Asus Eee PC 1015PN - graphic cards: Optimus and ION

[Jynxx]

Hello!

I fixed some bugs (thanks to all the people sending their logs) and prepared a new version. I hope that 0.5 fixes the bugs with natty and makes reliable switching work.

Please remove any old acpitools package you might have installed

sudo dpkg -r acpitools

and reinstall the nvidia and intel drivers to ensure everything is in place.

sudo apt-get install --reinstall xserver-xorg-core
sudo apt-get install --reinstall nvidia-current

Download and Install

1.) Download and install the acpi_call.ko Kernel module in dkms format. This module will auto update itself for newer kernels. (Not needed if you update from an older acpitools version)

wget http://ubuntuone.com/p/dil/ -O acpicall-dkms_0.1_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i acpicall-dkms_0.1_all.deb

2.) Download and install the acpitools 0.5 deb

wget http://ubuntuone.com/p/yN2/ -O acpitools_0.5_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i acpitools_0.5_all.deb

Changelog

acpitools 0.5 MD5:f7d7ca729b7c84b59d871e33c0e510e6


FAQ

Q: I have installed the deb. How do i switch the VGA cards ?
A: Go to "Applications - System Tools - Vga Selector" and select either intel, nvidia or optimus

Q: Whats the "Change Default GPU" Option in the gui for?
A: If you reboot without selecting a VGA Card manually the script will fall back to the selected default GPU. You need to provide the root password to change your Default GPU. Available GPU Modes are "intel" (Intel GMA 3150 exclusive mode. The nvidia chip won't be visible via lspci and is powered off) "nvidia" (nVidia GT218 exclusive mode) and "optimus" (Dual VGA Mode)

Q: How can i check the used gpu?
A: sudo display-settings status

Q: When running the script i get "ERROR: Could not load acpi_call.ko. Please rebuild the kernel module". What can i do?
A: You need to install the acpicall-dkms_0.1_all.deb kernel module.

Q: What is the Optimus Mode for?
A: In this mode both cards are active (but the nvidia chip can be separately powered on or off). The Bumblebee project might make the nvidia gpu useable "on-demand"

Command Line switches

the script has more options when called from a terminal with

sudo display-settings <option>

where <option> is one of the following:

This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen! Thank you!

[mtron]

finally we have a work-around for the power bug in natty . To fix the kernel power regression on BIOSes with buggy ASPM support. (See LP Bug #760131) do:

sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

Add "pcie_aspm=force" to the default grub boot parameters. After the edit the line should read:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash pcie_aspm=force"

and run update grub to regenerate the boot image:

sudo update-grub

[barthus]

Hi mtron, I have some questions:

1. Do you use Ubuntu Natty 64 Bit?

2. Do you think that Linux Mint Katya 64 Bit (11.04) is going to work also with your stuff?

Thx.

[mtron]

yes i use the 64bit Version.

As far as i know Linux Mint has a regular ubuntu "under the hood" so it will most probably work.

[JMED106]

Hi!

First I want to thank you for all this work you are doing.

I've been using mtron's script untill now, but I always have the same problem. Every time I restart, no matter which card I had activated before, Intel activates.

Example:

I use vga-selector to activate nvidia for the next boot, I restart, nvidia is activated.
I restart again and Intel activates.

Is not a big problem, but I would like to know why is this happening.

Thanks, again.

P.D.: Sorry for my poor English. (I use ubuntu natty)

[Nisitiiapi]

I believe that is by design. Whenever you want to start with nvidia using mtron's scripts, you have to choose nvidia or else it will boot with intel.

I set mine up to default to nvidia, but I am using the scripts in the first post.

[mtron]

Yes, as Nisitiiapi said, this is intentional "by design".

