InstallingUbuntuOnADellLatitudeX1
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| = Installation report for a Dell Latitude X1 (aka Samsung Q30) = with Ubuntu Hoary 5.10 and 5.04 - written by Franko30 A German version of this Guide can be found at * [http://www.ubuntu-de.org/wiki/wiki_und_community:testberichte:dell_latitude_x1] I'm using gedit in this report, but nano is nice, too. :-) '''This laptop works great with Ubuntu: WLAN, display 1280×768, graphics driver, LAN, processor settings, standby/hibernate, Compact-Flash slot, modem, USB, Firewire, touchpad, sound, Bluetooth etc. work "out of the Hoary box" or can be configured as described in the following report.''' '''The following hotkeys work right away: Standby (Fn+Esc), WLAN on/off (Fn+F2 - good for saving battery power), Num (Fn+F4), CRT/LCD (Fn+F8 - needs an external monitor to be connected), Print (Fn+F11, saves a screen snapshot, Pause Fn+F12 does the same), Display brightness (Fn+arrow-up or arrow-down). Mute, as well as volume up/down can be configured via Gnome System Settings (work right away in Ubuntu 5.10).''' '''The SD Slot doesn't work - nobody seems to be able to get this done.''' My X1 was made in early July 2005 with BIOS A02, has a 60GB harddisc and 768MB RAM. I completely removed Windows from my harddisc and made a 6GB primary partition for the Ubuntu system. A swap-partition with 2,2 GB (as suggested by the installer) is used and the rest of the harddisc was left unpartitioned for using it later when setting up the encrypted partition. When using Ubuntu and Windows in a dual-boot setup, bear in mind that you can only have 4 primary partitions on the harddisc (and no logical volumes after that) or you just use 3 primary ones and then several logical volumes. Note by other user: (Sep 17 2005) After my Ubuntu's Update Manager updated some outdated packages, my screen and network went bad again - I had to reinstall the i810_drv.o (see below) to fix the display; ask for network I'm using WPA and it broken after the update manager's updates, I redo the whole wpa install procedure and it works fine now. == 1. Display and graphics controller == Standard installation of Ubuntu 5.04 was made with suggesting 1280x768 for the X-server, 5.10 doesn't offer any options during install. After installation, Ubuntu 5.10 starts up fine with the graphical user interface, but with a resolution of 1024x768. Please proceed to the '''915resolution patch'''. '''The following up to the installation of the 915resolution patch applies only to an Ubuntu 5.04 installation''' The problem after an Ubuntu 5.04 installation: The display stays black after startup. It is said that BIOS A01 (before June 2005) works OK with the standard setup (according to remarks on Martin's Linux on a Dell Latitude X1 page – see Thanks section of this report), but mine is an A02. First thing to do is change the display driver from {{{i810}}} to {{{vesa}}} in the {{{xorg.conf}}}: To do this, use {{{CTRL-ALT-F1}}} to get to a text console. Login and enter: {{{ sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf }}} scroll to: {{{ Section "Device" Identifier "Intel Corporation Intel Default Card" Driver "i810" }}} Here you exchange {{{i810}}} with {{{vesa}}} Restart X11 with {{{CTRL-ALT-Backspace}}} (or reboot with CTRL-ALT-Delete) and the display is working in 1024x768 resolution. glxgears now runs with up to 310 fps. Still, movies and 3D applications run slow, as the CPU and not the GPU computes this stuff. '''Solution:''' Download i810_drv.o from here http://www.fairlite.demon.co.uk/intel.html and overwrite the old one by opening a terminal (assuming i810_drv.o is in your home directory) and doing {{{ sudo mv -f /home/username/i810_drv.o /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers/ }}} After that you can change the {{{xorg.conf}}} again, back to using the {{{i810}}} driver. Restart X using Ctrl+Alt+Backspace or restart the system. glxgears now should run at about 930 fps - but only in Ubuntu 5.04 - strange thing is that the exchange of the i810 driver doesn't work in 5.10 - any ideas? '''Welcome back to the Ubuntu 5.10 users!''' To get the '''correct WXGA 1280x768 resolution''', a change has to be made during bootup using the '''915resolution Patch'''. Download the source code of the 915resolution patch from http://www.geocities.com/stomljen and extract into its own directory. To install 915resolution, you first have to install the {{{build-essential}}} with '''Synaptic''' (so you can do the make and make install process). After that, open