# Asus EEEPC 1201n - ACPI/FN Key Issues

## Devcon

I recently purchased the 1201n and the first thing I did was dump Windows 7 and install Gentoo.  95% percent of everything works, but I have a few remaining issues that I've been troubleshooting intermittently for the past week.

1) Suspend.  I decided to use the suspend package with s2ram and s2disk.  I set up the relevant scripts in /etc/acpi to have the machine suspend to ram upon pushing the sleep button or closing the lid.  The first time suspending, this works perfectly.  It also resumes correctly without issue.  This is where things become inconsistent.  Sometimes, it will suspend normally again, but eventually, when it suspends it begins to immediately wake up.  After it begins to do this, the machine will subsequently shutdown by itself after about 5 minutes.

2) HDMI out and sound.  This may be TV related as I've read about HDMI problems connecting to Philips HDTV's.  Anyway, using the proprietary drivers (190.53r1) I receive picture but no sound.

3) Special/FN keys.  The disable touchpad key does not even generate a keycode.  So, apparently the kernel does not recognize it.  The same is true for certain FN+ keys although most of the FN+ keys work out of the box.  This includes some of the more important ones like contrast, wireless, and the keypad.  Anyone have any experience patching kernels to make certain keys work?

4) Multi-Touch Scroll.  The synaptics driver works great in general.  Tap and side scroll are both working nicely, but the two finger vertical scroll option in HAL doesn't seem to work.  Here's my synaptics hal policy:

```

<deviceinfo version="0.2">

  <device>

    <match key="info.capabilities" contains="input.touchpad">

        <merge key="input.x11_driver" type="string">synaptics</merge>

        

      <merge key="input.x11_options.MinSpeed" type="string">0.3</merge>

      <merge key="input.x11_options.MaxSpeed" type="string">0.4</merge>

      <merge key="input.x11_options.AccelFactor" type="string">0.02</merge>

      <merge key="input.x11_options.SHMConfig" type="string">on</merge>

      <merge key="input.x11_options.TapButton1" type="string">1</merge>

      <merge key="input.x11_options.TapButton2" type="string">2</merge>

      <merge key="input.x11_options.TapButton3" type="string">3</merge>

      <merge key="input.x11_options.FastTaps" type="string">1</merge>

      <merge key="input.x11_options.VertEdgeScroll" type="string">1</merge>

      <merge key="input.x11_options.VerteScrollDelta" type="string">2</merge>

      <merge key="input.x11_options.VertTwoFingerScroll" type="string">1</merge>

      <merge key="input.x11_options.HorizScrollDelta" type="string">1</merge>

      <merge key="input.x11_options.HorizTwoFingerScroll" type="string">1</merge>

      <merge key="input.x11_options.CircularScrolling" type="string">1</merge>

      <merge key="input.x11_options.CircScrollTrigger" type="string">8</merge>

      <merge key="input.x11_options.CircScrollDelta" type="string">0.1</merge>

      <merge key="input.x11_options.LeftEdge" type="string">2000</merge>

      <merge key="input.x11_options.LTCornerButton" type="string">3</merge>

      <merge key="input.x11_options.RTCornerButton" type="string">2</merge>

    </match>

  </device>

</deviceinfo>

```

The most important thing is getting the ACPI and FN key stuff worked out.  If anyone else has this netbook, feel free to consolidate in this thread.

Thanks guys

----------

## towerk

did you get the wifi working?

I didn't see a driver in the kernel...

I have one too and it's awesome!

----------

## Devcon

Yeah.  Actually, getting the wifi working was no problem.  The correct driver is not in the mainstream kernel.  You need to compile it as a module.  Let me know and I can post the correct driver for you.  I remember having downloaded the most recent version of the driver, and I had problems.  The version I have saved on my computer works like a charm.  I have it running nicely w/ wicd.

Let me know.  

Also, if you get any of the stuff I stated above working, use this thread so we can troubleshoot in one place.

