How do I enable desktop effects with hybrid Nvidia/Intel graphic card?

Question

To turn on/off between the 2 cards, I used acpi_call and bumblebee as in this article: https://launchpad.net/~hybrid-graphics-linux

It works. However, from the first time I install a fresh Ubuntu and also now, I can't enable desktop visual effects. Even if turning on Nvidia card.

My laptop is Asus K53SV, core i7 Sandy Bridge. Don't know what the problem is?

Update: Intel integrated card info using lshw command:

*-display
         description: VGA compatible controller
         product: Sandy Bridge Integrated Graphics Controller
         vendor: Intel Corporation
         physical id: 2
         bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
         version: 09
         width: 64 bits
         clock: 33MHz
         capabilities: vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
         configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
         resources: irq:45 memory:dd400000-dd7fffff memory:b0000000-bfffffff ioport:e000(size=64)

I have cced your question to the mailing list, hopefully someone will know the answer http://lists.launchpad.net/hybrid-graphics-linux/msg01529.html — 719016, Jun 24 '11 at 08:12
possible duplicate of No 3D support on Lenovo W520 with nVidia Optimus — Lekensteyn, Mar 20 '12 at 16:33
possible duplicate of How well do laptops with Nvidia Optimus work? — Sepero, Jul 02 '12 at 02:38

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 24 '11 at 10:56

1

I had similar problem on ubuntu 11.04 with optimus. After fresh install there was nvidia driver (or nouveau - I dont rememeber) set in xorg.conf, but you cant directly use nvidia with optimus. Try to delete or rename the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf, or try to change the settings to use intel card. Bumblebee has its own config file for nvidia, so dont worry

answered Jun 24 '11 at 10:56

gaspo

96

could u go into details on "change setting to use intel card" ? I've updated info about my Intel card above – Duc Tran Jun 29 '11 at 09:32

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 24 '11 at 12:37

1

By default Ubuntu see that there is NVIDIA card, but no driver for it, so Unity is disabled. When I tried installing driver for NVIDIA, got black screen. Restarted in fail-safe graphics mode, removed driver, configured xorg.conf for Intel and now Unity works. Still haven't tried Bumblebee.

answered Jun 24 '11 at 12:37

Tower_9

11

I've installed Bumblebee, so now I had NVIDIA. Do I need to uninstall it and then configure xorg.conf? – Duc Tran Jun 29 '11 at 09:37

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 20 '12 at 15:37

(My solution to your problem is at the end of this post)

I have got a sony vaio Z790 laptop, with an onboard Intel graphics card an a dedicated GeForce 9300M gs Nvidia card. I am working on Ubuntu Oneiric 11.10. When using windows I can only switch between them using a hardware switch, so I assume that my model does not support the Nvidia "Optimus" technology.

I still haven't managed to work with the Nvidia card and I am stuck with the integrated from intel. When I install the Nvidia drivers (either from their website or using jockey) and restart X, I get a black screen. I have fiddled a bit with the xorg.cong file (adding various options such as a custom monitor EDID (CustomEDID option), specifying explicitly where the Nvidia card is connected (using the BusID option) and others, but the furthest I have got is to get a small white window on the top left of a totally black screen.

Back to your problem: From what I have experienced, my understanding is that once you install an nvidia driver your whole OpenGL configuration is messed-up. Even if you uninstall the drivers afterwards using nvidia-uninstall, still you wont get the 3D unity interface when you restart.

I have written the following little script which combines things I have read in varius forums, which always restores the intel configuration after an unsuccessful attempt to install some kind of driver to get my nVidia card working:

(note the this might mess-up your bumblebee configuration - I haven't looked a lot into bumblebee yet)

sudo apt-get purge nvidia*
sudo apt-get install --reinstall xserver-xorg-video-intel  libgl1-mesa-glx:amd64 libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 libgl1-mesa-dri:amd64 libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 xserver-xorg-core
sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
sudo update-alternatives --remove gl_conf /usr/lib/nvidia-current/ld.so.conf
sudo rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf
sudo stop lightdm
sudo start lightdm

Instead of typing the commands one by one, you can 1. copy this script to a new file 2. save it as you wish (e.g. "fix.run") 3. open a terminal, navigate to the directory where your script is 4. execute the command "sh fix.run" (replace fix.run with your filename)

(Note that I have no idea if the last 2 commands will work in earlier versions of ubuntu - I am new to linux. In case they don't, just find out how to restart your X server, or try hitting ctrl+alt+backspace or ctrl+print screen+k). Hopefully you will fall back on your intel configuration with the nouveau drivers and after a few seconds you will be back on unity 3D.

Hope this helps, Nikos

At installation time, Bumblebee fixes the paths. The commands are only necessary after installing Ironhide or a very old version of Bumblebee (talking about the one from mj-casalogic a.k.a. MrMEEE). Basically, you need to configure the gl_conf paths to use Mesa. Removing nvidia* is optional, reinstalling the mentioned packages is superfluous as is dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg. update-alternatives --remove is not necessary when removing nvidia-current. — Lekensteyn, Mar 20 '12 at 16:28
Removing /etc/X11/xorg.conf is necessary if you've ran nvidia-xconfig before. If you do not have nvidia-current installed, you're done now. Relogin or reboot to get 3D acceleration back. Otherwise, you need to configure gl_conf to use Mesa as described in http://askubuntu.com/a/107746/6969 — Lekensteyn, Mar 20 '12 at 16:32

How do I enable desktop effects with hybrid Nvidia/Intel graphic card?

3 Answers3