Really? AMD does not provide any support for the switchable graphics?

[Shabang]

I've contacted AMD through website and I've sent a message saying about problems between AMD driver fglrx and switchable options to iGP. Then I was expecting a big delay to response and a good technical information and detailed about problems and what they are doing to solve it. However, I've received in a really short time the following message:

Dear,

Your service request : SR #{ticketno:[123456321]} has been reviewed and updated.

Response and Service Request History:

I understand that you are facing problem while switching from AMD dGP to Intel iGP.

AMD drivers are not compatible with Switchable graphics enable notebook.

AMD does not provide any support for the switchable graphics enable notebooks.

You need to get in touch with HP for further support.

In order to update this service request, please respond, leaving the service request reference intact.

Best regards,

AMD Global Customer Care

__________________________________________________ ___________________________________________

This email is a direct result of your contact with AMD Global Customer Care and not part of a campaign. There is no need to unsubscribe to this email as you will only be contacted again if you directly request another service from AMD Global Customer Care.

The contents of this message are provided for informational purposes only. AMD makes no representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy of the contents of the information provided, and reserves the right to change such information at any time, with or without notice.

__________________________________________________ ___________________________________________


So,
AMD split out everything through switchable graphics!! Really? So, for WTF there's an option to switch between dGP and iGP? OOOOOhhhh Come on!! Be Serious, AMD! I AM (sadly) YOUR CLIENT/CUSTOMER!!!!!

Im very disappointed with this company, I hope NEVER NEVER buy another thing from this kind of company until it grow up!


So, you guys from phoronix, what do you think about this?

[bridgman]

I think the message here was "notebook implementations aren't all the same and degree of support varies between vendors". As an example, some vendors offer BIOS support for switching between IGP and discrete graphics while others do not.

The amd.com web pages mention that switching is supported on Linux for AMD APU + AMD discrete systems but requires manual switching and an X server restart... that also matches my understanding of what is in fglrx but I haven't actually tried it myself.

http://www.amd.com/us/products/techn...-graphics.aspx

For the more general case support appears to be Win7-only and vendor-specific :

http://www.amd.com/us/products/techn...-graphics.aspx

I don't know what model of notebook you have but it appears that HP have recently released BIOS updates to support "fixed" GPU switching (ie one or the other) for some models :

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Noteboo...GL/td-p/766285

The associated download pages only talk about Win7 compatibility so usual caveats. I think this is probably why the support group said "talk to the vendor".

[DanL]

So, you guys from phoronix, what do you think about this?

I think you should have done your homework before purchasing a laptop...

Note: Nvidia doesn't support hybrid graphics on Linux either.

[evolution]

Well, fglrx doesn't support AMD+Intel MUX laptops on Linux (1st-generation (non Sandy-Bridge) core i3/i5 laptops). Unofficially (it seems so), fglrx supports hybrid graphics (Muxless AMD+Intel) on Linux... (If you have a HP laptop, you should look for a BIOS update for you laptop, if available)... Unfortunately, unless you use a more "user friendly" distro (like Ubuntu), you might be out of luck (you need to do some "script hacking")...

ATM, the best option for buying laptops to use Linux (exclusively) is buying laptops with Intel HD graphics...

Cheers

[zequav]

My HP laptop with muxless graphics switches perfectly with fglrx. I just do

aticonfig --px-dgpu
eselect opengl set ati

and restart X to switch to the discrete gpu and

aticonfig --px-igpu
eselect opengl set xorg-x11

and restart X for the integrated intel. Works great. I don't even need to change xorg.conf.

I'd rather have X use the ati GPU when needed without restarting X, of course, but that's not possible with the current xorg implementation AFAIK.

[ithecourier]

Hello all.I also have Hp dv7-6000 series notebook and running Slackware -current, fglrx latest proprietary driver and switchable graphics working great.I did bios update and i use amdccc to select between discrete and integrated GPU and i restart X with ctrl+alt+backspace.
I also think that Ati is right.I've got switchable graphics working after HP released the bios update August 2011 if i recall correctly,so i guess it's vendor issue and not ATI's.