# Asus W5 series [Thread]

## HTS

This thread is a collection of tips for the Laptop Asus W5.

TODO: should be made as a wiki page.

Update: Bluetooth tested and working perfectly with gentoo-sources-2.6.21-r3.

Update: the SD/MMC card reader is supported in gentoo-sources-2.6.17-r5.

[updated kernel config]

Don't know if it was before r5. Everyone was claiming it was not supported so I hadn't even tried until today  :Wink: 

NB: Use the kernel >=gentoo-sources-2.6.17-r2 to fix an interrupt issue bogging down CPU performance.

You can find my current working kernel config there and my /etc/make.conf here.

1.73 GHz Pentium-M CPU: Working with speed-steps available (1.73 GHz, 1.33 GHz, 1.06 GHz, 798 MHz)

1280*800 LCD Panel: Working with backlight dimming (hardware controlled)

Intel Corp. PRO/Wireless 2200BG: Working with kernel driver and ipw2200-firmware-3.0

RealTek RTL-8139: Working great with kernel driver

Synaptics Touchpad: Working with synaptics driver and psaux interface

Graphic Controller Intel 915GM: Working with dri enabled and opengl is fast!

Intel High Definition Audio: Working with alsa-drivers (not compiled in the kernel)

Volume Control Buttons: Working with ACPI support in the kernel and the latest acpi4asus (see below)

Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter: Working with gentoo-sources-2.6.17-r5

ALi Corp. USB 2 WebCam: NOT Working Driver in Project here

Modem 56K : not tested (who uses that?)

Bluetooth: Working with gentoo-sources-2.6.21-r3

I'm using x11-base/xorg-x11-7.1. You can read my xorg.conf for reference

I now have a really beautiful Gentoo on this Laptop using AIGLX/Beryl

If anyone has this same laptop and wishes to share experience, please post here.Last edited by HTS on Mon Jun 18, 2007 6:23 am; edited 27 times in total

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## HTS

I reinstalled a fresh Gentoo 2006 with Modular X KDE 3.5 and the updated DRMs.Last edited by HTS on Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:05 pm; edited 1 time in total

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## HTS

EDIT: this was about an old bug with previous kernels solved in 2.6.17

Weird Stuff... When I'm on battery mode, the bug disappears,

I'll investigate the ACPI side and CPU freq thing. I'll also try the latest (masked) version of Asus-ACPI.

It's so funny, I should make a video of how the display is suddenly slowed down when I plug the AC power.

Might be some sort of Interrupt bogging down the CPU... Need to disable that!Last edited by HTS on Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:06 pm; edited 2 times in total

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## HTS

Muhah !!!

Yes! Finally got rid of the WEIRD BUG   :Twisted Evil: 

The kernel 2.6.17 solves the issue and everything is so much more stable.

Just add this version of gentoo-sources to package.keywords and emerge them.

Refer to the official Gentoo Linux Kernel Upgrade Guide and you're done  :Wink: 

So happy   :Very Happy: 

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## HTS

I managed to make the Wifi work.

However, I need to bring down eth0 (LAN) before I bring up eth1 (WIFI).

If I don't do that, firefox etc still try to connect via eth0.

Is this Normal or did I miss something.   :Rolling Eyes: 

EDIT: still didn't solve this issue

EDIT: solved the issue with kernel 2.6.17-r2 driver and ipw2200-firmware-3.0Last edited by HTS on Sun Jul 09, 2006 1:51 am; edited 4 times in total

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## HTS

Synaptics Touchpad trick:

Do NOT use the /dev/event* interface !!! The ID may change if you boot with/without USB mouse plugged in.

The trick is to use the psaux interface like this:

```
Section "InputDevice"

        Identifier      "Touchpad"

        Driver          "synaptics"

        Option          "Device"                "/dev/psaux"

        Option          "Protocol"              "auto-dev"

        Option          "SHMConfig"             "on"

        Option          "FingerLow"             "25"

        Option          "FingerHigh"            "30"

        Option          "MaxTapTime"            "180"

        Option          "MaxTapMove"            "220"

        Option          "VertScrollDelta"       "150"

        Option          "MinSpeed"              "0.10"

        Option          "MaxSpeed"              "0.15"

        Option          "AccelFactor"           "0.0015"

EndSection
```

Last edited by HTS on Sun Jun 17, 2007 4:36 am; edited 1 time in total

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## HTS

The Volume Buttons are rather easy to set-up.

I assume you use alsa and amixer is in /etc/bin/

I use the PCM audio interface, this way, the buttons control the global volume of the system.

Also, do NOT use the mixer from KDE (kmix), this messes everything up if you haven't noticed yet.

