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

[doc.maizo]

Alternative solution for Optimus support! 1215N is supported, 1015PN not yet!

[mcstayinskool]

Alternative solution for Optimus support! 1215N is supported, 1015PN not yet!

Boy, that looks promising. Anyone know, is it just that 1015PN hasn't been tried yet, or is it known to be not working yet?

cheers,
#!/ben

[johnnycasher]

Hi everyone!

First of all i wanna thank all the contributions to get things to work. Second, i'm running Xubuntu 11.04 on 1015pn Asus EEE and i was stucked one night long cuz i don't know why but the vga selector didn't worked to change to nvidia settings (only intel worked).

The scripts in the first page either don't worked with me.

I found that after installing 0.4 package and forcing (display settings -reboot-nvidia) i can use the nvidia card aswell wich is a great advance! The only problem is that by default i have INTEL GMA, so i can only have Nvidia if i execute the forcing cmd. Someone know how to get nvidia by default and not GMA?

Thanks and i'll be waiting for further developments!

[Markino76]

Same problem here... can't get the switch works.

[doc.maizo]

Ubuntu Control Center

UCC also lets you switch between low and high performance graphics cards (if you have a netbook with 2 GPUs) which is possible starting with Linux Kernel 2.6.35

[mtron]

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/3n8QokeGLExVImO76WYNUh -O acpi-call-dkms_240611-1~nattyubuntu1_all.deb
wget http://ubuntuone.com/1xcOJ4oGH71pISrzjL2i5u -O acpi-call-source_240611-1~nattyubuntu1_all.deb
sudo apt-get install build-essential debhelper module-assistant
sudo dpkg -i acpi-call*.deb

2.) Download and install the acpitools 0.5.1 deb

wget http://ubuntuone.com/4T8W2CNST8ToZsp7s2d2hJ -O acpitools_0.5.1_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i acpitools_0.5.1_all.deb

Changelog

acpitools 0.5.1 MD5:6699c293e66fa9b16e36ef0fd73feeb0

* fixed acpi_call dkms kernel module
* gnome/kde gui: added option to change the default GPU (root pw required)
* fixed nouveau blacklist for natty
* added a ".vga-lock" file in /tmp to prevent multiple selections of the VGA device for the next boot. the lock is set when a acpi_call triggers the gpu for the next boot. Debugging showed that the next boot VGA Mode can only be set once every boot cycle or it messes up this script
* added nv-on and nv-off command line options to toggle the Power of the Nvidia GPU (this will become useful for bumblebee integration)
* moved .vga-selector file to /tmp

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 acpi-call kernel module. see the Install section above

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:

auto
In this mode the script will look for a .vga-selector file written by the GUI script and executes the acpi_call for the desired option (Intel,Nvidia or Optimus mode). It will also prepare the xorg configuration and glx libraries for the next boot. If the script can't find any .vga-selector file it will default to Intel mode. Adjust the default VGA Mode in the Settings section of the display-settings shell script

status
This will output current VGA Mode. E.g "Active GPU: Intel GMA3150 on PCI 00:02.0"

fix
This will fix the glx libraries after the install of a newer nvidia driver version.

reboot-intel
activate intel for next boot and prepare xorg conffiles for intel. The nvidia chip will be disabled and won't be visible via lspci (so it won't draw any power from the battery)

reboot-nvidia
activate nvidia for next boot and prepare xorg conffiles for nvidia. The intel chip won't be visible via lspci.

reboot-optimus
activate both gpu's for next boot and prepare xorg conffiles for intel. NOTE: intel/nvidia hot-switching is currently not possible.

nv-off
For Optimus Mode only! This will disable the nvidia chip to save some energy. NOTE: intel/nvidia hot-switching is currently not possible.

nv-on
For Optimus Mode only! This will enable the nvidia chip. NOTE: intel/nvidia hot-switching is currently not possible.

config-intel
This option is for emergency purposes. If xorg can't start and you are dropped to a text shell after boot fix your configuration by running "display-settings status". If you get "Active GPU: Intel GMA3150" run this Option and restart gdm.

config-nvidia
This option is for emergency purposes. If xorg can't start and you are dropped to a text shell after boot fix your configuration by running "display-settings status". If you get "Active GPU: Nvidia GT218" run this Option and restart gdm.

[johnnycasher]

Many many thanks for the hard work mtron! I will test your packages today with my Asus 1015pn.

[johnnycasher]

mtron. I've tested all your list of settings using my Asus 1015pn - OS: Xubuntu 11.04. Everything seems to be working (according to your instructions).

Thank you again for your efforts!

[johnnycasher]

Ubuntu Control Center

This UCC switch between GPU works?

[NoYes]

any1 know about progress with 1015pn and OPTIMUS ? any1 checked how it works now ?