Disclaimer
This is an
unofficial support page for the Acer Aspire 1300
series notebooks. I do
not assume any responsibility for
errors or omissions, or for damages
resulting from the use of the information contained herein.
No liability for the contents of this documents can be accepted. Use
the concepts, examples and fother content at your own risk.
All copyrights are held by their by their respective owners, unless
specifically noted
otherwise. Use of a term in this document should not be regarded
as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. Naming of
particular products or brands should not be seen as endorsements.
Supported Hardware Summary
Although this site if focused upon the 1300XV model, same hints should
apply also to the 1302XV model. Please let me know of any hardware
differences you
may find. The information contained hereby should be valid also
for the 1300XC, 1302XC and 1304LC models.
There are very little differences between them. Here is a summary table
taken from
http://www.acer.it
Model
|
Setup
|
Aspire 1300XV
|
Mobile AMD Athlon
XP processor 1400+, 14.1" XGA TFT Display, 256MB SDRAM, 20GB HDD, DVD
8x, Ethernet 10/100, 56Kbps modem, Li-Ion Battery, Microsoft Windows XP
Home
|
Aspire 1302XV
|
Mobile AMD Athlon
XP processor 1600+, 14.1" XGA TFT Display, 256MB SDRAM, 20GB HDD,DVD
8x, Ethernet 10/100, 56Kbps modem, Li-Ion Battery, Microsoft Windows XP
Home
|
Aspire 1300XC
|
Mobile AMD Athlon
XP processor 1400+, 14.1" XGA TFT Display, 256MB SDRAM, 20GB HDD, DVD-
CDRW, Ethernet 10/100, 56Kbps modem, Li-Ion Battery, Microsoft Windows
XP Home
|
Aspire 1302XC
|
Mobile AMD Athlon
XP processor 1600+, 14.1" XGA TFT Display, 256MB SDRAM, 20GB HDD, DVD-
CDRW, Ethernet 10/100, 56Kbps modem, Li-Ion Battery, Microsoft Windows
XP Home
|
Aspire 1304LC
|
Mobile AMD Athlon
XP processor 1800+, 15.0" XGA TFT Display, 256MB SDRAM, 20GB HDD, DVD-
CDRW, Ethernet 10/100, 56Kbps modem, Li-Ion Battery, Microsoft Windows
XP Home
|
As you can see, the *C series differ only for the presence of a CDRW
drive.
Installation
I don't use M$ Windows, so I completely removed the M$ WindowsXP that
comes in bundle with the laptop and formatted the hard drive. Now Linux
is the only Operating System installed. I asked for a refund of
the WinXP license (about 80€) but no luck till now (you can read more
about my eXPerience
here -
only in italian).
However, you may want to keep WindowsXP installed and run a dual
booting system. You can do that by reducing the size of the WindowsXP
partition and creating a new one where you can install your favourite
Linux distribution.
- Dual booting WinXP and Linux
Francesco Poli (frx at
firenze.linux.it) wrote a step by step guide:
- Backup all the personal data that may be present on
your Windows XP installation
Warning:
ALL DATA WILL BE LOST. Without a Backup you won't be able to recover
it.
- Boot from a CD-ROM or floppy disk (press ESC after system power
up to choose the bootable device) that provides a *fdisk command (I
used Debian Woody CD1 and cfdisk) and repartition the hard disk: delete
the existing partition, create one or more partitions for WinXP (type:
Win95 FAT32 LBA; first one, that is C:, must be at least 2.6 Gbyte
long), then create the partitions you plan to use for GNU/Linux.
I reserved about 10 Gbyte (10 Gbyte - 7.75 Mbyte = 9.99225
Gbyte) for WinXP. They are divided into a 5 Gbyte partition for
the system and an additional 4.99 Gbyte partition for storing data
(I had to format it manually from Windows: the recovery process ignored
it).
Warning: this notebook ships
with one big partition and a little (7.75 Mbyte) unassigned free space
at the end of the disk. Each time you recover Windows XP from Recovery
CDs, mysterious data will be written to this final disk `segment'.
Hence you should leave this`segment' unassigned, to make sure no used
partitions are messed up by a future Windows recovery operation.
Warning: you should
activate only the boot flag for /dev/hda1 (that is C:) otherwise the
BIOS will refuse to boot from HD, complaining with a "Hard disk boot
sector invalid" error message.
- Reboot from Recovery CD Disk 1 and follow the steps
explained in the "Recovery CD Instruction Sheet" (without altering
the partition layout!)
