**OFFICIAL Sager NP5125/Sager NP5135/Clevo B5130M Owner's Lounge**

My VGA button isn't working (the one that turns Optimus on and off). It's always orange and pressing it doesn't change the color to green. This might be because I reinstalled Windows recently (the VGA button definitely worked before reinstalling). I installed all the main drivers from the supplied CD. I also downloaded and installed the latest Intel and Nvidia video drivers from Sager's website (20-Oct-10 versions). I thought the VGA button problem might be caused by the new drivers, so I uninstalled the new drivers and reinstalled the drivers from the CD. VGA button still not working.

Any ideas on how to get the VGA/Optimus button to work?

Also, when watching videos in mpc-hc with the dGPU there is tearing in the same spot for every video. There is no tearing when using the iGPU.

 

Try reformatting and reinstalling Windows again. When I first installed Windows, I made 2 partitions, but only 1 showed up in Windows. After installing all the drivers, I had to reformat and start all over. So, it might be worth a try.

 

Found the fix for this. Earlier in this thread someone said having Windows Aero turned off causes video tearing when using the dGPU. I've been using Windows Classic theme, and indeed, switching to Aero fixed the problem. However, there is a problem with video playback in Aero: videos seem to not play in the correct resolution and upscale even when zoom is 100%. I'll continue to use Windows Classic and just use the iGPU for videos.

About the VGA button, I'd rather not go through the hassle of reinstalling Windows again. The button not working isn't a huge deal as Nvida Control Panel allows some control of which GPU is used. But it would be nice to have the button working again for convenience.

 

Look for help at laptopvideo2go if you want to use drivers from Nvidia instead of waiting for Sager releases. Someone there supplied modded inf files for the np5125, but they may not work for the np5135 because of the new GPU.

 

why did the price of the 5135 drop on xoticpc?

 

So I ended up getting my 5135 earlier this week and so far I really love it. The 425m is ridiculously easy to OC. It seems to have no problem running at 700/1400/1600 while still staying cool.

I do have the GPU button issue though (not able to turn green when pressed). It used to work fine before certain updates were applied. I contacted sager support and wasn't able to obtain a resolution. Of course, the button not working doesn't merit a reinstall of the OS... It has to be some service/driver that is no longer running. Just a matter of figuring out which one.

I'll post back if I discover a resolution or if anyone has questions in regards to the 5135 they'd like answered.

 

You need to install the hotkey utility from sager's website if you want the button feature to turn green or not.

If you don't care about the green color, and don't like installing extra stuff, you can go into the power plan control settings and choose "UMA Mode", which is the same thing.

 

how is the heat playing on a bed? or are you using a cooling pad?

my Thinkpad could handle being directly on my mattress without overheating but I know most laptops can't handle that since all the the air is coming in through the bottom.

 

Thanks. I had had Hotkey turned off.

About the fan always being on issue: people could just unplug their fan. It seems from the xoticpc video that unplugging it is extremely easy.

 

I don't even test it. I've got the logitech cooling pad, but the fan is so weak on it, I just use it as a stand for my laptop to ensure adequate air flow.
I wouldn't worry about doing other stuff on a bed, movie watching would be fine in my untested opinion. But gaming while blocking the intake fans is just asking or trouble.

 

shteren, I may be mistaken, but I think I am running nouvue. A bit of a rundown, when I first installed Ubuntu, it worked fine. Then, I tried to install Nvidia drivers. This caused my computer to boot until the ubuntu logo, then it would trip out and go to a black screen. I removed the nvidia drivers wanting to return to nouvea. Unfortunately, I was still getting a black screen. I eventually found out that Nvidia drivers had left behind an xorg.conf file. ANY xorg.conf would cause the black screen, but as long as that file was not present things worked fine. The orange light runs on my laptop and extra graphical effects (wobbly windows) is working. If you are using Ubuntu 10.04 and are unable to use nouvue try deleting your xorg.conf.

On a side note, I have been considering this. From what I'm reading, it sounds like that method will patch my kernel to work with buggy acpi support in bios, whereas most methods seem to target the bios by recompiling the dsdt tables and re-flashing a patched bios. Would rather avoid messing with the bios itself. I figure that at best perhaps this would allow Optimus to work with the script I posted earlier, and at worst perhaps I could solve my laptops insomnia. I may or may not get time to mess with this, but do you guys think it shows promise?

 

To which fan do you refer, a notebook cooler fan or the internal cpu/gpu fan?

Thanks for the clarification.

C.

 

The internal one...

 

my 7130 has leaking out on all 4 sides. Doesn't bother me that much though since my primary use for this is a work machine. The screen looks decent in general, and there are unfortunately not a lot of other alternatives anyway for 1080 screens.

 

I'm sure there's some way to remedy that. Maybe some clever application of electrical tape?

If mine has backlight leakage when it comes in I know i'll probably open it up and see what I can do.

