Arch Linux

Gas Mark 5

Member

Registered: 2016-02-28

Posts: 2

Disabling dedicated graphics on Macbook Pro 2010

Hi all,

I've used ubuntu and mint for a while, but decided it was time to learn a bit more about linux. I've swapped out the CD drive on a mid 2010 Macbook Pro (6,2, 15", i7) for an SSD, and I have OSX installed on the HDD, arch installed in a single partition on the entire SSD, and grub installed to the OSX boot partition (so it boots to grub, or I can return to OSX by holding down alt). This seems to be working okay, however I this model of macbook is known for a graphics card switching issue, indeed it has crashed a few times in OSX because of this. As I have no intention of doing anything graphically intensive, and I like my battery life, I would like to completely disable and power down the dedicated Nvidia card and just use the integrated IntelHD 4000 instead.

[gasmark5@archmb ~]$ lspci|grep VGA
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 18)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GT216M [GeForce GT 330M] (rev a2)

Following the instructions on the hybrid graphics page, I installed acpi_call-git-dkms from the AUR and loaded the module.

If I run turn_off_gpu.sh on the macbook, I get:

[ 2256.500325] acpi_call: Cannot get handle: Error: AE_NOT_FOUND
[ 2256.502230] acpi_call: Cannot get handle: Error: AE_NOT_FOUND
etc.
...

I don't know what this means. Interestingly, when I tried SSHing in from another computer, to copy the output to this forum, I get almost the expected output:

[gasmark5@archmb ~]$ sudo turn_off_gpu.sh
Trying \_SB.PCI0.P0P1.VGA._OFF: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.P0P2.VGA._OFF: failed
Trying \_SB_.PCI0.OVGA.ATPX: failed
Trying \_SB_.PCI0.OVGA.XTPX: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.P0P3.PEGP._OFF: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.P0P2.PEGP._OFF: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.P0P1.PEGP._OFF: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.MXR0.MXM0._OFF: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.PEG1.GFX0._OFF: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.PEG0.GFX0.DOFF: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.PEG1.GFX0.DOFF: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._OFF: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.XVR0.Z01I.DGOF: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.PEGR.GFX0._OFF: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.PEG.VID._OFF: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.PEG0.VID._OFF: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.P0P2.DGPU._OFF: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.P0P4.DGPU.DOFF: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.IXVE.IGPU.DGOF: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.RP00.VGA._PS3: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.RP00.VGA.P3MO: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.GFX0.DSM._T_0: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.LPC.EC.PUBS._OFF: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.P0P2.NVID._OFF: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.P0P2.VGA.PX02: failed
Trying \_SB_.PCI0.PEGP.DGFX._OFF: failed
Trying \_SB_.PCI0.VGA.PX02: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP.SGOF: failed
Trying \_SB.PCI0.AGP.VGA.PX02: failed

except that it fails to turn off any bus. Does this mean it is already off? After lots of reading on the subject, I am no further along. I read somewhere it was only possible to disable it completely when in BIOS mode instead of EFI, and there was mention of patched grubs, but I confess I am rather out of my depth. Apologies if this has been covered before, but I couldn't find anything to help me, so if anyone has any suggestions, or where I might look for more information, it would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

George

Gas Mark 5

Member

Registered: 2016-02-28

Posts: 2

Re: Disabling dedicated graphics on Macbook Pro 2010

Just an update, the

Error: AE_NOT_FOUND

error was due to me running the script straight from a tty instead of a terminal emulator within an x session, if I do the latter it gives me the same output as when SSHing in.

I have also tried the methods mentioned here to check when the dedicated GPU is active.

[gasmark5@archmb ~]$ glxinfo|egrep "OpenGL vendor|OpenGL renderer"
OpenGL vendor string: nouveau
OpenGL renderer string: Gallium 0.4 on NVA5

and

[gasmark5@archmb ~]$ lspci -vnnn | perl -lne 'print if /^\d+\:.+(\[\S+\:\S+\])/' | grep VGA
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0046] (rev 18) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GT216M [GeForce GT 330M] [10de:0a29] (rev a2) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])

The battery life is slightly shorter than when running OSX, (although I haven't investigated other power saving measures yet). My main concern however, is if the dodgy GPU gets worse, I don't want to be left with an unusable computer, as I have heard has happened to lots of OSX users, without resorting to wrapping it in blankets to trigger the thermal shutdown etc...

Can anyone point me in the direction of any resources with further information? The arch wiki is great, but all the repositories it mentions on this subject seem to be a bit outdated. Surely there must be other people in a similar situation? It is a great piece of hardware otherwise, and the mac support seems to be very strong, the touchpad works perfectly, as does the keyboard and webcam.

George