Arch on Eee PC

galdor · 2008-01-10 12:08:53

dkite wrote:

The screen brightness issue happened to me when I tried to use the xf86-video-intel as opposed to the xf86-video-i810 video driver.

I just tried the i810 driver.
The is no brightness problem, but the 800x480 mode isn't supported.

Did someone find a way to reduce the boot time ? UDev takes a lot of time to start

zodmaner · 2008-01-10 12:45:51

I just noticed that the current intel driver in extra (version 2.1.1-2) have problem with xv video output. Namely, it won't work at all with xv output (so that's why my mplayer-plugin didn't seem to play anything ). This is very bad as my main use of Eee is to watch video, movies, etc.

Anyway, I tried install intel driver from testing (version 2.2.0-1) and I'm glad to report that their seems to be no problem with xv video output... as long as you don't use Compiz Fusion. With Compiz Fusion enable, video playback is exceedingly slow. Could anyone please tell me if this is the problem with intel driver in general or a specific Eee one?

There's a solution, however. Open CCSM and go to General Options and check 'Unredirect Fullscreen Windows' option. This will makes video playback at fullscreen play at normal speed again (windowed playback is still lagged horribly, however).

UPDATE: Ugh... disregards that. Further testing shows that the new intel driver in testing not only affect video playback using xv output, but every video playback is affected! Even youtube is slowed! Definitely not worth the trouble if you're using Compiz. For now, use the driver version 2.1.1 and set MPlayer video output to gl (openGL) seems to be the best solution.

Last edited by zodmaner (2008-01-10 13:41:15)

zodmaner · 2008-01-10 18:41:25

Ok guys, I've found a way to 'force' the i810 driver to use 800x480 resolution.

Actually, the solution isn't new, and have been around for a long time: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Int … Resolution
(Don't laugh, old time intel card user, this is my first computer with an intel card ).

First, you need this excellent little program:

pacman -S 915resolution

Don't forget to install and change your driver from intel to i810:

pacman -S xf86-video-i810

Section "Device"
   ...
   Driver "i810"
   ...

Then, run this as root:

915resolution -l

You output should look like this (this is form my Eee):

Intel 800/900 Series VBIOS Hack : version 0.5.3

Chipset: 915GM
BIOS: TYPE 1
Mode Table Offset: $C0000 + $269
Mode Table Entries: 36

Mode 30 : 640x480, 8 bits/pixel
Mode 32 : 800x600, 8 bits/pixel
Mode 34 : 1024x768, 8 bits/pixel
Mode 38 : 1280x1024, 8 bits/pixel
Mode 3a : 1600x1200, 8 bits/pixel
Mode 3c : 1920x1440, 8 bits/pixel
Mode 41 : 640x480, 16 bits/pixel
Mode 43 : 800x600, 16 bits/pixel
Mode 45 : 1024x768, 16 bits/pixel
Mode 49 : 1280x1024, 16 bits/pixel
Mode 4b : 1600x1200, 16 bits/pixel
Mode 4d : 1920x1440, 16 bits/pixel
Mode 50 : 640x480, 32 bits/pixel
Mode 52 : 800x600, 32 bits/pixel
Mode 54 : 1024x768, 32 bits/pixel
Mode 58 : 1280x1024, 32 bits/pixel
Mode 5a : 1600x1200, 32 bits/pixel
Mode 5c : 1920x1440, 32 bits/pixel

Now we need to edit our xorg.conf file:

Edit your 'Section "Screen"' of your xorg.conf to look like this:

Section "Screen"
       Identifier "Screen1"
       Device     "Device1"
       Monitor    "Monitor1"
       DefaultDepth     24
       SubSection "Display"
               Depth     16
               Modes    "640x480"
       EndSubSection
EndSection

Then, edit the /etc/conf.d/915resolution to look like this:

# Enter the VBIOS mode to patch
MODE="41"
 
# Enter the desired resolution
RESOLUTION="800 480"

Now put the 915resolution daemon into your /etc/rc.conf file:

DAEMONS=(... 915resolution ...)