- Wait till WindowsXP and the other software are recovered (many
reboots will be performed!)
- After WindowsXP has been successfully installed, you can install
Linux (skipping the partition creation step, leaving the Windows
partitions untouched). When it comes to the LILO installation
step you should choose to put LILO in the MBR.
- Linux
My favourite Linux distribution is Debian GNU/Linux. Of course, many
other Linux distribution should run just fine on this laptop, but I
don't like them :-) No flames please.
The instructions contained in this web page can be applied
to almost any other Linux distribution: just ignore the blue
paragraphs..
You can download the 7 CDs of Debian GNU/Linux 3.0r0 for free from http://cdimage.debian.org (try
using jidgo).Only the first CD is actually needed to complete the
installation. Then you can download only the packages you need
automagically by using the apt tool. Do man apt-get for more info.
WARNING: Please always use the latest kernel available. Debian
GNU/Linux 3.0r0 comes with kernel 2.4.18. I really encourage you to
upgrade at least to 2.4.20-rc1. There are many important bug fixes
which afflicts the Acer Aspire 1300 hardware!!! You can get the latest
kernel from
http://www.kernel.org
Debian Specific: I suggest
to install the following packages with
apt-get install packagename:
acpid, powermgmt-base,
wmacpi, noflushd, hotkeys, anacron, hotplug,
gpm, timidity, timidity-patches s3switch cpufreqd.
My kernel .config file is available here: config-2.4.20
Use it at your own risk. Download kernel sources, decompress them (e.g.
/usr/src/linux-2.4.20), copy config-2.4.20 to
/usr/src/linux-2.4.20/.config:
cp config-2.4.20
/usr/src/linux-2.4.20/.config
then run:
make menuconfig
then exit and SAVE IT, even if you didn't modify anything. Do save it.
I really mean it :-)
- *BSD
Finally I managed to install FreeBSD on the Acer Aspire 1300XV!!! I
chose the 5.0 release and did a MINIMAL installation. Everything went just fine,
network card and mouse work. Unfortunately, it hangs when trying to
open files >16MB. With FreeBSD 5.1 the problem remains.
No luck with the 4.x series: the CDROM doesn't boot and even when
booting with floppies, installation hangs after a while.
nizZy (dirtynizze at orebro.bonet.se)
reported that OpenBSD works perfectly on this laptop, except for X. He
also found a patch for XFree which could make it work under OpenBSD.
You can find it here: http://jneitzel.freeshell.org/xf86PciInfo.h.patch
I'll add more information during the next week...
ziabice (ziabice at oltrelinux.com)
reported that NetBSD could recognize most of this laptop's hardware.
Hardware Configuration Hints
- ACPI support
Enable the following items in the kernel configuration menu:
General/Setup:
Power Management
ACPI Support
ACPI Bus Manager
System
Processor
Button
AC Adapter
Embedded Controller
Control Method Battery
Thermal
Install acpid.
You can use wmacpi to view your
battery charge status while running window maker.
You can access acpi information manually by entering the /proc/acpi
directory.
Many ACPI implementations are buggy: often when you unplug the ac
adapter and then plug it again, the temperature goes up.
Running the following command seems to help:
# /sbin/setpci -v -H1 -s 0:0.0 52=$(printf %x $((0x$(setpci -H1 -s
0:0.0 52) | 0x80)))
TBD: handling ac power/battery different behaviour
Debian Specific: I suggest
to install the following packages: apt-get install acpid wmacpi
powermgmt-base
The latter is very useful
if you want to detect wheter you are on
battery power or not from your scripts. It will install a script called
on_ac_power in /usr/bin. Basically this is what it does:
grep on-line
/proc/acpi/ac_adapter/0/status >/dev/null 2>&1 &&
exit 0
grep
off-line /proc/acpi/ac_adapter/0/status >/dev/null 2>&1
&& exit 1
exit 255
Which means: if we are on
AC power exit with 0, if we are on battery power exit with 1, otherwise
exit with 255.
on_ac_power was
written by Rik Faith and Avery Pennarun <apenwarr at debian.org>
and modified by Thomas Hood <jdthood at yahoo.co.uk>
- Athlon PowerNow! support
Model: AMD mobile AMD
Athlon(tm) XP 1400+
PowerNow! support is available for kernel 2.2.x, 2.4.x and 2.5.x.
