ubuntu precise on the EeePc-1015pn

A Little Background Info

What makes this Netbook better suited for Linux?

The reason this Netbook is interesting for Linux users is that Asus placed 2 GPU's (Intel GMA 3150 build into the N550 GPU & a dedicated Nvidia GT218 chip "Next Gen ION") in it and wires the nvidia gpu directly to the display device and HDMI port

But this Dual GPU stuff isn't new, so why to you make such a fuzz out of this?

True, this by itself is nothing special nowadays but most of this muxless dual GPU configurations are pretty bad supported on Linux because this Technique (Nvidia calls this "Optimus") is not supported by the available binary drivers so Linux users have a useless Nvidia Chip that draws loads of power from the battery.

Ok, thanks for the fish... so what makes this Netbook different?

Asus did a nice thing when designing this Chipset and manufactured a hardware mix allowing the nvidia card to access the display device directly. Most other notebooks do not offer this option and need a intel framebuffer to draw to the screen. Unfortunately Xorg, the intel drivers and the nvidia binary drivers do not support this. so the 1015pn is pretty unique.

Um... Can you explain this in non-geek language please?

Sure :) You can decide what GPU Mode you want to use. If your focus is on long battery life, use the intel GMA 3150. If you want better performance for 3D gaming or Hardware Acceleration for HDTV video use the Nvidia GPU.

How much is the difference in battery life between the intel and the Nvidia GPU?

With the tweaks described here i managed to squeeze 6 hours of normal usage out of the 1015pn with a full battery load by using the Intel Chip. With the Nvidia chip max battery life is around 4 hours, so the difference is quite significant

Sweet. How do i switch GPU's ?

You need to use a acpi_call to tell the system what gpu mode should be activated for the next boot. I prepared some helper scripts to make the switching as easy as possible. So all you need to do is select the desired gpu for the next boot via a simple gui, press "ok" and reboot.

Rebooting sucks :( Can't we do it without a reboot?

Currently not. The bumblebee Project is working on a way to start applications using the nvidia gpu in its own X-Screen, but when i last tried it (20/09/2011) this approach had some mayor shortcomings (no hdmi out because it is hard-wired to the nvidia gpu, no vdpau accel, ect.) and was under heavy development.

Hopefully this will get fixed in upcoming releases but for now we need to reboot.

System Information

hardinfo report

EeePC-1015PN

************

-BIOS-

Date : 04/18/2011

Vendor : American Megatrends Inc. (www.ami.com)

Version : 0701

-Board-

Name : 1015PN

Vendor : ASUSTeK Computer INC.

-Computer-

Processor : 4x Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N550 @ 1.50GHz

Memory : 2056MB (1926MB used)

-Display-

Resolution : 1024x600 pixels

OpenGL Renderer : ION/PCI/SSE2

X11 Vendor : The X.Org Foundation

-Multimedia-

Audio Adapter : HDA-Intel - HDA Intel

Audio Adapter : HDA-Intel - HDA NVidia

-Input Devices-

⎡ Virtual core pointer id=2 [master pointer (3)]

⎜ ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer id=4 [slave pointer (2)]

⎜ ↳ ETPS/2 Elantech Touchpad id=13 [slave pointer (2)]

⎣ Virtual core keyboard id=3 [master keyboard (2)]

↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard id=5 [slave keyboard (3)]

↳ Power Button id=6 [slave keyboard (3)]

↳ Video Bus id=7 [slave keyboard (3)]

↳ Power Button id=8 [slave keyboard (3)]

↳ Sleep Button id=9 [slave keyboard (3)]

↳ USB2.0 UVC VGA WebCam id=10 [slave keyboard (3)]

↳ Eee PC WMI hotkeys id=11 [slave keyboard (3)]

↳ AT Translated Set 2 keyboard id=12 [slave keyboard (3)]

-SCSI Disks-

ATA WDC WD2500BEVT-8

-Kernel Modules-

nvidia

arc4 : ARC4 Cipher Algorithm

brcm80211 : Broadcom 802.11n wireless LAN driver.

mac80211 : IEEE 802.11 subsystem

cfg80211 : wireless configuration support

acpi_call

parport_pc : PC-style parallel port driver

ppdev

dm_crypt : device-mapper target for transparent encryption / decryption

joydev : Joystick device interfaces

binfmt_misc

coretemp : Intel Core temperature monitor

snd_hda_codec_hdmi : HDMI HD-audio codec

snd_hda_codec_realtek : Realtek HD-audio codec

eeepc_wmi : Eee PC WMI Hotkey Driver

snd_hda_intel : Intel HDA driver

sparse_keymap : Generic support for sparse keymaps

snd_hda_codec : HDA codec core

snd_hwdep : Hardware dependent layer

snd_pcm : Midlevel PCM code for ALSA.