Now, just restart the machine and if everything goes right, you should boot into a 800x480 desktop enviroment.

I would like to thank voidnull for maintaining the 915resolution package, Alexander Baldeck for maintaining the i810 driver (without which we wouldn't have something to falls back to), everyone who contribute to the Intel GMA 945 wiki. Without you guys I wouldn't have found a solution. You guys rocks!

Yes. I know I'm overreact a bit, but I'm really, really glad that this thing works.

Also, from further testing, I think i810 is currently the best intel driver for Eee user to use.

Aside from remembering the brightness setting after resume from suspend, it can run Compiz Fusion without any problem (in fact, it seems to be faster than the current intel driver (2.1.1-2) in extra).

Its xv output video playback is fast & works with Compiz enabled, while the current intel driver in extra can't use xv output at all and although the intel driver in testing (2.2.0-1) have a working xv output, it is EXTREMELY slow on Eee, thanks to it defaults to EXA acceleration.

UPDATE: And what do you know? After installed xf86-video-i810, my webcam is now working! It seems that the problem I experienced with my webcam is not because the webcam driver, but because the webcam programs (ucview, etc.) can't open an xv output (thanks to the stupid xf86-video-intel driver) and crash.

With this, everything on my Eee is fully functional (well, the suspend is still a little buggy but not for long! ). Thank you everyone for your help & support. You guys are what makes Arch great.

Last edited by zodmaner (2008-01-10 19:12:51)

LTSmash · 2008-01-10 19:36:28

It would be nice if someone made a preconfigured Arch-based envirnment for the Eee... (like the Eee-Xubuntu)

zodmaner · 2008-01-10 19:48:17

LTSmash wrote:

It would be nice if someone made a preconfigured Arch-based envirnment for the Eee... (like the Eee-Xubuntu)

filoktetes did just that. You can download his image of preinstalled Arch from DeveloperDave's side here: http://archeeemage.coderseffigy.com

Last edited by zodmaner (2008-01-10 19:48:41)

dkite · 2008-01-11 02:06:45

zodmaner wrote:

With this, everything on my Eee is fully functional (well, the suspend is still a little buggy but not for long! ). Thank you everyone for your help & support. You guys are what makes Arch great.

I just uploaded some fixes to the acpid_eee package.

Two fixes: Fn-F1 would put the machine to sleep, but wakeup would not work. The handler.sh script now calls the proper function.

When the power button was pressed, and the lid closed, the two events would create a situation where the shutdown sequence was put to sleep. Wakeup would recommence the shutdown sequence, and it would turn off. I put a lockfile test in the suspend script which prevents this from happening. Put this line

rm /etc/acpi/power.lock

in your /etc/rc.local.shutdown file.

What are you using to view the camera output?

Derek (who is going to upload this mess to aur)

thursdayknights · 2008-01-11 04:55:55

Thanks, everyone! i810 works great now, thanks to zodmaner: brightness settings are remembered. The webcam also works with ucview. Virtually everything works now. Right now, the only thing is that the suspend is a bit buggy. (thanks filoktetes for the kernel update!!!!)

I have a few questions, though.

Should I remove syslog-ng from my daemons?

When I use my terminal, I can press up to look at commands I typed previously. Same with gmrun. Isn't this logging? How much does this hurt the SSD? (I added this line, "tmpfs /var/log tmpfs size=1M 0 0")

Upon boot, it complains that it can't find the module "soundcore". It probably doesn't matter at all, since my sound seems to be working just fine, but... what does it mean?

