hybrid video switching

Problems and successes with specific brands/models of computer video hardware
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TheGogmagog
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Joined: Fri 23 May 2008, 17:10

hybrid video switching

#1 Post by TheGogmagog »

I've searched for this issue but didn't find any info so thought I would post mainly for anyone else searching for a similar issue. Unfortunately I don't have a solution.

I am having problems with a Lenovo ThinkPad T500. I boot puppy (4.12) from usb and it works 'fine' as far as I can tell. I haven't spent much time working with it because of this problem.

When I go go back to windows xp, it reports that it has found new hardware, the ATI graphics card. I've tried letting it install and that didn't help, so Here is what I do. I click Cancel and reboot the computer. The second Windows XP boot SEEMS to work fine, but after a few hours I get a blue screen of death with a message that points back to the ATI graphics. The BSoD may have occured a few more times but it went away (possibly with new drivers).

I find it odd that booting from puppy would affect the windows xp configuration. I suspect it has to do with the "Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon 3650 w/ 256MB or Intel X4500 integrated (hybrid switching)". Lenovo's recovery software that is glitchy with the backwards installed windows xp and company security settings is also suspect. It will be getting upgraded with Windows 7 soon, so I'll find out if that changes anything. This has also increased my willingness to mess with the issue again.

I tried shutting of the switching in BIOS but that seemed to cause more problems. I had to go back to IT with my tail between my legs to get them to recover it. I may go back and try again with more attention to what the settings are.

I'll try again with Puppy 5. Let me know what info I need to capture and how if you are interested in helping. I was going to try lighthouse because it has wine. Does anyone have a distro recommendation for best ATI or hybrid switching support?
Last edited by TheGogmagog on Sat 20 Nov 2010, 22:35, edited 1 time in total.

amigo
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#2 Post by amigo »

Do a full shutdown and then rebooting may solve the problem. If you are doing a 'soft' or 'warm' reboot, the hardware is already initialized when windows boots and that may confuse its' feeble brain.

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jemimah
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#3 Post by jemimah »

Starting with kernel 2.6.34 there is the vga_switcharoo module that handles this. You can get some idea of how to use it from here:

http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/Vga_switcheroo

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