0

I just bought a dell inspiron 5537 (which already comes with ubuntu 12) and I removed the ubuntu and installed Ubuntu 14.04 alongside a windows 8.1.

After struggling with the system is running low on graphics error I got it fixed by installing AMD Radeon HD driver. However I noticed that before (when I had the Ubuntu 12 that came with the device) the battery life was up to 6 hours and now it's no longer than 4 hours. So now I think I should disable the AMD card (since the built-in intel HD card will work fine on Ubuntu), maybe that will extend the battery's life?

But, is there a trusted way to do that without returning to the low graphic mode?

Community
  • 1
Rounds
  • 101

1 Answers1

1

base on your description, you have the proprietary driver installed.

You could switch between AMD / Intel GPU by using the AMD Catalyst Control Center

This could be done by searching AMD in your dash Search AMD in dash
And open the "Administrative" one to switch GPU. You will be asked to enter your password for it. Enter password for administrative mode

However, currently there is a bug affecting it: https://pad.lv/1309550

If nothing happened after you entered the password. Please open a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + t) and run:

sudo amdcccle

You will see this control center, and switch the desired GPU here: control center

P.-H. Lin
  • 2,824
  • After doing this I'm not able to open Catalyst again and also my unity-control-center stopped to work – Doug Correa Oct 31 '14 at 01:50
  • @DougCorrea That sounds like a bug to me. I would suggest you to give the latest AMD fglrx from AMD (http://support.amd.com/en-us/download) a try. If it still persists, open a bug report will be a wonderful step. – P.-H. Lin Nov 11 '14 at 05:45