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[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/ https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYqzYlP-BgyTv19LpPlAhqZfODsNZB-eyiNOf6e__FS8AOudy-wIEhyLXMLVnSndIkv9rrii3Sy58mJnx8O3IlrdrY5nr4Rf7CHhbqlaRsH5vLIkr1xB3Kg_TTkWmBHogBu-HOEcGX-8w/s800/hardware_down.png
$ wget -P /home/"$USER"/.local/share/icons/ https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdTtB-ginD408jKwWn5eKv7_Yf1MJ0I2H4yVP-Ot8z633v34txixBOxVh4AoetVM5MJBi80bBMH3D9zdIHdBEtLsIbaLHDHA2RG2YbVcHj_I_VJslyKq9g448x18PjX_JDxuwk4GGvpQ/s800/hardware_up.png
$ wget -P /home/"$USER"/.local/share/icons/ https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMiEkJp62CAGJtyiocxgdnnK4_doiE4BvQ15Rpuzo9k3IWw4HHz8cxGmKpmncXAXE0r0w8Nyo4cKmbUbijmwl2rzxgA6j_N061o9kvkv9PKtsc3ZcaZWWTrgxAXfNCj934IBCYdDapqHc/s800/hardware.png
$ wget -P /home/"$USER"/.local/share/icons/ https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGcHDeXc2UtTpphrPGhwCabFs-k9Rg_nzwgUO2G-LSOSrvd-oYDK5hNHyDS7F9_yj-7VAEZeFRPhe4TlfmMV68FODmDyEelcLTLG_PUOPgA70p-UTdFDTnCNa3LeHKS-e-5Kox4O9VG3E/s800/switch_before_shutdown.png

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install wget gxmessage libnotify-bin
$ wget -P /home/"$USER"/.local/share/icons/ https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYqzYlP-BgyTv19LpPlAhqZfODsNZB-eyiNOf6e__FS8AOudy-wIEhyLXMLVnSndIkv9rrii3Sy58mJnx8O3IlrdrY5nr4Rf7CHhbqlaRsH5vLIkr1xB3Kg_TTkWmBHogBu-HOEcGX-8w/s800/hardware_down.png
$ wget -P /home/"$USER"/.local/share/icons/ https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdTtB-ginD408jKwWn5eKv7_Yf1MJ0I2H4yVP-Ot8z633v34txixBOxVh4AoetVM5MJBi80bBMH3D9zdIHdBEtLsIbaLHDHA2RG2YbVcHj_I_VJslyKq9g448x18PjX_JDxuwk4GGvpQ/s800/hardware_up.png
$ wget -P /home/"$USER"/.local/share/icons/ https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMiEkJp62CAGJtyiocxgdnnK4_doiE4BvQ15Rpuzo9k3IWw4HHz8cxGmKpmncXAXE0r0w8Nyo4cKmbUbijmwl2rzxgA6j_N061o9kvkv9PKtsc3ZcaZWWTrgxAXfNCj934IBCYdDapqHc/s800/hardware.png
$ wget -P /home/"$USER"/.local/share/icons/ https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGcHDeXc2UtTpphrPGhwCabFs-k9Rg_nzwgUO2G-LSOSrvd-oYDK5hNHyDS7F9_yj-7VAEZeFRPhe4TlfmMV68FODmDyEelcLTLG_PUOPgA70p-UTdFDTnCNa3LeHKS-e-5Kox4O9VG3E/s800/switch_before_shutdown.png

(1) Mount "none" partition on fstab (just on Fedora, Ubuntu does it by default)

$ sudo gedit /etc/fstab

And 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.local

And 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.local

And 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 cards

switch_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 laptop

This 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.