You will need ACPI support in the kernel and the latest version of acpi4asus (refer to the ACPI Gentoo Guide for more info).

EDIT: as of kernel 2.6.18, acpi4asus is no longer required as a separate package (now included in the kernel under ACPI).

EDIT2: as of kernel 2.6.21, acpi4asus is depcrecated by the asus-laptop kernel module (under drivers/misc).

The easiest way is to create 3 files in the /etc/acpi/events folder:

/etc/acpi/events/mute

```
# /etc/acpi/events/mute

# This is called when the user presses the mute button

event=hotkey ATKD 00000032

action=/etc/acpi/actions/mute.sh %e
```

/etc/acpi/events/volume-up

```
# /etc/acpi/events/mute

# This is called when the user presses the volume-up button

event=hotkey ATKD 00000030

action=/etc/acpi/actions/vol_up.sh %e
```

/etc/acpi/events/volume-down

```
# /etc/acpi/events/mute

# This is called when the user presses the volume-down button

event=hotkey ATKD 00000031

action=/etc/acpi/actions/vol_down.sh %e
```

Now create the scripts files:

/etc/acpi/actions/mute.sh

```
#!/bin/bash

amixer sset Front,0 toggle

amixer sset CD,0 toggle
```

/etc/acpi/actions/vol_up.sh

```
#!/bin/bash

amixer sset PCM,0 1%+,1%+

amixer sset Front,0 unmute

amixer sset CD,0 unmute
```

/etc/acpi/actions/vol_down.sh

```
#!/bin/bash

amixer sset PCM,0 1%+,1%+

amixer sset Front,0 unmute

amixer sset CD,0 unmute
```

Dont forget to make the scripts executable by:

```
chmod +x /etc/acpi/actions/mute.sh
```

 for all the scripts.

Finally, restart acpid:

```
/etc/init.d/acpid restart
```

You now can check the behaviour by watching alsamixer while you press the buttons. Feel free to edit the scripts to your taste.

See you soon for more Asus W5 tips   :Cool: Last edited by HTS on Sun Jun 17, 2007 4:38 am; edited 2 times in total

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## HTS

Intel 915GM how-to.

Use modular X: x11-base/xorg-x11-7.1 (refer to the Gentoo guide for instructions). You should have a line similar to this in your /etc/make.conf:

```
VIDEO_CARDS="i810 vesa fbdev"
```

Do not compile DRM support in the kernel (neither built-in nor as a module).

Use the more up-to-date libdrm: at this date >> x11-libs/libdrm-2.0.1

Configure your device in xorg.conf as follows.

```
Section "Device"

   Identifier   "i915GM"

   Driver   "i810"

   Chipset   "915GM"

   #VideoRam    237568

   VideoRam      126976

   Option   "DRI"          "true"

   BusID   "PCI:0:2:0"

   Option   "Accel"       "true"

   Option   "MonitorLayout"      "CRT,LFP"

   Option   "DevicePresence"   "true" 

   Option   "XVideo"      "true"

   Option   "VBERestore"      "true"

   Option   "Clone"         "true"

   Option   "NoDDC"

   Screen    0

EndSection
```

And you're done!

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## HTS

Yay, the SD/MMC card reader is now working with gentoo-sources-2.6.17-r5  :Very Happy: 

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## rishi

This looks promising:

The Ali M560x Web Cam Linux Driver Project

http://m560x.x3ng.com/wiki

http://www.actiongames.co.uk/m560x/forum/index.php

Perhaps you will soon be able to get your web cam working...

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## HTS

Hell yes! I had seen the page a year ago and it changed quite a lot since then.

I think i will join the the developpers team to make things faster.

It's such a shame we have to do reverse engineering on such devices when a driver could be written in less than a  month if we had the appropriate data sheets from the company!   :Surprised: 

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## HTS

Wehaa, kernel 2.6.21-r3 rocks here!   :Very Happy: 

The new tip of the year is:

How to disable the Touchpad using the Fn+ key. (Fn+F9 key).

Basically, follow the same procedure as for the audio controls. The trick here is to toggle the touchpad.

Happily, synclient can tell us what the current state is. A bit of sed magic to parse the value, and there you go:

```
#!/bin/bash

old_value=`/usr/bin/synclient -l | sed -n 's/TouchpadOff.*\([0-9]\)$/\1/p'`

[ $old_value == 1 ] && new_value=0 || new_value=1

/usr/bin/synclient TouchpadOff=$new_value
```

Link this script to an action named touch-toggle for example.

The ACPI id for my key is:

event=hotkey ATKD 0000006b

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