Arch on Asus EEE 901

Blind · 2009-02-27 00:11:01

Ah, ok. So they request i2c_dev to be present, which it is in the AUR kernel.
So I don't know why FSB wouldn't work...

Edit:
seems they need python-smbus?

Last edited by Blind (2009-02-27 00:12:49)

Heresyte · 2009-03-02 00:45:53

How do you suspend to RAM on the 901? Searching has only shown me posts of people saying that it works fine, but nothing I've tried has worked. Thanks.

Blind · 2009-03-02 02:48:18

What kernel are you running? It should be as siimple as
"pm-suspend"
as root.

Heresyte · 2009-03-02 03:07:05

I'm using the zeneee-901 kernel.

I didn't see that command before, but I tried it now and the screen goes blank but doesn't turn back on when I press the power button.

bleichmittel · 2009-03-02 08:43:36

Hi!

After using Arch for quite some time now on my desktop pc, I bought me an Asus Eee PC 901. Sadly they only sold the Windows XP version here (or 901Go.. which was more expensive). So I installed Arch on it. More or less, everything works now. I put KDE4, Opera (with qt4 shared) and openoffice on it. Speed is good. The documentation was helpful, but also a little bit confusing. Many ways lead to ArchEee it seems to me :-)

I 'm currently using Blinds kernel26-eee901 from AUR. I also installed acpid-ted1 and acpi-eeepc-generic.
My hooks in mkinitcpio.conf are: HOOKS="base udev pata filesystems"
rc.conf is like this:
MOD_AUTOLOAD="no"
MODULES=(btusb uvcvideo v4l1-compat videodev !eeepc-laptop rt2860sta atl1e bluetooth !snd-pcsp)
DAEMONS=(hal @fam @net-profiles @cups)

Is this the "best" way to configure Arch for the eee pc 901? Am I missing any very important packages/daemons/modules etc..

Robertek had an acpi-package. But after all I heard his rep isn't maintained that well anymore. So using Blinds Kernel and big_gies packages is atm the "best" way to do it? (if yes, we should probably rework the wiki-entry) EDIT: after I found some more topics to read, I noticed that many people use eee-control (no alternative for me, because of its gnome dependencies). And there are blinds eee901-buttons.. So.. as so often: there 's probably no "best way".

Are you using the eeepc-laptop module? Because when I load it, loading modules always take some seconds longer than without it. Is that normal? A bug in the module? Is it needed?

Is acpid-ted1 working stable at the moment? Because to me it seems, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't (and there is this comment in the aur about crashing..).

Oh.. and I have a question on swap also. In the asus eee pc article it says, that it isn't recommended (but this is probably for the older eees?). I made a swap-partition on the second partition (probably not the smartest idea, since I read, that it is the slower one?). So is this ok? Are there any risks? Does it make sense to have a swap partition (i. e. for hibernate)? And does it make sense to have the swap on the second ssd?

Many questions, I know.. You can see that I'm a little confused. Hopefully you can help me with these "basic" questions.. Perhaps I'll then bother you with some specific problems in the future :-)

Last edited by bleichmittel (2009-03-02 10:01:10)

tyranny12 · 2009-03-02 14:40:23

I've been tinkering with my eee and Arch for a bit. I just reinstalled last night to clear up some borked configs. Wanted to throw in my two cents/issues:

DBus seems to be a problem for a few, post-upgrade. On a fresh install, full upgrade, under stock kernel and under Blind's kernel, eee-control-tray can't talk to it's daemon. Investigation found that I needed to modify the dbus config for eee-control to allow connections.

However, eee-control still can't touch/change performance. Running the daemon from the shell shows that it's connected to acpi. I tried it with acpid normal and the acpid-ted1 version (hopefully I don't now have unstable acpi 9: ) I'm tempted to try acpi-generic if I can't get it to work since the top buttons don't seem to work with eee-control, but what I really want is the performance control options.

Are there any other dbus tweaks that people have found after those upgrades?

---

I also have wicd (and nm issues) that I'm still trying to track down... neither nm or wicd like associating with managed wireless networks or WPA2...

Blind · 2009-03-02 15:46:33

@Heresyte:
Does the power blink? You should just need to hit a key (shift is a good one) to wake the thing up again.
@bleichmittel:
1. Your rc.conf sounds good to me, as well as the packages.
2. To control the buttons (if you don't have time to play), probably acpi-generic with acpi-ted1; or eee-control if you are using gnome anyways. The point is: it doesn't get any more lightweight than the former solution, unless you want to get your hands dirty with buttons-eee901. I DO have an improved (actually nicely working) version of that, but it needs the new HAL (0.5.12), and I have refrained from forcing people to upgrade to a not finished HAL version. It's all about choice, and you have to figure out yourself, what works best for you, and what you are most comfortable with...
NB: If you read through the comments in the AUR kernel package, it is described how to enable the (deprecated) /proc/acpi/event system in the kernel. Then you don't need acpid-ted1, but only acpid - that way acpi-generic should always work for you.
3. I don't have a swap partition and the eee works well. I usually only suspend to RAM which works just fine - I don't need hibernation. A swap partition might increase wear on the SSD (even though it might seldom be used...)
@tyranny12
1. The new configs might be necessary due to PolicyKit or something.
2. I think the eee-control guy is missing a dependency in his package:
python-smbus.
Try installing it, and then see if it works. Please report back to the eee-control guy if it starts to work.

