Asus M6N laptop

arch_newb · 2004-12-13 18:20:36

Hi Folks,

I was wondering if anyone has tried installing ARCH on a Asus M6N laptop?
If so what hardware worked and what did not? Were any tweaks necessary and if so what were they?

The reason I ask is I am considering buying one and wanted to know how ARCH worked on it.

Cheers
Arch_Newb

phrakture · 2004-12-13 20:16:20

Just looking at the spec sheet from asus, I would assume almost everything works fine:
Video Card: ATI (easy, uses X ati drivers)
Wireless: Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200 (uses ipw2200 module)

Supposedly ACPI isn't fully up to snuff on that model...
this forum ( http://m6n.ath.cx/forum/index.php ) should be helpful...

Any info on installing linux on the laptop works fine under arch, just with different configs.

arch_newb · 2004-12-13 20:51:17

Hi phrakture,

the forum looks like it will be really usefull. Do u know if the ARCH linux kernel contains the latest ACPI patch? I suppose if it does all of the features should work properly.

do U know if the X ati drivers allow 3d acceleration?

Cheers

Arch_Newb

phrakture · 2004-12-13 22:48:39

arch_newb wrote:

Hi phrakture,
the forum looks like it will be really usefull. Do u know if the ARCH linux kernel contains the latest ACPI patch? I suppose if it does all of the features should work properly.
do U know if the X ati drivers allow 3d acceleration?
Cheers
Arch_Newb

yes, the ati drivers with X.org are the basically the exact same ati drivers for windows.

as for the latest acpi patch, I think the standard arch kernel is pretty vanilla... it's not hard to recompile though if your acpi seems to malfunction...

Stanislav · 2004-12-14 07:00:53

i think the ARCH kernel26 has an acpi patch. it's easy to see if you check the PKGBUILD if it's the latest or not. if it's not tha latest, you can always change the PKGBUILD & change it to the latest acpi patch.

have fun.

cstorm · 2004-12-14 08:57:53

Stanislav wrote:

i think the ARCH kernel26 has an acpi patch.

you need a patch to fix the buggy asus dsdt table or you can't read your battery. that's not in the official acpi patches. or you go the right way and correct your dsdt by hand like i did it with my m6800n.
apart from this, it's a fine laptop and arch runs perfectly (as would other distros i *think*)

arch_newb · 2004-12-14 16:00:05

you need a patch to fix the buggy asus dsdt table or you can't read your battery. that's not in the official acpi patches. or you go the right way and correct your dsdt by hand like i did it with my m6800n.
apart from this, it's a fine laptop and arch runs perfectly (as would other distros i *think*)

Hi cstorm,

how do U correct the dsdt table by hand? Is there a howto around that explains this? I have read on another forum that we should be updating the bios for this laptop. Did U need to do this and if so did U do it with the DOS program provided by ASUS?

Thanks for ur help.
Cheers

Arch_Newb

cstorm · 2004-12-16 09:56:38

arch_newb wrote:

you need a patch to fix the buggy asus dsdt table or you can't read your battery. that's not in the official acpi patches. or you go the right way and correct your dsdt by hand like i did it with my m6800n.
apart from this, it's a fine laptop and arch runs perfectly (as would other distros i *think*)
Hi cstorm,
how do U correct the dsdt table by hand? Is there a howto around that explains this? I have read on another forum that we should be updating the bios for this laptop. Did U need to do this and if so did U do it with the DOS program provided by ASUS?

well. the dsdt is sourcecode for the acpi-compiler. so, if you like to "program" acpi, then read the docs from acpi.sf.net.
if you don't want to then take a look at http://m6n.ath.cx/forum/ there you should find a kernel patch, which resolves the problem (you don't have to correct your dsdt. the patch is named aml_method_hack or similar)
otherwise look at my site at http://www.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de/ … tches.html where i published my corrected dsdt.
a bios update doesn't solve the problem since asus didn't get it to work even under the newest bios ;-(
if you like to update your bios, take the dos tool and create a bootable usb-stick with it, then flash and read out your new dsdt.

the procedure for fixing the dsdt is as follows:
1.) obtain a fixed dsdt | fix it yourself
2.) diff it against your read dsdt from /proc/acpi/dsdt (superfluous if self-fixed)
3.) compile it with iasl
4.) tell the kernel to use the new dsdt
5.) reboot & enjoy!

arch_newb wrote:

Thanks for ur help.

no problem.

phrakture · 2004-12-16 16:12:44

cstorm wrote:

otherwise look at my site at http://www.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de/ … tches.html where i published my corrected dsdt.

nice site... I particularly like the vcore information, though it doesn't help my hp zd7140 much, heh.... it's got a full P4 so I doubt any sort of speedstep works

cstorm · 2004-12-16 17:17:06

phrakture wrote:

cstorm wrote:
otherwise look at my site at http://www.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de/ … tches.html where i published my corrected dsdt.
nice site... I particularly like the vcore information, though it doesn't help my hp zd7140 much, heh.... it's got a full P4 so I doubt any sort of speedstep works

thanks. doesn't the p4 also have a sort of speedstepping? maybe you can tweak these settings, too.

Arch Linux

#1 2004-12-13 18:20:36

Asus M6N laptop

#2 2004-12-13 20:16:20

Re: Asus M6N laptop

#3 2004-12-13 20:51:17

Re: Asus M6N laptop

#4 2004-12-13 22:48:39

Re: Asus M6N laptop

#5 2004-12-14 07:00:53

Re: Asus M6N laptop

#6 2004-12-14 08:57:53

Re: Asus M6N laptop

#7 2004-12-14 16:00:05

Re: Asus M6N laptop

#8 2004-12-16 09:56:38

Re: Asus M6N laptop

#9 2004-12-16 16:12:44

Re: Asus M6N laptop

#10 2004-12-16 17:17:06

Re: Asus M6N laptop

Board footer