Arch on Asus EEE 901

Ashren · 2009-04-08 06:16:12

Zodmaner: I have a separate boot partition and partition for /. That is why my menu.lst entry looks different than yours. The SD card that is inserted is the 16 gb card that came with the computer. I use it for home.

Last edited by Ashren (2009-04-08 06:16:31)

venger · 2009-04-08 10:03:34

@zodmaner, thanks for the info.. so how do you put your eeepc into powersaving mode? with the robertek's zeneee kernel.. i was using low fsb values to get 4.5+ hours of battery life (actual, not forecasted figure) with wifi on.
Appreciate if you can share your method for configuring the 901 for powersaving using your new kernel?

zodmaner · 2009-04-08 11:13:07

@Ashren: Yeah... sorry about that. I just realized that after I wake up this morning. Giving advise at 4 am is not a good idea it seems.

Well, at least we now know that the Elantech module is not the culprit here. I still don't know what causes this problem, though.

Is there anyone else who use my kernels and have this problem? If there are people who aren't affected by these problem, please share your system configuration (/etc/fstab, menu.lst, etc.).

Also, for Ashren and everyone else who are having the problem, did the problem also happen when using the older 2.6.29 kernel?

@Lomig, do you also use SD card for home or any other directory?

@Ashren & Lomig: Do you guys have the same problem with Blind's kernel26-ee901 (I guess not, but just want to make sure)?

Also, have you guys tried compiling my kernels from the PKGBUILDs? If not, could you try to do that please? Using the kernel-eeepc-901-kms-2.6.29.1-1 PKGBUILD should be fine.

And thank you for helping me debugging this problem guys, I still can't seems to find a way to reproduces the problem on my 901 (yet), so it really hard to find out what is wrong here...

@venger: Well... I've done nothing special, really. To save battery power on my 901, I turn off all the devices that I didn't use: Bluetooth, Webcam, lower my LCD brightness to the lowest level possible, etc.

With all of these minor configurations, my 901 can also last around 4-5 hours with wifi on, more if wifi is turned off without the need to underclock the FSB.

I used to fall asleep once while leaving my 901 on and wake up to see that the machine is still running with around 6-7 hours uptime and around 10% of battery left (granted that the screen is turned off most of the time, but that is still impressive).

Say, have you run into the same problem that Ashren and other have, venger?

Last edited by zodmaner (2009-04-08 12:03:39)

heinzelotto · 2009-04-08 16:02:12

I am using your Kernel, too (not the newest version, though, because i compiled the PKGBUILD with several changes and have not had the time to build the new one yet). Boot stops for a while at input driver load as well (it shows the elantech device string, if i plug in a USB-mouse it shows that too before it continues), I have no SD-Card, though, so this probably isn't the reason.

Pierluigi · 2009-04-08 16:15:19

i think it's the eeepc_laptop module. with my custom kernel eeepc_laptop tooks 14-15 seconds to initialize.

zodmaner · 2009-04-08 16:48:58

Thanks for the feedback guys. So it seems that the issue also affects people who use other kernel too, then.

If people who use other kernel was also affected, then I'm not sure that I can solve this problem since it seems to be something wrong with the kernel or modules itself. Sorry guys.

Anyway, that doesn't means we can't try to pinpoint the problem. I'll compile and upload another kernel which doesn't include eeepc_module. If you guys aren't tired of experimenting yet, try to use it and see if the problem still persist.

On the other note, what is your guys boot time with 901? Mine is 16s on kernel-eeepc-901 kernel and 18s on kernel-eeepc-901-kms kernel.

Last edited by zodmaner (2009-04-08 16:51:11)

tuxfusion · 2009-04-08 17:35:56

zodmaner, i already tried that :
# CONFIG_ACPI_ASUS is not set
# CONFIG_EEEPC_LAPTOP is not set

with git-zen builds.
I'm 90 % it had the same delay and it was actually faster "with" an SD card in slot . I assume it is same ACPi stuff or USB autodetect , very hard to pinpoint down but i'll try workin' on it too. Interestingly ARCH build does not have this delay . I did a "diff myconf archconf" but too many differences to find it....

And please guys how in the world should xorg.conf come in the way when the kernel hasn't even finished loading nor the filesystems are mounted by arch ^_^

zodmaner, does CPUFREQ work with you kernel ? it didn't on my 901 can you please check , just for other people not to ruin their batteries

@boot time
I was about to implement finit-arc in my eee , however , with that delay , well maybe i'll still try today , this is the way to go i guess .