Cheers.

Blind · 2009-03-02 15:48:29

@bleichmittel:
I just saw that you commented out the eeepc-laptop modul - why?

tyranny12 · 2009-03-02 17:29:09

@Blind

I've read that, but finding python-smbus seems to be a challenge in Arch. Am I missing something painfully obvious?

bleichmittel · 2009-03-02 19:58:10

Blind wrote:

@bleichmittel:
I just saw that you commented out the eeepc-laptop modul - why?

Because I was playing around. That was why I asked if this module is necessary. I 'm loading it now, because it is necessary. But loading this module slows down the boot-process significantly. It takes approximately more than 10 seconds to load the modules. Which is strange, because, when I load this module with "modprobe eeepc-latop" it is loaded much quicker.

And thanks for your response to my other questions.

big_gie · 2009-03-02 20:14:24

I would suspect the module "pciehp" as being the slow one (thats why a simple modprobe eeepc-laptop is fast: pciehp is already loaded...)
I can't find the page right now about it, but I remember reading that it was the culprit. Try playing around with its options. In /etc/modprobe.conf, try:
#options pciehp pciehp_force=1 pciehp_slot_with_bus=1
options pciehp pciehp_force=1
and look up google for its link with the eeepc

Heresyte · 2009-03-02 22:04:35

Blind wrote:

@Heresyte:
Does the power blink? You should just need to hit a key (shift is a good one) to wake the thing up again.

No, the power button doesn't blink. It looks like pm-suspend is only making the screen turn off. Which kernel should I be using?

Blind · 2009-03-03 02:59:49

@Heresyte: Try the package kernel-eee901 in AUR. This should take care of all drivers that you need, and suspend works (at least for me...).
@tyranny12: I don't know, as I am no using it. Maybe you could create a PKGBUILD?
@bleichmittel: mmmh...dunno, maybe we should compile it in the kernel? Motion to do so?

Heresyte · 2009-03-03 06:06:44

Blind wrote:

@Heresyte: Try the package kernel-eee901 in AUR. This should take care of all drivers that you need, and suspend works (at least for me...).

Awesome, it worked, thanks!

So apparently Robertek's kernel really shouldn't be used anymore, or at least not by default by people who aren't sure what they're doing. Should the wiki be updated to address this?

Etuxia · 2009-03-03 11:13:23

chori wrote:

Etuxia wrote:
I got a new battery for my EeePC from Asus, they took my computer installed windows and run tests and gave it back to we with windows.
Now Im dreaming for a monster batery: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.17081
Ok, I've been quiet recently (no issues with my eee901, but still running the old zeneee kernel).
I bought one of those 12000 batteries for my 901 shortly before Christmas... I was stuck on a plane in late December for 10 hours , and the battery drained down to 23% as I watched movie after movie. Needless to say, I'm very pleased.

Nice!

Is everything I have to say

lejonet · 2009-03-04 02:09:48

Anyone else than me that changed the wireless card to a atheros n-band card? And is using ath9k?
I'd like to see if I can confirm this as a bug in the driver or something, whenever I try to associate with a AP, I get direct probe timed out, the times I actually manage to get a association, the whole systems freezes, as in a hard freeze, when I issue

sudo dhclient wlan0

So if I even manage to get a association, I cant get a IP because the whole system freezes. The networks ive tried it with is a WPA2, Hidden essid 802.11n enabled and another one from the same router but that is broadcasted essid and unsecure. I have mac adress filtration enabled and I have put the mac adress of my eeepc in the allowed list.
After reading around on the internet it seems like its a driver issue, but ive tried with the kernel drivers from 2.6.29-rc6 and the latest snapshot of compat wireless 20090303.
Its the same with both.
Tomorrow I am going to try to set the router into mixed b/g mode and see if that fixes it, like for some i've read that its just the n-band that is causing troubles of system lockups.

Edit:
I had the same problem with my other computer, that has a Intel 4965 AGN, and it was constantly getting direct probe timed out, but then I enabled power management on the card and all of a sudden it can connect... I am confused bout that, gonna see if it works with my eeepc too, I hope so

Last edited by lejonet (2009-03-04 11:13:38)

Pierluigi · 2009-03-04 17:00:51

big_gie wrote:

I would suspect the module "pciehp" as being the slow one (thats why a simple modprobe eeepc-laptop is fast: pciehp is already loaded...)

i have a custom kernel (zen) with pciehp built in and eeepc_laptop built as module.

the boot is fast, however when it loads the module eeepc_laptop it tooks about 15 seconds (udev uvents reports 16 secs.)

bleichmittel · 2009-03-04 18:33:07

big_gie wrote:

In /etc/modprobe.conf, try:
#options pciehp pciehp_force=1 pciehp_slot_with_bus=1
options pciehp pciehp_force=1

@big_gie: These options didn't help. I think that there isn't a pciehp module in Blinds Kernel. (I also didn't find pciehp in his Kernel-CONFIG). Perhaps I 'll try to compile eeepc-laptop into the kernel tomorrow.

