Albert Fayngold

[10/11/2010] Fedora 14 / Ubuntu 10.10 + vga_switcheroo + switch scripts(0) Install Fedora 14 / Ubuntu 10.10, install needed packages & download icons(0.1) Burn a CD or make a bootable USB with your fabourite distribution and install it on your laptop. Fedora 14 Ubuntu 10.10 (0.2) Install the following packages from the command line and download icons: $ sudo yum update $ sudo yum install wget gxmessage libnotify-bin $ wget -P /home/"$USER"/.local/share/icons/ http://lh4.ggpht.com/_Dw3SC8gD9Jk/S-MGVcEfaiI/AAAAAAAAAIA/Pguy_uSeqSk/s800/hardware_down.png $ wget -P /home/"$USER"/.local/share/icons/ http://lh5.ggpht.com/_Dw3SC8gD9Jk/S-MGVSO0JbI/AAAAAAAAAIE/_mdAnW7UiCQ/s800/hardware_up.png $ wget -P /home/"$USER"/.local/share/icons/ http://lh4.ggpht.com/_Dw3SC8gD9Jk/TNbQXzK6hrI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/YlqK46MusuE/s800/hardware.png $ wget -P /home/"$USER"/.local/share/icons/ http://lh5.ggpht.com/_Dw3SC8gD9Jk/S41DjuMt_MI/AAAAAAAAAF4/5pQm2-dX6Sg/s800/switch_before_shutdown.png $ sudo apt-get update $ sudo apt-get install wget gxmessage libnotify-bin $ wget -P /home/"$USER"/.local/share/icons/ http://lh4.ggpht.com/_Dw3SC8gD9Jk/S-MGVcEfaiI/AAAAAAAAAIA/Pguy_uSeqSk/s800/hardware_down.png $ wget -P /home/"$USER"/.local/share/icons/ http://lh5.ggpht.com/_Dw3SC8gD9Jk/S-MGVSO0JbI/AAAAAAAAAIE/_mdAnW7UiCQ/s800/hardware_up.png $ wget -P /home/"$USER"/.local/share/icons/ http://lh4.ggpht.com/_Dw3SC8gD9Jk/TNbQXzK6hrI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/YlqK46MusuE/s800/hardware.png $ wget -P /home/"$USER"/.local/share/icons/ http://lh5.ggpht.com/_Dw3SC8gD9Jk/S41DjuMt_MI/AAAAAAAAAF4/5pQm2-dX6Sg/s800/switch_before_shutdown.png (1) Mount "none" partition on fstab (just on Fedora, Ubuntu does it by default) $ sudo gedit /etc/fstabAnd add the following line:none /sys/kernel/debug debugfs defaults 0 0 (2) Change switch file permissions every time computer initiates $ sudo gedit /etc/rc.d/rc.localAnd add the following lines:chown "username" /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch # change "username" with your user name echo OFF > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch $ sudo gedit /etc/rc.localAnd add the following lines:chown "username" /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch # change "username" with your user name echo OFF > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch (3) Reboot & copy and run script to switch between graphic cardsswitch_between_cards.sh #!/bin/bash # "switch_between_cards.sh" script by RM, with useful changes from LoLL # version 20101107 pci_integrated=$(lspci | grep VGA | sed -n '1p' | cut -f 1 -d " ") pci_discrete=$(lspci | grep VGA | sed -n '2p' | cut -f 1 -d " ") integrated=$(cat /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch | grep $pci_integrated | grep -o -P ':.:...:') discrete=$(cat /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch | grep $pci_discrete | grep -o -P ':.:...:') name_integrated=$(lspci | grep VGA | sed -n '1p' | sed -e "s/.* VGA compatible controller[ :]*//g" | sed -e "s/ Corporation//g" | sed -e "s/ Technologies Inc//g" | sed -e 's/\[[0-9]*\]: //g' | sed -e 's/\[[0-9:a-z]*\]//g' | sed -e 's/(rev [a-z0-9]*)//g' | sed -e "s/ Integrated Graphics Controller//g") name_discrete=$(lspci | grep VGA | sed -n '2p' | sed -e "s/.* VGA compatible controller[ :]*//g" | sed -e "s/ Corporation//g" | sed -e "s/ Technologies Inc//g" | sed -e 's/\[[0-9]*\]: //g' | sed -e 's/\[[0-9:a-z]*\]//g' | sed -e 's/(rev [a-z0-9]*)//g' | sed -e "s/ Integrated Graphics Controller//g") if [ "$integrated" = ":+:Pwr:" ] then integrated_condition="(*) - Power ON" elif [ "$integrated" = ": :Pwr:" ] then integrated_condition="( ) - Power ON" elif [ "$integrated" = ": :Off:" ] then integrated_condition="( ) - Power OFF" fi if [ "$discrete" = ":+:Pwr:" ] then discrete_condition="(*) - Power ON" elif [ "$discrete" = ": :Pwr:" ] then discrete_condition="( ) - Power ON" elif [ "$discrete" = ": :Off:" ] then discrete_condition="( ) - Power OFF" fi gxmessage -center \ -buttons "_Cancel":1,"switch to _Integrated":101,"switch to _Discrete":102 \ -wrap \ -title "Choose Hybrid Graphic Card" \ "Choose Hybrid Graphic Card ================= Integrated: $integrated_condition : $name_integrated Discrete: $discrete_condition : $name_discrete" whichCard=$? case "$whichCard" in 