EDIT:  Well, I dug up the link.  I believe it is this driver.  So all you need to do is

Driver Link:

http://launchpadlibrarian.net/33927923/rtl8192se_linux_2.6.0010.1012.2009.tar.gz

Extract the driver, cd and compile:

```

# tar xvf rtl8192se_linux_2.6.0010.1012.2009.tar.gz

# cd rtl8192se_linux_2.6.0010.1012.2009

# make && make install

```

However, you may have errors initially.  Read the error message carefully as it is likely just a matter of a missing directory.  So,

```

# mkdir /lib/modules/2.6.32-gentoo-r2/kernel/drivers/net/wireless    #This obviously depends on your kernel

# make && make install

```

Now you need to copy the firmware to the module's directory:

```

# cp ./firmware/RTL8192SE /lib/modules/2.6.32-gentoo-r2/kernel/drivers/net/wireless

```

----------

## isilia

Sorry for reviving this thread but could the OP please share his kernel configuration? I can't get the display brightness keys to work and I'm guessing it's kernel option related. 

Thank you

----------

## isilia

Enabling ACPI_VIDEO solved my problem, I didn't see it before because it was hidden.

----------

## Devcon

Sorry, I hadn't seen this post.  I'm going to post my kernel configuration so that maybe we can use it as a base and improve upon it.  Note, that this is mostly vanilla (only patch is fbcondecor) and I have not tweaked everything.  

That being said, I still have issues with certain function keys and suspend/resume.  I'd like to get these kinks worked out...

Here is my config for vanilla 2.6.33.  Sorry for the block of code; I will whittle it down when I have more time.

LINK

----------

## karl.e

hi there,

i've got a little problem with my wireless card. It wont be detected. I am not talking about modules. lspci, lsusb, lshw not one is showing up the thing. Bluetooth shows up as soon it is enabled in the bios. But no 802 wireless network adapter will show up.

Could you just give me your output of lspci/usb or whatever to get an idea where and as what it will show up.

The light on the front is on.

Thanks in advance

Karl

----------

## Devcon

If everything is activated in the BIOS, your lspci should output:

```

07:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device 8171 (rev 10)

```

----------

## karl.e

Thanks Devcon,

i've got that line but thougth it is just part of the Ethernet-side.

No Wireless mentioned, 8171 mislead me, so its not saying 8192 and i did not think of the .33-kernel does still have 8192se's that dont work.

So i'll go for the downloaded sources and install manually.

thanks for the info

Karl

----------

## Devcon

Right, you need to download the sources and compile/install the module manually as outlined above.  Although keep in mind that I have not had luck compiling w/ a kernel greater than .32.   If you manage to get everything compiled with kernel .33, let me know.

----------

## karl.e

Downloaded the latest driver from the realtek-site an as so far its done and running with 2.6.33. Modules loading fine and ifconfig and iwconfig getting the card running

- but -

with my router i run in some other problems.

wifi-radar can scan it but there is no way to get an ip from it or use the given one. Either there is a prob with the dhcp on the router or my install and config from dhcpcd and wpa_supplicant is not right. The configuration will just be used outside at hotels, cafes or macdo's. So no need of WEP/WAP or anything else. It should just use any open and unsecured POA. At home its always wired. And for that situation i cant find any hints.

I will have a look at that later - at the moment i am a bit f__ked off with those automatic voodoo which is never really automatic and outofbox.

so long

Karl

----------

## Devcon

Well, I guess I'll recompile another test kernel and see what happens.  

You can't manually connect/assign an address for testing purposes?

```

iwconfig wlan0 essid "AP"

ifconfig wlan0 [ADDR] netmask [MASK] broadcast [ADDR.255]

echo "nameserver [DNS]" > /etc/resolv.conf

route add default gw [ROUTER_ADDR]

```

Maybe try 'wicd' instead?  I have no experience with wifi-radar.

----------

## karl.e

hi Devcon,

>>You can't manually connect/assign an address for testing purposes?

i will try

>>Maybe try 'wicd' instead?  I have no experience with wifi-radar.

did already install wicd - it tries to connect, but can't get an ip

wpa_compliant does not show up any interface, nor the Router.

the story will go on

----------

## superwutze

hello!

my 1201n is now running gentoo linux amd64 for more than one month and by now perfectly usable. as i am an eeepc veteran i used to have pre-built distros on those cpu-weak litlle toys but the ion platform changed that to my beloved gentoo. prior to the 1201n i built a htpc using asus' at3n7a-i board also featuring nvidia's ion as a powerful companion to intel's atom z330, so i had a little expierence when my new eeepc arrived. on both platforms i decided to use 64bit linux, i simply didn't want to throw half the performance away and gentoo makes it possible (as far as i know gentoo is the only linux distro around allowing usage of nvidia's powerful vdpau extensions on linux without building custom software, just set the vdpau use-flag).

