switching between graphics cards and on board graphics in ubuntu

Question

Possible Duplicate:
Ubuntu 12.10 AMD/Intel Hybrid Graphics not working

Hi I am running ubuntu 12.04 on dell inspiron 14z laptop which has got ATI graphics cards and also intel on board graphics card. By default it uses ATI, which consumes more power and heats up a lot. Is that possible between ATI and on board depending upon our requirement, so that I can save my battery and avoid laptop on heating up?

Solution

You can use AMD's proprietary driver to install the Catalyst Control Center, which lets you choose between the graphics card or the CPU's integrated graphics. I've read that, because Intel + AMD switching is fairly new, the automatic features may not work yet. However, the Control Center supposedly lets you switch manually in software.

AMD's website, which may be out of date, notes in the fine print,

Linux OS supports manual switching which requires restart of X-Server to switch between graphics solutions.

Also have a look at this relevant Linux Mint forum thread about AMD graphics. Users there seem to have had some luck with automatic switching.

Comments

[don.joey]

Not sure about this, but did you check Bumbleblee? Or is that only for NVIDIA?

[Jeevan Dongre]

@Private nope I will check now.

[Jeevan Dongre]

@Private I guess its more or less for Nvidia hybrid graphics not for ATI.

[Travis G.]

That's odd. Do you have the most recent driver? I found another source discussing the cards, this time from ArchLinux: wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Hybrid_graphics

[Travis G.]

Also, Phoronix has a post about ATI making hybrid support somewhat official, so we know it exists somewhere :) phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=OTI3MQ

[Web-E]

@TravisG. Please see the duplicate link, it has step by step guide for 12.10