a terminal, change to the 915resolution directory, install with {{{ make sudo make install }}} (Ubuntu 5.04 users can download http://www.freshnet.org/debian/hoary/915resolution_0.4.6-1_i386.deb and install with sudo dpkg -i paketname.deb where packetname is to be substituted with the actual 915resolution packet name) After that, add the following line to {{{ /etc/init.d/bootmisc.sh }}} (at the end, before "exit"): {{{ /usr/sbin/915resolution 54 1280 768 }}} Here http://gentoo-wiki.com/HARDWARE_Dell_Latitude_X1#Graphics_controller (or in the 915resolution readme) you find information on the different color depths supported by this patch and their corresponding numbers: 38, 45 and 54 (or for different resolutions; type {{{sudo 915resolution -l}}} to list them and don't be confused, as the 1280x768 resolution is not recognized.) Restart your system. Annotation by other user: I am not sure if everyone on X1 with this setup have the same problem - when playing with xine or variants like gxine or totem, if you exit and run it again, the color are all messed up. It remain so until you restart the X windows (logout then ctrl-alt-backspace), or - I discovered that if you kill xine/gxine/totem with "kill -9" or "killall" command, this problem with color would not happen. This may be related to how graphic subsystem deallocate its resources, any takers? When cloning the main display to second display (vgaout), stuff like xine would not show on both monitors, e.g. I'm using the xorg.conf from the Gentoo X1 page. This could just be configuration problem. However, I was able to get dual-head working, but since my output device was to be 1024x768 I had to overwrite 4d instead of 45 in 915resolution section above. Also you'll need add a modeline e.g. for 1024x768 for external vga output, I'm referring relative to the example xorg.conf from X1 Gentoo page. == 2. ubuntusetup.sh == If you want to, you can install Java and other useful stuff automagically with this script http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=22646 It saves you a lot of work that otherwise would have to be done manually. The script installs (among others): {{{ build-essential - Compilers needed to build programs beep-media-player - XMMS gtk2 clone. Compatible with XMMS plugins/skins gstreamer0.8-mad - Add MP3 support for Rhythmbox w32codecs - Windows codecs for playing various files streamtuner - Online music streamer from shoutcast and a few others xine-ui - The xine video player, user interface for playing dvd's and such totem-xine - Have totem use xine so you can actually use it to play videos etc. msttcorefonts - Windows True Type Fonts gnomebaker - The best gnome/gtk2 cd/dvd/cdrw burning software gftp - Ftp Client flashplayer-mozilla - Flash plugin for firefox Java JRE 1.5 - Latest version of Java Custom Firefox Forms - Make you firefox form widgets look decent /etc/apt/sources.list - Add in universe, multiverse and misc repositories Misc Windows Fonts - Misc fonts that are missing in the msttcorefonts package }}} But beware! '''Save your /etc/apt/sources.list''' before running the script, just in case you might want to continue using Ubuntu without backport repositories. ;-) == 3.Synaptics Touchpad == The touchpad works fine after the Ubuntu 5.10 installation - '''only 5.04 users might experience''' weird things when using the finger to tap. It's especially strange when tapping the dynamic bookmark "Latest Headlines" in Firefox. A tap opens all news as extra tabs... '''5.04 users, paste the following''' lines into your {{{xorg.conf}}} and the touchpad works fine. Finger taps will be OK, vertical scrolling then works fine and accidental taps when writing (and touching the tochpad with your hand) will be prevented. {{{ Section "InputDevice" Identifier "Synaptics Touchpad" Driver "synaptics" Option "SendCoreEvents" "true" Option "Device" "/dev/psaux" Option "Protocol" "auto-dev" Option "HorizScrollDelta" "0" Option "LeftEdge" "1700" Option "RightEdge" "5300" Option "TopEdge" "1700" Option "BottomEdge" "4200" Option "FingerLow" "25" Option "FingerHigh" "40" Option "MaxTapTime" "180" Option "MaxTapMove" "220" Option "VertScrollDelta" "100" Option "MinSpeed" "0.06" Option "MaxSpeed" "0.15" Option "AccelFactor" "0.0015" # SHMConfig is required if you want to disable the mousepad while typing, syndaemon has to be running, too. Option "SHMConfig" "on" Option "TapButton1" "1" Option "TapButton2" "1" Option "TapButton3" "1" # leave all the TapButton values at 1 or the Touchpad goes haywire again. Option "LTCornerButton" "2" EndSection }}} If you want to disable the touchpad while typing text, you have to do two things: First you copy the {{{SHMConfig}}} line from the sample above to the Synaptics part of your own xorg.conf. Then you have to make sure that the syndaemon is running. The best way for a newbie (like me) is to use the Gnome menu System -> Settings -> Sessions. There you find a tab named 'Startup Applications'. Add {{{ /usr/bin/syndaemon -i 1 -d }}} This starts syndaemon as a deamon (silent). Syndaemon keeps you from accidentally using the touchpad for one second after every last keystroke. Type {{{man syndaemon}}} in a terminal to see the manpage of this very handy feature. == 4. CF Slot == The Compact Flash slot is installed correctly but it doesn't automount in 5.04 - in 5.10 it has erratic behaviour (automounts and disappears half a second later), therefore use a terminal and type: {{{ sudo gedit /etc/fstab }}} add the following line: {{{ /dev/hdc1 /media/cf vfat user,auto,rw 0 0 }}} and save. After rebooting the system, your CF slot is now of the automounting persuasion, at least in 5.04. This is a "quick and dirty hack": you can see a short error notice during startup if you don't have a CF card inserted. ;-) In 5.10 the behaviour stays erratic, no solution found yet - '''any ideas?''' At least you can reboot with the card inserted and thus have it available and writable. == 5. WLAN == The standard driver works, but some people recommend to exchange it. It is said that the '''5.04''' standard driver loses the connection after about an hour (never could confirm this, though) and it doesn't support WPA encryption. If you don't care for these two problems, you can keep the standard driver. Keep in mind that the following stuff has to be installed before you start to install the new driver: {{{ build-essential, gcc, linux-headers-yourKernelVersion }}} Follow this installation guide http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=26623 Only the ieee80211 has to be removed manuall as the script remove-old didn't work. The command: {{{ rm -R /lib/modules/2.6.10-5-386/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/ieee80211 }}} does the trick To create valid Ubuntu packets use the module-assistant. To view a manual for this application, type {{{ man module-assistant }}} To uninstall the new driver (if needed) type {{{ make uninstall ipw2200. }}} == 6. Hibernate/Standby == Standby (to RAM) and hibernate (to disk) works out of the box in 5.10, for 5.04 set it up according to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HoaryPM. Although standby works, the LCD backlight stays dark during wakeup. {{{Fn+arrow-down}}} helps (and so does setting a BIOS password). '''Beware!''' After installing the Linuxant modem driver, standby support is broken because of some modules. On how to fix that read the modem install section of this report. Wakeup from hibernate doesn't work as expected, but it can be fixed. The problem was, that the computer seemed to stop waking up at one point – but actually the display could not be brought back to life. After trying to enter my login password (blind) the screen came back to life in a firework of bright/dark changes and nothing worked anymore... Even falling back to the vesa driver didn't help with that problem. '''The solution:''' Add the 915resolution Patch to the resume script. {{{ sudo gedit /etc/acpi/resume.sh }}} add {{{ /usr/sbin/915resolution 54 1280 768 }}} somewhere at the beginning of this script. After saving, the 915resolution patch is applied again during resume and everything works fine. '''When using hiberbate to change the battery''', keep in mind that in 5.04 the hibernate process takes about 2 minutes to complete. Thus, be sure to start hibernate when your Gnome battery applet shows at least 3 minutes to go. Once the little battery icon left of the touchpad starts to appear solid orange (without the flashing) it's too late for a hibernate – use standby and find an AC outlet. :-) This description applies to the small 2400mAh batteries, I don't have a big one. And one more thing: After hibernate, the Gnome battery applet seems to be frozen and has to be restarted (however that might be done). I just remove it from the panel and then put it back into the panel and it works again. '''Another important thing with hibernate:''' For me, there's a problem with hibernate not working correctly when invoked in 5.04 via the Gnome menu. I have to use the /etc/acpi/hibernate.sh script. '''To power off the LCD when closing the