i used to have debian testing on my little eees so i simply took their eeepc-acpi-scripts package and put it on my 1201n, voila, almost all hotkeys working!

what doesn't work:

wireless with kernels >= 2.6.33 (realtek's 0.15 release needs some extensions that got dropped with 2.6.33, so i'm stuck with 2.6.32)

camera hotkey (there is still a problem with the eeepc_laptop module and that cam, but the cam works, you just can't disable it)

clock modulation of the z330 cpu (using p4_clockmod i can see all sysfs entries but clockmodulation won't work. i can set clocks manually but despite the eee running slower battery time does not increase. accordingly to it's specs the z330 doesn't support clock modulation at all. i read about successfully using powernowd to modulate the clocks by daemon, but as there is no gain in battery runtime why do it?).

also the super-hybrid engine (shengine) shows no effect on battery runtime.

i'd be very happy if asus would slow the fan a little with the next bios release, because an audible fan at 28°C cpu temp is a little annoying.

i almost forgot: you have to boot the kernel with the 'acpi_osi=Linux' option to make the eeepc_laptop module load!

summary: a very handsome and useful but also surprisingly powerful device. using vdpau extensions it is possible to view hd-videos with 0% cpu load (though of course the decoding inside the ion also drains battery). the display is glossy, but the backlight-leds are bright enough to work even in sunlight. i don't regret my move from my old 901a to the 1201n, also i'm very happy to be back to gentoo!!

so long,

andy

----------

## Devcon

 *superwutze wrote:*   

> hello!
> 
> what doesn't work:
> 
> wireless with kernels >= 2.6.33 (realtek's 0.15 release needs some extensions that got dropped with 2.6.33, so i'm stuck with 2.6.32)
> ...

 

I had the same problem.  Despite using my old configs, I found that specific kernel features were no longer compiled into the kernel.  Verify that the following are compiled into your kernel:

```

CONFIG_WIRELESS=y

CONFIG_WIRELESS_EXT=y

CONFIG_WEXT_PRIV=y

CONFIG_CFG80211_WEXT=y

CONFIG_HOSTAP=y ## I was having trouble enabling WIRELESS_EXT as it was no longer visible in the graphical config.  Enabling this option selected it automatically.

```

I'm now running an RC of vanilla 2.6.34 sources.  I'm yet to resolve the other issues.

----------

## superwutze

wow, the hint with selecting the prism driver for the missing kernel options is great!! right now compiling 2.6.33-r2  :Smile: 

----------

## isilia

Using acpi_osi=Linux when booting, along with having eeepc_laptop module enabled (thanks superwutze) enables the touchpad toggle key in the top left corner of the keyboard. The key's indicator light can be toggled by echoing 0 or 1 to /sys/devices/platform/eeepc/leds/eeepc\:\:touchpad/brightness. The touchpad can be toggled by running synclient TouchpadOff=1 or 0. So that left me wondering how I can make the toggle key work neatly. Any ideas?

----------

## Devcon

Excellent.  This is my lucky day.

I have the touchpad toggle working nicely synced with the LED.  You simply need to edit your acpi scripts to react on the new key events.  To save time on writing these scripts, I'm using Nicolas Bigaouette's acpi scripts.  The 1201n is not officially supported, but it is easy to make it work.

You can get all of the scripts here:

http://code.google.com/p/acpi-eeepc-generic/

You can follow the basic install directions with a couple modifications.  Here is my config file for the 1201n:

/etc/acpi/eeepc/models/acpi-eeepc-1201N-events.conf

```

# Copyright 2009 Nicolas Bigaouette

# This file is part of acpi-eeepc-generic.

# http://code.google.com/p/acpi-eeepc-generic/

#

# acpi-eeepc-generic is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify

# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by

# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or

# (at your option) any later version.

#

# acpi-eeepc-generic is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,

# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of

# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the

# GNU General Public License for more details.

#

# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License

# along with acpi-eeepc-generic.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

# Silver buttons

KEY_SILVER1=("00000037" "00000028")  # Toggle Touchpad

KEY_SILVER2="0000001b"  # Power

# Fn+Key combination

KEY_Fn_F1="00000080"    # Sleep

KEY_Fn_F2=("00000010" "00000011") # Wifi toggle

KEY_Fn_F5="0000002*"    # Brightness down

KEY_Fn_F6="0000002*"    # Brightness up

KEY_Fn_F7="00000016"    # LCD Off

KEY_Fn_F8="00000030"    # XRandR

KEY_Fn_F9=("00000037" "00000029")    # Toggle Touchpad

KEY_Fn_F10="00000013"   # Mute

KEY_Fn_F11="00000014"   # Volume Down

KEY_Fn_F12="00000015"   # Volume Up

KEY_Fn_Space="00000039" # SHE

KEY_Fn_C="0000003c"   # ScreenShot

KEY_Fn_V=""      # Webcam

#################################################################

### Match previous to functions

EEEPC_TOUCHPAD_TOGGLE=$KEY_SILVER1

EEEPC_POWER=$KEY_SILVER2

EEEPC_SHE_TOGGLE=$KEY_Fn_Space

EEEPC_SLEEP=$KEY_Fn_F1

EEEPC_WIFI_TOGGLE=${KEY_Fn_F2[0]}

EEEPC_TOUCHPAD_TOGGLE=$KEY_Fn_F9

EEEPC_BRIGHTNESS_UP=$KEY_Fn_F5

EEEPC_BRIGHTNESS_DOWN=$KEY_Fn_F6

EEEPC_SCREEN_OFF=$KEY_Fn_F7

EEEPC_XRANDR_TOGGLE=${KEY_Fn_F8[0]}

EEEPC_VOL_MUTE=$KEY_Fn_F10

EEEPC_VOL_DOWN=$KEY_Fn_F11

EEEPC_VOL_UP=$KEY_Fn_F12

EEEPC_SCREENSHOT=$KEY_Fn_C

EEEPC_WEBCAM=$KEY_Fn_V

```

The only key left to get working is the webcam.  I know the Fn+C hotkey may not be for screenshots technically, but that's just how I set it up.  Now, the next file to edit to turn on/off the touchpad LED is:

/etc/acpi/eeepc/acpi-eeepc-generic-toggle-touchpad.sh

```

#!/bin/bash

# Copyright 2009 Nicolas Bigaouette

# This file is part of acpi-eeepc-generic.

# http://code.google.com/p/acpi-eeepc-generic/

#

# acpi-eeepc-generic is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify

# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by

# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or

# (at your option) any later version.

#

# acpi-eeepc-generic is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,

# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of

# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the

# GNU General Public License for more details.

#

# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License

# along with acpi-eeepc-generic.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

. /etc/acpi/eeepc/acpi-eeepc-generic-functions.sh

# Make sure we run as root

if [[ $EUID -ne 0 ]]; then

   me="`dirname $0`/`basename $0`"

   ${SUDO} "${me}"

   exit 1

fi

# 0 means off, 1 means on

STATE_FILE="$EEEPC_VAR/states/touchpad"

if [ -e "$STATE_FILE" ]; then

  TPSAVED=$(cat $STATE_FILE)

fi

enable=`synclient -l 2>&1`

if [ "$enable" == "Can't access shared memory area. SHMConfig disabled?" ]; then

    eeepc_notify "$enable" stop 10000

    eeepc_notify "Ensure xorg.conf is properly configured." stop 10000

    exit 1

fi

function touchpad_toggle() {

    if [ -S /tmp/.X11-unix/X0 ]; then

        TOUCHPAD_OFF=$(cat "/sys/devices/platform/eeepc/leds/eeepc::touchpad/brightness")

        if [ "$TOUCHPAD_OFF" = "1" ]; then

            echo 0 > $STATE_FILE

       echo "0" > "/sys/devices/platform/eeepc/leds/eeepc::touchpad/brightness"

            if [ $? ]; then

                [ -e /usr/bin/unclutter ] && unclutter -idle .5 -root &

                eeepc_notify "Touchpad Disabled" mouse

            else

                eeepc_notify "Unable to disable touchpad; Ensure xorg.conf is properly configured." stop

            fi

        else

            echo 1 > $STATE_FILE

       echo "1" > "/sys/devices/platform/eeepc/leds/eeepc::touchpad/brightness"

            if [ $? ]; then

                pkill unclutter

                eeepc_notify "Touchpad Enabled" mouse

            else

                eeepc_notify "Unable to enable touchpad; Ensure xorg.conf is properly configured." stop

            fi

        fi

    fi

}

function touchpad_restore() {

    if [ "$TPSAVED" = "0" ]; then

   echo "0" > "/sys/devices/platform/eeepc/leds/eeepc::touchpad/brightness"

    else

   echo "1" > "/sys/devices/platform/eeepc/leds/eeepc::touchpad/brightness"

    fi

}

case $1 in

    restore)

        touchpad_restore

    ;;

    *)

        touchpad_toggle

    ;;

esac

```

Note, that I am not bothering with synclient.  I found that simply echoing to the brightness file killed 2 birds w/ one stone.  It has been working with no problems. * Do not forget to emerge x11-misc/unclutter so the mouse pointer disappears on disable.

Once the wiki goes live, we should try to organize and post all of our findings.

----------

## isilia

 *Devcon wrote:*   

> Note, that I am not bothering with synclient.  I found that simply echoing to the brightness file killed 2 birds w/ one stone.  It has been working with no problems. * Do not forget to emerge x11-misc/unclutter so the mouse pointer disappears on disable.
> 
> Once the wiki goes live, we should try to organize and post all of our findings.

 

No such luck here, the led works as expected when echoing to the file but the touchpad doesn't get turned off. Any idea as to why it's not working?

----------

## superwutze

so, thanks to devcon i'm now running 2.6.33-r2, but i can't see any improvement over 2.6.32 regarding eee-support.

as mentioned above i use the eeepc-acpi-scripts package from debian which looks just the same as the acpi-eeepc-generic. thanks to isilia i was able to enhance it with support for the touchpad-led.

just like the cam-disable function i realized the cardreader-disable function also doesn't work. but i guess that depends on the eeepc_laptop kernel module.

edit: also de/activating the touchpad-led had no effect on the function itself.

----------

## Devcon

 *Quote:*   

> 
> 
> No such luck here, the led works as expected when echoing to the file but the touchpad doesn't get turned off. Any idea as to why it's not working?
> 
> 

 

That is peculiar, but it should not be an issue.  Just add the "synclient TouchpadOff=[0,1]" back into the script while executing the relevant echo command for the LED.  I'm not sure why echoing to the brightness device file is working for me.  Note that you would also need to change the $TOUCHPAD_OFF variable in the script.  The original uses synclient which would work in your case.

 *Quote:*   

> 
> 
> just like the cam-disable function i realized the cardreader-disable function also doesn't work. but i guess that depends on the eeepc_laptop kernel module.
> 
> 

 

Do you get a key press event on the card-reader disable function?  As I stated before, i just use it for taking screenshots and I don't have the card reader driver modularized.  But it appears enable/disable would be easily accomplished loading/unloading the cardr module.

Within a couple kernel versions, I'm sure we will have everything working nicely.

----------

## superwutze

the keypress is not the problem, i meant echoing [0,1] to /sys/devices/platform/eeepc/[cardr,camera]. both entries are present but generate error messages when read/written. dmesg shows the following:

```
eeepc_laptop: Error writing CAMS

eeepc_laptop: Error reading CAMG

```

both show also  an 'Input/output error' when read.

but thats not really a drawback for funcionality.

----------

## isilia

Have you guys gotten jack plug muting to work yet? I have to manually mute my speakers which is a bit of a nuisance. I'm running 2.6.33-r2 gentoo patch set.

----------

## superwutze

if you mean 'speaker muting when a headset is plugged': that worked out of the box. i use wmii as windowmanager and have gnome-media running in background so the volume-hotkeys work with osd. maybe that does the muting automagically.

but recently my touchpad loses its settings after suspend. i had that once on my 901a but that vanished with a sudden as it came. now it's back on the 1201n. after every suspend (str and std) i have to reapply my touchpad settings via synclient. anyone noticed something like that?

----------

## isilia

 *superwutze wrote:*   

> if you mean 'speaker muting when a headset is plugged': that worked out of the box. i use wmii as windowmanager and have gnome-media running in background so the volume-hotkeys work with osd. maybe that does the muting automagically.
> 
> but recently my touchpad loses its settings after suspend. i had that once on my 901a but that vanished with a sudden as it came. now it's back on the 1201n. after every suspend (str and std) i have to reapply my touchpad settings via synclient. anyone noticed something like that?

 

What Intel HD Audio codecs did you build in your kernel? Could you paste the output of 

```
cat /usr/src/linux/.config | grep SND_HDA | grep -v not\ set
```

I wouldn't know about your touchpad, you could check the status file in /var/eeepc and append a little bash script to the resume script.

----------

## superwutze

```
cat /usr/src/linux/.config | grep SND_HDA | grep -v not\ set
```

says

```
CONFIG_SND_HDA_INTEL=y

CONFIG_SND_HDA_HWDEP=y

CONFIG_SND_HDA_INPUT_JACK=y

CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_REALTEK=y

CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_ANALOG=y

CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_SIGMATEL=y

CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_VIA=y

CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_ATIHDMI=y

CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_NVHDMI=y

CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_INTELHDMI=y

CONFIG_SND_HDA_ELD=y

CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_CIRRUS=y

CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_CONEXANT=y

CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_CA0110=y

CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_CMEDIA=y

CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_SI3054=y

CONFIG_SND_HDA_GENERIC=y
```

as to my touchpad-settings-problem: i edited my script to save the settings before going to sleep and resuming afterwards and strange enough it works with std but not with str. i guess i have to dig a little deeper for that.

----------

## ericfinster

Hi All,

Thanks for the great posts. Just recently picked up a 1201N, and I'd really like to get a gentoo system running on it.

I'm having a bit of a snag with the wireless.  I've been able to compile the driver as above under 2.6.33, and it seems to load and work just fine.  If I manually configure everything with iwconfig and then run dhcpcd, then, lo and behold, wireless internet!  I'd like to use wicd to automate the process, but when I do, it times out waiting for an IP address.  The log shows that dhcpcd is spawned but is timing out.  I can't figure out what the difference could be.

I'm using the latest version (1.7.0, I think) of wicd, and there are a couple mumblings about similar problems turned up by a quick google search, but no real answers.  Since we have the same hardware, I'm wondering if anyone else has run into this problem, and if so, how they fixed it.

Thanks in advance.

----------

## superwutze

there is some problem with the wireless that no link information is relayed to the dhcp-client, maybe you have to deactivate the 'wait for link' setting in wicd (i don't know wicd so i don't know the exact name of the option).

recently a new bios (0326) appeared on the asus support page with some really nice fix description (Fix cpu count is incorrect under setup). well, thats a good reason to bring out a new bios release. anyone tried so far?

----------

## zami010

 *superwutze wrote:*   

> recently a new bios (0326) appeared on the asus support page with some really nice fix description (Fix cpu count is incorrect under setup). well, thats a good reason to bring out a new bios release. anyone tried so far?

 

I've update to this BIOS version, but I see no difference. 

Btw did anyone got bluetooth working?

----------

## superwutze

bluetooth works with the standard btusb module, no firmware required. i use blueman as application-suite. it has to be enabled in bios and the rfkill system works well.

has 2.6.34 any advantages over 2.6.33 for the 1201n?

----------

## nicodarious

I may be reiviving a dead thread, but I wanted to let the people know that I have suspend working on the 1201N netbook.   I haven't installed Gentoo onto it yet, since I have a working Arch linux install going (for now).  With Arch, all that was needed was blacklisting the wifi driver during suspending.  That right there was the only issue about why it wouldn't wake up correctly for me.  Once i install the new hard drive, I'm planning on installing Gentoo and seeing how that works.  I'll keep anyone that's still interested in this posted about my findings and implementations of yours.

Cheers!

----------

## foormea

hi nicodarious, my turn to dig a dead thread!

how's your linux on the 1201n? is your system in 32 or 64 bits? is everything working without problem?

i bought a 1201n quite a few months ago and was very disappointed with it (returned it after a week) as using linux on it, whichever distribution, made it reset its bios settings at almost every reboot ; and it never happened with a win7. the three distros i tried, ubuntu, system rescue cd (gentoo-based) and backtrack, provoked the behaviour. my bios was the latest update

also the wifi drivers were either not working (in 64 iirc), or very buggy otherwise

so how is it now? how's it with gentoo or whatever distro you've tried it with?

i'm reconsidering to buy a netbook these days...  :Smile:  would most probably put a gentoo on it straight away

thanks for your input!