Last edited by thursdayknights (2008-01-11 05:59:53)

galdor · 2008-01-11 09:47:50

dkite wrote:

zodmaner wrote:
With this, everything on my Eee is fully functional (well, the suspend is still a little buggy but not for long! ). Thank you everyone for your help & support. You guys are what makes Arch great.
I just uploaded some fixes to the acpid_eee package.
What are you using to view the camera output?
Derek (who is going to upload this mess to aur)

Neither ucview nor luvcview from AUR can be compiled, so I had a try with Skype and it works fine. It's a pity we can't have a simple software to perform only basics tasks (brightess/contrast/colors adjustments, video/screenshot capture).

zodmaner · 2008-01-11 10:01:45

dkite wrote:

I just uploaded some fixes to the acpid_eee package.

Thank you dkite! Will try it sometime tomorrow after my exam.

dkite wrote:

What are you using to view the camera output?

I use ucview from AUR: http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?d … s=0&SeB=nd

thursdayknights wrote:

Upon boot, it complains that it can't find the module "soundcore". It probably doesn't matter at all, since my sound seems to be working just fine, but... what does it mean?

I guess because filoktetes's kernel haven't been complied with a support for the module? But just as you say, it doesn't seem to matter because Eee doesn't seems to need it. Anyway, to get rid of the error message, just remove the 'soundcore' module from your MODULES=() array in /etc/rc.conf and you're done.

galdor wrote:

Neither ucview nor luvcview from AUR can be compiled, so I had a try with Skype and it works fine.

Hm... that's strange. It compiled here just fine...

UPDATE: I've just tried building ucview on my Eee again and yep, it still complied just fine. Could you post the error message that you got, galdor? Maybe we can see what is wrong (you might miss a dependency or two...).

Last edited by zodmaner (2008-01-11 12:26:02)

galdor · 2008-01-11 17:22:31

make[3]: Entering directory `/home/galdor/temp/ucview/src/ucview-0.16/src'
/usr/bin/gdk-pixbuf-csource --raw --name=icon_ucview_data ../icons/ucview-logo.png > icon-ucview.h
gcc -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I.. -I.. -I/usr/include   -pthread -DORBIT2=1 -I/usr/include/unicap -I/usr/include/gtk-2.0 -I/usr/lib/gtk-2.0/include -I/usr/include/atk-1.0 -I/usr/include/cairo -I/usr/include/pango-1.0 -I/usr/include/glib-2.0 -I/usr/lib/glib-2.0/include -I/usr/include/freetype2 -I/usr/include/libpng12 -I/usr/include/gconf/2 -I/usr/include/orbit-2.0 -I/usr/include/libglade-2.0 -I/usr/include/libxml2 -DINSTALL_PREFIX=\""/usr"\" -DUCVIEW_DATADIR=\""/usr/share/ucview"\" -DUCVIEW_LOCALEDIR=\""/usr/share/locale"\" -DUCVIEW_GLADEDIR=\""/usr/share/ucview/glade"\" -DUCVIEW_PLUGINDIR=\""/usr/lib/ucview/plugins"\" -DUCVIEW_ICONDIR=\""/usr/share/ucview/icons"\" -DUCVIEW_GLOBAL_CONFIGDIR=\""/etc/ucview"\" -DUCVIEW_VERSION_STRING=\""0.16"\" -march=i686 -mtune=generic -O2 -pipe -Wall -MT ucview-ucview.o -MD -MP -MF .deps/ucview-ucview.Tpo -c -o ucview-ucview.o `test -f 'ucview.c' || echo './'`ucview.c
ucview.c: In function 'register_or_call_service':
ucview.c:1055: error: 'ucview_destroy_event_cb' undeclared (first use in this function)
ucview.c:1055: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
ucview.c:1055: error: for each function it appears in.)
make[3]: *** [ucview-ucview.o] Error 1
make[3]: Leaving directory `/home/galdor/temp/ucview/src/ucview-0.16/src'
make[2]: *** [all] Error 2
make[2]: Leaving directory `/home/galdor/temp/ucview/src/ucview-0.16/src'
make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/galdor/temp/ucview/src/ucview-0.16'
make: *** [all] Error 2
==> ERROR: Build Failed.  Aborting...