snd_seq_midi : Advanced Linux Sound Architecture sequencer MIDI synth.

snd_rawmidi : Midlevel RawMidi code for ALSA.

snd_seq_midi_event : MIDI byte <-> sequencer event coder

snd_seq : Advanced Linux Sound Architecture sequencer.

snd_timer : ALSA timer interface

snd_seq_device : ALSA sequencer device management

psmouse : PS/2 mouse driver

uvcvideo : USB Video Class driver

snd : Advanced Linux Sound Architecture driver for soundcards.

videodev : Device registrar for Video4Linux drivers v2

v4l2_compat_ioctl32

serio_raw : Raw serio driver

soundcore : Core sound module

snd_page_alloc : Memory allocator for ALSA system.

lp

parport

ahci : AHCI SATA low-level driver

libahci : Common AHCI SATA low-level routines

video : ACPI Video Driver

atl1c : Atheros 1000M Ethernet Network Driver

-PCI Devices-

Host bridge : Intel Corporation N10 Family DMI Bridge (rev 02)

Audio device : Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)

VGA Controller : Intel Corporation N10 Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 02)

PCI bridge : Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI-E Port 1 (rev 02)

PCI bridge : Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI-E Port 2 (rev 02)

PCI bridge : Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI-E Port 4 (rev 02)

USB Controller : Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)

USB Controller : Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)

USB Controller : Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)

USB Controller : Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)

USB Controller : Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)

PCI bridge : Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2)

ISA bridge : Intel Corporation NM10 Family LPC Controller (rev 02)

SATA controller : Intel Corporation N10/ICH7 Family SATA AHCI Controller (rev 02)

Ethernet controller : Atheros Communications AR8132 Fast Ethernet (rev c0)

Network controller : Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller (rev 01)

VGA controller : nVidia Corporation GT218 [ION] (rev a2)

Audio device : nVidia Corporation High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)

-Battery: BAT0-

State : charging (load: 644 mA)

Capacity : 3836 mAh / 5200 mAh

Battery Technology : rechargeable (LION)

Model Number : 1015PN

Install Ubuntu

Get the ubuntu Desktop installation Disk from here: http://releases.ubuntu.com/precise/ . I use the amd64 Version to utilize the dualcore atom CPU. Since the EeePC has no CD drive you need to transfer the installation Image to a USB stick. You can do this either via 'Unetbootin' from Windows or if you already have a Ubuntu installation on a desktop Computer use the App 'usb-creator-gtk' via the 'System => Administration => Startup Disk Creator' Menu item.

Now plug the Stick into the USB Port of your EeePC and power it on. You do not need to change anything in the Bios, just press 'Esc' and a Boot up menu Option will appear allowing you to select the primary boot device (either the WD Harddrive or your USB stick) . Choose your USB stick and press Enter.

Now the default ubuntu install will start and ask you some questions. I suggest to keep the Laptop disconnected from the Intiernet during the main install because this might slow down the install drastically. About 15 minutes later the install is done.

Choose faster Repository Mirrors

First choose faster repository mirrors:

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Remove all country code Prefixes from the URL's and delete the # before the 'Canocial Partner' Repository. Now save this file and update your system:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

This will install all updates since the initial release date and might install also a new kernel. If so reboot after the update completed.

Stop apt from installing "Recommended Packages"

Recommended Packages were never intended to get installed automatically, but ubuntu devs decided to do this anyway which is just annoying. Reverse this with:

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/02recommends

paste this line into the editor window

APT::Install-Recommends "0";

Notes

• Wlan: The Broadcom BCM4313 Chip is now supported via a Open Source driver shipped with the Kernel (brcmsmac), so you DO NOT need to install the proprietary "Broadcom STA wireless driver" offered via the ubuntu Restricted drivers manager!

Some People reported that the brcmsmac driver shipped with the kernel has serious problems with Wlan N networks. I can't comment on this because i only own a b/g router. If you got hit by bis bug set your router to only use Wlan b/g/ networks or use the closed source wl driver by Broadcom

gksudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

Add these lines at the end of the file to prevent the kernel drivers from loading

blacklist bcma blacklist brcmsmac blacklist brcmutil

Now install the proprietary driver via the "Restricted Drivers manager" or from the terminal

sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source

and reload the wlan drivers or reboot.

