Found way to know what GPU is in use!

[bitninja]

this is GREAT ! works fine even with external monitor attached.
both screens go blank and to blue for a moment, but better then logging off.

Sweet! I'm going to attempt to throw this code into the main app when I can, whenever willyrc sends over his code.

I haven't seen it mentioned before, but gfxCardStatus has made it to the front page of Anandtech! (one of my favorite tech sites)

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3709/g...-gpu-switching

Yeah - that was pretty sweet, too! Engadget brought in more hits though, says Google Analytics.

Awesome! I love anandtech. I'd be much more excited to get on anandtech than engadget or gizmodo if I were developing this app

Great work!

Time for a donation...

Thanks very much!

1.6.1 works better for me than the 1.7 beta actually. The 1.7 doesn't turn off the 330M as shown by istat power status of the gpu.

Strange...I haven't seen anything like that, but it does still seem to not obey the lock on one GPU or the other occasionally. We've still got some bugs to work through here.

I think I also, for the next release, have to disable the switching features when an external display is plugged in for the 2010 MBPs. The 2009s can retain the functionality, but it's a usability issue for the 2010s, since it won't switch to Intel in that scenario and it's not physically possible. It's just confusing to leave it enabled in that case.

 

[mixvio]

Wow this thread has exploded since the last time I saw it. It showed up on Ars Technica which was what made me rush over to the discussion forum.

Really awesome work to Cody and everyone else who's contributed code for this. I'm looking forward to downloading the 1.7 version when it's released.

(edit to add: Is there any way to reorder where the menu icon appears? I'm a bit OCD about my arrangement and I'd rather move the icon somewhere else.)

 

[bitninja]

Wow this thread has exploded since the last time I saw it. It showed up on Ars Technica which was what made me rush over to the discussion forum.

Really awesome work to Cody and everyone else who's contributed code for this. I'm looking forward to downloading the 1.7 version when it's released.

(edit to add: Is there any way to reorder where the menu icon appears? I'm a bit OCD about my arrangement and I'd rather move the icon somewhere else.)

Thanks! It should be out in the next couple of days. I'm pushing for tomorrow or Wednesday at the absolute latest, barring any unforeseen bugs.

Right now, there is no way to reorder it. I have to try to switch it over to an NSMenuExtra, as I'd like reordering functionality, too. I'm pretty sure this is possible, but haven't researched it a whole lot. I'll get back to you on that one for sure!

 

[ThinkThink]

The OpenGL Test in Cinebench failed with a strange error.
Looks like the Intel HD drivers are unfinished/buggy.

This might be another reason why Apple didn't put an option to disable the 330M and use Intel HD only.

So you better be cautious if you plan to use graphics related apps as the results might differ from the 330M.

 

[Clete2]

I love the new switching feature! Thanks!!

I'm anxious for the next update. I have also observed that it does not turn off the integrated card. I have the newest revision MBP. If you want a system profile, PM me with your e-mail address.

Will you next version support starting at login?

 

[lhotka]

vmware fusion does not play nice with the intel gfxcrd and your vm will stop working

paralells will use the intel gpu and your vm will still work

That's because Parallels uses WINE (software emulation), while VMWare Fusion actually passes the hardware calls directly to the OpenGL code. Since it appears that OpenGL may only be implemented for the Nvidia card, that would make sense.

In the short run, Parallels had the edge, but as Apple continues to release improved OpenGL code (more in 10.6.4) Fusion will race right past it.

 

[chris8535]

Confused

The app says there is some support for 2009 (late 2008 too?) yet when i install it, it only mentions the 2010 GFX cards... whats the function for the older unibodies?

Chris

edit: wow obviously i had to get the fast_switch.zip that has the modified code. It works great so far on my 2008 Unibody! Just in time for STEAM... ya baby!

 

[bitninja]

I love the new switching feature! Thanks!!

I'm anxious for the next update. I have also observed that it does not turn off the integrated card. I have the newest revision MBP. If you want a system profile, PM me with your e-mail address.

Will you next version support starting at login?

Thanks! Next update is planned for tonight or tomorrow. If the integrated GPU isn't turned off still after the v1.7 update, I'll take you up on the system profile offer.

You can start it at login now by going to: System Prefs > Accounts > [your account in the left sidebar] > Login Items tab, then click the plus and go find the app to add to the list. I may add a 'run at startup' checkbox in preferences, though, for ease of use.

The app says there is some support for 2009 (late 2008 too?) yet when i install it, it only mentions the 2010 GFX cards... whats the function for the older unibodies?