@Pierluigi: Seems to be the same problem like mine.

Last edited by bleichmittel (2009-03-04 18:33:55)

Pierluigi · 2009-03-04 20:41:49

bleichmittel wrote:

@Pierluigi: Seems to be the same problem like mine.

yeah, i hope it will get fixed soon in the kernel. it's quite annoying (it takes twice of the time to boot...)

hermansen · 2009-03-06 17:46:54

HI
I use Blind kernel, and acpid-ted1 and acpi-eeepc-generic. I use xfce 4.6 and i cant get xfce4-battery-plugin to work. Its say only 50 %%. I test xfce4-battery-plugin on my other laptop/xfce4.6, and it works perfect.

My laptops have /proc/acpi/battery on my eee i dont have this.

Have someone a solution on this?

Blind · 2009-03-06 18:13:14

Cannot check right now, but the /proc/acpi system is deprecated, and is not compiled in my AUR kernel.
Can you point that plugin to the appropriate /sys/class/ file?

hermansen · 2009-03-06 18:41:36

I cant see any options to change /proc/acpi to /sys/class.

Maybe someone have other plugin/application i can use? I will have a popup when low battery, when critical some script or commands to shut down my eee

Maybe i found a solution, change from xfce to lxde

Last edited by hermansen (2009-03-07 09:01:40)

Lazer · 2009-03-08 20:25:07

Hi all!
I have just installed Blind's kernel (previously I was on zeneee) in order to give the new intel graphic stack a try. Right now I'm still trying to figure out a couple of issues:
1) My touchpad does not work correctly. I use it via evdev (I have some file in /etc/hal/fdi/policy as the wiki says), but with the new kernel it is very "skippy", like if for every pixel it should cover instead it jumps 5 or 6, and after a suspension it does not work at all. A bluetooth mouse I'm using works perfectly.
2) I have some errors during startup, even if things work. My bluetooth module says "Failed to find Bluetooth netlink family" and my wireless one says "calling CRDA failed - unable to update world regulatory domain, using static definition", but both my bluetooth adapter and my wireless seem to work. Is anyone getting the same errors?

EDIT: ok, I'm not so smart these days... the problem with numer 1 was that somehow the touchpad is recognized as a mouse, so I had to change input.touchpad into input.mouse in the evdev rule. Maybe it's worth mentioning it in the wiki.

Last edited by Lazer (2009-03-08 21:03:56)

hermansen · 2009-03-08 21:57:49

I modify blinds kernelconfig, and xfce-battery-plugin work perfect
And i have tweak the bootingtime, my eee boots on 12 sec

And Lazer, the touchpad work perfect if you make /etc/hal/fdi/policy/shmconfig.fdi, and add:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<deviceinfo version="0.2">
<device>
  <match key="info.product" string="ETPS/2 Elantech Touchpad">
   <merge key="input.x11_options.SHMConfig" type="string">True</merge>
   <merge key="input.x11_driver" type="string">synaptics</merge>
  </match>
</device>
<device>
  <match key="info.linux.driver" string="psmouse">
   <merge key="input.x11_options.SHMConfig" type="string">True</merge>
  </match>
</device>
</deviceinfo>

Lazer · 2009-03-09 01:28:20

Thanks, your config works too. Still having the other 2 error messages...
By the way, I installed the testing xorg stack. Performance with EXA is better (glxgears shows ~600fps, before it was ~400). Unfortunately X crashes if I try tu use UXA (and DRI2 as well). The PC contiunes to work, but the image gets stuck. Anyone else tried the testing packages?

Arch Linux

#1026 2009-02-27 00:11:01

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1027 2009-03-02 00:45:53

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1028 2009-03-02 02:48:18

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1029 2009-03-02 03:07:05

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1030 2009-03-02 08:43:36

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1031 2009-03-02 14:40:23

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1032 2009-03-02 15:46:33

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1033 2009-03-02 15:48:29

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1034 2009-03-02 17:29:09

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1035 2009-03-02 19:58:10

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1036 2009-03-02 20:14:24

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1037 2009-03-02 22:04:35

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1038 2009-03-03 02:59:49

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1039 2009-03-03 06:06:44

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1040 2009-03-03 11:13:23

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1041 2009-03-04 02:09:48

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1042 2009-03-04 17:00:51

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1043 2009-03-04 18:33:07

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1044 2009-03-04 20:41:49

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1045 2009-03-06 17:46:54

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1046 2009-03-06 18:13:14

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1047 2009-03-06 18:41:36

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1048 2009-03-08 20:25:07

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1049 2009-03-08 21:57:49

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1050 2009-03-09 01:28:20

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

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