Arch on Asus EEE 901

qdiesel · 2009-08-17 06:41:01

please can someone update wiki in a FSB clocking/volting sections? moving to the blind's (and later to the stock) kernel and acpi-eeepc-generic cost me about hour and half battery time. well i know about eee-control but i don't like it's gnome dependencies and it's far less customisable

ashishp · 2009-09-14 17:41:28

I have compiled the 2.6.30-zen4 kernel for eeepc 901 with eee module built in for fsb management. In case anyone is interested, you can download it from
http://zen-kernel-eee-901-arch.googleco … pkg.tar.gz
and install it using pacman -U.

I will upload the pkgbuild and sources later when I have time.
P.S.: 2.6.30-zen4 has atom architechture support, which I have enabled.

Last edited by ashishp (2009-09-14 17:45:10)

b3d3r · 2009-10-12 18:32:52

Hi,

I'm really confused by Asus Eee PC 901 article on ArchWiki. What do I have to do to get CPU scaling to work? Does acpi-eeepc-generic support cpu scaling (probably not)? Or should I install something else.

As you've probably noticed, I'm new to Arch

b3d3r

big_gie · 2009-10-12 18:53:20

Hi b3d3r,
To get the CPU scalling, all you need is to load a kernel module. On the 901 (which uses the intel Atom processor) the module is "acpi_cpufreq". You will also need a 'governor' to tell the kernel what freqeuncy to put the processor. You have the choice between performance where the frequency is always the fastest, powersave where the frequenecy is always the slowest available, and ondemand where it jumps from one to the other depending on the need. You will need to load the kernel module on the governor you want to use (or all of them if you want to switch from one governor to the other):

sudo modprobe acpi_cpufreq
sudo modprobe cpufreq_ondemand
sudo modprobe cpufreq_powersave
sudo modprobe cpufreq_performance

I suggest the ondemand governor, as its the easiest to setup (you don't have anything to worry about) and it should give you the max of your battery while preserving performances. Add the modules to your rc.conf file in the MODULES=() section:

/etc/rc.conf wrote:

[...]
MODULES=([...] acpi_cpufreq cpufreq_ondemand [...])
[...]

Note that if you load different governor modules, you can switch between them using "cpufreq-set" command. You can always type "cpufreq-info" to get more information.

acpi-eeepc-generic does not touch cpu scaling at all. It is used to setup special actions of the eee, like Fn+Fx keys (volume/brightness up/down, toggle wireless, lid close, etc).

Now maybe you got confused with FSB scaling, which is not the same thing as CPU scaling. FSB stands for Front Side Bus. It is the connection between the processor and other parts of the motherboard, for example memory. Faster FSB will mean faster memory access, but more power usage. The Central Processing Unit (CPU) frequency can be changed to preserve power. A slower CPU frequency will do its calculation in more time then when the frenquency is higher, so as FSB scaling, CPU scaling will make things slower but save more power.
Version 0.9 of acpi-eeepc-generic does not control the FSB scaling nor CPU scalling (remember, CPU scalling is controled automatically by cpufreq, the module you have already loaded). I'm in the process of adding FSB scaling control to acpi-eeepc-generic: you will be able to choose which profile you want to use. You can follow the developpement from the google code page.

Hope that helped

ChemBro · 2009-10-13 21:13:58

After kernel-update (2.6.31), acpi-eeepc-generic (or the messages) are reacting a little bit strange. First of all, I had to change ALSA_MUTE_MIXER to Master, because something in Alsa changed and iSpeaker and LineOut are no more (but I see Headphone and Speaker now), as I can see. If I mute now, a message says to me "unmute 100%", but I'm muting it. Same if I unmute it.

Also, shortly after every message (like mute/unmute/toggle volume [which goes down by 10% instead of 5% for every step {Fn+F12}], there is a "no message, no action" message.

