc page?
ciao, Lo.

[cyberdork33]

shall we add it to the new doc page?

Yes, please, and any further new information.

If you could please compare the two pages and migrate anything else of interest to the newer page would could then replace the old page with a redirect to the new page.