And how is it now in Linux with support for laptops with two video cards?

Question

linux

Is there an easy way to at least turn off one of them? Everything is so bad that it is better to buy a laptop with one?

Answer 1

In kernels >=34, support for switchable graphics is enabled, you need to google vga_switcheroo on this topic. It is enough to have two single-line scripts for switching video and remember to restart the X server.
In general, I am the owner of a laptop with 2 cards: one is intel, the second is ati 4650. The latest versions of distributions started right away. Yes, you will have to abandon the drivers from the vendor, both in the case of AMD and in the case of Nvidia.
Regarding Nvidia, as far as I remember, nouveau developers promised support for switchable graphics, I don’t know how they are doing with it now.

Answer 2

the latest ubunta, just experimenting - i5 + GF 310M graphics - not including proprietary drivers - everything is very good. after turning them on, the system will not even boot up ... maybe there is a way to resuscitate, but it’s easier for me to reinstall the OS ... in general, it’s even easier to sit in Windows until the drivers are run in =(

Answer 3

Debian, Netbook Asus N10, 2 video cards - intel and nvidia, found a manual and did it to switch video with the vendor's native firewood, unfortunately everything did not work very stably, so I took down the firewood and left it in the distribution. Satisfied.