 

Hi Autumn Demon:

So you use your notebook cooler pad to provide the only cooling solution? Without the notebook cooler, your notebook would over heat. Do I understand this correctly, or have you managed to keep your notebook working with only passive cooling?

Thanks,
C.

 

I never said anything about a notebook cooler pad; you must be extremely confused.

I've never seen temps on this laptop go much above 70C. The problem is the fan is always on and fairly noisy, even during light use and with low temps. I suggested people could open up their laptop and unplug the fan to get rid of the noise.

 

Hahahaha, you're joking right? That's a good way to have the laptop overheat and fry itself pretty damned quick.

That said, I've been able to run games with the dGPU with it sitting in my lap, and it never got uncomfortably hot (though I made sure that the video exhaust vent had a bit of room to blow air, which was pretty toasty but not burning hot), but putting it in bed on something that's not level like a piece of cardboard or a binder is asking for trouble no matter how cool it runs. It'll overheat for sure with the vents all covered by sheets.

 

you have few mistakes there, first of all not ANY xorg.conf file will make it fail, the xorg.conf file is not the problem, it's its settings, i have a xorg.file now that i made so that the multi-touch mouse pad will work better, and configured it to use the igpu, so i don't get black screen.

the problem is that the dgpu isn't connected directly to any screen but to the igpu cache, nvidia didn't update their driver to work through the igpu and what happens is that nvidia driver don't detect a valid screen and doesn't post anything on X, thus a black screen.

now about nouvue, it's not better than nvidia's proprietary driver and can't make the dgpu work either, it is loaded but not being used, what you are seeing making the compiz effects is the intel driver, it loads them both, you can check the file in /var/log/Xorg.0.log to see it, it recognizes the nvidia card and then loads nouvue, but doesn't actually use it.

about acpi, it seems like a nice link, i'm looking into it, see if we can find a way to shutdown the dgpu without the bios, from within ubuntu.

 

Hi Autumn Demon:

Sorry about the confusion, I didn't think that any modern CPU would operate without some form of active cooling. I incorrectly assumed that you were using a notebook cooler in lieu of the notebook's internal fan. I'm shocked that without active cooling, you max out at 70 celcius. Any case, thanks for the clarification.

C.

 

He never said that he was running without active cooling...

He simply made a suggestion (that nobody should follow) that if someone were annoyed by the fan always being on that they could simply unplug it because one of the videos posted by XOTIC showed how easy this is to do.

Reading comprehension goes a long way people.

 

Reread his original post and duh !!!

Made "assumptions" that were never in the post.

C.

 

For anyone here who haa done an RMA for this laptop, how long did the whole RMA process take for u? Like from the time it arrived at Sager to the time u got it back?

Thanks

 

Thanks for the clarification shteren. For those interested, the flowchart below provides a nice look at how optimus works. Also, in Ubuntu 10.04 X configuration nwas moved to /usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf.d/. I actually tried to add an xorg.conf file for the same reason you did, touchpad. I wanted two finger middle click. Anyway, this caused me to get the blank screen. there have been some updates since then, so maybe xorg.conf is fine now. To clarify, I have not messed with the files in /usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf.d/, it is the xorg.conf file that seems to give me trouble. Let me know if you find out anything about acpi. Hope to mess with it but with classes I don't know if I'll have time.


source: Nvidia brings Optimus switchable graphics to notebooks - The Tech Report - Page 2

 

ahhh i think i know what you've missed, you need to blacklist these modules:
blacklist amd76x_edac
blacklist vga16fb
blacklist nouveau
blacklist rivafb
blacklist nvidiafb
blacklist rivatv

sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

and add these lines at the end.
this will prevent any module trying to use the nvidia card and will force igpu, i already posted earlier in this thread.

there is a mailing list in ubuntu lunchpad about hybrid graphics, i sent them a mail adding some acpi info from the sager 5125 and asked if somebody can help me find the right call, no reply so far...

btw i have no folder or a file named xorg.conf.d in /usr/lib/X11/, mybe you've ment /usr/share/X11? i do have those there, but it's unclear what they do exactly, they seem like standard files, mybe i'll google it, but the xorg.conf i've made works fine, i can send it to you if you want, we have the same comp after all.

 

Are there any lightweight Linux distributions that can be used with the NP5135?

example Jolicloud. (edit. This is probably pretty useless because of the dGPU and iGPU issues on Linux...)

Also, has anyone been able to put Mac OSX onto the 5135?

 

This screen is lacking, and I need to edit the settings for playing video games. I've tried a bunch of ways found via google, but none have worked. Does anyone know how to get the classic nvidia control panel back?

 

Hey guys; I just have a general question.
I've had my NP5125 since its release; and performance-wise I couldn't ask for more. I've had zero trouble running Win7 Ultimate.

