Ubuntu Wiki

• Contact: Dhenry

• Make: Lenovo
• Brand: 3000 N series
• Model: N100 0768 - B9G

• Website: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-63446

• S/N: ?

• See also: LaptopTestingTeam/Lenovo3000N100, LaptopTestingTeam/Lenovo3000N100_0768BJG, LaptopTestingTeam/Lenovo3000N100_FPG

Pictures

Hardware Specifications

• Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 (1.66 Ghz, 2 MB Cache L2)
• 1024 MB Memory
• 15.4" WXGA TFT Screen (1280x800)
• 80 GB SATA Hard Drive on Intel 82801GBM (ICH7) SATA Controller
• Intel 945GM graphic controller with 128 MB shared memory
• DVD/DVD-RW Drive
• 56K Modem v.92 (HDA Intel)
• LAN: Realtek RTL-8139
• WLAN: Intel PRO/Intel 3945ABG (802.11a/b/g)
• PCMCIA
• USB: x4 (3 on the right, 1 on the left)
• VGA-Out and TV-Out
• Bluetooth: Broadcom (BCM2045)

• IEEE-1394: Ricoh (R5C832)

• MS/MS PRO/MMC/SD/SDIO/xD-Picture Card reader
• Audio: Intel High Definition Audio (AD1986A)

• Webcam: Sonix “Microdia” (SN9C201 based USB camera)

• Fingerprint reader: AuthenTec (AES2501)

NOTE: there are various models of 3000 N100, this page is for 0768-B9G. Look under the laptop for which type you have (near the serial number). Some models have Nvidia graphic card, higher or lower screen resolution, Broadcom WLAN chipset (which needs the help of ndiswrapper), different sound codec, etc.

Current Issues

This laptop is quite well supported by Linux. However, with older versions than Hardy (8.04), speakers don't mute when headphone jack is plugged -- a patch is provided below. It has been fixed in ALSA 1.0.16.

Installing Edgy, Feisty, Gutsy, Hardy, Jaunty or Karmic

Steps to install Edgy/Feisty/Gutsy/Hardy/Jaunty/Karmic on this laptop:

• Insert the install CD, boot on it;
• Install the system, reboot at the end of the installation process;
• Enjoy!

Don't need to pass any extra parameter to kernel for installation. All goes fine.

System Info

bios-version:61ET31WW
system-manufacturer:LENOVO
system-product-name:0768B9G
system-version:3000 N100

Hardware details

Notes

WiFi (Hardy)

In 8.04 LTS Ubuntu switched from ipw3945 driver to iwl3945. The old driver required a proprietary closed source daemon to run and is currently deprecated upstream, while the new one is fully free software, only requiring a closed source, free to distribute, binary firmware (which is shipped by default by Ubuntu) and is official supported upstream (Intel is actively developing it, and integrating it into the official kernel tree).

Unfortunately, the new driver lacks a few features, mainly:

• 1) Out of the box, users will not be able to scan for wireless networks (with iwlist scan). this is documented as Bug 192119. Note that it is intended behavior. Only root can do that. There is a workaround, in a shell, type:

sudo echo "options iwl3945 disable_hw_scan=1" > /etc/modprobe.d/iwl3945

• And reboot, or reload the iwl3945 module (sudo modprobe -r iwl3945 && sudo modprobe iwl3945).
  
  

  2) Wireless LED don't work. This can be fixed by installing linux-backports-modules-hardy-generic. LED won't blink, just stay on or off. LED behaviour is currently in development in this new driver. See Bug 176090.

Screen resolution 1280x800 (Edgy/Feisty)

For older Ubuntu versions than Gutsy 7.10, you'll need the package 915resolution (universe) in order to get the native 1280x800 resolution. Nothing else to configure, just install it and restart the X server (logout/login or Ctrl-Alt-Backspace).

sudo apt-get install 915resolution

External monitor

Karmic

External monitor hotplug only works with compiz disabled. With compiz enabled, the video driver breaks (and a reboot is needed).

With compiz, you are limited to a virtual screen of 2048x2048 pixels (this is an hardware limit of the GPU). Since the default panel resolution is 1280x800, that leaves few possibilities: a 1280x1024 screen above or below laptop panel is probably the best you can get in extended desktop mode.

If you boot with the external monitor plugged, the external screen will by default be a clone of laptop screen. It will work with compiz, but if later you want to extend desktop, beware of the 2048x2048 limit: xrandr or the Gnome Display Manager won't stop you from setting up an impossible virtual resolution!

