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

[Jontebullen]

I can't get this to work! :@

I have a ul30vt with Ubuntu 10.10, I have followed this:

1st step (from @ekarasik):

echo options nouveau modeset=0 | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/nouveau-kms.conf 

sudo update-initramfs -u

2sd step:


look here for more detail instructions

After this step, you'll have a "acpi_call.ko" and "test_off.sh" (You must fix nouveau as in step 1, If you didn't this module does not work).

3rd step:

sudo cp acpi_call.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/

sudo gedit /etc/modules

Add this line after "lp" line: (as in my case)

acpi_call

------------------------------------------------------------------------
and go to terminal type in:

sudo depmod
sudo modprobe acpi_call

several times, once after a reinstall of Ubuntu like 2 hours ago. The only thing that happens is that the mouse and keyboard freezes up the first time i run test_off.sh. I perform a hard reboot after which running test_off.sh has no effect at all. lspci |grep VGA shows both cards running.


I've also tried this: http://linux-macbook-air-killers.blo...a-card-in.html
with no result at all. lspci |grep VGA shows both cards running.

Does anyone know what I can do?

[ei8htohms]

I can't get this to work!

... lspci |grep VGA shows both cards running.

Does anyone know what I can do?

I was just about to post that "I'm in the same boat with you," but then I did a little further testing a realized that it is working BUT "lspci |grep VGA" still shows both cards.

I used the module from page 10 of this thread (make was successful) and installed "test_off.sh" (executable) where indicated and have it called at boot.

I thought it was doing something, because the little libnotify pop-up had gone away when using the brightness hotkeys (Fn F5 and F6) but when I ran "lspci" I kept getting both cards so I figured the Nvidia card must still be on.

I got so frustrated with all the various steps seeming to work as they were supposed to (after MUCH wrestling with them, for a relative Linux noob like myself, compiling a module is an adventure into the unknown) but still seeing both cards with "lspci" that I decided to run PowerTop with the test_off script called at boot and then without calling it and the power consumption difference is HUGE. It showed a consumption as low as 8.1 watts (!) before even following any PowerTop power savings recommendations after running test_off at boot and after rebooting without test_off called it was up in the 13.4 watt range. I'd have to call that success [pats self on back].

I'm using a fresh install of 10.04 (64-Bit) dual booting on an Intel X25-M SSD (next to Win 7 64-Bit) in an Asus UL30VT that has already been tweaked according to David Dart's Wiki as well as a variety of SSD optimizations (discard, noatime, noop, puny swappiness), so there are a lot of extra variables in there for my specific case, but any insights into why "lspci" doesn't seem to be a good indicator of graphics card usage would be appreciated.

For any other noobs (like me) still struggling with this, don't give up! The power savings are most definitely worth the effort.

_john

[Jontebullen]

I was just about to post that "I'm in the same boat with you," but then I did a little further testing a realized that it is working BUT "lspci |grep VGA" still shows both cards.

...

_john

wow, it does seem to be working!!!
I've been checking my power usage with powertop a couple of times, and it's always been above 14, depending on what stuff i'm running of course, but I must just not have been paying much attention to what happened after i ran test_off.sh, because now, with one tab open in chromium and two terminals it went from around 14-16W down to 9-11W!!
it seems to be sitting around 10 now most of the time

Power usage (ACPI estimate): 10.9W (3.7 hours) (long term: 10.5W,/3.8h)

I think my battery is at about 80%, so that's a maximum of maybe 5 hours..

[wyatt66]

I tried what is proposed in this thread to switch off the nvidia card on my Asus UL30VT.

It worked with Ubuntu 10.04, but it is not working anymore with 10.10.

Does someone know if this is planned to be solved in 11.04 ?

If not, I think it would be very appreciated to have an easy to install package that would allow this nvidia deactivation... though I don't know how difficult it would be to implement.

[ekarasik]

Some more work to actually support switching goes here:

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

You may want to try that.

[mirko_r]

Some more work to actually support switching goes here:

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

You may want to try that.

I didn't get it to work on my UL30VT by now.

Was someone more successful? If so, it would be nice to read a step by step instruction.

[Nicias]

Works perfectly for me. I just followed the directions in his Readme, I'm using nvidia driver not nouveau.

[Gskellig]

I'm on 11.04, currently trying to disable the nvidia graphics card.
I installed the .deb in the first post, and disabled the nvidia but "lspci |grep VGA" still shows both cards.

However PowerTOP shows about 8-10W. Is it working?

Are there any other solutions to getting switching working? Or at least a way to *easily* switch between the two cards? Requiring only a reboot instead of messing around in terminal and installing drivers?

[unchain]

I'm on 11.04, currently trying to disable the nvidia graphics card.
I installed the .deb in the first post, and disabled the nvidia but "lspci |grep VGA" still shows both cards.

However PowerTOP shows about 8-10W. Is it working?

Are there any other solutions to getting switching working? Or at least a way to *easily* switch between the two cards? Requiring only a reboot instead of messing around in terminal and installing drivers?

Try:

sudo lshw -C video

It should just show the integrated card if you did everything properly. Same thing happened to me, lspci still shows both cards, but power consumption is way down and lshw shows just the integrated card.

[hurrrtin]

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?