Installing Kubuntu on Asus V6J
| HARDWARE COMPONENTS | STATUS UNDER LINUX | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Intel Core Duo T2300, 1.6 Ghz | Works | No special procedure required during installation. |
| 15" SXGA+ LCD display (1400x1050) | Works | To get 1400x1050, use the Nvidia drivers |
| External monitor | Works | Works with the updated BIOS v2.1.2 |
| Nvidia GeForce GO 7400, 128 MB, TurboCache up to 512 MB | Works | Works with both the open source nv drivers, and Nvidia drivers. Need updated BIOS v2.1.2 |
| 1024 MB DDR2 667 | Works | No special procedure required during installation. |
| 100 GB, 5400 RPM Harddrive | Works | No special procedure required during installation. |
| Internal Intel Pro/Wireless 3945abg | Works | Make sure you get the IPW3945 drivers |
| Internal Realtek 8168 Ethernet | Works | Needs r1000 driver |
| Internal v.90 winmodem | Don't know | Not tested |
| 4x DVD-RW SM Dual Layer | Works | No special procedure required during installation. |
| 8-cell, 5400mAh battery | Works | No special procedure required during installation. |
| Intel High Definition Audio sound | Works | There is a bug in ALSA Sound drivers v1.0.10 and earlier. Make sure you're at at least v1.0.11rc4 or later |
| 1 IEEE 1394 Firewire port | Don't know | Not tested |
| 4 USB 2.0 ports | Works | No special procedure required during installation. |
| Cardreader (SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO) | Works | Works in Linux 2.6.17 or 2.6.15-26 with Ubuntu patches |
| Express Card | Don't know | Not tested |
| Touchpad | Works | No special procedure required during installation. |
| Bluetooth | Works | No special procedure required during installation. |
| Infrared | Don't know | Not tested |
2006-08-14 Now using 2.6.15-26 (with Ubuntu patches)
2008-03-28Now using 2.6.24-12 (Kubuntu 8.04)
Basic Installation of Kubuntu
When I initially installed Kubuntu, it was still in beta (flight 2), and didn't have the networking drivers available. I had to download the wireless networking drivers from the Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG. With release of Kubuntu Dapper, and the inclusiong of kernel 2.6.15-23, networking (both wireless and wired) should work out of the box.
Since I had 100 GB of harddisk space, I decided to give Windows XP 40 GB and the rest went to Kubuntu.
| Partition | Size |
|---|---|
| / | 1 GB |
| /usr | 10 GB |
| /var | 3 GB |
| /home | 30 GB |
| /opt | symlink to /usr/local/opt |
| /usr/local | 500 MB |
| /tmp | tmpfs |
Except for / and /tmp, everything is under LVM, which should make it easier to resize if I need to. Unless usually install custom packages, you might not need /usr/local or /opt. I would still recommend that you have at least 3 GB for /var, though.
Note also that in this setup, about 5 GB of free space is not being used. I'm keeping those in reserve in case I need to extend any of the current partitions.
2008-03-28I had to resize the / directory to 1 GB. Originally, I had only 450 MB, which works fine during normal use. The problem comes when you are trying to upgrade. Since Ubuntu normally has lots of modules and firmware (all installed under /lib), / becomes very thight or completely full. Given it 1 GB should make it easier during upgrade. Normal usage is about 200 MB
Setting up additional features for Kubuntu
Since I travel alot, I installed whereami, which made it possible for the system to automatically figure out where I am and configure the system accordingly.
Unresolved issues
Logitech Bluetooth keyboard and mouse
For some reasons, at bootup, neither keyboard nor mouse works. I need to remove the connection and reconnect for them to be discovered. This is only a problem with this particular hardware. Booting up with just a Logitech Optical mouse didn't have the same problem. I also didn't have a problem on my old Sony laptop.