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## nicodarious

Everything seems to be working fairly well.    As for the BIOS reset, I have the same problem, although not on EVERY reboot.  usually only about 1 out of 5 reboots does it.  I'm running 64bit Gentoo, but also have tried 64and 32bit  Arch Linux.  Wifi drivers are a bit of a PITA.  the drivers are available, though, but you must install them.  in arch, they are in the AUR repositories.  In Gentoo, they are masked and must be unmasked in order to be able to install them.

Foormae,

If i were to have an option, I wouldn't buy the 1201N again.  There's others out there that probly wouldn't have as many problems as the 1201N has.  If you have the option, go with another version of the Asus EEE.

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## foormea

 *nicodarious wrote:*   

> Everything seems to be working fairly well.    As for the BIOS reset, I have the same problem, although not on EVERY reboot.  usually only about 1 out of 5 reboots does it.  I'm running 64bit Gentoo, but also have tried 64and 32bit  Arch Linux.  Wifi drivers are a bit of a PITA.  the drivers are available, though, but you must install them.  in arch, they are in the AUR repositories.  In Gentoo, they are masked and must be unmasked in order to be able to install them.
> 
> Foormae,
> 
> If i were to have an option, I wouldn't buy the 1201N again.  There's others out there that probly wouldn't have as many problems as the 1201N has.  If you have the option, go with another version of the Asus EEE.

 

thanks for your fast reply!  :Smile: 

for the wifi drivers, apart from the fact you have to unmask the drivers, do they work well? that doesn't sound too bad

may i know what dm/wm you use, and what internet browser? do you feel that the system gets 'overloaded' easily, or is it still okay for a basic internet browsing/watching movies/word processing (if possible all together  :Very Happy: )?

thanks!

edit: and is your BIOS firmware up to date? did you find other people having the same issue? i remember scrounging through forums when i had a 1201n and no one *seemed* to have that problem (but few people had the 1201n and even fewer ran linux...)

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## nicodarious

I usually use Gnome as my desktop.  as far as getting overloaded, I don't know about the stock RAM.  I upgraded the hddand ram myself.  500GB 5400RPM and  2x2GB modules.  It normally runs about 138MB just to bring up desktop, bluetooth, nm-applet, xchat, skype, and all other normal processes in the background.  Have no problems playing movies, listening to music, bringing up OpenOffice docs and apps, even does very well with my cell phone tethering for internet.  I have no probs bringing up multiple firefox windows with multiple tabs, playing flash files and such.  I run the netbook like a normal laptop or desktop replacement and it has no problems keeping up with me.  the Atom/ION setup does very well.

I don't have any exact specs since I am at work right now, but once i get home and get a few minutes, I can give you more info on any exact questions you might have.

BTW, nvidia drivers work great on it.  

As far as the BIOS problem, i don't have any idea of how many others actually have that problem, since I know of only one other that had that laptop, and he ran M$7.  But I don't find the BIOS problem that big of a deal, really since I barely ever reboot my laptop.  I put it to sleep (suspend-to-RAM) 99% of the time.

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## foormea

 *nicodarious wrote:*   

> I usually use Gnome as my desktop.  as far as getting overloaded, I don't know about the stock RAM.  I upgraded the hddand ram myself.  500GB 5400RPM and  2x2GB modules.  It normally runs about 138MB just to bring up desktop, bluetooth, nm-applet, xchat, skype, and all other normal processes in the background.  Have no problems playing movies, listening to music, bringing up OpenOffice docs and apps, even does very well with my cell phone tethering for internet.  I have no probs bringing up multiple firefox windows with multiple tabs, playing flash files and such.  I run the netbook like a normal laptop or desktop replacement and it has no problems keeping up with me.  the Atom/ION setup does very well.
> 
> I don't have any exact specs since I am at work right now, but once i get home and get a few minutes, I can give you more info on any exact questions you might have.
> 
> BTW, nvidia drivers work great on it.  
> ...