Gutsy/Hardy/Jaunty

Since Gutsy 7.10, Ubuntu has provided the new intel driver which implements randr 1.2 (or greater), instead of the old i810 driver. This allows to configure laptop panel (LVDS), VGA or TV outputs at runtime, without having to modify xorg.conf and restart xorg for a particular dual-head configuration.

If you still use the i810 driver (not recommended), see the LaptopTestingTeam/Lenovo3000N100_0768/Xorg.conf page for working xorg.conf files with external monitor.

In order to setup a dual-head extended configuration (non clone mode), you must define a virtual mode which is greater or equal than your two screens. For example, if you want to attach a second screen with a 1280x1024 resolution at the right of your laptop, the virtual mode must be at least (1280+1280)x1024 = 2560x1024. If you want to attach the same screen above the laptop panel, then it will be 1280x(1024+800) = 1280x1824. Edit your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file and modify the Screen section like this:

Section "Screen"
        ...
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           24
                Modes           "1280x800"
                Virtual         2560 1024 # you can put a 1280x1024 screen at left or at right of your laptop panel
        EndSubSection
EndSection

Then, use the xrandr command to setup your screens. (man xrandr for how to use it).

Note: the Intel 945GM chipset can handle at least 2048x2048 buffers (hardware limitations). You can specify a virtual mode greater than 2048x2048, but then you'll lose DRI (3D acceleration). The greatest virtual mode with DRI is 2048x2048, and the LVDS already takes 1280 pixels wide... For a 1280x1024 external screen, the only solution for extended display with 3D acceleration is to attach it below or above my laptop panel. Therefore, I use a 1280x2048 virtual mode.

Note: in Jaunty, the Intel video driver can automatically resize the framebuffer up to 2048x2048 pixels (maybe more without DRI), in UXA mode (I'm not sure in EXA). Therefore, you may not specify the virtual mode in the xorg.conf file and still use extanded desktop.

3D Acceleration

for Edgy/Feisty/Gutsy

If you don't use screen rotation, you can speed up the 3D rendering by setting the INTEL_BATCH environment variable. In your ~/.bashrc, add the line:

export INTEL_BATCH=1

It will enable batch buffer codepath for OpenGL apps. Note that it isn't really safe with rotation.

It speeds up glxgears from 900 fps to +1700 fps and Quake 3 four.dm_68 demo with timedemo from 58 to 78 average fps.

for Jaunty

You can enable UXA instead of EXA rendering method in the xorg.conf file:

Section "Device"
        Identifier      "Default Device"
        Option          "AccelMethod"   "UXA"
EndSection

This will enable DRI2. DRI2 introduces « Redirected Direct Rendering », improving visualisation of OpenGL applications in a composited desktop. If you don't understand what all this means, just think it improves desktop rendering by cleaning all the screen mess when you run a 3D program.

cpufreq applet (Edgy/Feisty/Gutsy/Hardy/Jaunty)

By default, the system controls itself the CPU frequencies (it gives more if needed), which is perfect for most people. If you want to control manually the CPU frequencies and governors with the applet, you must execute it with superuser privileges. In order to do this, run this command: {{{sudo dpkg-reconfigure gnome-applets }}}

Sleep

There are some issues with resume after suspend to RAM.

On Gutsy (7.10) 64bit the suspend works when you add the parameter i8042.reset. When adding the parameter i8042.nomux the touchpad seems to work on resume, but the lid close is not detected (taken from the Gentoo wiki). We need to gather more information about 32 bits, and more user experience before we can say "it works".

To add this parameter, type at the console: sudo nano /boot/grub/menu.lst (if you get an error about timestamp in the future, type sudo -K and try again). Look for a line that says # defoptions=quiet splash and modify it to # defoptions=quiet splash i8042.reset

Hibernate

Please note that on Fiesty, 7.04, there is an open bug https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-source-2.6.17/+bug/85894 which prevents using the hibernate function properly (read the bug, but shortly when resuming the fan fails to work which overheats the machine). I am not seeing this with linux-image-2.6.22-14-generic_2.6.22-14.46 (once more, 64bit, not sure about 32).

When comming back up from hibernation and suspend, NetworkManager is not responding which prevents connection a any network (wired, or wireless). A work around is to create this file (don't forget to make it executable!)

elcuco@pinky:~$ cat /etc/acpi/resume.d/99-network-manager.sh
killall NetworkManager
NetworkManager

A minor problem, is that the first time you connect to a wireless network, the connection will last 10 seconds and then disconnect, next connection will be stable. At least no console is used to get into this state

Sound (Hardy)

If the sound is not working after installation (like on my laptop) you may get it to work with the following steps:

Add following line to the end of /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base (do it with sudo)

options snd-hda-intel model=lenovo

Change all Audio settings to use ALSA (System->Preferences->Sound)

Sound (Edgy/Feisty/Gutsy)

The snd-hda-intel driver is used for sound. There is a bug for older versions than Hardy (8.04) which does not mute speakers when headphones are plugged. It works with the installed version of Feisty, but not after applying all current updates.