Anyway, my question is on the keyboard; I've never owned a laptop so I don't know how common this is, but already after a few months of owning it, the surface of the keys have begun to smooth from wear, finger grease, whatever else. They're shinier. It kind of bugs me. I clean my keyboard at LEAST weekly with isopropyl rubbing alcohol on cotton to remove finger grease, and wash my hands before use. But it still manages to develop this. Should this be a concern or is it normal? Are there any steps I can take to prevent or reduce wear?

Thanks guys.

 

hehe
isopropyl is bad, use ethanol, iso attacks plastics, it's not the only reason your keys shine but it's certainly speeding the proccess, use isopropyl only for glasses and metals.

 

:/ Odd.
Step-By-Step: Keep a Clean Keyboard - PCWorld
This link advises against using ethyl-based alcohol.

 

Has nobody ever had to RMA this laptop?

 

My NP5135 finally shipped. Should be here tomorrow, I hope.

I'll be installing my own OS. Does it come with a disc of drivers or should I just download all the drivers from the Sager website?

Also, i'm concerned with all of the people saying the 5135 has a bad screen. One of the reasons I ordered it was that everyone thought the 5125 had an amazing screen and I assumed that would transfer to the 5135 as well. Is this just a few unlucky customers or is this affecting all of you with the 5135?

Thanks guys.

 

Pretty sure they didn't change the screen. And a similar fraction of 5125 owners have complained about the screen.

 

shteren, maybe this will better explain xorg.conf.d. Perhaps you are using 10.10? I may take you up on the offer of your xorg.conf, but I'd like to give it a shot myself with the blacklisted apps. After all, I can't learn anything if I don't try.

EDIT: btw, did you send the mailing list the dsdt tables or something else?

 

Seems no one at xoticpc phone support knows about RMAs and how shipping is handled...

 

Mine is working 100% wonderfully. What is the reason you are RMAing the laptop?

 

I don't know, but I guess I might be one of those lucky ones. My screen is absolutely beautiful to me. I did a dead pixel check with all different color backgrounds and could not spot even one. Lucky for me

 

It wont boot up anymore

 

Odds are, the screen will be great. It could me average, or worse though.

I RMA'd my laptop when the dGPU went out. Sager provides a UPS shipping label, but it is not insured, so you will have to pay for it yourself. XoticPC will help you with everything.

My screen on the NP5125 was, in retrospect, the best screen I've seen on a laptop. The one I received on my NP5135, while good, is nowhere near as good. The brightness is lacking in comparison, and the contrast ratio is poor compared to most screens I've seen. However, you can expect your screen to be great. And if not, you have a 30 day return policy.

 

Well idk about u but xoticpc has certainly not been helpful with the RMA shipping questions i have... Called support who told me to call sales who told me to email service... And now im sitting here still without answers.

 

Do you even see the BIOS/Boot up screen? or is it totally blank upon power up? Or it doesn't even power up anymore?

Have you tried doing a live chat with them?

 

ohhh nice link there for xorg configuration and yes i do use 10.10, it sais there that in 10.10 it will be moved to usr/share/X11.

and yes i did sent them some of my dsdt table, the parts i thought is relevent, only thing looking like gpu refence was parts with GFX0 in them, no VGA or GPU of any on that sort in out dsdt...

 

Nothing happens at all, i hit the power and nothing comes on, screen blank, nothin.and yes the first thing i did was live chat who told me to call support

 

Hmm, maybe it's a power source problem, or maybe the motherboard died.

Email [email protected] and request an RMA, simple as that. I haven't been the easiest customer, but they've still been courteous and quick with service.

 

I have emailed them and living in canada i was told from Justin that the return shipping back to me would be covered yet im getting conflicting messages from service which is saying it isnt and now theyre saying that they will look into to it and email me back if they find out justin did tell me that. I have PMs from him so i have proof that i was told return shipping wuld be covered.

So im not too happy about the conflicting messages im getting.

 

It sounds like Joseph is right, however the shipping might be slow.

 

Was expecting to revieve a 7738g but it appears royal mail has lost it, I will shortly recieving a refund.

Was looking into a barebones NP5135 and have been looking through this mamoth thread. Are there any good pictures of the internals? Is the GFX MXM or soldered in? Has anyone tried a Core i3 in the machine?

 

The shipping return on the lower end Sager models is a new condition that is offered only by Xotic PC. I am sorry for the confusion. Joseph was likely confused about it since it is not covered by Sager by default but is for our customers. I believe you just pm'd me on it the other day and I advised you it was covered. Joseph should be emailing you the rma info once the rma is set up. (this is for the return shipping to you, not the shipping in as we discussed since you are in Canada)

 

Sad that I have to ask this but--- does anyone know if Black Ops works with Optimus enabled laptops like the 5125/5130/7110/7130??? Tried to search for it but found no info. But since bad company 2 doesn't work, I feel like it would be stupid to just buy a game like that b4 knowing if my system is "compatible" with said game.

 

I'm thinking of buying the 5135 from XoticPC but I'm curious about just one thing: Do the speakers on the 5135 still "suck" as many have said about the 5125? Could somebody detail any differences between these models?