Fixes

• Update Bios to latest Version (0701) ² : Get the BIOS zip file from Asus Support Site and flash it either via Win7 or unzip and rename the bios image file to 1015PN.ROM and put it on a freshly FAT16-formatted USB stick, then boot and press alt+f2. Note that it can take 10+ minutes on the "programming" stage so be patient and don't interrupt the update! To check your currently installed BIOS Version:

sudo dmidecode -s bios-version

• Fix numerous spin-downs of the Western Digital hard drive: ⁴

gksudo gedit /etc/hdparm.conf

Add the following at the end of the conf file

/dev/sda {

        apm = 254

        apm_battery = 254

}

• Multitouch: Is disabled by default. Turn it on in gnome:
  • gnome-control-center
• Mouse and Touchpad - Touchpad Tab - Enable Two-finger scrolling

General Tweaks

Enable Hibernation (Syspend to disk)

Hibernate has been disabled by default in Ubuntu 12.04. To re-enable it

gksudo gedit /etc/polkit-1/localauthority/50-local.d/com.ubuntu.enable-hibernate.pkla

add the following to the file:

[Re-enable hibernate by default] Identity=unix-user:* Action=org.freedesktop.upower.hibernate ResultActive=yes

After the next Login, "Hibernate" should show up in the power menu.

Adjust plymouth (bootsplash) theme:

gksudo gedit /lib/plymouth/themes/ubuntu-logo/ubuntu-logo.script

set a black background by adjusting these 2 lines to:

Window.SetBackgroundTopColor (0.0, 0.00, 0.0); # Nice colour on top of the screen fading to Window.SetBackgroundBottomColor (0.0, 0.00, 0.0); # an equally nice colour on the bottom

Power Management & Hotkeys Support

The great Application Jupiter provides Power Management (Asus 'Super Hybrid Engine') and maps the EeePC's Hotkeys to Functions. A must - have! ⁷

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/jupiter

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

sudo apt-get install jupiter jupiter-support-eee

Editable Autostart-Applications

According to this bugreport the ubuntu devs think it's a good idea to hide the Startup Applications from the Users. Well, I don't. To re-populate gnome-session-properties run:

cd /etc/xdg/autostart/

sudo sed --in-place 's/NoDisplay=true/NoDisplay=false/g' *.desktop

Reduce Swap Usage

The 'swappiness' parameter (scale goes from 0 = don't swap at all to 100 = aggressively swap) controls the tendency of the kernel to move processes out of physical memory and onto the swap disk. ⁹ If you own the 2 Gig RAM Model you can safely reduce the swappiness to get better response times.

gksudo gedit /etc/sysctl.conf

add the line

vm.swappiness=10

Set Gdebi as default file handler for debian packages

If you prefer a simpler & faster gui way to install deb packages give gdebi a try

sudo apt-get install gdebi

gedit ~/.local/share/applications/mimeapps.list

If the file mimeapps.list does not exist, set a custom open with application for a filetype of your choice. This will populate the .list file. Now open it and add / edit the line "application/x-deb" in the [Default Applications] section to

application/x-deb=gdebi.desktop

Make applications Autostart only in the selected Desktop Enviroment

Autostart Applications place a .desktop file in ~/.config/autostart or in /etc/xdg/autostart. If an application should only start in Gnome, open the correspondig .desktop file and add

OnlyShowIn=GNOME;

to make the Application start in Gnome & Unity:

OnlyShowIn=GNOME;Unity

to make the application start on Gnome-Fallback only add:

AutostartCondition=GNOME3 if-session gnome-fallback

NOTE: This also works for Launcher on the Desktop. If you want a custom Application Launcher to show in Unity only, add the 'OnlyShowIn' line to the corresponding .desktop file

Nautilus Image Converter Script

sudo apt-get install nautilus-image-converter imagemagick

Optional: Move your logs and temporary files to RAM

NOTE: This tweak is only useful if you own the 2 Gig RAM model of the EeePC 1015PN and you system runs good. DO NOT USE IT with 1 GB RAM!

The following tweak will help to save some energy by writing temporary & log files to RAM and reducing disk writes ⁶

sudo -s

service rsyslog stop

echo "tmpfs /tmp tmpfs defaults,noatime,mode=1777 0 0" >>/etc/fstab

echo "tmpfs /var/log tmpfs defaults,noatime,mode=1777 0 0" >>/etc/fstab

mv /tmp /tmp2

mkdir /tmp

mv /var/log /var/log2

mkdir /var/log

mount -a

rsync -av /tmp2/ /tmp

rsync -av /var/log2/ /var/log

rm -rf /tmp2

rm -rf /var/log2

service rsyslog start

What those commands do

First we stop the syslog daemon, then we edit FSTAB and add the new mountpoints. Next we move the /tmp & /var/log folders to a new temporary location and create new folders. Now we apply the changes to fstab, move the old files to their new locations and clean the temp folders. Finally we restart the syslog service.

