Ubuntu Wiki

• Contact: ErikHess2

• Make: Hewlett-Packard
• Brand: Mini-Note
• Model: 2133

• Website: [http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF25a/321957-321957-64295-321838-306995-3687084.html HP 2133 Mini-Note]

Current Issues

• CPU Scaling (fix below)

• Wireless NIC (works fine with ndiswrapper)

• Correct audio driver not available (ADI SoundMax 1984A)

  • Headphone jack detection doesn't work (fix below)

  • Microphone jack and internal microphone not recognized

System Info

(KX868/9AT)

System: Hewlett-Packard HP 2133 F.02

Kernel Version: 2.6.24-16-generic

lspci:

00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. P4M900 Host Bridge
00:00.1 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. P4M900 Host Bridge
00:00.2 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. P4M900 Host Bridge
00:00.3 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. P4M900 Host Bridge
00:00.4 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. P4M900 Host Bridge
00:00.5 PIC: VIA Technologies, Inc. P4M900 I/O APIC Interrupt Controller
00:00.6 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. P4M900 Security Device
00:00.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. P4M900 Host Bridge
00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 PCI Bridge
00:02.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. P4M900 PCI to PCI Bridge Controller (rev 80)
00:03.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. P4M900 PCI to PCI Bridge Controller (rev 80)
00:0f.0 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. Unknown device 5372
00:10.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev b0)
00:10.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev b0)
00:10.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev b0)
00:10.4 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 90)
00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237S PCI to ISA Bridge
00:11.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8251 Ultra VLINK Controller
00:13.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237A Host Bridge
00:13.1 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237A PCI to PCI Bridge
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. Chrome9 HC IGP (rev 01)
02:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11a/b/g (rev 02)
07:03.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5788 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 03)
80:01.0 Audio device: VIA Technologies, Inc. VIA High Definition Audio Controller (rev 10)

Hardware details

How-To: Installing Ubuntu from CD on the HP 2133 Mini-Note

Tested Configuration

• The specific model tested for this Wiki was the KX869AT, which arrived with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10.1 pre-installed. These instructions should work for the KX868AT without modification. Other models of HP 2133 have slightly different hardware.

Disclaimer

• The following instructions assume a complete install of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Hardy Heron) from scratch. Be sure to back up any data you feel is important. The following instructions have been kept as simple as possible to appeal to the widest audience.

Pre-Boot

1. Download a copy of Hardy Heron and burn the image to an installation CD. Connect an external CD/DVD drive to the USB port and load the installation CD.
2. Put your finger somewhere close to the F9 key, because the Mini-Note's BIOS options pass quickly. Start or restart the computer and press F9, which will bring up the Boot Device menu. Select your CD/DVD drive and hit enter.

Base Installation

1. When the language menu comes up, select your preferred tongue and hit enter. At the Ubuntu install menu hit F6, which will bring up the Boot Options line. Add the word xforcevesa at the end of the line and hit enter. The installer will then load the kernel and begin the installation process. It is normal for the progress bar to freeze for a short period of time. Have patience.

2. Eventually you should hear the welcoming sounds of Ubuntu through the Mini-Note's ample speakers, and see the Hardy Live session desktop. While WiFi is not available at this point, you should be able to connect to the internet through a wired ethernet connection if necessary. Double-click on the "Install" icon and follow the wizard through the subsequent screens, selecting your location and keyboard layout.

3. Step 4 will ask you how you'd like to partition the disk. If you're comfortable with losing everything currently on the disk, select "Guided - use entire disk". Otherwise, choose the option that makes the most sense for you. Ubuntu works just fine sharing the drive with a Windows install, and it will even read and write to your NTFS partition out-of-the box. REMEMBER - If you choose the entire disk, you will kill everything else on your hard drive. BACK UP FIRST! Continue through the wizard, filling in your user information, password and computer name. When you're sure you're ready to wipe your hard-disk, hit "Install" on the final page.

4. The "Installing System" dialog will come up next. Grab a tasty beverage and watch the progress bar slowly creep across the screen. When installation is complete, hit Restart Now. The CD should eject, and remove it from the tray/slot at this time. Press enter to restart your computer.

Drivers and Fixes

1. As Ubuntu starts for the first time you may see some video artifacts from forcing the vesa video driver. You should still get a clear Ubuntu login screen and your speakers should work right from the start. Log in with the user you created during the install process.

2. Video Driver Installation -- VIA now provides Ubuntu-ready video drivers for the HP 2133 at [http://linux.via.com.tw/support/downloadFiles.action this site]. WiFi is still not working, so use an ethernet connection to connect to the internet. If you have no ethernet connection, you'll need to go to the "WiFi Driver" section below and set up your WiFi card before continuing.

