[SOLVED] Mint13 - Nvidia GeForce GT540M optimus (64 bit)

Nvidia graphic cards with Optimus technology (such as GeForce GT540M) may take to errors in case of installation through the official Nvidia .run file or apt-get install nvidia-current, and result in a horrible VGA screen resolution (in the best cases).

At write time there wasn't a single working solution, but many different forum discussions each solving a subpart of the problem. Now that I managed to solve it, I report here all and only the necessary steps to finally use your Nvidia graphic card on your Ubuntu/Mint OS.

Note: tested on Mint13 64bit.

Important: follow all the steps in order, inserting password when prompted, always confirming

REMOVE PREVIOUS NVIDIA INSTALLATION ATTEMPTS:

• open a Terminal (CTRL+ALT+T)
• type sudo apt-get purge nvidia- and press 2times TAB fast; with the arrow up key reselect the command and complete it with each of the found options
• type sudo rm /etc/X11/xorg.* then enter
• type sudo reboot then enter. The system will REBOOT! (close open programs/files before)

INSTALL BUMBLEBEE

• open a Terminal (CTRL+ALT+T)
• type sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bumblebee/stable then enter
• type sudo apt-get update then enter
• type sudo apt-get install bumblebee bumblebee-nvidia linux-headers-generic then enter
• type sudo apt-get install virtualgl-libs:i386 then enter
• type sudo usermod -a -G bumblebee $USER then enter
• type sudo update-initramfs -u then enter
• type sudo gedit /etc/init/bumblebeed.override then enter
  write:
      start on    (runlevel [2345])
      stop on     (runlevel [016])
  save and close;
• type sudo reboot then enter. The system will REBOOT! (close open programs/files before)

TEST IT

• open a Terminal (CTRL+ALT+T)
• type optirun glxspheres then enter

Please let me know if it was successful for you. If some step gives you problem and you go on skipping it please let me know too! You don't need to register in order to comment!

Note: this guide solves also the following problems:

• You do not appear to be using the NVIDIA X driver. Please edit your X configuration file (just run `nvidia-xconfig` as root), and restart the X server.
• Could not apply the stored configuration for monitors
• The Bumblebee daemon has not been started yet or the socket path /var/run/bumblebee.socket was incorrect

Program to merge, split, rotate and select pages from multiple PDF documents

Are you using Ubuntu, Linux Mint or other similar distributions? Do you need a program to work on PDF pages? Here is the best one that you could use: PDFchain.

To install it just open a Terminal (CTRL + ALT + T), type
sudo apt-get install pdfchain
and insert your password to enable root privilege.

When the program is installed just search for "pdfchain" in the menu: you will then be able to import one or more PDF files, select pages from them, copy them, rotate them, give them an order, even encrypt the output. Then you can merge everything in a single output PDF document.

It's really fantastic! Have a try and enjoy it!

Windows: How to "install" a new downloaded FONT

Did you download a new font and now you want to use it?
That's very easy: the only things you have to do are:

• open your download folder (or after download in many browsers you find the option "view in folder" near the new font file)
• right-click on the file -> copy (or cut if you don't need it in your download folder)
• go to Computer, open the disk labelled with "(C)"
• go to Windows, then Fonts
• right-click in a white space of the folder and select paste

You should now view your new font in your text editor (Word or Writer).

If that doesn't work write a comment and I'll help you further.