Status of development:
- Kernel 2.2.x
Download RTDVS
(Real Time Dynamic Voltage Scaling) for Linux from http://kabru.eecs.umich.edu/rtos/energyaware.html
. It has been developed under RedHat 6.1 but should work with
any 2.2 kernel based distribution.
It can run also on 2.4.x and 2.5.x kernels if you apply a patch. More
detailed instructions can be found here:
http://www.nervous.it/hw/powernow_rtdvs.html
- Kernel 2.4.x and <2.5.62
Download the latest cpufreq patch of the Advanced Series: http://www.codemonkey.org.uk/cpufreq/.
CPUfreq supports a variety of powersaving technologies.
- Kernel >= 2.6.0
cpufreq is already shipped with these kernel, you don't need any patch.
I tested it with kernel 2.4.21 it's pretty stable and allows adjustment
of CPU speed from 500mhz to 1200mhz on my laptop.
Here is a step-by-step guide to install it:
1) download kernel 2.4.21 source from http://www.kernel.org
or one of its mirrors and decompress it say in /usr/src/linux-2.4.21
2) apply the CPUfreq patch:
# cd /usr/src/linux-2.4.21
# gzip -d cpufreq-2.4.21-2.gz
# patch -p1 <cpufreq-2.4.21-2
3) run make menuconfig and
enable the following items:
Processor type and features/CPU frequency scaling:
CPU frequency scaling
CPU frequence table helpers
"userspace" for userspace frequency scaling
AMD Mobile Athlon/Duron K7 PowerNow! (I suggest to add it as a module)
4) recompile the kernel (e.g. make dep && make clean
&& make bzImage && make modules && make
modules_install)
5) reboot with the new kernel
6) load the powernow-k7 module:
# modprobe powernow-k7
If you want to load it automatically on every reboot add a
line containing only "powernow-k7" to /etc/modules
Now you can set the CPU frequency using one of the following commands:
# echo -n "500000:1200000:powersave" > /proc/cpufreq
# echo -n "500000:1200000:performance" > /proc/cpufreq
The first command will set the frequency to 500Mhz, the latter to
1,2Ghz.
Of course, you can specify other frequencies too.
The powersave keyword
specifies that the min. speed (500000) should be used. The performance keyword specifies that
the max. speed (1200000) should be used.
You can automatically change the CPU frequency when the system load
raises or when the battery is low/high. There are many programs which
allow you
to do it. Here is a short list:
cpudyn: http://mnm.uib.es/~gallir/cpudyn/
cpufreqd: http://cpufreqd.sourceforge.net/
cpuondemand: http://www.nervous.it/hw/cpuondemand/
(I wrote it before the other two came out, it's a quick hack not
mantained any more)
Debian Specific: just run
apt-get install cpudyn
or
apt-get install cpufreqd
WARNING: the frequencies
supported by your AMD processor are listed in
the BIOS PST Table, however many laptops have a broken table, thus you
may get wrong frequency/voltage pairs. For now there are only two
solutions
to this problem:
you can either try to flash your BIOS with a firmware containing the
correct PST table, or have cpufreq ignore the PST table of your BIOS
and set the frequency/voltage pairs manually.
The latter solution requires a patch from Luigi Belli's (lbelli at
crema dot unimi dot it) against kernel 2.4.22-ac*: patch-cpufreq-PST.gz
Before applying the patch, change the create_fake_pst function to meet
your hardware requirements.
ONLY USE THIS METHOD IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!!!
After receiving many requests, I decided
to make a precompiled kernel image for debian available for download
from my website:
http://www.nervous.it/hw/kernel/
You can install it with:
# dpkg -i ./kernel-image-2.4.2*.Custom_i386.deb
You may want to test it on a floppy instead of putting it immediately
on your hard disk.
People using other distributions may want to try out the
sources of the kernel used to produce the package:
they are available at http://www.nervous.it/hw/kernel/.
This kernel works for me but it doesn't mean it has to work for you:
so... USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK!
- Graphic Adapter
Model: S3 Inc. ProSavage KN133 [Twister K] (PCI ID:
5333:8d02)
Enable the following items in the
kernel configuration menu:
Character devices:
/dev/agpgart (AGP support)
VIA Chipset Support
If you also want FrameBuffer support enable the following items too:
Console drivers/Frame-buffer support:
Support for frame buffer devices
VESA VGA graphics console
Then pass the following argument to the kernel:
vga=0x305
If you want framebuffer active by default, you can put the above line
in
the append option in your lilo.conf: i.e. edit /etc/lilo.conf and add
the
line append="vga=0x305" to it.