Realtek wired network
whereami is unable to detect that the NIC is connected, because both mii-tool(8) and ethtool(8) fails to discover the connection. Not sure whether this is because of the maturity of the drivers or what.
Update (2006-07-15): ethtool won't discover that the connection is available, but it will discover the negotiable speed. If you tests against that, you will discover whether there is a connection.
Switching screens
The Nvidia driver doesn't support switching between the internal monitor and an external monitor. It's not a huge deal, since the laptop will turn off the internal monitor when you close the lid.
With the nv open source driver, the switching kind of work, sometimes.
In text mode, the switching is no problem.
Note that you need to upgrade your BIOS to at least v 2.1.2. In earlier versions, the Nvidia driver would only work with an external monitor.
Configuration files
/etc/X11xorg.conf with TwinView support
# Edit this file with caution, and see the /etc/X11/xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man /etc/X11/xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg
Section "Files"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/misc"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi"
# path to defoma fonts
FontPath "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "i2c"
Load "bitmap"
Load "ddc"
# Load "dri"
Load "extmod"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
Load "int10"
Load "type1"
Load "vbe"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc104"
Option "XkbLayout" "us,no"
Option "XkbOptions" "compose:ralt,grp:lwin_toggle"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Synaptics Touchpad"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
Option "HorizScrollDelta" "0"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "NVIDIA Corporation NVIDIA Default Card"
Driver "nvidia"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Option "RandRRotation" "true"
Option "TwinView"
Option "MetaModes" "CRT-0: 1280x1024, DFP-0: 1280x1024; CRT-0: 1280x1024, DFP-0:1400x1050"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "CRT-0 Clone DFP-0"
Option "RenderAccel" "true"
Option "AllowGLXWithComposite" "true"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Generic Monitor"
Option "DPMS"
# DisplaySize 474 356
# HorizSync 28-70
# VertRefresh 43-60
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "NVIDIA Corporation NVIDIA Default Card"
Monitor "Generic Monitor"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1400x1050"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1400x1050"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1400x1050"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1400x1050"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1400x1050"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024" "1400x1050"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
# InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"
# InputDevice "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"
# InputDevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "Synaptics Touchpad"
EndSection
Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection
Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite" "Enable"
EndSection
More specific information
Realtek 8168 drivers
There is a bug in the realtek ethernet drivers v1.03. The following patch should fix it.
--- src/r1000_n.c.orig 2006-07-16 08:21:55.000000000 +0200
+++ src/r1000_n.c 2006-07-15 06:14:04.000000000 +0200
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE (pci, r1000_pci_tbl);
MODULE_AUTHOR ("Realtek");
MODULE_DESCRIPTION ("Linux device driver for Realtek Ethernet Controllers");
-MODULE_PARM (media, "1-" __MODULE_STRING(MAX_UNITS) "i");
+MODULE_PARM_DESC (media, "1-" __MODULE_STRING(MAX_UNITS) "i");
MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
@@ -1447,7 +1447,7 @@
#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE < KERNEL_VERSION(2,5,0)
synchronize_irq ();
#else
- synchronize_irq(entdev->irq);
+ synchronize_irq(netdev->irq);
#endif
free_irq (netdev->irq, netdev);
Hibernation/Suspend
Hibernation seems to be working fine with the suspend2 drivers. I haven't been able to get suspend to work.
2006-08-14 Hibernation works fine with Linux 2.6.15-26 with Ubuntu patches. Also works fine with 2.6.17 with Debian patches.
2008-03-28Hibernation and suspend works with 2.6.24-12 with nv drivers. If you use the nvidia drivers, suspend works fine. Hibernation works, but the system won't turn off. If you wait until all disk activity is finished, you can manually turn off the power. Everything works fine, otherwise. Don't bother with the suspend2 drivers.
Links
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG sourceforge site
Nvidia UNIX driver portal
Ubuntu Laptop Testing Team
ASUS V6J and Linux Ubuntu
Realtek 8168 drivers
