Optimus support for Linux

[avilella]

We've created a Launchpad team called hybrid-graphics-linux as a group of hybrid graphics laptop owners and/or developers interested in getting it to work 100% under Linux.

Please subscribe to this team if you are new by clicking on the "Join Team" link at the right of http://launchpad.net/~hybrid-graphics-linux

Use the mailing list hybrid-graphics-linux@lists.launchpad.net to report on your testing.

ACTIONS:
We are looking for students with basic Linux kernel/graphics notions interested in applying for the X.org Open Source PRIME multi-gpu support Google Summer of Code 2010:
http://wiki.x.org/wiki/SummerOfCodeIdeas

We are looking for Linux users with Nvidia Optimus-enabled laptops willing to provide debugging information for Open Source PRIME multi-gpu support features being worked on. Please join the team by clicking on "Join" on the right, fill in this doodle:
http://www.doodle.com/63fyczzrxqaquhqx
and send an email to the mailing list specifying your laptop model with these commands:
sudo dmidecode -s system-product-name
sudo dmidecode -s system-version
lspci -vnnn | perl -lne 'print if /^\d+\:.+(\[\S+\:\S+\])/' | grep VGA

Originally Posted by AaronP

We have no plans to support Optimus on Linux at this time.

[littlebird]

Originally Posted by andrej7

I am not sure whether "not supported" means "these chipsets won't work at all" or just "switching won't work". Could you please shed more light on this? Is it possible to use the NVidia adapter (or the Intel adapter) separately, without the switching capabilities? For example, would the 310M chipset in an Asus U30JC-QX022X work under Linux?

I think this is a great question that needs be clarified. I am in the process of shopping for a new laptop and many of the newest models boast of "Optimus". I intend to run Linux on the box and I need to know if "Not supported" means "It won;t work at all" or "automatic switching won't work".

Please if anyone can give a good clear answer it would be very helpful to me.

[loloemr]

Originally Posted by littlebird

I think this is a great question that needs be clarified. I am in the process of shopping for a new laptop and many of the newest models boast of "Optimus". I intend to run Linux on the box and I need to know if "Not supported" means "It won;t work at all" or "automatic switching won't work".

Please if anyone can give a good clear answer it would be very helpful to me.

My clear answer (coming from the experience of my new Asus U30Jc) is that you won't be able to use the nvidia card, only the intel chipset is working for me (ubuntu 10.04).

And that's really a shame because I bought this laptop hoping to be able to use CUDA under Linux ...

[AaronP]

Originally Posted by loloemr

And that's really a shame because I bought this laptop hoping to be able to use CUDA under Linux ...

Optimus is not supported by the graphics driver, but it ought to work for CUDA. If it's not working, please describe what's happening in a new thread, or send a message to linux-bugs@nvidia.com.

[Philip550c]

Originally Posted by loloemr

My clear answer (coming from the experience of my new Asus U30Jc) is that you won't be able to use the nvidia card, only the intel chipset is working for me (ubuntu 10.04).

And that's really a shame because I bought this laptop hoping to be able to use CUDA under Linux ...

This is a shame. I have been a fan of Nvidia for a long time, I purchase only nvidia products, as well as hundreds of products for my clients. As a strict linux user I have put my computer purchasing on hold and hopefully temporarily have stopped recommending nvidia cards to my clients. I was forced to return my new m11x alienware laptop beause of the lack of support with optimus. I hope Nvidia's decision is temporary, as I wish to continue using Nvidia products.

[grounded]

Originally Posted by AaronP

We have no plans to support Optimus on Linux at this time.

Then I'm afraid millions of Linux users have no plans to purchase Nvidia at this time.

[aigarius]

Originally Posted by AaronP

Optimus is not supported by the graphics driver, but it ought to work for CUDA. If it's not working, please describe what's happening in a new thread, or send a message to linux-bugs@nvidia.com.

Guys, I understand that making Linux driver automatically switch between dedicated video card and build-in card could be a low priority, BUT to have no plans of making laptops with Optimus technology work at all in Linux is just unacceptable.

A notebook with a NVidia video card often is twice the price of a similar notebook with just the Intel card, why would people buy them, if it is impossible to us the NVidia card in the laptop???

Please make it so that when NVidia driver detects an Optimus configuration, it turns on and initialises both NVidia and Intel hardware and makes it output NVidia rendered output to the screen. We don't care that much about battery life or heat - getting a picture from the expensive NVidia hardware to the screen it top priority for us and should be TOP priority for you.

Before choosing laptops was easy - NVidia = good, ATi = bad. Now we need to hunt for NVidia, but without the Optimus. That is ridiculous and increasingly difficult as more and more laptops come with Optimus and now way of disabling it.

[cedricv]

Originally Posted by aigarius

We don't care that much about battery life or heat - getting a picture from the expensive NVidia hardware to the screen it top priority for us and should be TOP priority for you.

Funny thing is that by default the NVidia GPU is powered on, therefore it sucks battery while not displaying anything... might not be a NVidia problem (rather BIOS or kernel) but, still, it just adds to the injury

See here:
http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=153864

[sharky3]

Originally Posted by aigarius

...Before choosing laptops was easy - NVidia = good, ATi = bad. Now we need to hunt for NVidia, but without the Optimus. That is ridiculous and increasingly difficult as more and more laptops come with Optimus and now way of disabling it.

As a proud owner of a <dontbuy> ASUS N61J with useless G325M, it is becoming obvious that we won't receive any answer here. This doesn't mean we should stop asking or stop warning others about it.
You're right, most laptops will have it in the near future (I bought the above c**p because it came with no OEM, and the model I was looking for had one month delivery time - next time I'll wait -)
That's why Nvidia marketing should answer our Question (are they ignoring a potential market the size of Germany and France together? what sane vendor would deliberately choose to do such a thing?)

I get on glxgears: '8376 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1675.071 FPS' with intel and compiz, probably 10 times slower than the Nvidia would have done - but who cares
My hunch is that the Intel onboard should somehow allow the Nvidia card to connect to a display, so Intel opinion would be also interesting to see.

About disabling it, I do 'echo 1 > /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000\:01\:00.0/remove' in rc.local
Not sure if it has any effect for powersaving (any better than vgaswitcheroo or acpi_call methods), it is faster.

[Jonathon]

Nvidia, can you please show a bit of respect for customers that have purchased a new optimus-enabled laptop, and at the very least allow us to run the graphics card on our ubuntu machine??

I can deal with not being able to hot switch between the two (that can come later) but not being able to use my expensive graphics card at all is unnaceptable. It is incredibly frustrating to have forked out extra money for a proper graphics card in my laptop to be told simply "We have no plans of supporting our customers"

very poor form

[ledoc]

I hate to say it, but this is partially your own fault. At no time there was the slightest indication that any kind of switchable graphics would ever be supported, neither officially nor with nouveau. So you shouldn't have bought that optimus(tm) crap in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I hate nvidia as much as everybody else here and of course it is extremely frustrating to have hardware you can't use. Especially if it's a power sucking nv chip.

On a more helpful/productive note: Is there really no BIOS option (or maybe even BIOS mod) to switch off optimus and go with either integrated or dedicated? That used to work for the "conventional" switchable systems. Or is optimus the big improvement that nv engineers came up with which took that last resort option away? Like hard-wiring the display to only one of them? Way to go, guys.

[braintorch]

I assume, bios option won't work, because output on screen from nvidia card implemented in software: nvidia driver writes to the intel video memory (I suppose, with some help from intel driver). Bios has nothing to do with this.