lid''', edit /etc/acpi/lid.sh, and comment out the chvt lines to power off the screen. == 7. Modem == For me only the HSFModem from Linuxant.com is working. The free version is limited to 14K, when buying a licence for 14,99 US$ (12,5 €) the whole 56K are available. Before installing the modem I recommend to apply this little change: http://ubuntuguide.org/#configuresoundproperly An Ubuntu installation file is available from http://www.linuxant.com/drivers/hcf/full/downloads.php Install *.deb packages with {{{ sudo dpkg -i packagename.deb }}} Unfortunately this didn't work for me. So I downloaded the driver as a source (hsfmodem-7.18.00.05full.tar.gz). I unpacked it, ran {{{ sudo make install }}} in the directory it was unpacked to, then did {{{ sudo /usr/sbin/hsfconfig }}} and after that I could configure the modem via {{{ System -> Administration -> Networking }}} I used auto-detect, added a number to dial and it worked! For actually dialing out you can use the Gnome applet that monitors the modem – don't know the English name, as I run a German localization of Ubuntu. Linuxant also has a manual on how to install the source available on their website. And keep in mind: When installing from the source there's always a possibility that some required packages are not installed yet. After the error message use apt-get or Synaptic to install the missing packages and restart. '''Unfortunately, the modem installation breaks the Standby support...''' Thus, I put all the hsfmodem stuff (have a look with cat /proc/modules) in the {{{/etc/default/acpi-support}}} file, making it look like this: {{{ # Add modules to this list to have them removed before suspend and reloaded # on resume. It should look something like MODULES="e1000 ipw2100" MODULES="hsfusbcd2 hsfpcibasic2 hsfserial hsfengine hsfosspec hsfsoar hsfmc97sis hsfmc97ati hsfmc97ali hsfmc97via hsfmc97ich" }}} Maybe only one of those HSF modules prevented the standby, but I didn't want to spend a lot of time to find out which one is responsible for the problem. After saving the file, these modules get unloaded before standby/hibernate and are loaded again during resume. There's a rumor that the {{{sl-modem}}} drivers work on the X1. It didn't work for me, but it is possible that Dell uses different kinds of modem hardware even in the same model, so others might be successful. For those darig to try, take a look at those two Ubuntu wiki pages: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SmartLinkModemDriverHowTo/FromSource https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DialupModemHowto == 8. Powernowd == It's installed and working – but it's configured to "rise CPU frequency quickly and drop slowly" (the aggressive setting) whereas I want the opposite, being the passive setting. Let's have a look at powernowd's manpage: {{{ man powernowd }}} gives us the following options: {{{ - sine = 0 - aggressive = 1 - passive = 2 - leap = 3 }}} To try how the different values work, first do {{{ sudo /etc/init.d/powernowd stop }}} so you don't end up with two instances of {{{powernowd}}} running and interfering. Now you can try the options given in the manpage. I ended up with {{{ sudo powernowd -m 2 -l 50 -u 90 -s 50000 -v }}} as my desired value, giving the following output: {{{ powernowd: Settings: powernowd: verbosity: 1 powernowd: mode: 2 (PASSIVE) powernowd: step: 50 MHz (50000 kHz) powernowd: lowwater: 50 % powernowd: highwater: 90 % powernowd: poll interval: 1000 ms powernowd: Found 1 cpu: powernowd: cpu0: 600Mhz - 1600Mhz }}} In order to load these values at startup, a powernowd configuration file has to be made with {{{ sudo gedit /etc/default/powernowd }}} The options to enter in this file: {{{ OPTIONS="-q -m 2 -l 50 -u 90 -s 50000" }}} Save the file, and restart the system. == 9. Encryption == In my opinion every laptop computer should have an encrypted partition for one's private data files. Thus no one might gain access to your data in case of theft, or losing the laptop - it's just the hardware that will be gone. Of course, the SWAP and tmp files might reveal some personal files - but for the ordinary thief or finder this is safe enough. Thanks to http://www.ubuntu-de.org/wiki/sicherheit:twofish the guide I used to setup my encrypted partition and from which I use parts in the following. :-) First, load the modules {{{cryptoloop}}} and {{{twofish}}} with {{{ sudo modprobe cryptoloop sudo modprobe twofish }}} Also add these to the {{{/etc/modules}}} with {{{ sudo gedit /etc/modules }}} add {{{cryptoloop}}} and {{{twofish}}}. All