The Savage TwisterK Graphic Adapter is supported by XFree 4.x. When
configuring XFree, choose the "savage" driver.
WARNING: the Savage driver
<1.xx which comes with XFree4.1 is buggy (xine crashes, OpenOffice
freezes). It should be replaced with
the latest driver available
at http://www.probo.com/timr/xf42sav.tgz
In order to use OpenGL hardware acceleration you will need XFree4.2.x
plus the driver recently released
from VIA/S3. There is no support for XFree4.3.x and XFree4.1.x for
now. Hopefully it will be
natively supported by future releases of XFree.
Debian Specific: I managed to get 3D
hardware acceleration working on Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 (sarge not
woody). I was quite disappointed with the performance of the
graphic adapter: glTron runs slowly at 800x600 and almost stops at
1024x768. For those who want to try it out anyway, here is what I did:
First upgrade your kernel at least to 2.4.22-rc2-ac3 (i.e. you need
Alan Cox patchset). Enable the following items in the kernel
configuration menu as modules:
Character devices:
/dev/agpgart (AGP support)
VIA Chipset Support
Direct Rendering Manager (XFree DRI Support)
S3 Savage
Create a file called /etc/modutils/agp with the following line:
options agpgart agp_try_unsupported=1
Then run update-modules and add the following lines to
/etc/modules:
agpgart
savage
Finally you have to download the following files and copy them in their
respective locations:
libsavageXvMC.so.1.0 in
/usr/X11R6/lib
savage_drv.o in
/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers
savage_dri.so in
/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/dri
Modify the "Module" section in /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 as follows:
Section "Module"
Load
"GLcore"
Load
"bitmap"
Load "dbe"
Load "ddc"
Load "dri"
Load
"extmod"
Load
"freetype"
Load "glx"
Load
"int10"
Load
"record"
Load
"speedo"
Load
"type1"
Load "vbe"
EndSection
and add a "DRI" section like this:
Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection
Then restart XFree and run glxinfo, you should get the
following output:
Using AGP dma
DBflag:0
name of display: :0.0
display: :0 screen: 0
direct rendering: Yes
If you want to be kept updated with the latest news about the savage
xfree driver you can subscribe the savage40@probo.com mailing-list
at http://www.probo.com/mailman/listinfo/savage40/
. Visit http://www.probo.com/timr/savage40.html
for more information
WARNING!!! A note from Carl Waite says... "XiG allowed me to
run GL screensavers, but hung when running Tux Racer or Quake 3 after
10 to 20 seconds. I have mailed the support at XiG with the
information. I am back to XFree86 now."
You can find more info about running XiG on Acer Aspire 1300 at:
http://members01.chello.se/waite/Mandrake_XiG_and_Acer_Aspire_1302X.html
Debian Specific: Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 (woody)
ships with XFree4.1. The Savage driver <1.xx is buggy (xine crashes,
OpenOffice freezes). It should be replaced with the latest driver
available at http://... . Unfortunately it has been compiled for
XFree4.2. You have two choices: you can either compile it on your own
or you can instruct XFree4.1 to ignore version differences. The second
choice is the easiest. All you have to do is add -ignoreABI at the end
of /etc/X11/xinit/xserverrc, like this:
exec /usr/bin/X11/X -dpi 100 -nolisten tcp -ignoreABI
If you are using a x-display-manager like
xdm then you have to modify another file too: /etc/X11/xdm/Xservers should look like this
:0 local /usr/bin/X11/X -ignoreABI
If you are using kdm you need to modify /etc/kde3/kdm/Xservers (thanks
to danalien <danalien at datormaffian.com>)
For wdm the file is /etc/X11/wdm/Xservers.
Example configuration file for XFree4.1 is
available here: XF86Config-4
There is a tool which allows switching from LCD to an
external (maybe-CRT) monitor from the command line. It's called
s3switch.
Syntax is:
To turn on LCD monitor: s3switch lcd
To turn on an external monitor: s3switch crt
Debian Specific: you can install it with:
apt-get install s3switch
- Sound Card
Model: Via 686a AC97 Audio Controller (PCI ID:
1106:3058)
Enable the following items in the
kernel configuration menu:
Sound/Sound Card Support
VIA82C686 Audio Codec (via82cxxx_audio.o).
OSS Sound Modules?
Loopback Midi Device support?
MPU-401 Support?