I just took the PKGBUILD from the AUR

Kitty · 2008-01-11 20:06:32

Hi all.

I've decided to install Arch on my eee. I've installed ubuntu on a usb HDD and got the wireless, etc. working, but just wasn't happy with size of the install. With 4gb of storage, you have to be picky!

I've got a few questions before I begin:

1. It looks like the dkite file (http://members.shaw.ca/dkite/eeemodules … pkg.tar.gz) includes all the custom build stuff. I've d/l'd the files and peeked inside. So using this would mean that I don't need to patch+compile all the things shown on the eeeuser.com wiki, correct?

2. I'm thinking of avoiding kde/gnome desktops, and going with slim/fluxbox (maybe icewm) setup. Do the various tray items still work ok?

3. What's some "average" install sizes? Average being after core and with X, but before loading office/multimedia stuffs.

4. I've got back up copies of my stock xorg.conf, the stock vid driver, and the kernel config file. Any other files I should copy before nuking xandros?

I hope to start this tonight.

Thanks!

dkite · 2008-01-12 02:56:29

Kitty wrote:

Hi all.
I've decided to install Arch on my eee. I've installed ubuntu on a usb HDD and got the wireless, etc. working, but just wasn't happy with size of the install. With 4gb of storage, you have to be picky!
I've got a few questions before I begin:
1. It looks like the dkite file (http://members.shaw.ca/dkite/eeemodules … pkg.tar.gz) includes all the custom build stuff. I've d/l'd the files and peeked inside. So using this would mean that I don't need to patch+compile all the things shown on the eeeuser.com wiki, correct?
2. I'm thinking of avoiding kde/gnome desktops, and going with slim/fluxbox (maybe icewm) setup. Do the various tray items still work ok?
3. What's some "average" install sizes? Average being after core and with X, but before loading office/multimedia stuffs.
4. I've got back up copies of my stock xorg.conf, the stock vid driver, and the kernel config file. Any other files I should copy before nuking xandros?
I hope to start this tonight.
Thanks!

The modules in the pkgbuild go with the up to date arch kernel. In community there is a kernel26eee that has all the necessary modules built into a testing kernel. Either way it would work. The kernel26eee is smaller than the stock on with the addon modules, but the stock one works with packages such as qemu and others that match the arch kernel.

Keep the xorg.conf. The rest will be ok.

Derek

zodmaner · 2008-01-12 09:20:32

Kitty wrote:

1. ...So using this would mean that I don't need to patch+compile all the things shown on the eeeuser.com wiki, correct?

The way I install Arch on my Eee, using dkite kernel modules, is to install Arch from Don't Panic CD and then complied & install the wireless (or ethernet) modules as shown on eeeuser wiki (just enough for us to download the update), then run pacman -Syu to update my system. After the update is done I reboot into the new 2.6.23-ARCH kernel and then I install dkite's modules.

Kitty wrote:

3. What's some "average" install sizes? Average being after core and with X, but before loading office/multimedia stuffs.

It depends on what you want to installe, really. But my base + devel + xorg install without any DE or WM weights in at around 500-600 MB.

Kitty wrote:

4. I've got back up copies of my stock xorg.conf, the stock vid driver, and the kernel config file. Any other files I should copy before nuking xandros?

You only need the xorg.conf file, as far as I know. For your video driver the xf86-video-i810 in extra will work fine.

Kitty wrote:

hope to start this tonight.

Good luck.

Last edited by zodmaner (2008-01-12 13:13:54)

brushedtooth · 2008-01-12 19:47:08

How do I install the PKGBUILDS by dkite? I am lost, I knew how to install pkgbuilds a month ago, any help is appreciated.

dkite · 2008-01-12 20:13:22

Two choices:

If you want to build the package, which you may want to do with the modules, download the eeemodules.tar.gz.

Run tar -zxf eeemodules.tar.gz

cd to eeemodules.

run makepkg.