Is there a way to get it back to normal? (Right message without "no message", right volume up/down steps)

And i've noticed: If wifi is enabled and I'm trying to disable it with Fn+F2, it enables it first and after a second Fn+F2, it finally disables it. Is there also a way to get it back to normal?

kud0h · 2009-10-14 03:18:14

Running zodmaner's kernel-eeepc-901-kms, just upgraded a few minutes ago to the latest Xorg and installed various drivers updates with the testing repo enabled.

Upon logging into Gnome, the screen basically goes wonky. This also occurs in the vanilla kernel, as well as zodmaner's kernel-eeepc-901, with the xorg.conf that I've been using for a long time as well as using no config at all.

So I'm just wondering if anyone else is having this issue? Looks like I'm going to have to downgrade.

big_gie · 2009-10-14 15:06:58

@ChemBro
I checked it and you are right. Alsa mixers are ALWAYS changing name. Its really annoying. Not only on the eee but also on another laptop of mine. I wish they would settle to one set of mixers and then STOP freaking changing it!!!
I changed how volume is managed. You now only have to choose the set of mixers (you can have one or many) you want to mute and those you want to change the volume. You can test this if you want: its in the 1.0 branch (see svn on google code page)

If you find any other problem, like the wifi one, please report it on the google code page's issue section, so I can keep track of it.

zodmaner · 2009-10-15 14:41:28

kud0h wrote:

Running zodmaner's kernel-eeepc-901-kms, just upgraded a few minutes ago to the latest Xorg and installed various drivers updates with the testing repo enabled.
Upon logging into Gnome, the screen basically goes wonky. This also occurs in the vanilla kernel, as well as zodmaner's kernel-eeepc-901, with the xorg.conf that I've been using for a long time as well as using no config at all.
So I'm just wondering if anyone else is having this issue? Looks like I'm going to have to downgrade.

I haven't upgrade X.org to the newest version yet, but for now you could try using my non-KMS kernel to see if problem is caused by KMS.

Will try to upgrade and test thing out as soon as possible.

big_gie · 2009-10-15 14:48:12

To any who wants to test KMS or easily disable it without too much fuss. Instead of putting "options i915 modeset=1" into /etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf and rebuilding the initramfs, just add this "i915.modeset=1" to your kernel line in grub. That way, if something goes wrong, you can always hit a key while grub is booting (to deactivate the timer) select the kernel to boot (should be the already selected one) type "e" to edit the line, replace the "=1" by "=0" of the 915.modeset, press enter to confirm and then "b" to boot it.

I always prefer putting stuff in grub like this so it is dead easy to temporarly disable if needed.

kud0h · 2009-10-15 17:57:20

zodmaner wrote:

kud0h wrote:
Running zodmaner's kernel-eeepc-901-kms, just upgraded a few minutes ago to the latest Xorg and installed various drivers updates with the testing repo enabled.
Upon logging into Gnome, the screen basically goes wonky. This also occurs in the vanilla kernel, as well as zodmaner's kernel-eeepc-901, with the xorg.conf that I've been using for a long time as well as using no config at all.
So I'm just wondering if anyone else is having this issue? Looks like I'm going to have to downgrade.
I haven't upgrade X.org to the newest version yet, but for now you could try using my non-KMS kernel to see if problem is caused by KMS.
Will try to upgrade and test thing out as soon as possible.

I have since found out what the problem was: the latest version of Compiz, after disabling it, everything runs fine again. Now the only problem that remains is new intel driver performance is pretty terrible, although I believe this is due largely in part to the drivers themselves, releases tend to range from pretty average to abysmal, anyway.

Thanks for your reply.

b3d3r · 2009-10-22 14:02:17

@big_gie
Is it possible to change cpu frequency "on the fly"?

big_gie · 2009-10-22 14:09:46

@b3d3r
Yes: you need to change cpufreq's governor using the tool "cpufreq-set" (install cpufrequtils). I suggest you to use the "ondemand" governor, as this will automatically scale the frequency based on the system load. For this, type:
cpufre-set -g ondemand
You can see more info using "cpufreq-info".