@powersaving - FSB
IMHO it is a super bad idea not to use the fsb underclock kernel module , wich was standard in roberteks zen build .
I custom build it , it runs and is accesible , however it has some bug with SMBUS , still have to make it work with latest kernel code i guess. It looks like it can't communicate on the SMBus
http://code.google.com/p/eeepc-linux/ maybe someone else can make it compile/run/"work" on eee with latest kernel ?

For all you custom kernel builders out there with ssd inside , consider setting noop as default scheduler :
http://blogs.zdnet.com/perlow/?p=9190

keep hacking

zodmaner · 2009-04-08 18:18:29

tuxfusion wrote:

zodmaner, i already tried that :
# CONFIG_ACPI_ASUS is not set
# CONFIG_EEEPC_LAPTOP is not set
with git-zen builds.
I'm 90 % it had the same delay and it was actually faster "with" an SD card in slot . I assume it is same ACPi stuff or USB autodetect , very hard to pinpoint down but i'll try workin' on it too. Interestingly ARCH build does not have this delay . I did a "diff myconf archconf" but too many differences to find it....

Thanks for investigating this tuxfusion! So it's not eeepc_laptop faults too... I'll diff ARCH built and mine to see what is the different between the two. We might learn something.

tuxfusion wrote:

And please guys how in the world should xorg.conf come in the way when the kernel hasn't even finished loading nor the filesystems are mounted by arch ^_^

Hehe, yeah. Well, that just goes to show how clueless I'm about this problem (since I don't experienced it myself). So I'm trying everything and hope that we will run into one that causes this.

tuxfusion wrote:

zodmaner, does CPUFREQ work with you kernel ? it didn't on my 901 can you please check , just for other people not to ruin their batteries

The omission of cpufreq and p4-clockmod modules in both of my kernels is intentional, as I've explained in this post. Cpufreq and p4-clockmod provides no power saving benefits and instead causes the 901 to run hotter than it should.

Using powertop as a measurement tool, I've found that my kernel without cpufreq module is using just about the same amount of power as the kernel that have cpufreq module while emitting less heat. That is why I decided to leave cpufreq and p4-clockmod modules out of my kernel.

tuxfusion wrote:

@boot time
I was about to implement finit-arc in my eee , however , with that delay , well maybe i'll still try today , this is the way to go i guess .

I've tried finit-arc using method 1 and it works fine on my 901. Yes it fast, very fast. I didn't use a proper stopwatch, but I think mine boot to X in about 5 seconds (normally, my 901 takes about 16s to boot to X).

A word of warning about using finit-arc with method 1 though. I don't think it do the daemon unloading and it also didn't honor rc.local and rc.local.shutdown. I haven't tried using finit-arc with method 2 yet, so I don't know if it also have these problems.

tuxfusion wrote:

@powersaving - FSB
IMHO it is a super bad idea not to use the fsb underclock kernel module , wich was standard in roberteks zen build .
I custom build it , it runs and is accesible , however it has some bug with SMBUS , still have to make it work with latest kernel code i guess. It looks like it can't communicate on the SMBus
http://code.google.com/p/eeepc-linux/ maybe someone else can make it compile/run/"work" on eee with latest kernel ?

I've tried to built the FSB module in the past, and failed miserably. If someone can find a way to make it works with the latest kernel, I'd be happy to include it.

tuxfusion wrote:

For all you custom kernel builders out there with ssd inside , consider setting noop as default scheduler :
http://blogs.zdnet.com/perlow/?p=9190

Oooh! Looks nice! Thanks for sharing this. Will play with this scheduler and see how it goes.

tuxfusion wrote:

keep hacking

You too.

Last edited by zodmaner (2009-04-08 22:24:09)

tuxfusion · 2009-04-08 22:03:48

yo zodmaner, nice input i have to check your input on cpufreq.
pfff , i fixed the delay fore me :
CONFIG_EEEPC_LAPTOP=m
meaning using it as a module and let it alone at boot time ( who cares about fn-keys or waht ever it does @ during boot ^_^ )
this was before http://rafb.net/p/0QFdbR81.html see jump from 1 to 12
as a module -> http://rafb.net/p/MXYo8n18.html
the delay comes now at UDEV ( 12 secs ) which i have to disable in rc.conf hope it kills it forever ...

