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I recently bought a ASUS N73S laptop with GeForce 540M videocard that has the optimus technology. Now I cannot get composite video and my beloved compiz cube. I use ubuntu 11.04 with gnome desktop (not unity).
I don't care about the optimus memory switching to save energy, this PC is almost always connected. I bought it because it has a decent built in sound system and speakers. I also don't game. I just want that cube working.
I have installed the nvidia extra driver. That stalls the boot process and I have to use ctrl-alt-F1, log in and delete /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Then the machine boots but without composite video.
I have tried to install bumblebee, but haven't found a understandable guide on how to install and use it. So I am not able to get this working.
Is there anyone out there that can guide me through the process of getting composite video in a way that a newbe can understand?
Thank you for your reply, and great guide to Compiz. But the problem is missing support for nvidia Optimus cards, or that I am not able to get this right.
If someone knows how to set up Bumblebee and the nVidia GeForce 540M drivers correctly, please guide me through the process.
I don't have any experience with newer Ubuntus. However, I have a netbook with optimus, and it works with the nvidia card if I disable / blacklist the intel drivers and maybe agpgart (not really necessary), and install the nvidia drivers. You should check your BIOS settings tho, because there may be an option for it there.
That looked promising, so I blacklisted the i915- (Intel-) driver and activated tha nVidia extra driver. I ran <sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf> and added "blacklist i915". I also ran nvidia-xconfig as root. After this the bootprocess stalled at something called Plymuth (I am a newbee with linux). This is the same thing that happened with my tries with bumblebee/nVidia.
I deleted /etc/X11/xorg.conf, rebooted and had working video again, but without composite video and the compiz cube, as before.
I still hope for some solution to this. I have seen some people on the net that claim that they havce working composite video with ASUS n53 and n73.
Ok, and thanks anyway. The search for the solution continues....
EDIT: and by the way, this is what sucks with linux. The OP and the software works perfectly if the hardware complies. I have 5 computers running different versions of ubuntu at home, one has this display problem, two have network problems (random glitches) that I haven't been able to solve. Two work perfectly. I love it when it works!
EDIT: and by the way, this is what sucks with linux. The OP and the software works perfectly if the hardware complies.
I'd actually say 'this is what sucks when nVidia tries to compete with intel for video hardware, then make a really cheap and nasty solution with no linux support'.
As much as I dont like intel in the video game, they have NEVER made a video chip that could compete with nVidia or AMD (+ 3DFX, matrox etc 'back in the day'), I'd rather have intel video that works over nVidia video that doesnt work.
I've never gotten "optimus" to run on Linux, even with the useless bumblebee. However, I have been able to get the nvidia card working, which is all I really care about, because the Intel card is absolute s***.
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