The latest version (acpitools-0.5) let's you change the default gpu via the gui so you might want to update

[mtron]

CC'ing from a PM:

Hello mtron,

I am using 11.04 with the unity interface on the Asus 1015pn. For some reason, I am not seeming to get that great of battery life. Which VGA choice is best for battery life? Is it optimus with nv-off or intel? Are there other changes necessary to get the most out of the battery life. If I remember, it was advertised to get around 8 hours with Windows.

Any advice?

Thanks a lot,

Kyle

[mtron]

Battery life won't reach 8 hours on linux. Max is ~5 Hours with this netbook on natty.

To get longest runtime, use the power fix (see this thread, some posts above) and intel GPU.

Also disable un-needed system services (like ubuntu one, tracker, and so on) and turn off wireless and bluetooth & use the lowest display brightness possible.

[barthus]

yes i use the 64bit Version.
As far as i know Linux Mint has a regular ubuntu "under the hood" so it will most probably work.

Hi mtron.

So, in the last days I tried to install Linux Mint Katya (11.04) 64 Bit onto the 1015PN. The installation was just great, all was recognised including WLAN.

I then installed your scripts:

wget http://ubuntuone.com/p/dil/ -O acpicall-dkms_0.1_all.deb
wget http://ubuntuone.com/p/yN2/ -O acpitools_0.5_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i acpicall-dkms_0.1_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i acpitools_0.5_all.deb

This is what happened during the installation:

acpicall-dkms
=============

Selecting previously deselected package acpicall-dkms.
(Reading database ... 122820 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking acpicall-dkms (from acpicall-dkms_0.1_all.deb) ...
Setting up acpicall-dkms (0.1) ...
Loading new acpicall-0.1 DKMS files...

Loading tarball for module: acpicall / version: 0.1

Creating /var/lib/dkms/acpicall/0.1/source
Copying dkms.conf to /var/lib/dkms/acpicall/0.1/source...
Loading /var/lib/dkms/acpicall/0.1/2.6.32-27-generic/x86_64...

DKMS: ldtarball Completed.
First Installation: checking all kernels...
Building only for 2.6.38-8-generic
Building for architecture amd64
Building initial module for 2.6.38-8-generic
Done.

acpi_call.ko:
Running module version sanity check.
 - Original module
   - No original module exists within this kernel
 - Installation
   - Installing to /lib/modules/2.6.38-8-generic/kernel/drivers/acpi/

depmod......

DKMS: install Completed.




acpitools
=========

Selecting previously deselected package acpitools.
(Reading database ... 122832 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking acpitools (from acpitools_0.5_all.deb) ...
Setting up acpitools (0.5) ...
options nouveau modeset=0
update-initramfs: deferring update (trigger activated)
Processing triggers for bamfdaemon ...
Rebuilding /usr/share/applications/bamf.index...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils ...
Processing triggers for python-gmenu ...
Rebuilding /usr/share/applications/desktop.en_US.utf8.cache...
Processing triggers for ureadahead ...
ureadahead will be reprofiled on next reboot
Processing triggers for initramfs-tools ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-8-generic
Warning: No support for locale: de_DE.utf8
Processing triggers for python-support ...

After, I have chosen 'Intel' in the preferences and booted the system. However, the 1015PN stopped during the boot and hang. Here is a photo which shows the 'end': http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/853/img7568b.jpg/

Then, I restarted the 1015 and chose the 'recovery' boot option in grub. I have chosen 'boot normally' after and got into the shell. There, I tried:

shell $ sudo display-settings config-intel
ERROR: Could not load /lib/modules/2.6.38-8-generic/updates/dkms/acpi_call.ko. Please rebuild the kernel module

and

shell $ sudo display-settings reboot-intel
ERROR: Could not load /lib/modules/2.6.38-8-generic/updates/dkms/acpi_call.ko. Please rebuild the kernel module

Well, after all I removed the packages 'acpicall-dkms' and 'acpitools_0.5_all' and everything worked well again as before: the boot, gnome, etc.

Do you have any idea? Thanks in advance,

Cheers.