5

To this question, it may sound like there are a lot of confliction with this question already, well... let me explain first:

  1. Ubuntu 11.04 - disable NVIDIA graphics card -- To this, I am using Arch and it does not seem like arch has the /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf file and i would never want to install the driver (novaeu or something).
  2. How to disable NVIDIA Optimus on a Dell XPS 15? -- That's for Windows.
  3. Disabling NVidia Optimus -- Doesn't tell you how.
  4. Disable my nVidia video card driver in Linux -- I don't have a domU and that's for a virtual machine.

Well, I guess that's it for the explaination, time for the question: You see, I've bought a Samsung NP300E4Z and installed Arch Linux on it, I can't adjust the display and there has been a lot of problems.

I have 2 GPUs here.

  1. The Intel Integrated GPU (Core i5).
  2. The Optimus GPU.

My goal is to disable the Optimus GPU just as it does not exist at all in the computer system. Once the Optimus GPU is disabled, I will use the Integrated GPU.

Now, I've checked the BIOS. Unfortunately, the BIOS is does not like me to "own" (configurate) the machine! I bought it, I should have the right to hack it :/

I've got the goal, but I have no idea. How do I disable the Optimus chip as if it does not exist in the computer system?

3
  • 1
    maybe this helps you wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Hybrid_graphics Jan 11, 2013 at 15:43
  • What laptop make do you have? You should absolutely have the option of disabling graphics in the bios. Regardless, I recommend bumblebee for Arch, I posted a link in @DragoonPL1's comment section since they are dead on, imo.
    – nerdwaller
    Jan 11, 2013 at 16:30
  • @nerdwaller a Samsung. It is shipped with the "Pheonix BIOS".
    – milo64
    Jan 12, 2013 at 3:30

3 Answers 3

0

I don't know a way to completely hide and disable NVIDIA GPU, but Bumblebee offers a way to use the dedicated GPU in graphics-demanding apps with optirun command. It also uses a bbswitch kernel module to handle switching the dedicated GPU on and off, so you can turn it off for good (read: never use optirun) to save power. You cannot completely disable Optimus. There's Bumblebee site: http://bumblebee-project.org/ - and bbswitch GitHub page: https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/bbswitch - the second one is what you should read. It says you should add bbswitch load_state=0 to /etc/modules or /etc/modules.conf (I'm not using Arch, sorry) to disable it on boot.

2
  • Also, uninstall the NVIDIA and Nouveau driver. It breaks most stuff if you install it on Optimus system. Tested in battle. Jan 11, 2013 at 16:27
  • 1
    It helpful to refer to the ArchLinux Bumblebee page instead, since it's specific to your system as well.
    – nerdwaller
    Jan 11, 2013 at 16:29
-1

Easy answer get a external monitor then connect it to laptop after that it will disable Optimus and you will get full performance of your gpu

-3

The answer is you cannot.

"OPTIMUS" is not an actual chip embedded in the hardware. It's just a fancy name NVIDIA came up with for a background function of the driver (software) that can automatically specify which GPU is used for rendering for specific applications on motherboards that have integrated GPU units.

If you just want to use the i7 Graphics Processor Unit, then you can go into "NVIDIA X Server Settings", click on "PRIME Profiles" and select "Intel (power saving mode)". Then reboot. Alternatively, use the command:

sudo prime-select intel

to change to Intel graphics.

Alternatively, you can use just the NVIDIA card by selecting "NVIDIA (high performance mode)" in PRIME profiles. This means that Optimus is disabled and the laptop is just rendering through either the Intel or NVIDIA card, depending on which you choose.

To re-enable Optimus, just choose "NVIDIA On-Demand" in the PRIME profiles screen.

Hope this helped!

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .