http://eee.ricey.co.uk/ eee.ricey.co.uk en-us Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:53:30 GMT 1440 CPG-Nuke Dragonfly eee.ricey.co.uk News http://backend.userland.com/rss http://eee.ricey.co.uk/images/logo.gif http://eee.ricey.co.uk/ http://eee.ricey.co.uk/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=18 As you may or may not have noticed, eee.ricey has been down a while! What a going on! I was an unfortunate victim of a hacking incident, in fact not just me but 100,000 websites around the world. To that end I have been given new servers and a new OS (shiney) and all now appears to be running fine. So, what's happened with the Eee? Quite a lot, I've been playing with Ubuntu 9.04 full and the Netbook Remix (UNR) all run very well indeed. Another slant on the distro front has been Crunchbang Linux (#!) A lovely distro put together by a chap, local to me in fact, Corenominal. I'll see what news to put up soon, but if you have any suggestions/comments on what I should put on the site next then just leave a comment or pop onto the Forum. Thanks Ricey Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:53:30 GMT http://eee.ricey.co.uk/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17 Today Ubuntu issued a kernel update that, unfortunately, with the RiceeeyTweak2 script applied stops WiFi from working. Why? well to get wireless working in the first place you remember that we installed a .deb package off the install CD. This installed the correct drivers for the atheros wifi card. as it turns out this package is not in the kernel dependency list - so when the kernel gets updated this package doesn't! How to fix? the fix is quite straight forward - DON'T update just yet.... what we have to do first is go into Synaptic Package Manager and install linux-backports-modules-intrepid this puts the correct dependency on your system to avoid future kernel problems. Once the above package is installed, go ahead and update your kernel. I will be looking into a fix for the above mismatch in packages for the next release of RiceeeyTweak2 cheers Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:04:55 GMT http://eee.ricey.co.uk/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=16 Today saw a general clean up of the scripts. v1 - updated the link to the madwifi drivers - they changed location again and tweaked the Overclock Notification. v2 - updated the code that was causing parse errors on some setups. Please report back with all problems and suggestions cheers Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:32:38 GMT http://eee.ricey.co.uk/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=15 After a few discussions and a little research here is a new version of RiceeeyTweak for Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex. This version - 2.1 - includes a few extra module changes and boot tweaks to speed up boot (a little) and introduces CPU Frequency scaling. The CPU now scales On Demand from 562mhz to 900mhz. This saves battery on low usage but increases speed on high usage. The install process is the same, if you have v2 installed already, delete the install files and then download and run the new script in the same manner. cheers Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:40:33 GMT http://eee.ricey.co.uk/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=14 Just for clarification there are currently two scripts here at eee.ricey.co.uk. The first - v1 - is for Ubuntu 8.04 'Hardy Heron' only. Available here The second - v2 - is for Ubuntu 8.10 'Intrepid Ibex' only. Available here cheers Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:48:30 GMT http://eee.ricey.co.uk/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=13 As we know the Eee-PC from ASUS is a remarkable little computer! So what better to do with it than to install Ubuntu's latest and greatest Linux Distribution - Ubuntu 8.10 'Intrepid Ibex'. The install process is very simple, I will try, here, to run through what is needed and the steps taken. Firstly we need to choose the version of ubuntu to use. There are 4 mainstream variants. 1. Ubuntu (this used the Gnome window manager) 2. Kubuntu (with the KDE window manager) 3. Xubuntu (this uses XFCE) 4. Fluxbuntu (this uses fluxbox - very minimalist!) Right, let's get installing... The first thing we need is the CD ISO image, these can be downloaded from the sites above. Secondly a USB stick to install from, you'll need at least a 1GB stick for this to work. Ok, let's get the USB stick prepared on your main computer. First we need to make sure that is is formatted as FAT16 or FAT32 and have the boot flag 'on' or it won't work, we also need a small utility called isostick. A great little utility that makes the whole USB stick a bootable device with Ubuntu ready to go in just one command! Make a temporary directory in your home directory (or wherever you make temporary directories!) and place the .iso file in there. Pop the isostick script in there with it. In a terminal change to the directory where the .iso and the isostick files are saved and plug in your USB stick. For a detailed explanation of creating a bootable USB stick have a look here. For this to work we need to find out where your USB stick has appeared in the file system on the computer. This will be in the /dev directory. Mine comes up as /dev/sdg1. Taking mine as an example and using the latest ubuntu .iso enter the command in the termainal like this: Code:: sudo ./isostick /home/ricey/temp/ubuntu-8.10-desktop-i386.iso /dev/sdg1 A few error messages about file permissions will appear but don't worry they're not relevant - it is because FAT doesn't support file permissions so an error occurs when we try to use them. After a short wait a 'success' message should appear. Safely remove the USB stick from the computer and we're finished! Wasn't that easy?? Right over to the Eee. With the Eee powered down plug in the USB stick and hit the power button. When the initial ASUS boot screen appears hit the 'ESC' key. This will bring up the boot device select screen. Using the arrow keys select your USB stick from the list and hit enter. The Eee will boot from the stick. Use your arrow keys to select your language and hit [Enter] to continue. Select 'Install Ubuntu' from the list then sit back and watch it boot. (If you want to just try the OS, boot using the 'Try Ubuntu...' option) After a short while the ubuntu installer will appear. Ok let's get the install under way: As we only have a small screen during the install some of the windows will fall off the bottom of it. You can move the windows around the screen by pressing ALT+Left Click together anywhere on the window and dragging the it about. Follow the simple instructions until you get to the disk partitioning part. There are a few theories around as how to partition your 4gb solid state drive, but I personally go for simplicity. One large partition and no swap space. Select 'Manual' configuration. This will bring up a list of Partitions/Hard Drives The top most entry is your Internal 4Gb Solid State Disk. Delete any partitions so you should have 4.0 Gb of free space. Selecting this free space, create a new partition. In the dialogue all we have to enter is the filesystem type, 'Ext2' and mount point, which will be Code:: / accept those settings and continue. Enter your user details to continue with the install. Once the installer has all your details a final summary screen will appear Hit the 'Install' button if you are happy and watch it go... All in it should take about 15 mins to install the base system. Once finished click the button to restart. When prompted to, remove the USB stick and hit enter to shutdown. The Eee will then restart and boot into your shiney new ubuntu install. RiceeeyTweak2 (quick link) Making all your Hardware work! As many of you know the RiceeeyTweak script has helped getting the Eee's hardware working. Well Intrepid is no different. I have been looking into the problems with the 70x series since the early releases. There are still some but not as many as before! What doesn't work on the default install? 1. Shutdown - the sound card still needs a push to shutdown 2. Media Card Eject - doesn't get ejected at shutdown forcing a check on every startup 3. Hotkeys - just get confused - espcially the wifi toggle 4. Wifi - drivers aren't included by default The new script is for 70x hardware only as I have no access to any other Eee netbook, but all the above are fixed on the 70x series. I'm now supplying a .tar.gz package with modified system files included to replace the default installed files. There aren't many but it seemed easier to replace the files than adjust them. The only problem with this is official updates. If Ubuntu 're-replace' these files then you will need to re-run the script. I will keep an eye on the updates to see if the problems get fixed or not. The files that get replaced are: /etc/init.d/halt /etc/init.d/umountfs /etc/modules /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-local /etc/acpi/if-asus-eee.sh (created) /etc/acpi/eee-wifi-on-off.sh (created) /etc/acpi/events/asus-wireless-on /etc/acpi/events/asus-wireless-off /etc/acpi/events/asus-mail (removed!) (backups of already created files are made) The script also changes gnome settings - as before - making the fonts smaller etc. Installation is easy. Download the .tar.gz file to your Desktop. Right click on the file and click on 'Extract Here' This creates a new folder, inside which you will find the script file and a folder containing the files that will be replaced. Once extracted open a terminal System >> Applications >> Terminal and enter: Code:: cd Desktop/RiceeeyTweak2 then: Code:: ./RiceeeyTweak2.sh The first step, as the script says, is something you can do yourself! Although Ubuntu decided not to include the wifi drivers, they have included a .deb on the CD. Which means no more compiling! The script provides instructions on how to get this file installed. Once the script has run it's course, just reboot and enjoy. Even 'Sleep' works - fn+f2 I hope the script is useful - enjoy! Cheers Sun, 02 Nov 2008 11:11:23 GMT http://eee.ricey.co.uk/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=12 Ubuntu 8.10 'Intrepid Ibex' is due for release on 30th October. Last week the beta version was released for testing. I tried the alpha 5 release on my Eee and was sorely disappointed, especially considering Canonical had said they are supporting the EeePCs. So I stayed away for a while, watching. On the release of the beta, I was a little dubious, so I tried it on my Acer Aspire One. I was pleasantly surprised. The One shares some hardware with the Eee so it peaked my interest again. I then put the beta on my main Desktop, again nicely surprised. To that end, this afternoon, I put Intrepid onto my Eee! The results; well a mixed bag I'm afraid. Let's run through what I did... Installation As with all Ubuntu releases it was a complete breeze. The process hasn't changed much, the partitioner is the main difference and that is merely cosmetic. Everything went smoothly. First Boot The default boot is nippy enough for a full distro, about 70 seconds - I haven't timed it! This brings you the the usual login prompt, shiney and brown. Once logged in the first impressions are 'well it's Ubuntu' Brown and Orange. The first thing you see is NO WIRELESS! But this time the fix is easy: System > Administration > Hardware Drivers and De-Activate the Atheros driver. Reboot and the wireless is just fine and dandy, using the new 'ath5k' driver. Updating: Now there are a lot of updates for the beta, so it actually does a 'partial distribution upgrade' This upgrades the kernel and a lot of other stuff - it did hang at the end but a regualr reboot didn't seem to have a harmful effect. There are still bugs, and a few apps did crash initially, but the update seems to have fixed most of them. Sound? Well when I logged in it made a noise and in fact everything seems to be good by default. The internal and external mics work once you select it in the Volume Control panel. You have to bring up the preferences to enable the sliders for the 'i-mic' and 'e-mic' but all seems good. Headphones are fine too. Sleep: Seems to be ok, hitting fn+f1 did the trick, and seemed to come back ok after hitting the power switch - all usb mounted correctly and the wireless worked. Hotkeys: Here we go - the most disappointing bit. At the start only the brightness and sleep keys worked. No wireless toggle, volume or fn+f5 or fn+f6. In fact fn+f5 increased the volume! The new kernel module (driver) called 'eeepc_laptop' is loaded and is supposed to handle all EeePC hardware and on other models it seems to do an ok job. On the 701 it's broken. I managed to get the volume keys working by adding a missing file in the /etc/acpi directry. This missing file is part of the Debian acpi-support package and is called 'if-asus-eee.sh'. I don't know why it's not there, whether it's intentional to stop conflicts with eeepc_laptop or it's a mistake, but in the /etc/acpi/events directory there are entries for Eee volume events that refer to the missing file. Making a file to replace the missing one that just sends the instructions straight through make all the volume keys work. Creating event files for the other 2 fn keys also allow them to work (there is a conflict with fn+f5 so you have to (re)move another volume event file 'asus-volume-up' to make it work). the missing file I popped in was: filename: /etc/acpi/if-asus-eee.sh containing: Code:: #! /bin/sh /etc/acpi/$1 that's it. I don't know if it the correct way of doing it, but it works! The wireless toggle is the only key I can't get working. It seems to be a bigger problem then just an Eee thing. A mixture of the new ath5k, eeepc_laptop, rfkill have changed how things operate with each other, so the previous systems don't work. The author of eeepc_laptop is working on the problem, so hopefully a new version will be out before release. Shutdown: Well it still doesn't properly! We need to apply the rmmod intel-hda fix and the eject /dev/sdb1 fix. Verdict So... those problems aside 8.10 is looking good! A lot fewer problems than 8.04 and now that I know what's wrong, easier to fix! And maybe, just maybe these last few niggles will be ironed out before release - we still have two weeks to go and they're not that serious. Is it worth doing? I think so, the latest kernel supporting the latest hardware, uncountable software updates, compiz works great - and Totem even has a plugin allowing direct BBC audio content to be played - cracking! Try it and see! cheers Sun, 12 Oct 2008 23:40:01 GMT http://eee.ricey.co.uk/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=11 OK, hands up all those jealous of their mac owning mates who can scroll with two fingers on their touch pad. Well be jealous no more! Whilst installing Debian Lenny on my other laptop I stumbled upon this 'option' you can put in your xorg.conf file that switches on two finger scrolling. The easiest way to do this is: press ALT+F2 in the run dialog box type Code:: gksu gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf find the 'Section' that refers to the 'Synaptic' touch pad / mouse after the list of Options for the section and before the 'EndSection' line paste a new line with this Code:: Option "VertTwoFingerScroll" "1" save and close. save all open work and log off / on you now have two finger scrolling. enjoy. I found that it can be a little sensitive and takes some getting used to. Searching the 'net brings up all options available for tweaking the variables for the touch pad. Have a look through the pages and see what you can find. Also typing Code:: man synaptics in a terminal will show the manual for the driver giving a description of all available options. My pad, at least, supports multi-finger detection. The pad has to support it in hardware - so I guess it depends on the hardware version. As far as I know there is no way to tell. My Eee is an early one so hopefully newer ones also have the appropriate hardware. cheers PS I have only tested this using the Eee kernel from array.org. Also this works on any laptop with the right hardware! Mon, 01 Sep 2008 23:01:47 GMT http://eee.ricey.co.uk/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=10 Due to madwifi changing it's driver location I have updated the RiceeeyTweak script to version 0.5. This update brings the atheros driver to the latest August release. as usual, after every kernel update please delete the contents of your temporary Eee install directory and start the method from the beginning using this latest script. Please download the script from here or from the link below. cheers Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:47:34 GMT http://eee.ricey.co.uk/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=9 With suggestions from users, in particular Bombela, I have updated the RiceeeyTweak script to version 0.4. This update brings true kernel independence. as usual, after every kernel update please delete the contents of your temporary Eee install directory and start the method from the beginning using this latest script. Please download the script from here or from the link below. cheers Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:15:00 GMT