Current Issues

Installing the xorg-driver-fglrx graphics drivers from the restricted repository, stops Suspend and Hibernate from resuming properly. Tweaking some acpi settings fixes this. Information is provided under the ATI Graphics Card section below.

The Edgy Desktop Installation CD kept requesting a minimum 2GB partition for root. This is unreasonable for individuals who wish to organise their partitions differently. The Edgy Alternative Installation CD allowed me to partition my hard disk as I wanted.

The Texas Instruments memory card reader could detect, but not read a Memory Stick, even after proprietary drivers were installed.

System Info

bios-version:V1.90
system-manufacturer:TOSHIBA
system-product-name:Satellite M50
system-version:PSM51E-01E017AN

Hardware details

in Dapper (current stable)?

in Edgy (current development)?

Installation works?

Y (Desktop CD)

Y (Alternative CD)

Hardware Information

Screen & Monitors

Device

Works?

Bug #

in Dapper (current stable)?

in Edgy (current development)?

Screen

Y

Y

Correct resolution?

Y (1280 x 768)

Y (1280 x 768)

Correct refresh rate?

Untested

Untested

3D Acceleration

Y with xorg-driver-fglrx

Y with xorg-driver-fglrx

External monitor works?

Untested

Untested

External monitor - mirrors

Untested

Untested

External monitor - extend desktop

Untested

Untested

Power Management

Battery detected?

Y

Y

Hibernates?

Y

Y

Sleep

Y

Y

Dim monitor on battery

N

N

Blank monitor on inactivity

Y

Y

Lid Close

Y

Y

Cpu frequency scaling

Untested

Untested

Sound

Sound works?

Y

Y

Correct volume?

Y

Y

Hardware volume switch

Y

Y

Headphone jack

Y

Y

Mic jack

Untested

Untested

Networking

Wired NIC

Y

Y

Wireless NIC

Y

Y

PCMCIA NIC

Untested

Untested

Firewire

Untested

Untested

Bluetooth

N/A

N/A

Modem

Untested

Untested

Touchpad & Mice

Touchpad

Y

Y

Touchpad - Doubletap = double click

Y

Y

Touchpad - Scroll down side

Y

Untested

Touchpad - turned off while typing

N

N

External mouse - USB

Y

Y

External mouse - Serial

Untested

Untested

Docking Station/Port Replicator

AC through replicator

Untested

Untested

USB

Untested

Untested

Serial

Untested

Untested

Parallel

Untested

Untested

External Monitor - VGA

Untested

Untested

External Monitor - DVI

Untested

Untested

Modem

Untested

Untested

NIC

Untested

Untested

PS/2

Untested

Untested

Additional Hardware

CD/DVD drive

Y

Y

PCMCIA cards

Untested

Untested

Parallel Ports

Untested

Untested

Card reader(s)

Untested

N

Function and other keys

Fn key

Operation

Keycode

Works?

Bug #

in Dapper (current stable)?

in Edgy (current development)?

+ Space

Change Resolution

Untested

N

+ Esc

Mute On/Off

Y

Y

+ F1

Blank Screen

N

N

+ F2

Power Save Mode

N

N

+ F3

Standby Mode

N

N

+ F4

Hibernate

N

N

+ F5

Monitor On/Off

N

N

+ F6

Increase LCD Brightness

Y

Y

+ F7

Decrease LCD Brightness

Y

Y

+ F8

Wireless On/Off

Untested

N

+ F9

Touchpad On/Off

Y

Y

+ F10

Arrow Mode

Y

Y

+ F11

Numeric Mode

Y

Y

+ F12

Text Scrolling On/Off

N

N

+ 1

Zoom Out

N

N

+ 2

Zoom In

N

N

Media Panel Keys

Key

Operation

Keycode

Works?

Bug #

in Dapper (current stable)?

in Edgy (current development)?

Power

Power

Y

Y

Media Key

Internet Button

N

N

Media Key

CD/DVD

N

N

Media Key

Play/Pause

N

N

Media Key

Stop

N

N

Media Key

Forwards

N

N

Media Key

Backwards

N

N

ATI Graphics Card

You will have lovely 2D graphics with the standard Ubuntu installation. If you would like to use your graphics card's 3D capabilities you will need to install ATI's proprietary drivers. These are available in the xorg-driver-fglrx package from the restricted repository. For full instructions on installing the ATI drivers visit http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Ubuntu_Dapper_Installation_Guide. Be warned that following this guide will prevent Suspend/Hibernate from resuming properly. The next section provides a fix for this.

Correcting the Suspend/Hibernate Issue

1. Open the acpi-support file for editing 

sudo vim /etc/default/acpi-support

2. Ensure that the following lines are commented 

# SAVE_VBE_STATE=true
# POST_VIDEO=true

Sleep and Hibernate should now work

Checking that ATI Drivers Installed Correctly

To check that the ATI drivers are in use type fglrxinfo into a terminal from X. 

$ fglrxinfo
display: :0.0  screen: 0
OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: MOBILITY RADEON X600 SE Generic
OpenGL version string: 2.0.5814 (8.25.18)

Checking 3D Acceleration

Although glxgears is not meant for benchmarking, you can use it to get an idea of your 3D graphics performance: 

$ which glxgears | xargs strings | grep benchmark | xargs glxgears
18824 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3764.738 FPS
18794 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3758.691 FPS
28579 frames in 5.0 seconds = 5715.733 FPS
38519 frames in 5.0 seconds = 7703.653 FPS
37794 frames in 5.0 seconds = 7558.639 FPS
38037 frames in 5.0 seconds = 7607.291 FPS
36503 frames in 5.0 seconds = 7300.455 FPS
38592 frames in 5.0 seconds = 7718.375 FPS
38556 frames in 5.0 seconds = 7703.381 FPS
38318 frames in 5.0 seconds = 7663.580 FPS

Splash Screen Resolution

DAPPER

The default resolution for the Ubuntu Start-Up Splash screen was incorrect (hence it looked stretched). To correct this add vga=791 to the end of your kernel line in the /boot/grub/menu.lst file. For example: 

kernel      /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-26-386 root=/dev/sda4 ro quiet splash vga=791

EDGY

The above step works well in Dapper but in Edgy it incorrectly centres the splash (and other) screens. It is probable that 791 is an incorrect vga code code for widescreen. I have not yet found a better vga code.

Further Notes

Ubuntu installed nicely and all the essentials (screen, touchpad, wireless, cd/dvd burning, usb drives) worked immediately.

CategoryLaptop

SergioZanchetta/Old/ToshibaSatelliteM50 (last edited 2010-02-26 15:47:51 by host226-241-dynamic)