3. Open up Firefox and head to the VIA website at the link above. Once there, be sure to select "Ubuntu 8.04 LTS" instead of "SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP1" in the "OS" selection box. Click on the GFX driver link and save the driver file somewhere you'll remember it. Firefox will save it to the desktop by default. Next, you'll need to download the new attachment:xorg.conf file. Save it somewhere convenient, like the desktop.

4. Double-click on the downloaded file, and in the window that appears click the "Extract" button. Again select somewhere that makes sense (the Desktop is fine) and click "Extract" at the bottom right of the dialog. Close any remaining windows and open Terminal, in Applications > Accessories > Terminal. Assuming you extracted the driver folder to the desktop, type:

   cd ~/Desktop/via-chrome9.83.40558
   sudo ./vinstall

5. Be sure to use the appropriate "via-chrome9..." folder name for your driver version. Before the new video will work, you'll have to make a couple more tweaks. Don't restart yet!

6. Video and CPU Scaling Fixes -- Back in Terminal, type the following:

   sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

   This will bring up the grub boot menu configuration file. Scroll to the bottom of the file and you'll find a three boot options. Go to the first, titled "Ubuntu 8.04, kernel 2.6.24-16-generic" and in the "kernel" line, delete "xforcevesa". In its place, type:

   acpi_osi="!Windows 2006"

   This will enable CPU speed scaling, helping preserve the Mini-Note's already limited battery life. For more information about this bug (which is in the kernel, and not specific to the Mini-Note) see [https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/hardy/+source/linux/+bug/177076 this link].

   If you want to enable 3D Desktop effects like wobbly windows or desktops on the face of a cube, you'll have to tweak another file. Again in Terminal, type:

   sudo gedit /usr/bin/compiz

   Find the line that says:

   WHITELIST="nvidia intel ati radeon i810 fglrx"

   and change it to:

   WHITELIST="nvidia intel ati radeon i810 via"

   Save the file, close gedit and go back to the Terminal.

7. Remember where you put the replacement xorg.conf file, because we'll back up and overwrite the old one next. Unzip the xorg file if necessary. Then, assuming you saved the new unpackaged xorg.conf file to your desktop, type:

   sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.old
   sudo cp ~/Desktop/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf

   When that successfully completes, reboot your machine.

8. Wireless Driver -- As of this writing, there is no functioning native linux WiFi driver available. The below instructions were taken from the excellent tutorial [https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/Driver/bcm43xx/Feisty_No-Fluff here]. NOTE - If you have the 4GB SSD version of the Mini-Note, you may need a different driver! See the "Wireless Networking" section below.

   1. Update your apt repositories

      sudo apt-get update

   2. Install NDISWrapper and Blacklist Native Driver

      echo 'blacklist bcm43xx' | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
      sudo apt-get install ndiswrapper-utils-1.9
      mkdir ~/bcm43xx; cd ~/bcm43xx

   3. Download and Extract the sp34152 Drivers

      sudo apt-get install cabextract
      wget ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/sp34001-34500/sp34152.exe
      cabextract sp34152.exe

      • If you have problems accessing compaq's web site try ftp.hp.com

   4. Configure NDISWrapper and WPA Supplicant

      sudo ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5.inf
      ndiswrapper -l
      sudo depmod -a
      sudo modprobe ndiswrapper
      sudo cp /etc/network/interfaces /etc/network/interfaces.orig
      echo -e 'auto lo\niface lo inet loopback\n' | sudo tee /etc/network/interfaces
      sudo ndiswrapper -m
      echo 'ndiswrapper' | sudo tee -a /etc/modules
      echo 'ENABLED=0' | sudo tee -a /etc/default/wpasupplicant

      Careful about line wrapping on the next bit of code. You should copy and paste everything in the box before running -- it is one long command.

      echo -e '#Hardy ssb/ndiswrapper workaround, added' `date` '\ninstall ndiswrapper modprobe -r b43 b44 b43legacy ssb; modprobe --ignore-install ndiswrapper $CMDLINE_OPTS; modprobe ssb; modprobe b44;' | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/ndiswrapper

      e. Reboot if you need wireless networking now, otherwise you can set up the sound drivers first.

