Backlight is off when switching to discrete AMD GPU using vga_switcheroo and can't be turned on

[Nicolás Abel Carbone]

I have a MUXed hybrid graphics notebook with Intel Ironlake / AMD HD5650m GPUs and since upgrading to Ubuntu 13.04 (from 12.10) I have been having problems with vga_switcheroo.

As stated in bug #1162526 I can't switch to the discrete GPU as I could on 12.10. Using the workaround posted by Vangel Ajanovski in askubuntu (http://askubuntu.com/questions/142506/hybrid-graphics-on-ubuntu-12-04-switching-to-discrete) I can switch to the discrete graphics, but when I do the laptop backlight turns off and I can't turn it on by any method I tried. It does work with an external HDMI display.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.04
Package: xorg 1:7.7+1ubuntu4
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.8.0-15.25-generic 3.8.4
Uname: Linux 3.8.0-15-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: wl
.tmp.unity.support.test.0:

ApportVersion: 2.9.2-0ubuntu5
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins'
CompositorRunning: compiz
CompositorUnredirectDriverBlacklist: '(nouveau|Intel).*Mesa 8.0'
CompositorUnredirectFSW: true
CurrentDmesg:
 [ 63.473963] systemd-logind[2294]: New seat seat0.
 [ 63.474063] systemd-logind[2294]: Failed to save seat data for seat0: No such file or directory
 [ 64.482886] hda-intel 0000:01:00.1: Disabling via VGA-switcheroo
 [ 64.600077] hda-intel 0000:01:00.1: Cannot lock devices!
 [ 64.600083] radeon: switched off
Date: Tue Apr 2 13:06:45 2013
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: raring
DistroVariant: ubuntu
DkmsStatus: bcmwl, 6.20.155.1+bdcom, 3.8.0-15-generic, x86_64: installed
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes, if not too technical
GraphicsCard:
 Intel Corporation Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0046] (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1436]
 Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI Madison [Radeon HD 5000M Series] [1002:68c1] (rev ff) (prog-if ff)
InstallationDate: Installed on 2013-03-30 (2 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 13.04 "Raring Ringtail" - Alpha amd64 (20130328)
MachineType: Hewlett-Packard HP ENVY 14 Notebook PC
MarkForUpload: True
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.8.0-15-generic root=UUID=67db7fed-d0f3-4c33-9a58-eb3860cfc7be ro quiet splash acpi_osi=Linux fbcon=map:0 vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: xorg
Symptom: display
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 12/01/2011
dmi.bios.vendor: Hewlett-Packard
dmi.bios.version: F.26
dmi.board.asset.tag: Base Board Asset Tag
dmi.board.name: 1436
dmi.board.vendor: Hewlett-Packard
dmi.board.version: 59.24
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: CNU03538DZ
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Hewlett-Packard
dmi.chassis.version: Chassis Version
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnHewlett-Packard:bvrF.26:bd12/01/2011:svnHewlett-Packard:pnHPENVY14NotebookPC:pvr0492100000241910000620000:rvnHewlett-Packard:rn1436:rvr59.24:cvnHewlett-Packard:ct10:cvrChassisVersion:
dmi.product.name: HP ENVY 14 Notebook PC
dmi.product.version: 0492100000241910000620000
dmi.sys.vendor: Hewlett-Packard
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.9~daily13.03.29-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.43-0ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 9.0.3-0ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 9.0.3-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.13.3-0ubuntu4
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.7.3-0ubuntu2b2
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:7.1.0-0ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.21.5-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.7-0ubuntu1
xserver.bootTime: Tue Apr 2 13:03:38 2013
xserver.configfile: default
xserver.errors: RADEON(G0): [XvMC] Failed to initialize extension.
xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
xserver.version: 2:1.13.3-0ubuntu4
xserver.video_driver: intel

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This change was made by a bot.

[Nicolás Abel Carbone (nicocarbone)]

I have been doing some test with the mainline kernels. I have found that the backlight works well when using Ubuntu 13.04 amd64 with the last 3.6 based kernel.

It does not work with 3.7, 3.8 or 3.9 based kernels (all from http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/)

[Marco Trevisan (Treviño) (3v1n0)]

Please report this bug upstream (to drm developers on freedesktop buzilla).

[Marco Trevisan (Treviño) (3v1n0)]

An issue similar to this happens to me on suspend/resume... A workaround is shown on bug #955046.

[Nicolás Abel Carbone (nicocarbone)]

It is already reported upstream: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=55311

There is patch that has recently been merged. Sorry I didn't post it earlier.

[madbiologist (me-again)]

The patch you referred to is available in the upstream 3.11-rc5 kernel:

author Jani Nikula 2013-07-25
committer Daniel Vetter 2013-08-07
commit 3f577573cd5482a32f85bd131e52f7cb4b9ac518
tree 87c7eee0318624bbf90bf318646d0d5471bb41b2
parent 3eaba51cd399f5362a9fd9ebd5fb8b625b454271

drm/i915: do not disable backlight on vgaswitcheroo switch off

On muxed systems, the other vgaswitcheroo client may depend on i915 to handle the backlight. We began switching off the backlight since

commit a261b246ebd552fd5d5a8ed84cc931bb821c427f
Author: Daniel Vetter
Date: Thu Jul 26 19:21:47 2012

    drm/i915: disable all crtcs at suspend time

breaking backlight on discreet graphics in (some) muxed systems.

Keep the backlight on when the state is changed through vgaswitcheroo.

Note: The alternative would be to add a quirk table to achieve the same based on system identifiers, but AFAICS it would asymptotically approach effectively the same as this patch as more IDs are added, but with the maintenance burden of the quirk table.

Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=55311
Tested-by: Fede
Tested-by: Aximab
Bugzilla: https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=59785
Tested-by: sfievet
Signed-off-by: Jani Nikula
Cc: stable
Signed-off-by: Daniel Vetter

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Nicolás Abel Carbone, could you please provide the full computer model as noted on the sticker (ex. HP ENVY 14-2130nr Notebook PC)?

[Nicolás Abel Carbone (nicocarbone)]

Christopher, my notebook is HP ENVY 14-1095LA.

However, this bug is solved in kernels 3.11 and upwards, so it is no longer present in Ubuntu 13.10. I don't know about the new kernels in 12.04LTS though. If someone can test it, maybe this bug should be closed.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Nicolás Abel Carbone, thank you for providing the requested information. If one wanted to test out the Saucy enablement stack in precise via https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LTSEnablementStack that would be just fine. Despite this, given this is fixed in Saucy+, would you need a backport to a kernel series prior to Saucy, or may this be closed as status Invalid?

[Nicolás Abel Carbone (nicocarbone)]

In my case, I am using Saucy exclusively in my laptop. So, I don't need a backport. But, if this is a widespread problem, maybe is a good idea for other people that may be suffering it in Precise (although, 14.04 is getting closer).

I don't have a Precise installation anymore and, given that it is not trivial to test this in a LiveCD, I am afraid I can't test the Saucy enablement stack. Is there something else I can try?

Thanks you for your concern about this bug!

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Nicolás Abel Carbone, thank you for your comments. If other people have a bug, they would need to file a new report. Hence, this bug report is being closed due to your last comment https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1163418/comments/11 regarding this being fixed with an update. For future reference you can manage the status of your own bugs by clicking on the current status in the yellow line and then choosing a new status in the revealed drop down box. You can learn more about bug statuses at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Status. Thank you again for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please submit any future bugs you may find.