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Found way to know what GPU is in use!
- Thread starter gatepc
- Start date
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I still can't figure out why my 17" i7 is stuck using the Nvidia gfx. I've tried rebooting and killing any processes I can find running in the background. Makes no difference, it will not switch back to the Intel gfx. I don't have any Microsoft apps installed other than Remote Desktop Connection.
bitninja
macrumors regular
Faithful gfxCardStatus users! We're now at v1.4. Growl support has been added and the ability to turn off console logging is now present - logging is off by default. Several people requested this because they like to have a clean console. I understand - when you're trying to debug an issue in the console, having extra clutter in the way is no good. *ahem* Google Chrome...
Just hit "Check for Updates" and take her for a spin! Let me know if you have any issues. 😀
Cody
EDIT: Updated screenshots are also posted on the gfxCardStatus page in my signature, in case anyone wants to see the Growl notifications in action!
Just hit "Check for Updates" and take her for a spin! Let me know if you have any issues. 😀
Cody
EDIT: Updated screenshots are also posted on the gfxCardStatus page in my signature, in case anyone wants to see the Growl notifications in action!
I just created a new user account (admin), rebooted, logged in with the new account...and it's STILL using the Nvidia gfx. Man this sucks. I already opened a case with Apple. Told them I have already reformatted the drive and reinstalled OSX. All they could do tell me was I need to take it back to the store and exchange it.
bitninja
macrumors regular
You're very welcome! That was my intent from the beginning. I appreciate the high praise. 🙂
bitninja
macrumors regular
bitninja
macrumors regular
Yesiree! It was one of those things that I didn't realize how much I wanted it until it was implemented...and now I don't know what I'd do if it *didn't* have Growl compatibility. 😀
I've got exactly the same problem with my 17" and am wondering if the screen is just too big for the Intel GPU to handle. Anyone out there got a 17" that actually runs the Intel GPU?
MBHockey
macrumors 601
I doubt it. The GMA950 in the white macbooks can run screens/resolutions bigger than the 17". And that's a 4 year old integrated card.
I'm leaning towards this all being a software issue that hopefully Apple is working on.
Interesting observation... while in Intel, running Espresso, I hit Cmd-F to bring up search bar. Long delay (tenths of seconds) before the bar appeared, and gfxCardStatus growled about an nVidia switch. (I did it again and the growl was not the cause of the delay).
So the switch is not very seamless and I highly doubt that it will be moved deeper into the APIs, or if it does, it will still be the case that once you've switched, you are staying switched until the application quits.
Also, this thread is documenting the app switching list:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=11445513
So the switch is not very seamless and I highly doubt that it will be moved deeper into the APIs, or if it does, it will still be the case that once you've switched, you are staying switched until the application quits.
Also, this thread is documenting the app switching list:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=11445513
bitninja
macrumors regular
I've got a 17" - it's on Intel for me most of the time. One person who sent me some feedback on gfxCardStatus showed me a way to see which processes are using the NVIDIA card. Run this in a Terminal:
ps cx | grep $(ioreg -l | grep task-list | sed -e 's/(//' | sed -e 's/)//' | awk ' { print $6 }')
That will show you which process(es) are using the 330M at any given time, and grep will complain about not having a pattern if there are no processes using it. I'll be putting this functionality in gfxCardStatus soon, so you can see which processes are using the card right from the menu bar icon.
rawd said:
Thanks, rawd! I love Growl. 🙂
MBHockey
macrumors 601
Awesome work man. Maybe Apple is using your app to help the debug their auto-switching function 🙂
I have a new base 15" MBP and mine too has constantly showed it's using the nVidia graphics even when nothing (knowingly) is running.
Looking forward to trying bitninja's terminal command after work to see what, if anything, is using it.
For basic web browsing and email I have felt my battery life hasn't lasted as long as it did initially after I bought it 2 weeks ago. Maybe an app I've installed is constantly triggering the nVidia which would explain the battery life.
Isn't OSX 10.6.4 partly supposed to be focussing on graphics drivers?
Looking forward to trying bitninja's terminal command after work to see what, if anything, is using it.
For basic web browsing and email I have felt my battery life hasn't lasted as long as it did initially after I bought it 2 weeks ago. Maybe an app I've installed is constantly triggering the nVidia which would explain the battery life.
Isn't OSX 10.6.4 partly supposed to be focussing on graphics drivers?
So I just updated to version 1.4 from 1.2. The new version says I am running intel graphics while 1.2 says I am running nvidia...
The Growl support rocks.
Also, is it possible to use that terminal to build into the app a feature that shows witch processes are running nvidia?
The Growl support rocks.
Also, is it possible to use that terminal to build into the app a feature that shows witch processes are running nvidia?
I noticed that when using the command -
ps cx | grep $(ioreg -l | grep task-list | sed -e 's/(//' | sed -e 's/)//' | awk ' { print $6 }')
If I have one application/process running the uses the 330M, say Gmail, it reports it fine. If I have 2 processes running that use the 330M, for instance Gmail and Aperture 3, it doesnt report anything. It will continue to return nothing until I quit both processes using the 330M and restart one of them.
Is anyone else experiencing this?
ps cx | grep $(ioreg -l | grep task-list | sed -e 's/(//' | sed -e 's/)//' | awk ' { print $6 }')
If I have one application/process running the uses the 330M, say Gmail, it reports it fine. If I have 2 processes running that use the 330M, for instance Gmail and Aperture 3, it doesnt report anything. It will continue to return nothing until I quit both processes using the 330M and restart one of them.
Is anyone else experiencing this?
bitninja
macrumors regular
Do you think that it's showing an incorrect status? If you hit "Update Status," does it change?
In regards to the Terminal command, I plan on integrating that information into the application, yes.
bitninja
macrumors regular
Ah - yes. The task-list line in ioreg -l is either a single process id (i.e. "297"), or is a comma separated list (i.e. "297,317"). That command doesn't account for the comma, and tries to grep for "297,317" in the output of ps cx...which doesn't exist. I'll have to make it so that if the return of the latter part of the command (everything after the ps cx |) returns a comma separated list, grep for them separately and get the names of the processes.