Linux and Nvidia Optimus

Ever since I got my Asus N53SN, I have been unable to boot linux for any length of time due to the lack of functioning Optimus support.  Optimus being Nvidia's dual video card switching technology which allows you to use the lower-end Intel graphics card when the higher-end Nvidia card is not needed with the goal of saving valuable battery life on a notebook computer.

Because of this, I have been booting Windows 7, and when required, using a virtual machine to work in Linux.  I even purchased a Asus X101H netbook, which I use to serve my linux needs by booting Ubuntu 12.04.

But with recent updates to Bumblebee, a program written to handle Optimus in linux, this functionality is no longer out of reach to linux users, and we are no longer forced to choose between Windows or 5 second battery life.

First, I installed Linux Mint on my Asus N53SN.  Linux Mint is absolutely gorgeous with the new Cinnamon interface (which replaces Gnome Shell, Unity, etc..)

Mint and Cinnamon

After that, I went ahead and did the following in the terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bumblebee/stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install bumblebee bumblebee-nvidia
sudo usermod -a -G bumblebee $USER 

After that, all you gotta do is reboot or re-login and you're done.  A very great and heartfelt thanks to the Bumblebee team!