In order to get sound to work properly under older releases, a manual compile of a patched ALSA is needed (instructions below). alsa-driver-1.0.15 will be patched and then built and installed. Then, alsa-lib-1.0.15 and alsa-utils-1.0.15 will be built and installed too. NOTE: you can also install alsa-1.0.16rc1 (or later) without having to apply any patch, it will correct the automute problem.

libc6-dev required for alsa-driver

sudo apt-get install libc6-dev

ncurses-dev required for alsa-utils

sudo apt-get install ncurses-dev

patch and gettext will also be used during compilation (not installed by default)

sudo apt-get install gettext patch

Retrieve and install alsa 1.0.15

mkdir alsa-fix && cd alsa-fix

wget ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/driver/alsa-driver-1.0.15.tar.bz2
wget ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/lib/alsa-lib-1.0.15.tar.bz2
wget ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/utils/alsa-utils-1.0.15.tar.bz2
wget http://tfc.duke.free.fr/coding/hdaintel-laptop-eapd-hg20070908.patch

tar -xvf alsa-driver-1.0.15.tar.bz2
tar -xvf alsa-lib-1.0.15.tar.bz2
tar -xvf alsa-utils-1.0.15.tar.bz2

cd alsa-driver-1.0.15
patch -p1 < ../hdaintel-laptop-eapd-hg20070908.patch
./configure --with-cards=hda-intel --with-sequencer=yes --with-oss=yes
make
sudo make install
cd ..

cd alsa-lib-1.0.15
./configure
make
sudo make install
cd ..

cd alsa-utils-1.0.15
./configure
make
sudo make install
cd ..

NOTE: for building the source, you can call make -j 8 instead of make alone, it will speed up the compilation by running 8 threads. If the compilation fails, rerun the make command (it can happen sometimes that an object file *.o is needed before its source file has been compiled -- because of thread concurrency -- and then the build process is stopped).

Then reboot. You may have to unmute your sound card, or adjust the PCM volume after the first reboot. Also, if you update your kernel, or a patched version of ALSA prior to 1.0.15 gets installed, you will need to recompile ALSA against your latest updates.

This bug is discussed on ALSA's bugzilla : Bug 2581.

Touchpad

The xserver-xorg-input-synaptics package ships with an application called syndaemon which can be used to disable the touchpad whenever you're typing. Create the file ~/.config/autostart/syndaemon.desktop and put the following in it:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Encoding=UTF-8
Version=1.0
Name=Synaptics Daemon
Name[en_US]=Synaptics Daemon
Exec=syndaemon -i 0.3 -k
Comment=Disable touchpad during typing
Comment[en_US]=Disable touchpad during typing
X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true

Modify the file to suit your needs. See man syndaemon for information on syndaemon parameters. The new session autostart configuration will be available at System -> Preferences -> Sessions -> Startup Programs -> Synaptics Daemon and will take effect next time you log into your GNOME session.

Function keys and special keys

There are four Fn keys which aren't working out of the box, but user can set them with the setkeycodes command. There is also a special “Lenovo Care” button, which can be set via this command. However, I don't know yet how to affect the Fn keys to the task there should do (sleep, toggle WLAN, switch display and hibernate).

Here is an example of how to activate the Lenovo Care button (scancode = e034):

setkeycodes e034 129

It will attach the keycode “129” to it, then you can configure it in Gnome keybinding properties (if you use Gnome).

In order to get the keys recognized after each boot, you must put these lines in an init script (in /etc/init.d/):

setkeycodes e034 129
setkeycodes e017 130
setkeycodes e016 131
setkeycodes e041 132
setkeycodes e018 133
exit 0

Fingerprint reader

The fingerprint reader does not work out of the box. The fprint project provides a single API for application developers to easily add fingerprintting support to their apps. It works with several fingerprint readers, including the AES2501 in this laptop (with an user-space driver).

There are 3 modules in the fprint project:

• libfprint, the core library.

• fprint_demo, a simple GUI application used to demonstrate and test libfprint's capabilities.

• pam_fprint, a PAM module for fingerprint authentication.

