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Old 08-07-2012, 09:06 PM   #1
abrinister
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Registered: Dec 2010
Location: Boston, MA, USA
Distribution: Arch Linux
Posts: 460

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X.Org using Intel HD card instead of AMD card


I have a HP dv6-6173cl with switchable graphics (Intel HD with a AMD Radeon HD 6770M running Arch Linux 64-bit. Lately, I've been forcibly switched over to my Intel card by X.Org. My game performance has worsened and I wanted to get it back to normal by switching back to my Radeon card. However, even after removing xf86-video-intel and intel-dri, and after making a custom xorg.conf with the following contents:

Code:
Section "Device"
    Identifier "Radeon"
    Driver "radeon"
    BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection
X.Org server still crashes and burns with a huge backtrace. While looking through my Xorg.0.log, I noticed two lines looking like this:

Code:
(II)PCI:*:00:02:0 ~~ some memory location stuff
(II)PCI: :01:00:0 ~~ some memory location stuff
I take the star to mean that is the one being used. But the problem is, 00:02:00 is my Intel HD card. I want to be using my Radeon one which is 01:00:0.

Can this be changed in a config file somewhere? Why is this happening?

Alex Brinister
 
Old 08-07-2012, 11:58 PM   #2
Sidicas
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Registered: Apr 2004
Distribution: Debian GNU/Linux
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If it's "switchable" graphics, you need to go into your BIOS to choose which graphics chip you want to use as your primary output.

Don't forget to reinstall the AMD Catalyst graphics drivers.
 
Old 08-08-2012, 10:36 AM   #3
abrinister
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Registered: Dec 2010
Location: Boston, MA, USA
Distribution: Arch Linux
Posts: 460

Original Poster
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This laptop's BIOS is really bare and has n option other than choosing "Fixed" or "Dynamic" for the Switchable graphics which in my experience changes absolutely nothing (at least in Linux). I've tried with both option to no avail.

I'm using the free radeon drivers because I have the same performance with both and the Catalyst drivers are much more of a hassle.

Alex Brinister
 
Old 08-08-2012, 11:04 AM   #4
abrinister
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Registered: Dec 2010
Location: Boston, MA, USA
Distribution: Arch Linux
Posts: 460

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Here are my full dmesg and Xorg.0.log

Alex Brinister
Attached Files
File Type: log Xorg.0.log (21.0 KB, 8 views)
File Type: log dmesg.log (59.6 KB, 10 views)
 
Old 08-10-2012, 04:51 PM   #5
abrinister
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Registered: Dec 2010
Location: Boston, MA, USA
Distribution: Arch Linux
Posts: 460

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After further investigation, I have found an in-kernel tool for switchable graphics called vga_switcheroo.

To use vga_switcheroo, modesetting must be enabled for both drivers. On my kernel command line, I put both

Code:
radeon.modeset=1 i915.modeset=1
In my rc.local, I have the following:

Code:
# Load the Radeon module
modprobe radeon

# Turn on the dGPU
echo ON > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch

# Make the dGPU the default card
echo DIS > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch

# Turn of the goddamn useless Intel card
echo OFF > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch
However, this does nothing! On login, I find that the default video card is still the Intel card:

Code:
[fluffypony@0xffeDAEMONPAWNY1969 ~]$ sudo cat /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch
0:IGD:+:Pwr:0000:00:02.0
1:DIS: :Pwr:0000:01:00.0
When I make the default card DIS by issuing:

Code:
sudo bash -c "echo DIS > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch"
The screen freezes. I can still blindly type:

Code:
sudo bash -c "echo IGD > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch"
And the screen comes back. Why is this happening?

Alex Brinister
 
Old 08-16-2012, 11:33 AM   #6
abrinister
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Registered: Dec 2010
Location: Boston, MA, USA
Distribution: Arch Linux
Posts: 460

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Rep: Reputation: 38
I switched to the proprietary drivers (again) so I guess this is solved for now.

Alex Brinister
 
  


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