Description: Its just a plasmoid intended to sit in a panel that shows wheter the discrete video card is running or not with an Nvidia Optimus system using Bumblebee. The icon goes from black to yellow when it is activated.
The app does use kde notifications to indicate when the the discrete card has been activated and deactivated. I'll add a config option later to make this configurable but for now notifications are enabled by default.
I have used it for the last few hours and tested it on openSUSE 12.2 and Kubuntu 12.04 and it ran perfectly. Didn't crash the desktop, cause slow downs nor any malfunction. It doesn't use any funny modules etc. so it should work universally.
The icons are low res, I'll get round to a high res version later which will look good on the desktop but I think the panel is where an indicator belongs. The icons come from the bumblebee-ui project, if somebody wants to make nicer ones just send them to me and I may incorporate them.
Please report any issues to me and I'll see what I can do. This is intended to be a very simple plasmoid, I am working on a more powerful krunner runner and bumblebee configuration program in the near future.
I removed notifications recently because some people said it caused hanging on their systems. Doesn't on my system though.Last changelog:
0.3
Fixed an issue with it always showing active on some computers
Temporarily removed notifications
Fixed installation failure on Kubuntu
0.2:
Fixed the issue with the icon paths. Should work for everybody now. Sorry!
Hello, I installed kernel 3.6.7, bumblebee 3.0.1, opensuse 12.2.
The plasmoid is always on, but optirun--status tells me the discrete card is off.
On kernel 3.6.4/3.6.5 everything works, same bumblebee repo, same opensuse 12.2.
What info you need to solve/reproduce?
After having installed the Plasmoid, it says the "Python Script Driver is missing".
It could be noteworthy to mention that the package "plasma-scriptengine-python" has to be installed for this Plasmoid to work.
Thanks for this useful indicator.
Rob
I'll be sure to update that next time I release a version. I'm just surprised you ran into that problem because I always assumed that this was installed by default with all KDE desktops.
Might I just ask what distro you are using?
This is a Debian Wheezy System that formerly ran GNOME3, then XFCE and now finally KDE - so it is not a "standard" system, I assume. Though I installed KDE via "task-kde-desktop", which I assumed to be fairly complete.
Cheers,
Rob
Alright so I have looked into this. I have really no clue how your install didn't have this included by default. This package seems to be included with PyKDE4 which all KDE installations include.
I won't be adding this to the requirements as I feel it may be confusing to new users who may try look for this package but not find it in their repos.
Thanks for the heads up though!
Hi! I like this widget and thanks you made it!
My problem i that indicator is always yellow, never black. What it means? KDE always is using nvidia card or I don't understand(probably)?
Ok so I need to know, which distro are you using? What version of bumblebee? KDE version?
Also I noticed something, on openSUSE 12.2 with KDE 4.9.2 some API changes occured and its messed with my system a bit and I had to manually fix them, though that means the plasmoid won't load at all, I can't help with that.
So since you see an icon then everything must be running. Go to a terminal, and run "optirun --status". If it says that your Discrete card is on then the yellow indicator should show, if it says Discrete card is off and the indicator is yellow then there is another more fundamental problem that I need to fix. Please tell me the output of the command and the colour of the icon when the command is run.
If the output/icons are matching up right then it means your discrete card is running the whole time and chewing up your power. I can help you a little with this too depending on your distro.
Sorry, I forgot to tell my distribution!
I use laptop DELL Inspiron 5110 Kubuntu 12.10 beta2 (64bit) with KDE 4.9.2
optirun --status comand gave me this...
Bumblebee status: Ready (3.0.1). X inactive. Discrete video card is off.
The color is still yellow.
Someting not important. The icon is biger for the panel where I put it and it is litlle flattened.
I fixed the issue you had. The problem was on my side. I was using slice notation on the string returned and unfortunately not all bumblebee installations return exactly the same string. I fixed this using "grep -c off" for detecting whether it is on or not.
Try the new package
Ok well at least we got the first problem fixed. Are you running those games using optirun prefixed to the commandline command or are you just using your intel card?
Again run something with optirun, then look at the terminal output of "optirun -- status". Paste the output please and tell me the colour of the icon at the time.
I'll PM you about the possible new icons.
It works prefectly!!! I run the games with optirun and it works!
I tought optirun turn on/off automaticly i version 3 and that's why there is no configuration GUI to set which programs will use it. Before I installed it the game "extreme tux racer" didn't work properly and now it works wihtout optirun... Strange.
Glad it works!
Bumbleebee 3.0 has automatic power management. It switches the card off automatically when not in use and when you exit a program that launched with optirun. My solution to this issue is to manually edit the desktop files. This way they launch with optirun automatically and my widget can be used to monitor whether the card is on or not. Please remember to vote this plasmoid up if you like it.