I don't know for sure whether this sound card has got a MIDI
sequencer or not. Meanwhile, I suggest to
use a software-only MIDI sequencer.
timidity (available at http://...) is one of the best.
Debian Specific: Add the following line:
via82cxxx_audio
to your /etc/modules file
Remember to also add all unprivileged users who want to play audio
files to the audio group.
E.g. "adduser foo audio"
In order to play MIDI files you'll need to install the following
packages: apt-get install timidity timidity-patches
- Network Adapter
Model: VIA VT6102 Rhine-II (PCI ID: 1106:3065)
Enable the following items in the kernel configuration menu:
Network device support/Ethernet (10 or 100Mbit)/EISA,VLB,PCI support:
VIA Rhine support
Use MMIO instead of PIO (Experimental)
The via-rhine driver included in kernel <=2.4.19 is buggy. If you
experience network hangs and error messages like: kernel: eth0: reset did not complete in
10ms
kernel: NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth0: transmit timed out
kernel: eth0: TRansmit timed out,
status 0000, PHY status 782d, resetting...
please upgrade.
Looking at the beginning of /usr/src/linux/drivers/net/via-rhine.c you
should see the following lines:
#define DRV_NAME "via-rhine"
#define DRV_VERSION "1.1.1X"
#define DRV_RELDATE "XXX-XX-2002"
If you have a version prior to 1.1.15 then you have to upgrade (thanks
to Der Ondre):
Download via-rhine.c
version 1.1.15.
Overwrite your old /usr/src/linux/drivers/net/via-rhine.c with the new
one.
Recompile your kernel.
Debian Specific: woody (3.0r0) doesn't
provide a kernel source package >2.4.19 so you'll have to download
it from ftp.kernel.org or one
of its mirrors.
- Modem
Model: VIA MC97 based on Conexant chip (PCI ID:
1106:3068)
Use the Conexant HSF Driver. Download it from: http://www.linuxant.com/
.
They are no longer free. You can download a free version limited
to 14400bps speed, the full version costs 15$. Thanks Conexant, we
really appreciate your support to the open source community <g>
Installation instructions for the old beta drivers (still available at http://www.olitec.com/pci56kv2.html):
Before starting, please check that /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build is a
symlink to your kernel source directory (e.g.
/usr/src/kernel-source-2.4.20) or to your kernel header directory (e.g.
/usr/src/kernel-headers-2.4.20).
then do:
tar xvzf hsflinmodem-*.tar.gz
cd hsflinmodem*
make install
hsfconfig
hsfconfig --country
Your modem device will be /dev/ttySHSF0.
WARNING: by default the /dev/ttySHSF0 device is world writable!!! Any
user on your system will be able to dial any number using your modem.
While many people wouldn't really consider it a security problem, if
you are too paranoid just like me, you may want to restrict access to
the device by issueing the command: chmod 660 /dev/ttySHSF0
/dev/cuaHSF0 .
Debian Specific: the correct way to manage modem device under Debian is
to make them group writable and then add all the users that should be
able to use the modem to that group. E.g.:
chmod 660 /dev/ttySHSF0 /dev/cuaHSF0
chown root.dialout /dev/ttySHSF0 /dev/cuaHSF0
adduser foo dialout
If you get a NO DIALTONE error after composing any phone number, try
adding ATX3 to your initialization string.
