Switchable AMD Radeon APU Graphics with Ubuntu 11.10

Well as per usual, Linux in any form is a perennial pain in the ass to install and configure, however its amazing once its up and running. The Acer Aspire 5560G-sb468 is a little tough for a default Ubuntu 11.10 install since it comes with dual GPUs, one on the processor and a separate one with dedicated memory.  It makes open source drivers cry.

If you're going to use Unity, you can just adjust the resolution X displays, because for some reason, it can't detect anything above 1024x768.

If you like Gnome 3 better, it's a bit more complex.  We'll have to switch to the proprietary FGLRX driver from AMD due to some graphical issues that appear with the open source "radeon" driver.

UNITY ONLY:

Create the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf as root and enter:


Section "Monitor"
    Identifier      "LCD"
EndSection
Section "Device"
    Identifier      "RadeonHD"
    Driver          "radeon"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
    Identifier      "Primary Screen"
    Device          "RadeonHD"
    Monitor    "LCD"
    DefaultDepth    24
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth           24
        Modes   "1366x768"
    EndSubSection
EndSection


Section "ServerLayout"
        Identifier      "Default Layout"
        Screen          "Primary Screen"
EndSection

Go ahead and replace 1366x768 with your LCD's optimal resolution.

Reboot.

GNOME 3:

This method is also going to work for Unity, and might even improve performance.  It also provides a control panel that allows fine-grained tuning of most GPU settings as well as Switchable Graphics.  That means you'll be able to choose which GPU you'd like to use.  It isn't nearly as good as Windows 7, for example, because you have to reboot after switching GPUs, but it's something.

To avoid graphical problems, we're going to grab the driver right off AMD's site:

http://support.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDSupportHub.aspx

Assuming your browser saved the file in ~/Downloads/, let's make it executable and get to gettin:

# chmod +x ~/Downloads/amd-driver-installer-12-1-x86.x86_64.run

# sudo ~/Downloads/amd-driver-installer-12-1-x86.x86_64.run

That should bring up an installer GUI.  Follow the directions, there's really no way to screw this up.  Once it's done, we need to modify the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file as root:

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier      "LCD"
EndSection
Section "Device"
    Identifier      "RadeonHD"
    Driver          "fglrx"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
    Identifier      "Primary Screen"
    Device          "RadeonHD"
    Monitor     "LCD"
    DefaultDepth    24
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth           24
        Modes   "1366x768"
    EndSubSection
EndSection


Section "ServerLayout"
        Identifier      "Default Layout"
        Screen          "Primary Screen"
EndSection

Go ahead and replace 1366x768 with your LCD's optimal resolution.

Reboot.

Enjoy.