I have an HP dv7-6b78us with hybrid graphics - an ATI Radeon and an Intel graphics card.
They're both on by default and the Intel is more than enough power for my use.
Here's how I managed to turn off the Radeon and save massive battery life:
First, make sure you've uninstalled any proprietary graphics drivers.
There's a proprietary driver thingy in the administrative menu for that.
Next, add these to /etc/rc.local above the 'exit 0' line (e.g. sudo nano /etc/rc.local from the terminal):
Code:
modprobe radeon
echo OFF > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch
And then add this to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-local.conf, also as sudo:
Reboot. Verify by doing the following:
Code:
sudo cat /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch
You should see something like this:
Code:
0:IGD:+:Pwr:0000:00:02.0
1:DIS: :Off:0000:01:00.0
IGD is the Intel chip, the + means it's the one in use, and Pwr means it's on.
DIS is the ATI card and if it says Off, you're saving a ton of battery.
This is a permanent fix that lasts across reboots.
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