Chris

There have been many reports of it working on the older models with dual GPUs, it's just not specifically stated for v1.6.1. I have started changing the wording so that it accurately reflects the ability to switch GPUs on the older models. Should work just fine! Try it out and let me know.

Thanks!
Cody

 

[bitninja]

Can anyone with a 2009 MBP with the 9400M/9600M GT GPUs confirm that the 1.7 beta works with the locking? I want to be sure I don't alienate those users by pushing out an update that doesn't work for them.

Thanks in advance!
Cody

 

[ah-]

Beyond that, I realize that the 330m can stay active, so I'd be interested to attempt to detect that scenario and alert the user of the processes currently keeping the device active.

uint64_t outp = -1;
getMuxState(connect, GetPoweredOnGPUs, &outp);

0x8 means only intel is active, 0x88 means both gpus are active, you can look at the surface list in ioreg for the pids of the blocking processes.

Just in case anyone else is interested in that.

 

[chris8535]

Aren't we ignoring the obvious here though (and apple has too)? I want discrete power when Im plugged in and integrated when I'm not, 98% of the time. It'd be nice to just be able to set it to auto-switch under those conditions and forget about it -- its the way macbooks used to run up till now.

But that relates to the 2008/2009's which have a very nice integrated solution in the 9400m... the 2010's with the Intel HD, maybe not so much.

 

[diamond.g]

Aren't we ignoring the obvious here though (and apple has too)? I want discrete power when Im plugged in and integrated when I'm not, 98% of the time. It'd be nice to just be able to set it to auto-switch under those conditions and forget about it -- its the way macbooks used to run up till now.

But that relates to the 2008/2009's which have a very nice integrated solution in the 9400m... the 2010's with the Intel HD, maybe not so much.

Was it like that in the last set of MBPs? I seem to remember people had to log out to switch.

 

[chris8535]

Was it like that in the last set of MBPs? I seem to remember people had to log out to switch.

Pre-unibody it was. Plugged in = high power mode, Unplugged = autoswitch to low-power mode. It was nice -- the dual cards have no made things needlessly complex.

 

[ThinkThink]

Aren't we ignoring the obvious here though (and apple has too)? I want discrete power when Im plugged in and integrated when I'm not, 98% of the time. It'd be nice to just be able to set it to auto-switch under those conditions and forget about it -- its the way macbooks used to run up till now.

But that relates to the 2008/2009's which have a very nice integrated solution in the 9400m... the 2010's with the Intel HD, maybe not so much.

I agree with you on this.
The Intel HD might be ok for normal, standard and simple tasks. But the drivers need to be improved. With the autoswitch feature, Apple had no reason to improve them.
Thanks to bitninja, ah- and the other people involved in this project, now they'll have to.

http://www.intel.com/technology/graphics/intelhd.htm

 

[a4209797]

That's because Parallels uses WINE (software emulation), while VMWare Fusion actually passes the hardware calls directly to the OpenGL code. Since it appears that OpenGL may only be implemented for the Nvidia card, that would make sense.

In the short run, Parallels had the edge, but as Apple continues to release improved OpenGL code (more in 10.6.4) Fusion will race right past it.

interesting. i've seen benchmarks that says paralells is faster...

 

[Libertine Lush]

interesting. i've seen benchmarks that says paralells is faster...

Indeed most reviews say it's faster by quite a bit. However, they also note that Fusion is much more stable.

 

[mixvio]

WINE isn't emulation at all. It's simply translating the Windows API into something that OSX understands and can utilise.

I'd also find it suspect that Parallels uses WINE, at least in terms of graphics implementation. CrossOver Games, for example, is a GUI wrapper for WINE and there's a number of games that do not run under it that I've had no trouble with in Parallels; there's a number of games that did run in CrossOver but with weird glitches and graphical artefacts, that work fine in Parallels. (Similarly there's a number of games that don't run at all or well in VMWare that are fine in Parallels.)

CrossOver contributes heavily to WINE development and COG is supposed to be using a very up-to-date version of it, something I doubt Parallels has surpassed. If they use WINE for anything related to graphics processing I'd be pretty shocked, and then I'd wonder why COG can't get the same results that Parallels does.

 

[ah-]

AFAIK: osx only supports OpenGL, so virtualization software needs some way to transform DirectX calls to OpenGL ones and execute them.
Parallels uses the wine dx-ogl translator, but nothing else from wine, vmware implemented their own.

