I've gotten this machine to run Debian stable, using the open source radeon driver, and it's pretty satisfactory. I'm running a 3.11 kernel from backports that I pass a couple things to on the refind boot entry. I'm able to use HDMI and watch 1080p video on an external HDTV, or use a second monitor. I'm running Enlightenment as a desktop environment.
It's been a long haul getting it to this point. I read that the radeon driver had really improved in terms of heat and battery life and it seems to be so.
Being able to switch like Matthew is working towards is the holy grail I guess. But for me switching to radeon has made the machine very effective running Debian. (I used to use the intel graphics card but it would go all black on suspend/resume, which something I really want to be able to do)
Power management, mobile and firmware developer on Linux. Security developer at Aurora. Ex-biologist. mjg59 on Twitter. Content here should not be interpreted as the opinion of my employer. Also on Mastodon.
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My Late 2011 MBP 17"
Date: 2014-03-10 09:55 pm (UTC)It's been a long haul getting it to this point. I read that the radeon driver had really improved in terms of heat and battery life and it seems to be so.
Being able to switch like Matthew is working towards is the holy grail I guess. But for me switching to radeon has made the machine very effective running Debian. (I used to use the intel graphics card but it would go all black on suspend/resume, which something I really want to be able to do)