 

suspend to ram? how much battery % do you lose per hour, roughly?

why wouldn't you recommend me from buying the same?

thanks a lot for your info  :Smile: 

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## nicodarious

Well, I just checked it out for the past 24 hours, and, in suspend mode, it dropped 15% battery power in roughly 20 hours.  Left AC power unplugged so I could test it out for you.  As far as battery life, it all depends on your useage.  I get about 4 hours roughly per charge.

I wouldn't recommend getting the exact 1201N for several reasons:

1) 330N CPU sucks because it doesn't scale frequency.  It uses the old p4-clockmod scaling, which never scaled right with linux. On top of that, it's not 'real' scaling.  It just drops cpu cycles.  Look it up;  you'll see what I mean.

2) FN key problems.  It takes a bit to get the FN keys working... at least it has for me.  No matter the distro that I have tried, they never seem to work right.  I can get them to work at about 80%, but that's about it. (never could get SHE key, mouse off/on key, or screens keys to work right.  and with no BT off/on key, it's a total PITA to turn that one off)

3) SHE has never worked for me.  No matter what, it never does.  It may just be me, but it's still irritating.

4) this is a personal issue, but I don't like the touchpad feeling.  I like to have my touchpads 'indented' into my laptop;  not some dimple feeling.  But there again, that's a personal issue.

5)  total PITA to upgrade the hard drive!  Again, personal issue, but still.

There are others, but nothing really worth mentioning here.  Bluetooth, webcam, wifi.  They all work.  The wifi takes quite a bit to get going (moreso than the other two), but it's doable.  Suspend to RAM doesn't want to come out unless the wifi driver is blacklisted for some reason.

There's newer models out now with the newer D510 Atoms with ION video chips.  the D510s scale very well from what I have read, and they are also dual core with HT.  So you get the same deal as with the 330N, but with REAL CPU freq scaling.  If I were to do it over again, i'd get one of those!

hope you found this at least interesting to read, if not a little helpful.

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## foormea

 *nicodarious wrote:*   

> Well, I just checked it out for the past 24 hours, and, in suspend mode, it dropped 15% battery power in roughly 20 hours.  Left AC power unplugged so I could test it out for you.  As far as battery life, it all depends on your useage.  I get about 4 hours roughly per charge.
> 
> I wouldn't recommend getting the exact 1201N for several reasons:
> 
> 1) 330N CPU sucks because it doesn't scale frequency.  It uses the old p4-clockmod scaling, which never scaled right with linux. On top of that, it's not 'real' scaling.  It just drops cpu cycles.  Look it up;  you'll see what I mean.
> ...

 

Thank you so much for your detailed answer!!

Well for now I'm still making do with my 4-year old lousy laptop, making it live till the last bit then I'll consider getting either a high-end netbook, or a very small laptop.

For the touchpad: I like it VERY reactive, can you configure it like that?

It doesn't seem too bad overall! I'll check out the newer models too!!

Thanks again!

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## nicodarious

as touchy as it is stock, I see no reason to have to modify it to become even more touchy.  I think you'll find it good enough as is.

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## foormea

 *nicodarious wrote:*   

> as touchy as it is stock, I see no reason to have to modify it to become even more touchy.  I think you'll find it good enough as is.

 

Thanks a lot nicodarious for your input! I'll take all this in consideration when buying my future netbook/laptop!

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## zobbo

Try as I might, I'm having no joy in getting my 1201N connecting to my WPA1 access point under Gentoo. I'm running a pure 64 bit system and the testing branch of Gentoo (kernel 2.6.36). I've tried emerging in the rtl8192se_pci driver or building from source downloaded from realtek. In both cases, wpa_supplicant is giving me the errors shown here.

http://paste.pocoo.org/show/286908/

This is with me running wpa_supplicant as root. 

With wireless-tools I can see access points, including my own so the card is running. I seem to recall I had a similar issue now with Linux Mint, but installing from the Realtek tarball solved the problem. Not this time though. If anybody has any suggestions I'll happy to hear them.

Ian

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## zobbo

I found the solution. Sleep. 

In the morning I looked at my configs again and within 5 minutes realised I'd mashed up a pile of stuff whilst trying to fix this. Started a new config and all worked. Apologies for waste of bandwidth.

Ian

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