[Solved] David Airlie's hybrid graphics patch

davvil · 2010-04-28 09:16:08

Some time ago I found David Airlie's work on switchable graphics on linux (see http://airlied.livejournal.com/71434.html and http://linux-hybrid-graphics.blogspot.com/). Having such a laptop, a Lenovo T500, it would be very cool to have this. Did someone try it on Arch? If not, I will start reading the "official way" to patching the kernel in a clean makepkg-ish way

Last edited by davvil (2010-04-30 13:02:19)

borrell · 2010-04-29 01:49:50

I haven't tried this, but I am using the nvidia_g210m_acpi kernel module to power down my Nvidia card. It works great, and my notebook draws 6.3W with the discrete graphics off

davvil · 2010-04-29 10:55:27

Pity that I do not have an nvidia, but an ATI card

Does anyone know if this information is still current? http://bugs.archlinux.org/task/12384. There seems to be a bit of chaos in the wiki about compiling a custom kernel...

tomk · 2010-04-29 11:24:47

Still current, yes - as you can see, reason for closing is "Implemented".

Since then, of course, split packages have been introduced, so the kernel PKGBUILD looks a bit different - but the support for custom kernels is still there.

davvil · 2010-04-30 13:01:52

Success!! I compiled a custom kernel with the patch and it works fine. I have problems with the getting 3d acceleration with the ATI card, but this is another topic.

However, for the PKGBUILD to do a sensible package I had to change the package_kernel26() function to just package(). Renaming it to package_kernel26-hybridGPU() (the name of my custom kernel) did not work wither. I suspect this has something to do with split packages, but I did not find any information w.r.t. to that.

If some people want to try this I can post the PKGBUILD here or upload it to the AUR. But it seems the thread did not arouse much interest and I think the authors are trying to get the patch accepted upstream, so probably there is no need.

davvil · 2010-05-17 10:26:11

Kernel 2.6.34 is out and includes the code of the patch. See also http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/g … cdf7f83289

[I hope this is not considered necro-bumping. I added it for reference in case someone comes across this thread.]

tkdfighter · 2010-05-17 19:40:51

Just wondering: how stable is this? I mean, it's surely not trivial to pull this off. Have you had any problems when switching?

tomk · 2010-05-17 21:22:22

davvil wrote:

I hope this is not considered necro-bumping

Nah, less than three weeks since the last post - you're safe.

davvil · 2010-05-18 06:58:48

tkdfighter wrote:

Just wondering: how stable is this? I mean, it's surely not trivial to pull this off. Have you had any problems when switching?

No, I didn't have problems, but to be honest, I did not "switch" very much. I use it mainly for having the hybrid mode activated and switch off the unused card (which is normally the ATI card), so that it doesn't drain my battery. In this way I can boot in windows for the occasional gaming without having to enter the bios to change the graphics setting.

The couple of times I switched between the cards it all went well, but I have read that after the n-th switch the system hangs. I do not know if the issue is solved.

tkdfighter · 2010-05-19 00:14:56

Well, I skimmed over the patch, but I have to admit that I'm not literate in either graphics nor kernel related code, so I didin't exactly learn much :\ Well, someday ...

Anyways, thanks for sharing your experiences.

toxygen · 2010-05-27 09:20:04

davvil wrote:

No, I didn't have problems, but to be honest, I did not "switch" very much. I use it mainly for having the hybrid mode activated and switch off the unused card (which is normally the ATI card), so that it doesn't drain my battery. In this way I can boot in windows for the occasional gaming without having to enter the bios to change the graphics setting.
The couple of times I switched between the cards it all went well, but I have read that after the n-th switch the system hangs. I do not know if the issue is solved.

I have an HP Tm2 tablet/laptop with intel/ati graphics as well ( i believe the same card you have ) so it's good to know it's working. I've been keeping my eye on David Airlie's pages (and the ubuntu thread for tm2) on how progress on this is going. I hope next kernel release will make this all simple, and I havent tried any patches since the kernel is "right around the corner"

thanks for the info though

davvil · 2010-05-30 11:02:28

This weekend I installed the new kernel from testing and all works as expected. Well, actually better! Suspend to RAM was broken wih 2.6.33 (not because of the patch, it was already before) and now it works

Arch Linux

#1 2010-04-28 09:16:08

[Solved] David Airlie's hybrid graphics patch

#2 2010-04-29 01:49:50

Re: [Solved] David Airlie's hybrid graphics patch

#3 2010-04-29 10:55:27

Re: [Solved] David Airlie's hybrid graphics patch

#4 2010-04-29 11:24:47

Re: [Solved] David Airlie's hybrid graphics patch

#5 2010-04-30 13:01:52

Re: [Solved] David Airlie's hybrid graphics patch

#6 2010-05-17 10:26:11

Re: [Solved] David Airlie's hybrid graphics patch

#7 2010-05-17 19:40:51

Re: [Solved] David Airlie's hybrid graphics patch

#8 2010-05-17 21:22:22

Re: [Solved] David Airlie's hybrid graphics patch

#9 2010-05-18 06:58:48

Re: [Solved] David Airlie's hybrid graphics patch

#10 2010-05-19 00:14:56

Re: [Solved] David Airlie's hybrid graphics patch

#11 2010-05-27 09:20:04

Re: [Solved] David Airlie's hybrid graphics patch

#12 2010-05-30 11:02:28

Re: [Solved] David Airlie's hybrid graphics patch

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