Recommend me a Distro + Hybrid Graphics?

[Bodhi_Bag]

Hey, i want to create a dual boot system with Linux and Windows 10

My plan is to slowly move over to linux completely. I have some knowledge regarding linux (but still a noob at most parts) and my plan is to run both OS on my Laptop. The thing is.. the Laptop has Hybrid Graphics and ive read that most distros have problems with the automatic change of the gpu used. After lots of reading ive found what seems to be a workaround with the program "Bumblebee" but still requires me to change the Gpu usage manually. So ive tried making this work with Mint months ago and failed.

So is there any Distro out there that has support for hybrids and gets them to work on the fly? Or
I would love to move over to linux but that stuff is just a pain in the butt. Also before you ask.. i need to dual boot because i use work- related software thats only compatible with windows sadly.

My Laptop:

Gpus: Intel HD 5500 and Geforce 840M
Cpu: Intel I5 5200
Ram: 8GB

If there isnt a distro for that, im open for any help to solve this issue.

[Shoash]

Hi there

I too have an optimus-laptop and i am one of those lazy linux dudes who does
know very little about terminal related things, so i ended up with distros like
Linux Lite and Mint flavours.

Both ( i think - mint 18 for sure ) have everything set up after installation (except nvid-driver)
so switching between both is quite easy (log off/on)

i don`t know what went wrong last time you tried, but i say to give it another try!

Happy Hopping

[x_wing]

Maleko님이 먼저 게시:

It's gonna be more work to set up at first, but worth it, IMO. Having a rolling release with bleeding edge versions of the kernel, mesa, bumblebee and the Nvidia drivers, as well as w/e DE you choose can translate to better battery life for your laptop.

Side note: becareful with Nvidia closed source version driver and the kernel versión. AFAIK they tend to guarantee compability with lts kernel releases or kernel of the most common distro (e.g. the versión that ships the latest Ubuntu LTS).

[6809e]

Have a look at Fedora Linux ...

Or the latest Ubuntu 17.10...

Wayland has replaced X11 so you may have better luck ...

Also, look at your BIOS ... there may be an option to disable optimus and use GPU only ...

Good luck ...

I had Dual boot on a Del M6600 (Intel & NVidia)

I found Ubuntu to be the easiest,
Fedora was bleeding edge, and would sometime break with a kernel update ...
But was often ahead of the curve in regards to hardware support ...

Good luck !

Cheers,

Moi.

[x_wing]

Maleko님이 먼저 게시:

x_wing님이 먼저 게시:

Side note: becareful with Nvidia closed source version driver and the kernel versión. AFAIK they tend to guarantee compability with lts kernel releases or kernel of the most common distro (e.g. the versión that ships the latest Ubuntu LTS).

Nvidia offers binary Unix drivers for Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris: https://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html

They have different driver branches, including legacy drivers, which get new releases to continue supporting aging Nvidia hardware on newer kernels, for example:
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NVIDIA-Legacy-Linux-Sep-2017

You don't have to worry about that if you get the drivers from your distro's repos, which you should be doing on Arch. If you're using the regular Arch kernel you would install the "nvidia" package, if you use the LTS kernel, you would install the "nvidia-lts" package. And if you're using a custom kernel you would install the "nvidia-dkms" package.

All of that is explained in the wiki:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NVIDIA (this page is referenced on the Bumblebee wiki page)

Ok, bleeding edge of Arch, I got you wrong.

[Akumetsu]

Ubuntu 16.04 + kernel 4.10 + Graphics ppa + nvidia prime.

[Bobtail Squid]

Manjaro. Get all your drivers installed by default. Its almost arch withthe install.

[Ratubadis]

Try Manjaro. Its like easier version of arch.

[YellowApple]

At least on my laptop (a Dell Precision 7510 w/ AMD graphics, running Slackware-current and the free drivers), it's just a matter of changing the launch options for the games I want to GPU-accelerate to

DRI_PRIME=1 %command%

With Nvidia, your mileage may vary. Either way, it's going to be a function of which kernel version and which driver version more than which specific distro.

[ripper81]

So you have a laptop with an nvidia gpu. You should use a distro that brings good support vor the nvidia driver with it. I recommend you to stay away from all rolling release distributions like arch or manjaro, especialy as a linux beginner. Try the regular release of Ubuntu (a.t.m. 17.04) or one of it's official derivates like Kubuntu, Ubuntu Mate etc.

[king of nothin]

i recommend you Linux Mint - 17.3 or the new 18.2 - especially when coming from windows the GUI will feel intuitive and i am using it for gaming actually (= (17.3 that is - the 18.2 gave me trouble with kernel+nvidia driver...)

[Bodhi_Bag]

Hello Guys and sry for my delayed reply.

So what i take out of your answers is that i should stick to a Stable Distro. Because that would be better for me and my lack of epierience. Thats fine with me :-) Since i like Mint (and Dr.Satan wrote he uses it for gaming) id like to stick to that.

So i will set up the dual boot with mint.

As for the hybrid graphics stuff... i will come back to this forum so be prepared for some noob questions ;-)

Thanks for answering guys, i now have hope that i can get this to run, since some of you do aswell. :-)

Have a nice day/evening/night (depending on the time zone youre in).

[Bodhi_Bag]

Yeah ive seen that .. its this MD5 checksum procedere.. i never did that though. Is this when you want to see if you download form a trustable source or why ?

And im sure i will enjoy linux. Everything i did wiith it worked out so far. Except gaming and and that hybrid jazz... im pretty hyped though. I can do it. :-)

[Bodhi_Bag]

Maleko님이 먼저 게시:

BrimstoneGG님이 먼저 게시:

Yeah ive seen that .. its this MD5 checksum procedere.. i never did that though. Is this when you want to see if you download form a trustable source or why ?

The MD5 algorithm is an older standard, better than nothing, but some major vulnerabilities were exposed in it. Look for SHA-2 which is newer and more secure.

It's not about trusting the source (that should be a given), it's about making sure the ISO hasn't been tampered with.

For example, Linux Mint's website has been hacked in the past, hackers created a modified ISO and forced the website to point to it. I'm sure people trusted Linux Mint, but unless they verified those hash signatures they would not have realized that they downloaded a compromised ISO with a backdoor in it.

Ah i see, thx for the heads up. ill verify them from now on. I never did before.

Ive made backups today and plan to format and reinstall the system tomorrow. Do you have any idea how much space Mint needs to operate sufficent for gaming? So that i can partition correctly.