Didn't even notice that newbie mistake. Terribly sorry about that. I fixed it (v0.2), it now uses: PyKDE4.kdecore.KGlobal.dirs().localkdedir() + "share/apps/plasma/plasmoids/Bumblebee_Status/contents/" to set the path for the icons.
This should fix the problem for everybody as this works for .kde and .kde4 naming conventions so I can't see this not working now.
Ratings & Comments
19 Comments
Do you plan to allow for manual enabling/disabling of the device via clicking on the symbol in the tray? I would really like to see this feature
Hello, I installed kernel 3.6.7, bumblebee 3.0.1, opensuse 12.2. The plasmoid is always on, but optirun--status tells me the discrete card is off. On kernel 3.6.4/3.6.5 everything works, same bumblebee repo, same opensuse 12.2. What info you need to solve/reproduce?
sorry it works, user was deleted from bumblebee group during the update. I added it and everything works now.
After having installed the Plasmoid, it says the "Python Script Driver is missing". It could be noteworthy to mention that the package "plasma-scriptengine-python" has to be installed for this Plasmoid to work. Thanks for this useful indicator. Rob
I'll be sure to update that next time I release a version. I'm just surprised you ran into that problem because I always assumed that this was installed by default with all KDE desktops. Might I just ask what distro you are using?
This is a Debian Wheezy System that formerly ran GNOME3, then XFCE and now finally KDE - so it is not a "standard" system, I assume. Though I installed KDE via "task-kde-desktop", which I assumed to be fairly complete. Cheers, Rob
Alright so I have looked into this. I have really no clue how your install didn't have this included by default. This package seems to be included with PyKDE4 which all KDE installations include. I won't be adding this to the requirements as I feel it may be confusing to new users who may try look for this package but not find it in their repos. Thanks for the heads up though!
Hi! I like this widget and thanks you made it! My problem i that indicator is always yellow, never black. What it means? KDE always is using nvidia card or I don't understand(probably)?
Ok so I need to know, which distro are you using? What version of bumblebee? KDE version? Also I noticed something, on openSUSE 12.2 with KDE 4.9.2 some API changes occured and its messed with my system a bit and I had to manually fix them, though that means the plasmoid won't load at all, I can't help with that. So since you see an icon then everything must be running. Go to a terminal, and run "optirun --status". If it says that your Discrete card is on then the yellow indicator should show, if it says Discrete card is off and the indicator is yellow then there is another more fundamental problem that I need to fix. Please tell me the output of the command and the colour of the icon when the command is run. If the output/icons are matching up right then it means your discrete card is running the whole time and chewing up your power. I can help you a little with this too depending on your distro.
Sorry, I forgot to tell my distribution! I use laptop DELL Inspiron 5110 Kubuntu 12.10 beta2 (64bit) with KDE 4.9.2 optirun --status comand gave me this... Bumblebee status: Ready (3.0.1). X inactive. Discrete video card is off. The color is still yellow. Someting not important. The icon is biger for the panel where I put it and it is litlle flattened.
I fixed the issue you had. The problem was on my side. I was using slice notation on the string returned and unfortunately not all bumblebee installations return exactly the same string. I fixed this using "grep -c off" for detecting whether it is on or not. Try the new package
Yes, it is black now and don't wont to det yellow when I'm playing "Open Arena" and "extreme tux racer"...
Ok well at least we got the first problem fixed. Are you running those games using optirun prefixed to the commandline command or are you just using your intel card? Again run something with optirun, then look at the terminal output of "optirun -- status". Paste the output please and tell me the colour of the icon at the time. I'll PM you about the possible new icons.
It works prefectly!!! I run the games with optirun and it works! I tought optirun turn on/off automaticly i version 3 and that's why there is no configuration GUI to set which programs will use it. Before I installed it the game "extreme tux racer" didn't work properly and now it works wihtout optirun... Strange.
Yes, it is black now and don't get yellow when I play "Open arena" and "Extreme tux racer"... Also I have idea for icons. How can I send it to you?
Glad it works! Bumbleebee 3.0 has automatic power management. It switches the card off automatically when not in use and when you exit a program that launched with optirun. My solution to this issue is to manually edit the desktop files. This way they launch with optirun automatically and my widget can be used to monitor whether the card is on or not. Please remember to vote this plasmoid up if you like it.
I installed it from Plasma desktop, and it still looks yellow. And also, it says the version is 0.2, not 0.3. Please, fix it. Thanks.
Good work, but there are a few rough edges. For instance, you might want to adjust the path of the icon, which is now hard-coded to your home folder.
Didn't even notice that newbie mistake. Terribly sorry about that. I fixed it (v0.2), it now uses: PyKDE4.kdecore.KGlobal.dirs().localkdedir() + "share/apps/plasma/plasmoids/Bumblebee_Status/contents/" to set the path for the icons. This should fix the problem for everybody as this works for .kde and .kde4 naming conventions so I can't see this not working now.