Switch on/off nvidia card Asus UL30Vt, UL50V, UL80V laptops

[Nicias]

I want to ENABLE my nvidia card so that I can use Unity/Compiz/etc in Natty without changing the bios from Enhanced to Compatibility. Can this be done?

The readme explains how to do this. From

https://github.com/awilliam/asus-swi.../master/README

starting at line 94:

It is also possible, though very, very alpha and extremely
not recommended for average users to use the asus-switcheroo
module as a dummy switcheroo client that allows you to run
the proprietary nvidia module.  To do this, blacklist
nouveau and rebuild your initramfs to get nouveau out of it.
Use the dummy-client=1 option for asus-switcheroo, if loaded
from initramfs, use asus-switcher.dummy-client=1.  At boot,
switch to DIS, modprobe nvidia, then start X using the nvidia
proprietary driver.  Note that the screen LVDS will go black
as soon as you switch via DIS and will not come back until X
starts.  There is no framebuffer driver in this mode, so you
will only have X.  This switch is one way, you'll need to
reboot to get Intel graphics back.

[Gskellig]

Nvidia card disabled- works great. I can get up to 8 hour battery life with Powertop.

Now do I reenable the nvidia card?
Ubuntu 11.04, when I switch the BIOS to "compatible" the screen just stays black after booting.

[mpw]

Hello,

I have an Asus ul30vt. Does anyone of you know where I can use two external monitors (HDMI + VGA) at once?

With the g210m of course, the intel won't be strong enough I think.

Bye
MPW

[Wurtzinator]

Heyho,

I hope there are still some people out there you can help me with my problem.

Note: I'm running Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal on my UL30VT.

I downloaded the .deb package and did what's described in the post #1!

I had the same problem as many others did with the comment: "nothing to do...."

So, then I tried what avilella suggested and it worked up to a the point where I run "make":

ar x *.deb

then

tar xzf data.tar.gz

then go to the place where the nvidia-*.tar.gz file is

  

tar xzf nvidia-*.tar.gz

then go to the place with the code, and run:

make

Heres my output after "make":

root@Unibook:/home/timmy/Dokumente/Nvidia turn off/usr/src/dkms_source_tree# make
make -C /lib/modules/2.6.38-11-generic/build M=/home/timmy/Dokumente/Nvidia turn off/usr/src/dkms_source_tree modules
make[1]: Betrete Verzeichnis '/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.38-11-generic'
make[1]: *** Keine Regel, um »turn« zu erstellen.  Schluss.
make[1]: Verlasse Verzeichnis '/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.38-11-generic'
make: *** [all] Fehler 2

So, it didn't compile properly.

Needless to say that these commands didn't work either:

cp nvidia_g210m_acpi /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/
depmod

modprobe nvidia_g210m_acpi

echo nvidia_g210m_acpi >>/etc/modules

Nevertheless, the first time I tried to run it, the way I just described, my battery life indeed increased from 4h to about 8h!

Then after a reboot, it was back to normal.

Now after I deleted the compiled data and ran the commands a 2nd time with pretty much the same output, it doesn't even work for one session.

Can anyone help me please?

Greetings!

[Wurtzinator]

Heyho,

I hope there are still some people out there you can help me with my problem.

Note: I'm running Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal on my UL30VT.

I downloaded the .deb package and did what's described in the post #1!

I had the same problem as many others did with the comment: "nothing to do...."

So, then I tried what avilella suggested and it worked up to a the point where I run "make":



Heres my output after "make":

root@Unibook:/home/timmy/Dokumente/Nvidia turn off/usr/src/dkms_source_tree# make
make -C /lib/modules/2.6.38-11-generic/build M=/home/timmy/Dokumente/Nvidia turn off/usr/src/dkms_source_tree modules
make[1]: Betrete Verzeichnis '/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.38-11-generic'
make[1]: *** Keine Regel, um »turn« zu erstellen.  Schluss.
make[1]: Verlasse Verzeichnis '/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.38-11-generic'
make: *** [all] Fehler 2

So, it didn't compile properly.

Needless to say that these commands didn't work either:

cp nvidia_g210m_acpi /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/
depmod

modprobe nvidia_g210m_acpi

echo nvidia_g210m_acpi >>/etc/modules

Nevertheless, the first time I tried to run it, the way I just described, my battery life indeed increased from 4h to about 8h!

Then after a reboot, it was back to normal.

Now after I deleted the compiled data and ran the commands a 2nd time with pretty much the same output, it doesn't even work for one session.

Can anyone help me please?

Greetings!

Any thoughts?

[Wurtzinator]

Any thoughts?

[Wurtzinator]

Really nobody?

If anyone has an idea where else I could look for help, I would be glad!

[christianco]

Has anyone worked with the asus switcheroo with Natty or Oneiric? I'm wondering if it's worth doing on my ul30vt.

Specifically for the use of the proprietary nvidia driver, I'm wondering if this solution will fix the degraded i/o with the drive causing slow boot/wake times.

Or I've also read that there may be an upstream fix dealing with the multiplexer/hot switching? can anyone give me an idea of whether there is any kind of fix in the works for us hybrid graphics folks?

Anyway, i'm needing an update or some general info if anyone has got any.

thx

[Svictor]

Hi Christianco,
Just my 2 cents experience: after trying different methods (including vga switcheroo), I ended up using the switch "Compatible mode" in the BIOS. This is on a UL30JT, but maybe the VT has it too. It turns off the Intel card and uses only nvidia. This saves a little energy, not as much as the other way round (nvidia off, intel on), but everything on 3D is faster: unity, gnome shell... I use the proprietary nvidia driver since it offers better power management than the opensource one. I get around 5 real hours of battery life, which is fine for me.

Alternatively, the dual graphics solution which proved easyest and most efficient in my case was ironhide.

[christianco]

Thanks Svictor

I would prefer to use the nvidia card in compatible mode - UL30VT has this option in the bios - but the trouble is that the compatible mode causes degradation in the HD - I think related to using PATA instead of SATA - I dunno i'm kind of fuzzy on why this happens, and what it does. For example, will it cause data corruption? I just don't know.

I do know that it takes 30 secs longer to boot and wake from sleep with the nvidia driver and compatible mode. For my current use this is not acceptable. This is why I am posting - I'm curious if there has been an improvement in the kernal that causes this problem to cease, or if the switcheroo or some other module would do the trick. I want to use the nvidia soley, but the HD degradation is causing me trouble.

thanks for the reply.