@FSB module
i did compile it , it's easy the fix is in the wiki on that site , it just won't comunicate with the kernel, i'll try on mailing list
with some experts maybe ( linus has an eee ^_^ )

for the boot times attach that bootchart thingy maybe to your kernel menu.lst , however it never worked for me with default arch kernel : (

Cheers

Pierluigi · 2009-04-08 22:11:54

tuxfusion wrote:

yo zodmaner, nice input i have to check your input on cpufreq.
pfff , i fixed the delay fore me :
CONFIG_EEEPC_LAPTOP=m
meaning using it as a module and let it alone at boot time ( who cares about fn-keys or waht ever it does @ during boot ^_^ )

yes the same for me. i have blacklisted eeepc_laptop in rc.conf and i'm loading it in background from rc.local

tuxfusion · 2009-04-08 22:17:27

Oh that's how i can background the loading of modules , okay then ...
I just stepped over this one where it says BIOS update maybe the reason
y FSB hacking won't work anymore.
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=38030&p=20
I'll test it with older BIOS over Easter weekend

zodmaner · 2009-04-08 22:29:05

Ah, so the eeepc_laptop really is the culprit, then?

Well then, I'll roll out the new revision of the kernel packages that built eeepc_laptop as a module. Hopefully this will fix the problem once and for all.

Thanks for helping me find a fix to this problem, everyone.

Last edited by zodmaner (2009-04-08 22:56:55)

venger · 2009-04-09 04:59:11

@zodmaner, ya - i saw the same delay at boot up. Been doing a re-install so its taken a bit of time to get running again with my 901.
Got tripped up by the new hal/xorg set up for touchpad, etc. But at least i've got a working xterm now

Will definitely give your new kernel a go once you've made it available.

venger · 2009-04-09 11:20:04

@all, i'm having trouble figuring out fdi settings for the touchpad... i am using the 10-keymap.fdi and 9-x11-elantech.fdi from the 901 archwiki (in the section "A Complete Working Set HAL/Xorg files"). Also using the xorg.conf in that section.

Movement is fine, two finger vertical scrolling works... BUT can't tap-to-click at all?

Appreciate if those of you on the latest hal/xorg can share your fdi policies and xorg.conf here.
Especially if you have been able to enable 1-,2- and 3-finger tap-to-click.

tia!

zodmaner · 2009-04-09 12:22:26

venger wrote:

@all, i'm having trouble figuring out fdi settings for the touchpad... i am using the 10-keymap.fdi and 9-x11-elantech.fdi from the 901 archwiki (in the section "A Complete Working Set HAL/Xorg files"). Also using the xorg.conf in that section.
Movement is fine, two finger vertical scrolling works... BUT can't tap-to-click at all?
Appreciate if those of you on the latest hal/xorg can share your fdi policies and xorg.conf here.
Especially if you have been able to enable 1-,2- and 3-finger tap-to-click.
tia!

Have you install xf86-input-synaptics package?

venger · 2009-04-09 14:22:50

yes - xf86-intel-synaptics installed.

lejonet · 2009-04-09 15:23:12

Well, I have been using this kernel (custom built) that I originally built as a modification of roberteks kernel, but now I got it compiled with the .29-rc6 source and without zen.
I also installed finit-arc and everything goes lightning fast xD
My current xorg.conf is:

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier    "Archlinux"
    Screen        "Screen0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier    "Device0"
    Driver        "intel"
    Option        "XAANoOffScreenPixmaps"    "true"
    Option        "Accelethod"        "XAA"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier    "Screen0"
    Device        "Device0"
EndSection

and here is my touchpad .fdi file(1,2 and 3 finger tap work like a charm, and so does 2 finger scrolling, even sidescrolling works):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<deviceinfo version="0.2">
  <device>
    <match key="info.capabilities" contains="input.mouse">
      <match key="info.product" contains="Elantech Touchpad">
    <merge key="input.x11_driver" type="string">synaptics</merge>
    <merge key="input.x11_options.SHMConfig" type="string">true</merge>
    <merge key="input.x11_options.MaxSpeed" type="string">1.08</merge>
    <merge key="input.x11_options.Emulate3Buttons" type="string">on</merge>
    <merge key="input.x11_options.VertTwoFingerScroll" type="string">1</merge>
    <merge key="input.x11_options.HorizTwoFingerScroll" type="string">1</merge>
    <merge key="input.x11_options.TapButton1" type="string">1</merge>
    <merge key="input.x11_options.TapButton2" type="string">2</merge>
    <merge key="input.x11_options.TapButton3" type="string">3</merge>
    <merge key="input.x11_options.LockedDrags" type="string">0</merge>

