How to switch to discrete graphics with Ubuntu 14.04
You need to install a proprietary driver by running
sudo apt-get install fglrx-updates
Then you can swithch to discrete graphics by
sudo aticonfig --px-dgpu
to integrated graphics by
sudo aticonfig --px-igpu
see status by
aticonfig --pxl
You can do it also in AMD Catlyst GUI program.
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a_guest
Updated on September 18, 2022Comments
-
a_guest over 1 year
I'm having trouble switching to the discrete graphics on Ubuntu 14.04.
First about my system:
- Model: HP Pavilion dv6
- CPU: Intel Core i7-2670QM CPU @ 2.20GHz
- Memory: 6GB
- Graphics card: Radeon HD 6400M/7400M series (could not find out the exact model)
- OS: Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS
What I tried:
(At first I shut down the X-server with
stop lightdm
.)I originally tried to switch to my Radeon graphics card instead of the integrated unit.
My graphics devices are:
>>> lspci -vnn | grep '\''[030[02]\]' 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0116] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller]) 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Seymour [Radeon HD 6400M/7400M Series] [1002:6760] (rev ff) (prog-if ff)
I tried switching devices using
/sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch
(following this article: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HybridGraphics ). I obtained:>>> cat /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch 0:IGD:+:Pwr:0000:00:02.0 1:DIS: :DynOff:0000:01:00.0
but
echo ON > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch
didn't change anything so I went to BIOS and changedSwitchable Graphics Mode
toFixed
(following http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c02948560 ) and because there was still no change I addedradeon.runpm=0
to/etc/default/grub
atGRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=
(following http://iswwwup.com/t/3a156248c627/ati-vgaswitcheroo-doesnt-work-on-14-04-discrete-radeon-always-on-dell-vost.html ).After rebooting I obtained:
>>> cat /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch 0:IGD:+:Pwr:0000:00:02.0 1:DIS: :Pwr:0000:01:00.0
echo DIS > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch
now caused the screen to turn black and didn't show any ouput. However I was able to check the content of/sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch
by copying it to a file and then switching back to integrated graphics. The content was:>>> cat /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch 0:IGD: :Off:0000:00:02.0 1:DIS:+:Pwr:0000:01:00.0
So apparently the Radeon card was powered and active but didn't output anything. I observed the same behaviour when having an external screen connected both via VGA and HDMI.
(Side note: switching back to integrated graphics via
echo IGD > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch
gave as output[ 956.727633] [drm:rv770_stop_dpm] *ERROR* Could not force DPM to low.
(probably due to theradeon.runpm=0
which I added before); however the/sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch
wasn't available anymore (I couldn't issue any further commands) andlspci -vnn | grep '\''[030[02]\]'
didn't list the Radeon anymore.)So I thought the problem might be a missing driver.
About the AMD driver:
I checked the AMD website for an Ubuntu driver and found the following: http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop?os=Linux+x86
I followed the installation manual (http://www2.ati.com/drivers/amd-catalyst-graphics-driver-installer-notes-for-linux-operating-systems.pdf ; none of
fglrx
,fglrx-core
,fglrx-amdcccle
,fglrx-dev
was already installed) but encountered an error when installingfglrx-core
: there was a conflict withlibopencl1
. I followed this workaround: 14.10 wine and fglrx conflict and modifiedConflicts
andProvides
as described, then the installation of the above packages finished without error. Also, as described in the workaround, I didapt-get install fglrx-updates
. However after rebooting the system told meThe system is running in low-graphics mode - Your screen, graphics card, and input device settings could not be detected correctly. You will need to configure there yourself.
I used the console log-in to remove the previously installed packages but the graphics still don't work.
To summarize the question:
What do I have to do in order to manually switch to the Radeon graphics card using Ubuntu 14.04? In case I need to install the above mentioned driver is the conflict with libopencl1 a problem and if so how I can work around this? Also, how can I get the X-server back working?
Thanks a lot in advance! Cheers!
EDIT:
I uploaded
/var/log/Xorg.0.log
and/var/log/Xorg.failsafe.log
. Here are the links:- http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/507333/Xorg.0.log
- http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/507334/Xorg.failsafe.log
EDIT2:
From the low-graphics dialogue I selected "restore default graphics settings" and now the X-server is back working. But with the integrated graphics, of course.
-
Pilot6 over 8 yearsWhy don't you just run
sudo apt-get install fglrx-updates
? -
a_guest over 8 yearsWell that doesn't cause the system to tell me that I run on low-graphics but
echo DIS > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch
still turns the screen black. -
Pilot6 over 8 yearsvgaswitcheroo does not work with fglrx. there is aticonfig instead.