- UltraATA/100 Support
Model: VIA vt8231 (rev 10)
IDE UDMA100
controller (PCI ID: 1106:0571)
Enable the following items in the kernel configuration menu:
ATA/IDE/MFM/RLL Support
IDE, ATA and ATAPI Block devices:
Enhanced IDE/MFM/RLL disk/cdrom/tape/floppy support
Include IDE/ATA-2 DISK support
Use multi-mode by default
Include IDE/ATAPI CDROM support
Generic PCI IDE chipset support
Use PCI DMA by default when available
VIA82CXXX chipset support
You can verify that your drives are
DMA enabled by using:
hdparm -d /dev/hda
hdparm -d /dev/hdc
- Touchpad
Model: generic 3-button ps/2 mouse
Enable the following items in the
kernel configuration menu:
Character device/Mice/Mouse support
PS/2 mouse (aka "auxiliary device) support
In order to use the touchpad from the console,
tell gpm to use the autops2 driver. Here is my /etc/gpm.conf:
device=/dev/psaux
responsiveness=
repeat_type=
type=autops2
append=""
sample_rate=
Then do /etc/init.d/gpm restart
If you want to use the wheel/touchpad scrolling, you'll need a
2.6.x kernel. See the Kernel 2.6 section at the end of the page for
more info! Note: it will work only under X
- USB Controller
Model: Universal Host Controller Interface (PCI ID
1106:3038)
Enable the following items in the
kernel configuration menu:
USB Support/Support for USB
UHCI (Intel PIIX4, VIA, ...) support
Devices tested: Digicom Palladio USB
Bluetooth Dongle (CSR based), Logitech Optical Wheel Mouse
- Logitech Optical Wheen Mouse:
Enable the following items in the kernel configuration menu:
USB support/Support for USB:
USB Human Interface Device (full HID) support
HID input layer support
Input core support:
Input core support
Mouse support
You need to load the following modules in order to use a USB mouse:
input
mousedev
hid
In order to use your USB mouse from the console, change your
/etc/gpm.conf so that it looks like this:
device=/dev/input/mice
responsiveness=
repeat_type=
type=imps2
append=""
sample_rate=
Then restart gpm
/etc/init.d/gpm restart
In order to use both your USB mouse and TouchPad on XFree86 add the
following sections in your /etc/X11/XF86Config-4
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "USB Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option
"SendCoreEvents" "true"
Option
"Device"
"/dev/input/mice"
Option
"Protocol"
"ImPS/2"
Option
"Emulate3Buttons" "true"
Option
"ZAxisMapping" "4
5"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "TouchPad Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option
"CorePointer"
Option
"Device"
"/dev/psaux"
Option
"Protocol"
"PS/2"
Option
"Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection
Then check that your Server Layout section looks like this:
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default
Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "USB Mouse"
InputDevice "TouchPad Mouse" CorePointer
EndSection
Example configuration
file for XFree4.1 is available here: XF86Config-4.
- USB Bluetooth Dongle (CSR based)
See the dedicated page at http://www.nervous.it/hw/PalladioUSB_dongle.html.
- Hard Disk
Model: TOSHIBA MK2018GAP UDMA(100)
You can save a lot of battery power
by using noflushd (http://noflushd.sourceforge.net).
Here is the package description:
Noflushd is a daemon that spins down disks that have not been read from
after a certain amount of
time, and then prevents disk writes from
spinning them back up. It's targeted for laptops but can be used on any
computer with IDE disks. The effect is that the hard disk actually spins
down, saving you battery power, and
shutting off the loudest component of most computers.
noflushd is not useful if you are using a journaled filesystem!
Debian Specific: people
using Debian should install the following packages to get the best
out of this hard disk: hdparm ide-smart noflushd powermgmt-base .
I modified the default noflushd init.d script so that it doesn't start
if the laptop is on AC power. You can download it from
http://www.nervous.it/hw/noflushd.sh
. Simply overwrite the default /etc/init.d/noflushd with it and you are
done.
TBD: Security mode feature set hdparm -I /dev/hda
- CD/DVD ROM
Model: MATSHITADVD-ROM SR-8177
UDMA(33) ATAPI CD/DVD-ROM drive
The device name for he CD/DVD ROM is /dev/hdc.
If you never ran a DVD Video Player
on your notebook before, you have to set the DVD region
code first. Follow there instructions:
download
compile
run
choose
- CDRW/DVD
Model: QSI DVD/CDRW SBW-161
SX02 Removable CD-ROM
Add
append="hdc=ide-scsi"
to your lilo.conf either in the global section or in
a specific kernel section.
Then add the following lines to your /etc/modules.conf:
options ide-cd ignore=hdc
alias scd0 sr_mod
pre-install
sg modprobe ide-scsi # load ide-scsi before sg
pre-install sr_mod modprobe
ide-scsi # load ide-scsi before sr_mod
pre-install ide-scsi modprobe
ide-cd # load ide-cd before ide-scsi
From the next reboot on, access to the CDRW/DVD is provided
by the /dev/scd0 device and NOT by the /dev/hdc.
In order to burn your CDs, you have to install cdrecord. If you don't
like using it from the console, you can install any
GUI you may find: there will be no problems of compatibility. In fact, most of graphical programs for burning
CDs are just Graphical User Interfaces for cdrecord, so programs like xcdroast,
gcombust etc. should work on your laptop with no problems at all.
Debian Specific: people using Debian should create a file called e.g.
/etc/modutils/ideburner containing the above
lines and after that run update-modules
as root. Debian GNU/Linux doesn't allow the
/etc/modules.conf to be changed. Whenever you want to add something to
it, you have
to create a new file in /etc/modutils/ and then execute update-modules.