    <merge key="input.x11_options.AccelFactor" type="string">0.0460</merge>
    <merge key="input.x11_options.VertScrollDelta" type="string">85</merge>
    <merge key="input.x11_options.HorizScrollDelta" type="string">85</merge>
      </match>
    </match>
  </device>
</deviceinfo>

See if those 2 configs work for you, I think they are exact copies of the wiki's entry tho, cant really remember seeing as I got it working loong time ago, when I was still using robertek's kernel.

Edit:
I think I am going to install zodmaner's kernel and see if I get any issues with it, I have had loads of problems with my eeepc (if you bother to read through the thread you can see what I had problems with ) but one of the most annoying off em is that I cannot change the fsb without crashing my machine, except the method that xandros uses to scale it.
I got the problem with eee-control that it works perfectly except the fsb changing mechanism, it gives me a error when I start it from terminal that goes something like "Cannot access fsb settings, is gnome-power-manager running?" but I am running xfce4 and I dont have gnome nor any gnome programs.

Last edited by lejonet (2009-04-09 15:30:03)

venger · 2009-04-09 16:06:15

@lejonet, thanks for sharing your configs ... sadly help..
yes, it is very similar to the one in archwiki.. difference is info.capabilities containts input.touchpad instead of input.mouse in your fdi file.

Also, i noticed that my mouse movement is very uneven and jerky. Had to add a shmconfig.fdi file to smooth it out . I got this from a recent previous thread (somewhere between page 41-45).

I am using zodmaner's kernel at the moment.
Yeah, my touchpad settings work very well under zeneee and the older xorg (ie when all the config was stored in xorg.conf, not in the hal/fdi files.) I might try switching to the older robertek kernel and see if i can get the tap-to-click to work on the touchpad...

zodmaner · 2009-04-09 16:20:43

venger wrote:

@lejonet, thanks for sharing your configs ... sadly help..
yes, it is very similar to the one in archwiki.. difference is info.capabilities containts input.touchpad instead of input.mouse in your fdi file.
Also, i noticed that my mouse movement is very uneven and jerky. Had to add a shmconfig.fdi file to smooth it out . I got this from a recent previous thread (somewhere between page 41-45).
I am using zodmaner's kernel at the moment.
Yeah, my touchpad settings work very well under zeneee and the older xorg (ie when all the config was stored in xorg.conf, not in the hal/fdi files.) I might try switching to the older robertek kernel and see if i can get the tap-to-click to work on the touchpad...

What version of xf86-input-synaptics are you using, venger?

Also, you could try to disable the hotpluging and switch back to good old xorg.conf by putting this line into ServerFlags section of your xorg.conf file:

Section "ServerFlags"
    ...
    Option    "AutoAddDevices" "false"
    ...
EndSection

And add the following lines into the xorg.conf:

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier  "synaptics"
    Driver      "synaptics"
    Option      "Device"           "/dev/psaux"
    Option      "Protocol"         "auto-dev"
    Option      "LeftEdge"         "60"
    Option      "RightEdge"        "1070"
    Option      "TopEdge"          "90"
    Option      "BottomEdge"       "680"
    Option      "PalmDetect"       "0"
    Option      "SHMConfig"        "true"
    Option      "SendCoreEvents"   "yes"
    Option      "HorizScrollDelta" "0"
    Option      "RBCornerButton"   "0"
    Option      "RTCornerButton"   "0"
    Option      "TapButton2"          "0"
    Option      "MinSpeed"         "0.6"
    Option      "MaxSpeed"         "1.2"
    Option      "VertTwoFingerScroll" "1"
    Option      "VertEdgeScroll"      "0"
    Option      "HorizEdgeScroll"     "0"
    Option      "TapButton1"          "1"
    Option      "AccelFactor"         "0.06"

EndSection

Last edited by zodmaner (2009-04-09 16:23:08)

zodmaner · 2009-04-09 16:43:41

The new version of kernel-eeepc-901 and kernel-eeepc-901-kms packages have been released.