This will build the modules, create a eeemodules-0.0.1-2-i686.pkg.tar.gz (the numbers may change).

run (as root or sudo) pacman -U eeemodules-0.0.1-2-i686.pkg.tar.gz to install.

Second choice:

Get http://members.shaw.ca/dkite/eeemodules … pkg.tar.gz

and run pacman -U eeemodules-0.0.1-2-i686.pkg.tar.gz

Remember that if arch updates your kernel26, the modules won't work unless you build them, or download new ones, which may be difficult when your wireless and ethernet don't work with the broken modules. I suggest getting the PKGBUILD, put it on a usb storage or SD card, build it on the storage device. You could build the modules on a desktop machine if needed to get things running again on your Eeepc.

For the acpid routines, the kernel updates aren't an issue, so get http://members.shaw.ca/dkite/acpid_eee- … pkg.tar.gz and use pacman -U to install.

Note: the acpid routines are fluid and changing. Check for updates regularly.

Derek

Kitty · 2008-01-12 20:25:15

Ok, posting from firefox on my new Arch system with net via WPA wifi.So far, so good.

I did:
core install from usb stick
lan driver compile
system update
pacman install of eeemodules
video setup as noted above (the old xorg.conf works great w/ thee new driver)
install sudo

Things I need to sort out:
starting X via a dm
wifi auto startup (maybe do a boot network menu)
finding out why 'loading udev events' takes so long on start up
boot splash screen

I'm using icewm, since I had a nice setup for it from the xandros install. Being able to restore all of /home with rsync is pretty nice. Don't know if I'll use rox again, or find something else.

My impression of Arch so far is good. I like the BSD style init system, it's the only one that's ever made sense to me. The system seems speedy, and OS+/home is now smaller than the xandros OS by half. Very nice.

zodmaner · 2008-01-12 20:37:19

Glad to see that you've got it to work, Kitty.

For wifi auto startup & roaming, I recommended Wicd:

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wicd

Works great on my Eee.

Also, if you manages to get the splash screen to work, please let us know how you did it.

brushedtooth · 2008-01-12 21:16:11

My solution for sound was I had to add myself to the audio users, like I had to do for network.

brushedtooth · 2008-01-12 23:01:04

dkite wrote:

I have uploaded PKGBUILD's and tarballs for 2.6.23-ARCH kernel modules. This includes the atl2 ethernet module, the madwifi wireless modules, the acpi module and the video camera module. members.shaw.ca/dkite
Available also is a PKGBUILD and package for acpi routines. These include the /etc/acpi routines called by acpid, and asusosd, a daemon that you run as user that pops up the various indicator thingy's when you adjust volume or brightness.
The acpi scripts work for the power button, wlan on and off (doesn't reconnect however), sleep when the lid is closed. I haven't done the internal/external monitor stuff yet. I started with the asus scripts and changed some things to fit the arch setup.
Some instructions are on the site. Let me know if there are any issues.
Derek

I got it installed thanks to your help, but the hotkeys do not appear to be working except for suspend and power. I am running XFCE4, suspends hangs on resume well the display remains off. Any suggestions? I am using the 915resolution fix and i810 driver.

Kitty · 2008-01-13 01:19:13

update:

- Thanks for the wicd tip, zoddmaner. It works great.
- The apcid-eee package (download and pkgbuild versions):
- I don't get the OSD icons on button press (icewm)
- the screen won't come back after suspend. (i810 driver w/ 915resolution)
- It seems that I don't have /proc/acpi/asus - which daemon did I miss? (might fix the OSD problems too.)
- Slim works ok, but splatters onto the icewm backdrop until you change themes.

More later...

EDIT:

Ok, found I needed to load asus_acpi module, now I have OSD, but haven't tried suspend yet.

Last edited by Kitty (2008-01-13 01:39:22)

dkite · 2008-01-13 02:09:09

brushedtooth wrote:

I got it installed thanks to your help, but the hotkeys do not appear to be working except for suspend and power. I am running XFCE4, suspends hangs on resume well the display remains off. Any suggestions? I am using the 915resolution fix and i810 driver.