Next thing to do is to install the package cdrecord. If you want to use
a GUI for burning CDs, try one of the following packages: xcdroast,
gcombust, cdrtoaster, gtoaster, cdbakeoven, eroaster.
If everything is ok, the output of cdrecord
-scanbus should be something like this:
Cdrecord 1.11a39 (i686-pc-linux-gnu) Copyright (C) 1995-2002 J�rg
Schilling
Linux sg driver version: 3.1.24
Using libscg version 'schily-0.7'
scsibus0:
0,0,0 0) 'QSI '
'DVD/CDRW SBW-161' 'SX02' Removable CD-ROM
0,1,0 1) *
0,2,0 2) *
0,3,0 3) *
0,4,0 4) *
0,5,0 5) *
0,6,0 6) *
0,7,0 7) *
Note: Antonio Casini (acasini at tcl.it)
reports problem when blanking CD-RW. Using cdrdao instead of cdrecord
seems to solve the problem
Adrian Knoth says that you must use the -immed flag with cdrecord, in
order to blank CD-RWs.
- Keyboard HotKeys
The Mail, Browser, P1 and P2 button are supported through the hotkeys
program. You can get it from http://ypwong.org/hotkeys/
.
In order to use the P1 and P2 buttons with kernel 2.6.x, add the
following commands to your boot up scripts:
setkeycodes e074 148
setkeycodes e073 158
You will need a suitable keycode configuration file. I wrote this one: aspire1300.def
Put it in /usr/local/share/hotkeys
or /usr/share/hotkeys
depending on your installation, then open an xterm from inside Xwindows
and run
hotkeys -t aspire1300 -b
Debian Specific: first
apt-get install hotkeys
then copy aspire1300.def to
/usr/share/hotkeys
Finally edit
/etc/hotkeys.conf and change the following lines:
Kbd=aspire1300
WebBrowser=opera
Email=mozilla -mail
In
this example you associate the Email button to mozilla mail and the Browser button to Opera file and then
you won't have to run it manually anymore.
- PCMCIA WiFi Card
Mathieu Peresse <peressem at ses.curtin.edu.au> tested the
Cisco Aironet & Avaya Wireless (Orinoco based) PCMCIA Wireless
Cards on Acer Aspire 1300 with kernels 2.4.20 and 2.4.21. Here comes
his
instructions on how to set them up:
- Disable the kernel PCMCIA support. In the config menu:
General Setup -> PCMCIA/CardBus Support, uncheck the PCMCIA/CardBus
Support option
Network Device Support -> WirelessLAN(non-hamradio), check the
WirelessLAN Support (to be able to use the wireless extensions, i.e.
iwconfig...)
- Install the pcmcia-cs package (ver 3.2.4) from http://pcmcia-cs.sourceforge.net
This package come with some pcmcia tools and driver modules for a
lot of PCMCIA devices (not only WLAN devices)
- Modify the /etc/pcmcia/config.opts file: here is an example config.opts
- Make sure that the variable PCIC is set to "i82365" in
the /etc/init.d/pcmcia
- Install the wireless tools: http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/Tools.html
Debian specific: run
# apt-get install wireless-tools
The "iwconfig" tool is used to set the 802.11 parameters (ssid,
channel, mode, bitrate...)
- Bring the interface up:
# ifconfig eth1 up
# iwconfig eth1
Kernel 2.6 Hints
Mathieu Peresse and Gregory foulademer Colpart) reported
that kernel 2.6.x works perfectly on this laptop.
Here you can find a config file for that kernel:
config-2.6.0
For 2.6 kernels you have to get module-init-tools, which handles
modules. For other potential requirements see Documentation/Changes in
the linux kernel source directory.
Debian specific:
# apt-get install module-init-tools powernowd
I also made available a precompiled 2.6.0
kernel-image for Debian sarge. It already contains the alps.patch
which makes the scrolling wheel work.
Advantages of using kernel 2.6.x:
- cpu frequency scaling works well. You have to get a /sys sysfs
entry in your unix tree:
# mount -t sysfs none /sys
or add the following line in /etc/fstab:
none
/sys
sysfs defaults 0 0
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_setspeed is the file where
you can set the speed of you're processor.
# echo frequency_in_hz >
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_setspeed
In order to automatically change the cpu frequency you have to install powernowd
(nevermind the name, it works with any processor supported by cpufreq).
cpufreqd or cpudyn won't do.
