Ubuntu Wiki

• Contact: em3raldxiii Make: MSI Brand: Model: GT735

  Website: http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=proddesc&maincat_no=135&prod_no=1517

Current Issues

Ubuntu 9.10: Just about everything works out-of-the-box; most importantly, there are no longer any issues with getting audio to work through all of the speakers correctly.

Ubuntu 9.04 and earlier: Audio does not work out-of-the-box. A complete solution is still unavailable. By default, audio only comes out of the subwoofer located on the bottom of the laptop. See Notes at the bottom for more detail. Also, the ECO button (designed for power management) does not seem to do anything.

The "windows key + E" opens all work spaces.

System Info

system-manufacturer: Micro-Star International

system-product-name: GT735

system-version: Ver 1.000

Hardware details

Notes

Wireless

I have had Ubuntu 9.04 (now upgraded to 9.10) running on this computer for some time now, and I do have wireless networking working with no trouble. However, I don't remember if I had to do any special work to get it to work.

Audio

Ubuntu 9.04: To begin with, audio was only available through the subwoofer. All controls worked (volume, mute, etc), but sound quality was obviously not very good. Eventually I opened up a discussion here: Ubuntu Forum Discussion. The short version of the partial solution is here:

Add this line to the bottom of your /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf configuration file.

options snd-hda-intel model=6stack-dig probe_mask=1

Ubuntu 9.10: Audio appears to work perfectly; some games which were designed to access the audio device directly (as opposed to playing nice with Pulse) may have issues. For example, Chromium-B.S.U (the game) has sporadic audio functionality, with a lot of crackling being the norm. The application does not show up in the pulse-audio applications tab.

CD/DVD Burning

According to various Internet forums regarding the optical drive in this laptop, the drive has a problem with the firmware which causes it to have numerous write errors. I have encountered a number of errors in audio CDs that cause the disc to have trouble playing in my car stereo (it either takes a long time to begin playing, or gives me an error message). The CDs in question still work fine in my computers. I have never encountered problems with burned DVDs.

Suspend mode

Going INTO suspend or hibernate hasn't caused me any troubles yet. However, sometimes coming out of suspend the computer will hang with a black screen. This is incredibly annoying. Also note that if I am using advanced desktop effects (like compiz-fusion with the cube and reflections) or a different window manager (such as Emerald) coming out of suspend can cause strange graphics problems, such as reflection borders simply being a black blob hiding the background. My only solution so far has been to log out and back in.

Ubuntu 9.10: It appears that closing the lid does not always work correctly - it either does not enter sleep mode, or when coming out of sleep, the screen stays black and a hard-boot is required. On the other hand, if I use the fn-F12 sleep/suspend command instead, it always enters and exits suspend as it should.

Media Keys

This laptop comes equipped with several touch-sensitive (non push-button type) buttons at the top of the keyboard. They glow blue when touched, and the associated application or action is launched. All keys work more or less as advertised with the following provisos:

• Rewind, play, forward, and stop buttons work with Totem Movie Player by default. However, it is not immediately obvious how to change the associated application. I prefer to use VLC player and have yet to figure out how to make these media keys work directly with VLC.
• Webcam light comes on, and stays on when touched; however the webcam has not been tested.
• P1 button is supposed to be a user-initiated application launcher. I have not discovered a way to associate a program with this button yet.
• Eco button flashes, but light does not stay on. No CPU frequency scaling appears to happen, in fact, there seems to be no effect.

• Turbo button light comes on and stays on. However, no CPU scaling appears to take place (according to the gnome panel widget), and there seems to be no other effect. Once, however, pressing this button did seem to cause the cooling fan to accelerate.

CategoryLaptop