Arch Linux

hippieben

Member

Registered: 2013-10-27

Posts: 218

MacBook Pro with ATI + Intel hybrid graphics - vgaswitcheroo?

I've been running linux on this laptop for a year or so now, and have been through many distros before settling on Arch.  I really like how arch is designed, but that's not really important.  Anyway, throughout all this time I've always been looking to get the intel / ati chips working.  Currently I've managed to boot via EFI + GRUB with just the intel chip, which works great for most things and gives me good battery life.  However, I've been running into more and more situations where I really wish I was able to hook my system up to a monitor or projector, and unfortunately when running just off the intel chip the video out is disabled; might as well not even be there. 

Every time I decide "ok, I'm going to figure this out once and for all" I find various forum and blog posts claiming to be the solution, but more often then not they're so out of date or fragmented that I just get frustrated and give up. 

One of the great things about Arch is the community.  You guys are always willing to help with any problem or question I've had and are extremely knowledgeable — far better than any other distro community I've been a part of.

That being said, is anyone here running similar hardware (MacBook Pro 8,2) with ati (not nvidia) and intel graphics and been able to successfully set up hybrid graphics?  I know that I can boot via BIOS and use the ati card, but I'm not trying to do it that way, as that will create complications when using the intel card (have a script that runs upon resume that turns the ati card off as it will be powered on again after sleeping). 

Requirements for a solution:
*Must boot via EFI (kernel stub or grub, doesn't matter which)
*Must be able to switch cards without rebooting (from what I understand restarting X is unavoidable)
*Active card must remain selected after resume (ATI card likes to power back up when using intel card)

Basically this is and has always been the million dollar question regarding MBPs, and I would really appreciate any help that can be offered.  Thanks!

clfarron4

Member

From: London, UK

Registered: 2013-06-28

Posts: 2,175

Website

Re: MacBook Pro with ATI + Intel hybrid graphics - vgaswitcheroo?

If you're using AMD Catalyst, I know that Vi0L0 provides a package with PowerXpress, so that might be a solution.

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hippieben

Member

Registered: 2013-10-27

Posts: 218

Re: MacBook Pro with ATI + Intel hybrid graphics - vgaswitcheroo?

If you're using AMD Catalyst, I know that Vi0L0 provides a package with PowerXpress, so that might be a solution.

I'd really like to avoid using the catalyst drivers if possible