Ubuntu – Disabling NVIDIA card on hybrid graphics laptop

acpi_call

If you just want to have long battery life and slow temperature, you can use acpi_call: a linux kernel module that enables calls to ACPI. With acpi_call_GUI you can easily install and configure it via graphic interface.

It is a java program that allows you to:

• install the acpi_call kernel module (kernel would be recompiled automatically after each update);
• Deactivate discrete GPU;
• Automatically deactivate discrete GPU on every boot.

If you have enabled systemd, or if you're using other linux distros that support it, you can use acpi_call_GUI_systemd.

See here: https://github.com/marcoDallas/acpi_call_GUI_systemd

Installation

Ensure that you have installed java and git, if not install these packages: git and openjdk-7-jre

After that open a terminal and type the following commands:

git clone https://github.com/marcoDallas/acpi_call_GUI.git
cd acpi_call_GUI
sudo chmod +x install.sh
sudo ./install.sh

How to use

To launch acpi_call_GUI search it in yuor dash and click on the icon, or type in a terminal:

sudo java -jar $HOME/acpi_call_GUI.jar

If you have a separate /home partition, you may need to use this command to launch acpi_call_GUI:

sudo java -jar /usr/local/bin/acpi_call_GUI/acpi_call_GUI.jar

Here's a step-by-step video tutorial that shows how to use this software

FROM: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HybridGraphics

Uninstall the proprietary NVIDIA drivers and disable the use of the nouveau drivers.

Open a terminal and execute :

sudo apt-get install gksu
gksudo gedit /etc/default/grub  

Add nouveau.modeset=0 to the line GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

so that it reads GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash nouveau.modeset=0".

Save changes and close the file.

Now execute these commands :

sudo update-grub  
sudo apt-get purge nvidia*  
sudo reboot  

Now you are using the integrated intel graphics and the NVIDIA graphics are not in use.