Ubuntu – Getting hybrid graphics to work nvidia-prime GT650M

nvidia-prime

I recently made the switch to Ubuntu. Everything on my laptop works fine except my hybrid graphics card. It is Intel graphics combined with Nvidia GeForce GT650M. I tried Bumblebee, but primusrun doesn't work (segmentation fault, core dumped) and optirun works with glxspheres64, but steam games look worse with optirun than with Intel graphics (e.g. Surgeon Simulator 2013 runs fine with Intel and hangs a lot with optirun)

I tried Nvidia Prime, but it gives me a black screen on startup after install, so I can't do anything and have to power off my PC with the power button. I also tried nvidia-prime 0.5 on Ubuntu 14.04, and then I get 'low-graphics mode' and I can't get to Unity.

Best Answer

I have had problems with bumblebee since 13.10. What works for me now is nvidia-prime. This allows you to choose which graphics driver you want to use in the nvidia control panel. This only works with lightdm (unity). I'm using this myself on Ubuntu 14.04

How to install

1. Use nvidia driver

Open the dash (super/windows key) and type in "drivers". Open "Aditional drivers" Select the nvidia binary (331.xx) driver.

nvidia driver

Click "apply changes". Wait for the driver to be downloaded and installed, and click close.

2. Remove bumblebee and install prime

Open the shell by pressing ctrl-alt-t.

First let's make sure we have the latest software catalog.

sudo apt-get update

Now remove everything bumblebee related.

sudo apt-get purge bumblebee*

Then install prime.

sudo apt-get install nvidia-prime

Now restart your computer.

How to use prime

After your computer has restarted, open the dash and type "nvidia". Open "Nvidia x-server settings".

choose between Intel and nvidia

Here you can choose between the intel and nvidia graphics driver. Choose the intel one for maximum power saving, choose the nvidia one for maximum performance.

After changing graphics card, you'll have to logout and log back in to apply the changes.

Difference between nvidia-prime and bumblebee

The current version of nvidia-prime uses one graphics card for the complete desktop. You either login with nvidia or intel. With bumblebee, you can start individual programs with a specific graphics card, like it is the case on windows.

Sadly, I can't get bumblebee to work on ubuntu 13.10 or higher...

source:

10 things to do after installing ubuntu 14.04

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

Ubuntu – NVidia graphic card disappeared after bug with nvidia-prime (Ubuntu 14.04)

Step 1 : Remove all NVIDIA related software you installed.

Highlight the Ubuntu menu entry and press the E key.
Add nouveau.modeset=0 to the end of the linux line.
Press the F10 key to boot into the Ubuntu system.

When the login screen appears press Ctrl+Alt+F1.
Enter your user name and password ... then execute :

sudo apt-get purge nvidia* bumblebee
sudo reboot

Step 2 : Reinstall the NVIDIA drivers and Optimus support.