* kernel-eeepc-901-2.6.29.1-4-i686.pkg.tar.gz
md5sum: d1446e95d355988c41ccf8280f288972
* kernel-eeepc-901-kms-2.6.29.1-4-i686.pkg.tar.gz
md5sum: 27ea91a2aa99d8121ee93b9331a195f7

You can clone PKGBUILD of each packages from my GitHub repository here.

For this version, the eeepc_laptop driver have been compiled as a module. Hopefully this will finally fix the "hang during boot" problem once and for all.

The jump from revision 1 to 4 is to avoid confusion with the testing kernels I posted earlier.

Last edited by zodmaner (2009-04-09 16:47:47)

tuxfusion · 2009-04-09 16:49:37

zodmaner wrote:

Ah, so the eeepc_laptop really is the culprit, then?
Well then, I'll roll out the new revision of the kernel packages that built eeepc_laptop as a module. Hopefully this will fix the problem once and for all.
Thanks for helping me find a fix to this problem, everyone.

But what i still do not understand is why it is not slowing down on your eee , zodmaner.
You do have an eee 901 ? Or what am i missing ?

Oh and one important thing eeepc_laptop will still slow everything down if , and what many people do , use udev in rc.conf -> module autoload="yes".

so it will only speed stuff up very much if you put "modprobe eeepc_laptop & " in rc.local and disable module autoload .

@bootchart
mine are pretty awesome now , i guess , but i still have problems "bootchart-render" does not end the process , there seems to be a bug ...
all in all X starts after some 10-12 secs ^_^ ( many daemons backgrounded but still fired )

nice easter all !

Last edited by tuxfusion (2009-04-09 16:54:59)

zodmaner · 2009-04-09 16:58:55

tuxfusion wrote:

zodmaner wrote:
Ah, so the eeepc_laptop really is the culprit, then?
Well then, I'll roll out the new revision of the kernel packages that built eeepc_laptop as a module. Hopefully this will fix the problem once and for all.
Thanks for helping me find a fix to this problem, everyone.
But what i still do not understand is why it is not slowing down on your eee , zodmaner.
You do have an eee 901 ? Or what am i missing ?

Yeah, I've been wondering about that too.

Yes, I have the 901 (unless I've been sold a copycat or something ).

Maybe it's something to do with BIOS version? Mine is Revision 1101, what is yours?

Also in CPU Configuration menu, I've Max CPUID Value Limit set to disabled, Hyper Threading Technology enabled and SpeedStep enabled.

Both of the quick boot options in Boot Settings Configuration is also set to enabled.

tuxfusion · 2009-04-09 17:17:35

Yes i have nearly the same settings max val i can't remember just so it is not the Xp favourite , hehe
Why run cpufreq if you don't use it ? Still haven't read your link about it though : (

The bIOS is a good idea i'll downgrade later end test eee module as well as eeepc_laptop module with it ...
I' have the latest or second latest version btw
laters

lejonet · 2009-04-09 22:04:55

I am still using the 903 bios I think, I haven't upgraded since then, could that be why I cannot access FSB maybe? Its quite annoying because I can get roughly 7 hours without wifi and all other powersave ive incorporated into my kernel.
My goal was 8 hours, but ive lost like 10% battery capacity and Ive hardly used the battery I dont think my warranty is valid for that, seeing as ive added a new network card and another antenna (so the void if removed tag is broken)
I might be able to push it to atleast 6.5 hours with wifi if I could underclock the fsb, right now its between 5.5 and 6 hours with lowest brightness, everything but wifi off.

Edit:
That with jerky and uneven mouse I recognize, I had the same problem but I solved it, but I cannot remember how the heck I resolved it >.< sowwie

Last edited by lejonet (2009-04-09 22:07:07)

big_gie · 2009-04-09 22:44:27

lejonet wrote:

dont think my warranty is valid for that, seeing as ive added a new network card and another antenna (so the void if removed tag is broken)

ASUS wishes to assure its customers that merely breaking or removing this kind of seal will not void the ASUS Limited Warranty

http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/20 … is-broken/
http://usa.asus.com/news_show.aspx?id=9223

I've checked that because upgrading to 2GB of ram

Last edited by big_gie (2009-04-09 22:44:43)

Arch Linux

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Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

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