through this encrypted partition setup '''username''' will have to be exchanged with your actual username while installing this. Now make a directory in which to mount the encrypted partition we are about to create (for instance /home/username/encrypted). Now, partition the unused space on the harddisc (for instance with ext3) using {{{gparted}}} (get it via Synaptic, maybe Universe repositories have to be enabled) After that, encrypt the partition with {{{ sudo losetup -e twofish /dev/loop0 /dev/hda3 }}} assuming {{{/dev/hda3}}} is the partition you just made. Assuming you already entered your sudo password earlier, you will be asked for another password - the one for the encrypted partition. '''This password cannot be changed later on''', so remember it well! Make it at least 15 characters long. The encrypted partition has to get a filesystem: {{{ sudo mkfs -t ext3 /dev/loop0 }}} or {{{sudo mkfs.ext3}}} To make mounting the encrypted partition easier, we add an entry in the {{{fstab}}}: {{{ sudo gedit /etc/fstab }}} and add the line {{{ /dev/hda3 /home/username/encrypted ext3 user,noauto,noatime,loop,acl,user_xattr,rw,encryption=twofish }}} The {{{noauto}}} feature is added so you don't have to specify your passwort at bootup. Instead it is asked when actually mounting the partition. That's it with the setup of an encrypted partition. Usage: To mount the encrypted partition, just do (no sudo needed this time) {{{ mount /home/username/encrypted }}} and the partition will be mounted to the directory {{{ /home/username/encrypted }}} Unfortunately, this directory is now owned by root... Even if you make it writable for yourself, the files are modified everytime you copy them to or from this directory. This leads to the modify times beig adjusted - very annoying when you sort your files by date before you actually rename them (like photos for instance). To fix this, we have to change the owner of the encrypted directories. {{{ sudo chown -R username.username /home/username/encrypted }}} sets the owner and the group of the directory (and its subdirectories) to your username. Now everything can be used as though it were a normal subdirectory of home - remeber to save all your personal data to the encrypted directory. To unmount the encrypted partition, close the files you're working on from this partition and do {{{ umount /home/username/encrypted }}} Sometimes you get an error that the device is still busy, then do {{{ umount -l /home/username/encrypted }}} (l like "lazy"). Now you can go to standby and safely use the train's toilet or whatever you wnat to do at the public place you happen to be at that moment - your personal data is encrypted. ;-) == 10. SD Slot == It seems like nobody worldwide has been able yet to get this thing working under Linux... == 11. Bluetooth == I totally forgot that I switched this off (as I don't need it). The hardware is reported to be working out of the "Linux-box", but I imagine setting up Bluetooth devices to work might be difficult. ;-) That's it, I'm done. Hopefully everything works out alright with your X1, too - at least you don't have to make as much mistakes as I made during installation. ;-) === Special thanks === to Marc of newthinking.de, who (as a paid job) resolved some problems with the setup and gave me the basic descriptions and Web sources for this guide. But at some point the standby feature suddenly didn't work anymore (remember, the Linuxant drivers) and I couldn't find out when that happened. So I decided to do a fresh install and write this guide while I'm at it. === Thanks to === all these fine people and webpages that laid the foundations of this installation report: Matthias Saou’s Dell X1 page: http://freshrpms.net/docs/x1/ HARDWARE Dell Latitude X1: http://gentoo-wiki.com/HARDWARE_Dell_Latitude_X1 Steffen's Debian on Dell Latitude X1 page: http://www.lsw.uni-heidelberg.de/users/sbrinkma/debian_on_dell.html Martin's Linux on a Dell Latitude X1 page: http://www.stud.ntnu.no/~gronslet/blog/linux-on-a-dell-x1-aka-samsung-q30 Linux on a Dell Latitude X300: http://jrv.oddones.org/x300.html(Jim Van Zandt) James Whitt’s blog about his Linux on Inspiron 6000: http://james.jamesandkristin.net/?p=19 (auch ein i915GM graphics controller) Tuxmobil: http://www.tuxmobil.org/dell.html Linux on laptops: http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/dell.html ---- CategoryLaptop CategoryHardware |
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InstallingUbuntuOnADellLatitudeX1 (last edited 2008-08-06 17:00:10 by localhost)