If you want to change to a specific frequency, use the "userspace" governor:
modprobe cpufreq_userspace
cpufreq-set -g userspace

Check google for even more control

b3d3r · 2009-10-22 22:16:23

Thanks It was actually working before but I didn't notice it, cpufreq-info shows that I have 2 CPUs (?) and I was always looking at the second one

One other thing: what's your battery life? When I was using Windows (with wifi turned off and minimum brightness) I got about 9 hours of battery life (this was what Windows showed). Now I'm using Arch and acpi command is only showing about 7 hours. Is this because?

1. Linux is consuming more power? Does it depend on file system? I use ext4 with journaling.
2. Linux/Windows consume the same amount of power but have different battery monitors? If yes witch one is more accurate?

I assume that my battery has the same capacity as when I was using Windows

Last edited by b3d3r (2009-10-22 22:22:27)

skanky · 2009-11-11 11:13:23

b3d3r wrote:

I assume that my battery has the same capacity as when I was using Windows

You might want to check that. My "Last Full" capacity is consistently 18% down on its design capacity.

voidzero · 2010-04-04 15:01:16

Hello,

Since this is the official Asus EEE PC 901 thread, I'd like to ask for some help here. I have just installed Archlinux with the usb core image. However, I cannot use my wireless and I can't use ethernet: ifconfig eth0 doesn't work and ifconfig wlan0 / wifi0 also does not work. So I am wondering if anyone has had the same problem and how to solve it...

big_gie · 2010-04-04 15:09:17

Please post the content of "lspci | grep -i net"
On my 1000, the ethernet card is an "Atheros AR8121/AR8113/AR8114" and the module/driver is "atl1e". make sure it is loaded: "sudo modprobe atl1e".

For the wireless, I think the module is "rt2860sta".

Load them in your rc.conf, or make sure you autoload modules.

voidzero · 2010-04-04 16:35:34

Thanks for replying, big_gie. Posting is a bit difficult without a working network But I have modprobed them both, to no avail.

I have an Asus EEE 900.

lspci says: Atheros communications inc. ar5001 wireless network adapter, and
Attansic Technology Corp. L2 100 Mbit Ethernet Adapter.

When booting and modprobing acpi_cpufreq there is a fatal error saying "No such device". When I modprobe atl1e and rt2860sta and then type "ifconfig eth0" or "ifconfig wlan0" they both return the error message "Device not found".

uname tells me among other things that the running kernel is 2.6.30-Arch. I could try a different kernel, because I can move files around with an usbstick, so I'm open to those suggestions as well.

voidzero · 2010-04-04 16:39:22

Ok, found out that the asus eee 900 uses different drivers: atl2 for ethernet, and ath5k for wlan. I am still wondering about the acpi problem, but the network problem seems to be solved.

ashishp · 2010-04-06 08:10:56

I have compiled a zen kernel based on 2.6.32 kernel with zen7 patch. As usual eee module is built in as is kms. You will have to add acpi_enforce_resources=lax to your /boot/grub/menu.lst for eee module to work. You can download the package from:

http://code.google.com/p/zen-kernel-eee … loads/list

Arch Linux

#1226 2009-08-17 06:41:01

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1227 2009-09-14 17:41:28

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1228 2009-10-12 18:32:52

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1229 2009-10-12 18:53:20

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1230 2009-10-13 21:13:58

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1231 2009-10-14 03:18:14

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1232 2009-10-14 15:06:58

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1233 2009-10-15 14:41:28

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1234 2009-10-15 14:48:12

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1235 2009-10-15 17:57:20

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1236 2009-10-22 14:02:17

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1237 2009-10-22 14:09:46

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1238 2009-10-22 22:16:23

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1239 2009-11-11 11:13:23

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1240 2010-04-04 15:01:16

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1241 2010-04-04 15:09:17

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1242 2010-04-04 16:35:34

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1243 2010-04-04 16:39:22

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

#1244 2010-04-06 08:10:56

Re: Arch on Asus EEE 901

Board footer