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Could someone post a tutorial on making Ubuntu 13.04 work with the HP Envy 15t-3200?

I own this laptop, and have had to use Windows so far. :(

There are several problems (touchpad, sound, etc), but by far the biggest is: hybrid graphics. This laptop has Intel 4000 / AMD 7750M graphics, and I haven't been able to get it working on Ubuntu with either prop. or open source drivers. The drivers crash, or I don't get to the desktop.

The predominant guide on AMD hybrid graphics and Ubuntu seems to be: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1930450

I have tried the contents of this guide, and it doesn't work on this laptop. After the final reboot, I get a blank screen with the wallpaper, but no desktop / launcher / menus, and I need to force restart.

Will be offering a bounty on this question soon. If anyone answers now, I'll also add a bounty when it's available (in 2 days, I think).

Velvet Ghost
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2 Answers2

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My Vaio VPCSA had a similar problem.

I replaced a line in /etc/defalut/grub (1):

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="video.allow_duplicates=1 radeon.modeset=1"

It fixed the problem for Ubuntu 12.10. However, that's not enough for Debian/unstable. In addition, I had to add a line to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf (2):

blacklist radeon

And to /etc/rc.local BEFORE exit 0; (3):

modprobe radeon modeset=1
mount -t debugfs none /sys/kernel/debug/
echo OFF > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch

If you have issues, start with (2). It has reliably resulted in a bootable system, than proceed with (3).

yanychar
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  • From what I understand, this solution results in the system running with Intel 4000 graphics, but the 7750M card is completely disabled. Thanks for the solution, but I was looking for one that lets me switch between the two cards like you can in Windows. – Velvet Ghost Apr 29 '13 at 05:13
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Well. lets see if we can fix this.

First of all I would definitely see if there is a BIOS update for the laptop, and install it, so you can disable the Intel 4000 built-in graphics, and be able to use the AMD 7750M.

(On an unrelated issue, unfortunately, you can't use both cards at the same time. Referring to Nvidia SLI And AMD CrossfireX).

I'm just supplying an answer so maybe this can help you use you laptop.

Now, AMD has release new drivers for your card as of 4/24/2013. I don't know if these are the drivers that you've tried. To download these drivers if you haven't tried them click here.

Also Intel has a new driver dated 5/3/2013, to download click here

Now having worked with HP a while back, I have to say that they are slow when it comes to having fixes done to there systems. A request has been made by many to have this issue ( the ability to switch between cards), and nothing has been done so far.

I know this may not be the answer that you're looking for, but I hope that it can help you at least in being able to use your laptop.

Mitch
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