As an update to this post, I confirm that using vgaswitcheroo to shutdown the discrete AMD/ATI card on the new Sony Vaio S, works perfectly also in 12.04 (Precise Pangolin).
Quick reference:
Edit the file /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf (replace “gedit” with your favorite editor):
sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
Add the following lines at the end of the file:
# radeon
blacklist radeon
Edit the file /etc/rc.local (replace “gedit” with your favorite editor):
sudo gedit /etc/rc.local
Add the following lines just before exit 0:
modprobe radeon
chown -R $USER:$USER /sys/kernel/debug
echo OFF > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch
After a restart, use this command to verify that the AMD/ATI discrete graphic card has been shutdown:
sudo less /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch
Your output should be similar to this:
0:IGD:+:Pwr:0000:00:02.0
1:DIS: :Off:0000:01:00.0
Where the + sign indicates that the Integrated card (Intel) is currently in use and the Off keyword in the 1:DIS: entry indicates that the discrete AMD/ATI card is powered off.
The benefits I’ve noticed when using this setup are:
This seems to be the most popular option when talking about screencasting software for Ubuntu.
It can easily record video + audio from your microphone and it is very easy to use it.
My problem is that the recorded video will not be synchronized with my actions, resulting in glitches, delay and low frame rate.
This is exactly what I am talking about:
However, many people are happy with this software (I’ve seen many HD videos properly recorded with recordmydesktop on YouTube), further, it is one of the simplest solution to test, just type:
sudo apt-get install gtk-recordmydesktop
or use the software center.
If it works with your configuration, good for you.
This application works really well for video recording, however I wasn’t able to record audio from the microphone. Anyway, I have to admit that didn’t spend much time trying to fix the audio configuration.
The settings dialog is rich of options and the application is highly customizable.
Like recordmydesktop, you can find it in the repositories, so you can install it with
This application is not present by default in Ubuntu repositories, but you can find instructions on its home page on how to add the PPA to install it.
Alternatively you can download the last source archive, extract it and build the application with the setup.py script:
python setup.py build
The application is very simple to use but I had major issues when recording videos.
After a few seconds, the video stopped recording what was being displayed on the desktop and started collecting a big delay.
It must be remarked that recording audio from the microphone or from the system out is very easy, but the video problem prevented me from using this application.
FFMPEG
There are many tutorials on how to use ffmpeg for recording the desktop. It is also possible to easily record audio from the microphone.
This is the winner for tonight contest on desktop recording applications.
It records video flawlessly: no glitches, no frame losses, perfectly synchronized
When you stop the recording, your video is instantaneously available (with recordmydesktop you have to wait for a long encoding process)
It is very easy to record audio with video
The interface is modern and the look and feel is great, a special mention goes to the countdown window preceding the recording of a new screencast
Kazam is not present in Ubuntu repositories, but you can easily install it using the .deb archive that is provided on the launchpad page.
Conclusions
Kazam really had all the features of a modern desktop recording application for a modern OS. I was quite surprised for not having found it in the official repositories.
If I have omitted some other relevant desktop recording applications, just let me know about it.
thealarmclocksixam 