Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Alas... it was a small victory... I restarted the machine in hopes of fixing my new problem... and now it's back to the old problem... This is all very strange...
 
Now I found the real problem! It was the monitor utility for my Canon iP6600D (which was a login item)... Thanks to VelvetFannypack for mentioning their printer was the problem!

Anybody know if that not running is going to cause problems printing with that printer?

But in other news... Crossover CD Helper and/or boxee's helper may not be a problem after all.
 
What you have done already is great. If you can do this, however, you are a god.

Matt 2.x said:

Thanks! I'm trying, because I like Chrome far more than Safari...and if having Chrome open means 3 hours less battery life, I'm staying away from it until I have manual control over which GPU is in use.

Scorch07 said:
Alas... it was a small victory... I restarted the machine in hopes of fixing my new problem... and now it's back to the old problem... This is all very strange...

Strange indeed...did you restore from a Time Machine backup by chance? That was mentioned earlier in this thread (by VelvetFannyPack) and I've seen similar postings on the Apple discussion boards. I have a feeling it has to do with some rogue preference plist somewhere that's either missing a key/value or has another value for one of them...
 
Strange indeed...did you restore from a Time Machine backup by chance? That was mentioned earlier in this thread (by VelvetFannyPack) and I've seen similar postings on the Apple discussion boards. I have a feeling it has to do with some rogue preference plist somewhere that's either missing a key/value or has another value for one of them...

Nope... didn't restore from Time Machine.... but see my last post. Turns out it was a printer agent. (For a printer I don't use very frequently, at that).
 
Nope... didn't restore from Time Machine.... but see my last post. Turns out it was a printer agent. (For a printer I don't use very frequently, at that).

Ah, weird. I wonder what framework(s) the printer agents are utilizing that make the 330M kick in. Surely it can't be Core Animation. I almost wish I had the same problem as you so I could analyze it! :D
 
I discovered that Microsoft AU Daemon (for office 2003) will trigger the Nvidia GPU. I also noticed that it was a Power PC process, which may explain why the Nvidia chip went on.

So, if you're trying to close applications to see which one will turn on the Intel GPU, try closing the PowerPC applications first, if you have any.

Hope this helps.

EDIT: I also noticed that X11 will also trigger the Nvidia chip. That sucks for me because I use it to code often...
 
Thanks bitninja, this is incredibly useful.

It would be great if it would refresh every minute or so. I find that the card usage changes based upon other actions besides starting and stopping apps and switching displays (for instance, when i open a website in Firefox, close a tab, etc.).

Hopefully Apple figures this out - it's a real hassle.

Thanks for all your work!
 
Fresh (Ironic Software) kicks the 330m into gear, I just found. I quit it before but don't recall the Intel GPU kicking in, but I might have been dumb and had the MBP on the charger without noticing. It's a relief just to figure out the culprit.
 
Thanks bitninja, this is incredibly useful.

It would be great if it would refresh every minute or so. I find that the card usage changes based upon other actions besides starting and stopping apps and switching displays (for instance, when i open a website in Firefox, close a tab, etc.).

Hopefully Apple figures this out - it's a real hassle.

Thanks for all your work!

Not a problem! Your suggestion is noted - for the next minor version I want to implement a previously suggested feature as well: the ability to automatically download and install updates, so that you don't have to redownload it so often! :D

Cheers!
 
if i'm running my macbook pro from power (not battery), should the nvidia graphics be active?

i thought the intel was only meant to be active when running off the battery, however for the majority of my tasks it seems the intel is always active. like others if i open tweetie it switches to nvidia, when i close tweetie it switches back regardless if it's running off the battery or not
 
Bug in Snow Leopard?

if i'm running my macbook pro from power (not battery), should the nvidia graphics be active?

i thought the intel was only meant to be active when running off the battery, however for the majority of my tasks it seems the intel is always active. like others if i open tweetie it switches to nvidia, when i close tweetie it switches back regardless if it's running off the battery or not

Under energy saving you can choose to activate automatic switching when running off the battery. You can do the same thing when the power adapter is used. However, toggle this option under power adapter affects the corresponding one under battery and vice versa. Could this be a bug in SL?
 
Thanks a ton bitninja!

DuaneDibbley said:
++ Thanks dude! Very handy app, if a little depressing to think of how much battery power i'm wasting whenever I see the N lol.

You're both very welcome! It's my pleasure. And it is kind of depressing isn't it? Haha :D

eyekyu said:
if i'm running my macbook pro from power (not battery), should the nvidia graphics be active?

i thought the intel was only meant to be active when running off the battery, however for the majority of my tasks it seems the intel is always active. like others if i open tweetie it switches to nvidia, when i close tweetie it switches back regardless if it's running off the battery or not

eyekyu, Tweetie is known (as are bunches of other apps that people have had problems with in this thread alone) to kick the 330M into action. So far it looks as if any apps that utilize Core Animation (or similar OS X frameworks) make it kick on. I don't think the 330M necessarily needs to be active when the machine is plugged in, but if an external display is plugged in then yes.
 
To: bitninja

I created this icon for your program its nothing complicated but I like it. The image I used was under creative commons license so its not copyrighted :)
 

Attachments

  • gfxCardStatus.zip
    49.1 KB · Views: 124
gatepc, as the thread starter, may I suggest that you edit your initial post to include a link to bitninja's program URL? Since most people won't read all the pages in this thread, they may miss the awesomeness.
 
To: bitninja

I created this icon for your program its nothing complicated but I like it. The image I used was under creative commons license so its not copyrighted :)

Thanks! I'm toying with a few different icon designs right now (and auto updating!!), yours will be carefully considered.

Libertine Lush said:
gatepc, as the thread starter, may I suggest that you edit your initial post to include a link to bitninja's program URL? Since most people won't read all the pages in this thread, they may miss the awesomeness.

+1 That would be great if you could do that, gatepc! :D
 
Ah, weird. I wonder what framework(s) the printer agents are utilizing that make the 330M kick in. Surely it can't be Core Animation. I almost wish I had the same problem as you so I could analyze it! :D
I can send you the app file if you want haha.
 
stuck on 330

Another user stuck on the 330
Such a shame... aside from this, I'm crazy happy with this puppy.
I have disabled everything on my macbookPro 15 i7
no background processes running at all
no apps open
still stuck on the 330
Has anyone found a solution to this?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.