- Suspend to Disk works
smoothly: it allows you to save the current RAM content to your swap
partition, turn completely off your computer and then resume your
session in a few seconds (ranging from 5 to 10 secs) without rebooting.
The only problem for me is the system date not being updated when I
resume. In order to suspend your laptop you have to:
Add the option resume=/dev/hdaX to your lilo.conf (use the append=
parameter) where hdaX is your swap partition. Update your boot sector
by running "lilo -v" and then type:
# echo 4 >/proc/acpi/sleep
WARNING: if you suspend to
disk and forget to resume your session at the following power on,
you'll be in trouble! You'll have to reinitialize your swap partition
and fsck all the other partitions! Be careful about it! You have been
warned!
- wheel (that's to say the button in the middle, below the
touchpad) finally works!
scrolling on the touchpad works too!
Here are the instructions:
- First, download the synaptics driver and the alps.patch from
http://w1.894.telia.com/~u89404340/touchpad/
- Apply the alps.patch to your kernel 2.6.0 source tree (the
debian
kernel image mentioned above already includes it):
# cd /usr/src/linux-2.6.0
# patch -p1 <
/path/alps.patch
- Recompile your kernel with CONFIG_INPUT_EVDEV=m and reboot
- Compile the synaptics driver:
# tar xvjf
synaptics-x.x.x.tar.bz2
# make
# make install
- Add the following section to your /etc/X11/XF86Config* file
Section "InputDevice"
Driver "synaptics"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Option
"Device"
"/dev/input/event0"
Option
"Protocol"
"event"
Option
"LeftEdge"
"60"
Option
"RightEdge"
"830"
Option
"TopEdge"
"70"
Option
"BottomEdge"
"650"
Option
"FingerLow"
"25"
Option
"FingerHigh"
"30"
Option
"MaxTapTime"
"180"
Option
"MaxTapMove"
"110"
Option
"EmulateMidButtonTime" "75"
Option
"VertScrollDelta" "50"
Option
"HorizScrollDelta" "50"
Option
"MinSpeed"
"0.5"
Option
"MaxSpeed"
"0.6"
Option
"AccelFactor"
"0.01"
Option
"EdgeMotionSpeed" "40"
Option
"UpDownScrolling" "1"
Option
"TouchpadOff"
"0"
EndSection
Debian specific:
people running sid/unstable (in a near future sarge users too) can
install the driver with a simple:
# apt-get install xfree86-driver-synaptic
You'll find the alps.patch in
/usr/share/doc/xfree86-driver-synaptic/alps.patch.gz
- Load the "evdev" module (modprobe evdev) and restart XFree. Now
you should be able to scroll by passing your finger on the edge of your
touchpad or by pressing the middle button (up&down). Horizontal
scrolling should work too (just use the bottom edge)
Links
- Credits
Author: Luca
'NERvOus' Gibelli (nervous at
nervous.it)
Thanks to:
Michael (e9725694 at student.tuwien.ac.at) - started the documentation
project
Luca Gambetta (ziabice at oltrelinux.com) - gave me information for the
CDRW/DVD drive and NetBSD
nizZy (dirtynizze at orebro.bonet.se) -
tested OpenBSD on this laptop
Francesco Poli (frx at firenze.linux.it) - step by step guide on dual
booting Linux and WinXP
Der Ondre (ICQ) - tested the new via-rhine driver
Danalien (danalien at datormaffian.com) - info about kdm and cpufreq on
kernel 2.5.62
Mathieu Peresse (peressem at ses.curtin.edu.au) - tested PCMCIA wifi
card and Kernel 2.6
Luigi Belli (lbelli at cream dot unimi dot it) - patch for broken PST
tables
Antonio Casini (acasini at tcl.it) - reported problem when blanking
cdrw with cdrecord
Jonas Meier (jonas.meier at swissonline.ch) - suggests using cpudyn
Gregory Colpart (ICQ: foulademer) - suggestions on using kernel 2.6
Simon Rutishauser (simon.rutishauser at mx.ch) - synaptics updates
Adrian Knoth (adi at drcomp.erfurt.thur.de) - blanking CD-RWs using
cdrecord
Alessandro Cerè (alessandro.cere at unicam.it) - using hotkeys
on kernel 2.6
Johannes Werner (johannes-dot-werner at physik.tu-darmstadt-dot-de) -
using P1 and P2 buttons on kernel 2.6

This document is distributed under
Creative
Commons Licence.
First release:
2 November 2002
Last update: 21 June 2005
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