1) echo "Exit" ;; 101) if [ "$integrated" == ":+:Pwr:" ] && [ "$discrete" == ": :Pwr:" ] then notify-send -t 5000 --icon="/home/$USER/.local/share/icons/hardware_down.png" "switching to $name_integrated" echo OFF > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch elif [ "$integrated" == ": :Pwr:" ] && [ "$discrete" == ":+:Pwr:" ] then notify-send -t 5000 --icon="/home/$USER/.local/share/icons/hardware_down.png" "switching to $name_integrated" echo DIGD > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch if [ "$DESKTOP_SESSION" = "openbox" ] then killall -u "$USER" elif [ "$DESKTOP_SESSION" = "gnome" ] then gnome-session-save --logout fi elif [ "$integrated" == ": :Off:" ] && [ "$discrete" == ":+:Pwr:" ] then notify-send -t 5000 --icon="/home/$USER/.local/share/icons/hardware_down.png" "switching to $name_integrated" echo ON > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch echo DIGD > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch if [ "$DESKTOP_SESSION" = "openbox" ] then killall -u "$USER" elif [ "$DESKTOP_SESSION" = "gnome" ] then gnome-session-save --logout fi elif [ "$integrated" == ":+:Pwr:" ] && [ "$discrete" == ": :Off:" ] then notify-send -t 5000 --icon="/home/$USER/.local/share/icons/hardware_down.png" "already switched to $name_integrated" fi ;; 102) if [ "$integrated" == ":+:Pwr:" ] && [ "$discrete" == ": :Pwr:" ] then notify-send -t 5000 --icon="/home/$USER/.local/share/icons/hardware_up.png" "switching to $name_discrete" echo DDIS > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch if [ "$DESKTOP_SESSION" = "openbox" ] then killall -u "$USER" elif [ "$DESKTOP_SESSION" = "gnome" ] then gnome-session-save --logout fi elif [ "$integrated" == ": :Pwr:" ] && [ "$discrete" == ":+:Pwr:" ] then notify-send -t 5000 --icon="/home/$USER/.local/share/icons/hardware_up.png" "switching to $name_discrete" echo OFF > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch elif [ "$integrated" == ":+:Pwr:" ] && [ "$discrete" == ": :Off:" ] then notify-send -t 5000 --icon="/home/$USER/.local/share/icons/hardware_up.png" "switching to $name_discrete" echo ON > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch echo DDIS > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch if [ "$DESKTOP_SESSION" = "openbox" ] then killall -u "$USER" elif [ "$DESKTOP_SESSION" = "gnome" ] then gnome-session-save --logout fi elif [ "$integrated" == ": :Off:" ] && [ "$discrete" == ":+:Pwr:" ] then notify-send -t 5000 --icon="/home/$USER/.local/share/icons/hardware_up.png" "already switched to $name_discrete" fi ;; esac (4) OPTIONAL: Script to turn off laptopThis next script is used to turn off the computer. Because, in my case, if I turn off the computer without switching on both cards (specially when the integrated card is on and the discrete card is off), the fan runs at full speed when I turn it on again, stoping only after rebooting. Hence, to avoid this, this other launcher can be used to turn off the computer:switch_before_shutdown.sh #!/bin/bash if [ "$DESKTOP_SESSION" = "openbox" ] then gxmessage "Are you sure you want to shut down your computer?" -center -title "Take action" -font "Sans bold 10" -default "Cancel" -buttons "_Cancel":1,"L_ock screen":101,"_Log out":102,"_Reboot":103,"_Shut down":104 case $? in 1) echo "Exit";; 101) xscreensaver-command -lock;; 102) killall openbox;; 103) echo ON > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch; gnome-terminal -e 'sudo shutdown -r now';; 104) echo ON > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch gnome-terminal -e 'sudo shutdown -h now';; esac elif [ "$DESKTOP_SESSION" = "gnome" ] then gxmessage "Are you sure you want to shut down your computer?" -center -title "Take action" -font "Sans bold 10" -default "Cancel" -buttons "_Cancel":1,"L_ock screen":101,"_Log out":102,"_Reboot":103,"_Shut down":104 case $? in 1) echo "Exit";; 101) gnome-screensaver-command -l;; 102) gnome-session-save --logout;; 103) echo ON > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch; gnome-terminal -e 'sudo shutdown -r now';; 104) echo ON > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch gnome-terminal -e 'sudo shutdown -h now';; esac fi I tested this HowTo on my laptop with Fedora 14 (x64) and Ubuntu 10.10 (x32). Please write me if you find any errors or have any sugestion to modify and improve this HowTo.