Public bug reported: Over a year after its release, there is still no Optimus support in Linux, either in nvidia-current or in the nouveau driver. Unless there is a BIOS setting that allows you to turn off the Intel iGPU, the only workaround is to use the Intel iGPU and, if possible, save power by turning off the nvidia card via an ACPI call. It appears that in most cases, to cut costs, the manufacturers don't supply the hardware MUX that allows you to select nvidia graphics, so there is no such BIOS option. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1657660 has a summary of the issue.
Apart from being a great annoyance to people who buy a laptop with an nvidia card and discovering it just doesn't work in Linux, this is a big problem because other basic functions like running an external monitor via HDMI will most likely not work (eg see https://lists.launchpad.net /hybrid-graphics-linux/msg00701.html - HDMI is attached via the non- working nvidia card). I don't mind so much about only being able to use the Intel graphics (even despite the driver being less stable than nvidia-current), but not being able to connect an external monitor is a show-stopper for me. Last year it was possible to get a laptop with an i7-series CPU and a working nvidia card, because it the i7 CPU last year didn't have an iGPU. But Sandy Bridge CPUs all come with internal graphics and are now the norm (and if you are buying a performance laptop, why wouldn't you want a SB CPU?), so it is almost impossible now to buy a performance laptop with a working nvidia card (ie working HDMI). Will this slow the future uptake of Ubuntu? I would suspect that it must do at least for users who have performance laptops, since Ubuntu now can't drive external monitors on a reasonably large portion of new laptops. Will people stop using Ubuntu on performance laptops because of this? By the same logic, there must be current Ubuntu users who will be forced to use Windoze just so they can get external monitors working. (Sadly, it looks like I might fall into this category when my company upgrades its laptops soon.) nvidia has stated that they have no plans to support optimus on Linux, but that one day they might have to. Is there a way to give them an incentive to do so, other than by moaning on the nvidia forums (eg http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=144750). ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04 Package: nvidia-current 270.41.06-0ubuntu1 Uname: Linux 2.6.39-rc4-generic x86_64 NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia .proc.driver.nvidia.gpus.0: Error: [Errno 21] Is a directory: '/proc/driver/nvidia/gpus/0' .proc.driver.nvidia.registry: Binary: "" .proc.driver.nvidia.version: NVRM version: NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module 270.41.06 Mon Apr 18 14:53:56 PDT 2011 GCC version: gcc version 4.5.2 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.5.2-8ubuntu4) Architecture: amd64 CheckboxSubmission: 1bd8e90541d49b96c13cbfcc9baf103b CheckboxSystem: d00f84de8a555815fa1c4660280da308 CompizPlugins: [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,imgjpeg,compiztoolbox,maximumize,decor,grid,place,imgpng,session,mousepoll,resize,vpswitch,move,wall,snap,gnomecompat,regex,text,thumbnail,imgsvg,extrawm,animation,workarounds,expo,ezoom,staticswitcher,fade,scale,unityshell] CompositorRunning: compiz Date: Tue Apr 26 12:51:11 2011 DistUpgraded: Log time: 2011-03-20 09:19:31.967259 DistroCodename: natty DistroVariant: ubuntu DkmsStatus: nvidia-current, 270.41.06, 2.6.39-rc4-generic, x86_64: installed nvidia-current, 270.41.06, 2.6.38.3-generic, x86_64: installed nvidia-current, 270.41.06, 2.6.38.4-generic, x86_64: installed vboxhost, 4.0.6, 2.6.39-rc4-generic, x86_64: installed GraphicsCard: nVidia Corporation G84 [GeForce 8600M GT] [10de:0407] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller]) Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:022e] InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04 "Lucid Lynx" - Alpha amd64 (20100224.1) JockeyStatus: xorg:nvidia_173 - NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (Proprietary, Disabled, Not in use) xorg:nvidia_current - NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (Proprietary, Enabled, Not in use) MachineType: Dell Inc. XPS M1530 ProcEnviron: LANGUAGE=en_AU:en LANG=en_AU.UTF-8 SHELL=/bin/bash ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.39-rc4-generic root=UUID=776cd2eb-157e-4c4b-b37f-9d074a6802e9 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7 Renderer: Unknown SourcePackage: nvidia-graphics-drivers UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to natty on 2011-04-22 (4 days ago) dmi.bios.date: 11/19/2008 dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc. dmi.bios.version: A12 dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc. dmi.chassis.type: 8 dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc. dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA12:bd11/19/2008:svnDellInc.:pnXPSM1530:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn:rvr:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvr: dmi.product.name: XPS M1530 dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc. version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.4+bzr20110415-0ubuntu2 version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs 20090808ubuntu13 version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.23-1ubuntu6 version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 7.10.2-0ubuntu2 version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 7.10.2-0ubuntu2 version.nvidia-graphics-drivers: nvidia-graphics-drivers N/A version.xserver-xorg: xserver-xorg 1:7.6+4ubuntu3 version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:6.14.0-0ubuntu4 version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.14.0-4ubuntu7 version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:0.0.16+git20110107+b795ca6e-0ubuntu7 ** Affects: nvidia-graphics-drivers (Ubuntu) Importance: Undecided Status: New ** Tags: amd64 apport-bug compiz-0.9 natty running-unity ubuntu unity-2d -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu-X, which is subscribed to nvidia-graphics-drivers in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/770685 Title: there is no optimus support in linux _______________________________________________ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-x-swat Post to : ubuntu-x-swat@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-x-swat More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