9. Sound Driver -- While your speakers will work out-of-the-box, the default driver is incorrect. The biggest impact for most users is that the speakers won't automatically mute when you plug in a set of headphones. To fix this, download the following file to your desktop: attachment:alsa-driver-1.0.16_linux-headers-2.6.24-16-generic-1_i386.deb

   After it's finished, double-click on the file and the Package Installer window should come up. Click the "Install Package" button. When the installer is complete, open a terminal window again, and type:

   sudo mv /lib/modules/2.6.24-16-generic/ubuntu/sound/alsa-driver /lib/modules/2.6.24-16-generic.ubuntu.sound.alsa-driver.bak
   sudo ln -s /lib/modules/2.6.24-16-generic/kernel/sound/ /lib/modules/2.6.24-16-generic/ubuntu/sound/alsa-driver

   It's probably a good idea to restart after you're done. Speaker detection should now work fine.

What's Left?

Audio Quirks

• The biggest flaw left is the audio driver. As of May 18, 2008 the internal microphone and the microphone jack are not recognized. The speaker workaround above solves the headphone detection issue but will not fix the microphone problems.

Video Quirks

• Additionally, the video card and VIA driver have some limitations. In anecdotal testing, you can either enable Compiz 3D desktop effects OR watch video, but not both. Expect occasional 3D effects crashes to a standard 2D desktop.
• With Compiz disabled Skype video works (although with no microphone input) but as soon as the "picture in picture" view comes up the video gets corrupted. Playback of remote video is fine with local video disabled, but this will be an issue for some.

Wireless Networking

• Issues have been noted with the lowest and highest-end versions of the HP 2133.
  • The 4GB SSD version has a slightly different wireless card which doesn't include 802.11a. A possible solution has been found by substituting the sp38766.exe driver for the driver listed above. This has not been exhaustively tested yet.
  • The KX875AA (1.6GHz, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD) is having anectodal networking issues with the stock install above, particularly on Kubuntu. While KNetworkManager is suspected, this is far from confirmed at this point.

Installing an ExpressCard

• ExpressCard/34 and ExpressCard/54 have been successfully tested after following the instructions [https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ExpressCard here]. Briefly, after plugging the ExpressCard into the slot, you may have to enable it via this command:

  sudo modprobe pciehp pciehp_force=1

  Troubleshooting instructions can be found by following the link above. Cards successfully tested include:

  • FireWire - ADS PYRO1394a ExpressCard/34 (Part Number API-650)

    To enable video capture (for programs like Kino) you have to grant read-write permission to /dev/raw1394:

    $ sudo chmod +rw /dev/raw1394

  • SmartCard - GEMPLUS GemPC Express Compact SmartCard Reader (ExpressCard/54)

    Instructions on SmartCard reader setup can be found [https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CommonAccessCard here] and are too extensive for this wiki.

Additional Info

• The various forum posts below are good places to watch for the solution to this and other quirks. If you find solutions, please update this Wiki.

Helpful Links

• [http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=749693 HP Compaq 2133 Mini-Note PC thread from Ubuntu Forums] Without this I would never have been able to get my Mini-Note up and running. Most of the tricks in the Installation How-To come from the talented folks in that thread. Thank you.

• [http://linux.via.com.tw/support/downloadFiles.action VIA Graphics Driver Download Page]

• Correct attachment:xorg.conf File
• attachment:alsa-driver-1.0.16_linux-headers-2.6.24-16-generic-1_i386.deb Modified ALSA Sound Driver

• [https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/hardy/+source/linux/+bug/177076 Hardy CPU Scaling Bug]

• [https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/Driver/bcm43xx/Feisty_No-Fluff WiFi Driver with ndiswrapper]

• [http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=321957&prodSeriesId=3687084&swItem=ob-60382-1&prodNameId=3687085&swEnvOID=2020&swLang=8&taskId=135&mode=4&idx=0 HP 2133 Mini-Note PC - SLED 10.1 Source RPMs]

Other links (not necessarily from Ubuntu community or HP)

• Ubuntu [http://forums.mininoteuser.com/viewforum.php?f=11&sid=3694fe1bf12fe8e44ab59258baa45865 forum] on Mini-Note user site. Includes pre-packaged Mini-note specific Minbuntu

• 'Other' Linux [http://www.hp2133guide.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=8&sid=5d5c6b315ab9566a5e193b2d4bbf28b0 forum] at HP 2133 Guide

• Liliputing posts on [http://www.liliputing.com/search/label/minbuntu Minbuntu] and [http://www.liliputing.com/search/label/ubuntu Ubuntu] (NB this site includes other machines besides Mini-note such as EEE PC)

• Gentoo HP 2133 hardware [http://gentoo-wiki.com/HARDWARE_HP_2133_Mini-Note_PC Howto]

CategoryLaptop