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-   -   X.Org using Intel HD card instead of AMD card (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-software-2/x-org-using-intel-hd-card-instead-of-amd-card-4175420921/)

abrinister 08-07-2012 09:06 PM

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

Sidicas 08-07-2012 11:58 PM

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.

abrinister 08-08-2012 10:36 AM

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

abrinister 08-08-2012 11:04 AM

2 Attachment(s)
Here are my full dmesg and Xorg.0.log

Alex Brinister

abrinister 08-10-2012 04:51 PM

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

abrinister 08-16-2012 11:33 AM

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

Alex Brinister


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