Is the acpid daemon running?

The pkg will overwrite some of the native acpid files. You will have to force to install them properly.

Derek

Kitty · 2008-01-13 05:20:30

ok, seems that I don't have sound. Somehow the sound card isn't found.

$ amixer
amixer: Mixer attach default error: No such device

$ lsmod | grep snd
snd_seq_oss            29312  0
snd_seq_midi_event      6528  1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq                46800  4 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device          6924  2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
snd_hda_intel         295456  0
snd_hwdep               7300  1 snd_hda_intel
snd_pcm_oss            36896  0
snd_pcm                68868  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss
snd_timer              19332  2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd_page_alloc          8072  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
snd_mixer_oss          14464  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd                    45220  9 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_hda_intel,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd_mixer_oss
soundcore               6496  1 snd

$ sudo /etc/rc.d/alsa restart
:: Saving ALSA Levels                                                    [BUSY] 
/usr/sbin/alsactl: save_state:1251: No soundcards found...
                                                                         [FAIL]
:: Restoring ALSA Levels                                                 [BUSY] 
/usr/sbin/alsactl: load_state:1313: Cannot open /etc/asound.state for reading: No such file or directory
                                                                         [FAIL]

brushedtooth · 2008-01-13 05:46:28

dkite wrote:

brushedtooth wrote:
I got it installed thanks to your help, but the hotkeys do not appear to be working except for suspend and power. I am running XFCE4, suspends hangs on resume well the display remains off. Any suggestions? I am using the 915resolution fix and i810 driver.
Is the acpid daemon running?
The pkg will overwrite some of the native acpid files. You will have to force to install them properly.
Derek

I installed via pacman -Uf filename and I do have acpid in my deamon list in /etc/rc.conf

zodmaner · 2008-01-13 10:01:29

brushedtooth: Did you add asus_acpi to MODULES=() array in /etc/rc.conf?

Kitty: Try install esd and start it by add it to the DAEMONS=() array in /etc/rc.conf and restart. My sound works after I enable esd in GNOME and restart.

Last edited by zodmaner (2008-01-13 10:02:48)

galdor · 2008-01-13 11:19:42

I just tried to install kernel26eee, which tries to install madwifi-utils, then fails saying there are file conflicts between those two packages (some file from madwifi).
How am I supposed to do ?

Last edited by galdor (2008-01-13 11:25:46)

Arch Linux

#126 2008-01-10 12:08:53

Re: Arch on Eee PC

#127 2008-01-10 12:45:51

Re: Arch on Eee PC

#128 2008-01-10 18:41:25

Re: Arch on Eee PC

#129 2008-01-10 19:36:28

Re: Arch on Eee PC

#130 2008-01-10 19:48:17

Re: Arch on Eee PC

#131 2008-01-11 02:06:45

Re: Arch on Eee PC

#132 2008-01-11 04:55:55

Re: Arch on Eee PC

#133 2008-01-11 09:47:50

Re: Arch on Eee PC

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Re: Arch on Eee PC

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Re: Arch on Eee PC

#136 2008-01-11 20:06:32

Re: Arch on Eee PC

#137 2008-01-12 02:56:29

Re: Arch on Eee PC

#138 2008-01-12 09:20:32

Re: Arch on Eee PC

#139 2008-01-12 19:47:08

Re: Arch on Eee PC

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Re: Arch on Eee PC

#141 2008-01-12 20:25:15

Re: Arch on Eee PC

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Re: Arch on Eee PC

#143 2008-01-12 21:16:11

Re: Arch on Eee PC

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Re: Arch on Eee PC

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Re: Arch on Eee PC

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Re: Arch on Eee PC

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Re: Arch on Eee PC

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Re: Arch on Eee PC

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Re: Arch on Eee PC

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Re: Arch on Eee PC

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