You can install fprint libraries and binaries from the intrepid or hardy-backport (if you're using Hardy) repositories:

sudo apt-get install libfprint0 libpam-fprint fprint-demo

Fingerprints are stored on you home directory (~/.fprint). You can enroll your finger with either fprint_demo and pam_fprint_enroll.

Currently, pam_fprint (version 0.4) can't be configured for which finger it will read at password prompt (it will chose the first one it find... that can even be the left thumb!). Also, since the prints are stored in your home directory, you can't authenticate yourself as another user (except root).

In order to authenticate via the fingerprint reader, you must configure PAM to use pam_fprint. Here is a simple exemple how to add finger authentication to sudo (thanks Diego). Create a file /etc/pam.d/fprint and put these lines:

auth       sufficient   pam_fprint.so

Change /etc/pam.d/sudo to include the fprint file:

#%PAM-1.0

@include common-auth
@include common-account
@include fprint

Now when using sudo, it will ask for your password and then you fingerprint. This example may not be the best, because the finger authentication can fail and you'll get access. If someone has better examples of fprint integration with PAM, for sudo, gdm, kdm, and others, please share here The pam_fprint page can give some indications too. Maybe thinkwiki's HOWTO can help on PAM...

See also:

• FingerprintAuthentication

• http://wiki.debian.org/FingerForce

Note by rac: Currently the sudo application (Ubuntu 8.04.1) has a http://www.mail-archive.com/ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com/msg946814.html bug (fixed for debian in sudo version 1.6.9p17-1) it ends after one succefsul auth in segmentation fault if you use sudo. Workaround is installing the new sudo version manually or what i did just dont use it for sudo so i included in gdm and gnome-screensaver auth files.

Webcam

Note: my webcam seems to be defective (I suspect an hardware problem), since even under Windows it is often broken. It works, sometimes... Dhenry

The laptop has a Microdia SN9C201 based integrated webcam (lsusb tells 0c45:624f).

This is not an UVC camera, so the linux-uvc won't support it.

GSPCA (Karmic)

Since linux kernel 2.6.31, the microdia webcam is handled by the gspca driver (included with kernel). The driver is loaded automatically at boot time. So since Ubuntu 9.10, there's nothing to do: it should just work out of the box.

Microdia webcam kernel driver project (Gutsy/Hardy/Jaunty)

There is a Microdia project working on an Open Source driver by reverse engeneering (usb sniffing mainly) and some little documentation.
The project has a google group : http://groups.google.com/group/microdia and a launchpad PPA : https://launchpad.net/~nickel62metal/+archive.

You can add:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/nickel62metal/ubuntu intrepid main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/nickel62metal/ubuntu intrepid main

And then install by:

sudo apt-get install microdia-dkms

You can follow the development via git-web : http://repo.or.cz/w/microdia.git

If you want to test the driver (still in development, use at your own risks):

You need to install git first:

sudo apt-get install git-core gitk git-gui git-doc curl

Then clone the "microdia" repository:

git clone http://repo.or.cz/r/microdia.git 

Then build the driver:

cd microdia
make

Now load some necessary modules before the microdia driver:

sudo modprobe videodev
sudo modprobe compat-ioctl32

Finally, load the microdia driver (rmmod to unload it):

sudo insmod microdia.ko

You can test the webcam with Ekiga, or mplayer:

mplayer -fps 30 tv://

Do the following so you don't have to insmod everytime you wish to use your webcam after a restart:

sudo cp microdia.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/media/video/usbvideo/
sudo depmod -a

Card reader

It seems that there are three or four devices for the card reader:

05:06.1 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 19)
05:06.2 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C843 MMC Host Controller (rev 01)
05:06.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter (rev 0a)
05:06.4 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller (rev 05)

Philip Langdale posted a trick on his blog to use MMC cards with the R5C832 card controller he has in his Dell. The method described works for Lenovo too. Just replace the device number with 05:06.0 (the Firewire controller address on N100). The ricoh-mmc driver in linux-2.6.24 should do this automatically, so in newer version of Ubuntu it should work out of the box through the SDHCI controller.

External Links

• http://www.linlap.com/wiki/Lenovo+3000+N100

• http://fialky.com/drupal-5.0/?q=forum a forum on Lenovo 3000 (quite old now...)

• http://gentoo-wiki.com/HARDWARE_Lenovo_3000_N100

• http://gibreel.net/gentoo-on-lenovo-3000-n100/

• http://linuxwiki.de/MarkusMajer/Lenovo3000N100 (german)

• https://www.2030.tk/wiki/Install_Ubuntu_8.04_on_Lenovo_3000_N200_with_encrypted_LVM

CategoryLaptop