Hi all, Just to give a heads up to everyone interested in this thread, one of the Sony Vaio Z-series launchpad team members has found a way to turn on/off the discrete nvidia graphics card by investigating the DSDT tables. So we have at least 60 happy users that can enjoy this feature now. Details here:
https://launchpad.net/~sony-vaio-z-series http://www.basyskom.org/~eva/log_installation_vaio_z21vnx.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The mode can be switched through sysfs: echo stamina > /sys/devices/platform/sony-laptop/speed_stamina echo speed > /sys/devices/platform/sony-laptop/speed_stamina Make sure you have no X server running while doing this, as X will break. The drivers starts in stamina mode as default. This can be changed by a parameter, to startup in speed mode: insmod sony-laptop speed_stamina=1 It is unsure initialisation of the Nvidia card is complete and this has not been tested. Loading such a module at boot time might break your linux installation (or at least making it impossible to start up the X server). Unfortunately the PCI system doesn't really recognize the change and still shows the 00:02.0 Intel graphics controller and the 01:00.0 Nvidia graphics controller, but not the 00:02.1 Intel card. So if you use scripts to switch your X.org config, this will break. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I guess it's a matter of X.org picking up from here now, trying to get this to work better with a running X server somehow. Cheers, Albert. On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 10:21 AM, Albert Vilella <avile...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi all, > > What is the current support and roadmap for discrete graphics card hot > switching in Xorg? > > See: > > https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg/+bug/312756 > > http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=258304 > > Hybrids with the Ability to turn off the 3d chip: > > AMD/ATI calls it PowerXpress and Nvidia HybridPower. It uses 2 graphics > cards, one energy efficient with little 3d power and the other for gaming > (fast and uses more/a lot of power), the user can choose which chip to use. > This is not a new concept. Sony has build in 2 graphics chips into some of > their laptops for years. In the past a reboot was required to switch between > the chips. With the new generation it is possible to change between chips on > the fly, the screen will flicker but no need to reboot. At least in Windows > Vista (XP, Linux not supported) the user can switch freely between the chips > or set up a profile to do so automatically (eg when on battery use low power > chip and when plugged in use the more powerful chip). > > The graphic card hybrid not only works with two Nvidia or AMD cards but the > low power Intel graphics solutions (mostly shard memory) can also be > combined with 3d chips from AMD or Nvidia. This solution is ideal for users > who want maximum battery life and be able to play current games. The most > likely combination is Intel shard memory graphics card for battery life and > some low to mid level 3d chip. This will not give great 3d performance but > enable you to play some games. > > Limitations are the drivers. Special drivers are needed depending on which > graphic chips are combined in the hybrid. This will most likely make you > depended on the Notebook manufactures driver support. It is uncertain if 3rd > party drivers (such as laptopvideo2go) will be usable. > > One of the models is the Sony Vaio Z series. Right now, both cards are > visible under Linux, but there is no way to hot-switching-off (if that is a > word...) the Nvidia card. For a summary of users' experimentation with this > laptop and Linux. > > There are currently ~40 users of Sony Vaio Z series using Linux that would > like this feature to be implemented. See: > > https://launchpad.net/~sony-vaio-z-series > > Also, see: > > http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=325616&page=1 > http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=325616&page=2 > http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=325616&page=3 > http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=325616&page=4 > http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=325616&page=5 > > Thanks, > > Albert. > _______________________________________________ xorg mailing list xorg@lists.freedesktop.org http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/xorg