That's because Parallels uses WINE (software emulation), while VMWare Fusion actually passes the hardware calls directly to the OpenGL code. Since it appears that OpenGL may only be implemented for the Nvidia card, that would make sense.

In the short run, Parallels had the edge, but as Apple continues to release improved OpenGL code (more in 10.6.4) Fusion will race right past it.

That doesn't make any sense at all, both (parallels and vmware) essentially do the same thing to support 3D, both use OpenGL for that and the intel driver has working OpenGL as well.

 

[bitninja]

Can someone with the 9400M/9600M GT GPUs give me the output of the following command?:

system_profiler SPDisplaysDataType

Anyone with a late 08 or 09 MBP should be fine - I just need to know exactly what that says so that I can fix the status checking for those users.

Also, until I get this in I don't want to release v1.7 - I need to be able to detect that one of these cards are present so that I can change the GPU switching features accordingly. It's useless for 9400M/9600M GT users to "lock" on one GPU or another, since there is no automatic switching in those models.

Thanks - hoping for an answer ASAP so that I can get v1.7 out the door.
Cody

 

[mortalite]

Here is mine :

Graphics/Displays:

NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT:

Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
Type: GPU
Bus: PCIe
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 512 MB
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x0647
Revision ID: 0x00a1
ROM Revision: 3436
gMux Version: 1.7.10
Displays:
Display Connector:
Status: No Display Connected
Display Connector:
Status: No Display Connected

NVIDIA GeForce 9400M:

Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
Type: GPU
Bus: PCI
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x0863
Revision ID: 0x00b1
ROM Revision: 3436
gMux Version: 1.7.10
Displays:
Color LCD:
Resolution: 1920 x 1200
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Built-In: Yes
DELL 2007WFP:
Resolution: 1680 x 1050 @ 60 Hz
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Rotation: Supported

 

[hockey9999]

GPUInfoMenu just implemented a pretty interesting feature, I still like gfxCardStatus better though, and will continue to use it!

http://gpuinfomenu.dotstrosity.net/

GPUInfoMenu can now toggle between dynamic GPU switching modes and the integrated graphics on new Core i5/i7 MacBook Pros. There is a single toggle that switches the GPU to Intel graphics when the laptop switches to battery power and back to standard dynamic switching when on AC Power. Upon quitting the application, it should restore standard dynamic switching. This functionality has -not- been tested on 9400M/9600GT systems and probably will function oddly.

 

[rawd]

There is a single toggle that switches the GPU to Intel graphics when the laptop switches to battery power and back to standard dynamic switching when on AC Power.

I'm not for this feature. I don't want to be playing a game then having it autoswitch if I decide to disconnect power, essentially crippling my 330m intensive game or app. I want total control

 

[hockey9999]

I agree, and that's exactly why I am staying with gfxCardStatus!

 

[mixvio]

I'm not for this feature. I don't want to be playing a game then having it autoswitch if I decide to disconnect power, essentially crippling my 330m intensive game or app. I want total control

^

If something like that were added as an optional toggle that'd be one thing, but clearly there's some issues with dependant applications being switched to Intel while they're still running, so I wouldn't find any value in having this work as it is now.

I'd also prefer to be able to maintain the absolute control I have at the moment over which GPU is in use.

 

[bitninja]

Here is mine :

Graphics/Displays:
...

Thanks a bunch - that helps a lot!

GPUInfoMenu just implemented a pretty interesting feature, I still like gfxCardStatus better though, and will continue to use it!

I'm not for this feature. I don't want to be playing a game then having it autoswitch if I decide to disconnect power, essentially crippling my 330m intensive game or app. I want total control

^

If something like that were added as an optional toggle that'd be one thing, but clearly there's some issues with dependant applications being switched to Intel while they're still running, so I wouldn't find any value in having this work as it is now.

I'd also prefer to be able to maintain the absolute control I have at the moment over which GPU is in use.

Interesting that he keeps implementing all of the features we're talking about...it's like he thinks it's a competition or something. gfxCardStatus was here first and is open-source. There *is* no competition. I digress...

Anyways, I agree with you guys - this will break apps that are open that need the 330M without a doubt. Until we can force applications that are open to dynamically switch over to another GPU, this feature would be bothersome and troubling. Crashing applications (or crippling pieces of them) upon plugging in/unplugging my computer isn't anyone's idea of functional.

On another note, performance in v1.7 (aiming for tonight for a release...) should be greatly improved when opening the menu while the 330M is active. There will also be a bunch of memory usage enhancements. Keep an eye out!

Cody