NOTE: Please bear in mind that moving those logs and temp directories to memory will cause the contents to be lost when you restart. You can still manually copy them to another directory before reboot with

rsync -av /var/log/* ~/saved_logfiles

Tweak Firefox

Open Firefox, and in the address bar type 'about:config'. Click through the warning message. Right click anywhere in the parameter listing and select New -> String. Set the preference name to 'browser.cache.disk.parent_directory' (without the ticks) and set the value to '/tmp/ff-cache' (again without the ticks).

Tweak Chromium

Chromium has command-line options to control memory management. Available options are --memory-model=<high| medium|low> Setting it to high makes chromium never release memory. Medium makes it reduce its working set of the memory when switching tabs, and low makes it reduce its working set when switching tabs and when the browser is not actively being used. In my experience, running chromium with --memory-model=low can improve performance.

Another useful command line switch is --disk-cache-dir. If you have moved your /tmp to Ram, set chromium to use this Location for Cache.

Add your desired Chromium statup option to the /etc/chromium-browser/default file:

gksu gedit /etc/chromium-browser/default

Change the line after ' # Options to pass to chromium-browser ' to read:

CHROMIUM_FLAGS="--memory-model=low --disk-cache-dir=/tmp"

Tweak Google Chrome:

Add your desired Chromium statup option to the /etc/chromium-browser/default file:

gksu gedit /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome.desktop

Replace the Exec Line with:

Exec=/opt/google/chrome/google-chrome --memory-model=low --disk-cache-dir=/tmp %U

Advanced Power Saving Tips

Only use these if you know what you are doing ;)

• Activate wireless power saving mode with 500ms

sudo iwconfig wlan0 power timeout 500ms

• Reduce wireless adapter power to 5

sudo iwconfig wlan0 txpower 5

• Power saving options for intel sound module

sudo sh -c 'echo Y > /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save_controller'

sudo sh -c 'echo 1 > /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save'

• USB auto power/suspend

sudo sh -c 'for i in /sys/bus/usb/devices/*/power/level; do echo auto > $i; done'

sudo sh -c 'for i in /sys/bus/usb/devices/*/power/autosuspend; do echo 1 > $i; done'

• PCI auto power/suspend

sudo sh -c 'for i in /sys/bus/pci/devices/*/power/control; do echo auto > $i; done'

• Set SATA link Power management to min_power

sudo sh -c 'for i in /sys/class/scsi_host/host*/link_power_management_policy; do echo min_power > $i; done'

Unity Tweaks

How can I configure Unity?

see here: http://askubuntu.com/questions/29553/how-can-i-configure-unity/101415#101415

sudo apt-get install myunity 

an Alternative tweak tool for unity that allows you to export and import a set of settings for Unity is unsettings

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:diesch/testing

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

sudo apt-get install unsettings

Unity Dodge Windows Autohide & minimize window on click

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ikarosdev/unity-revamped

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Allow panel Indicator applets in unity

gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.Panel systray-whitelist "['all']"

Useful indicator applets

- TODO: no precise build Indicator Keylock Applet

Oneiric build i386

wget https://launchpad.net/~tsbarnes/+archive/indicator-keylock/+files/indicator-keylock_3.0.0-0%7Eppa0_i386.deb

sudo gdebi indicator-keylock_3.0.0-0%7Eppa0_i386.deb

---

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tsbarnes/indicator-keylock

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

sudo apt-get install indicator-keylock indicator-keylock-ubuntu-mono

Once installed, start it by pressing Alt + F2 and then enter: "indicator-keylock"

- TODO: no precise build syspeek system monitor applet

Oneiric build [all arch]

wget https://launchpad.net/~vicox/+archive/syspeek/+files/syspeek_0.2%7Eoneiric1_all.deb

sudo gdebi syspeek_0.2%7Eoneiric1_all.deb

---

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:vicox/syspeek

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

sudo apt-get install syspeek

- My Weather Indicator, Touchpad Indicator and Cryptkeeper by Lorenzo Carbonell

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/atareao

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

sudo apt-get install calendar-indicator cryptfolder-indicator my-weather-indicator touchpad-indicator

Conky script adjusted for the Eee 1015PN

sudo apt-get install conky

Download the conky-eee1015pn.tar.gz archive from the Downloads page and unpack the files in your $HOME. Now start conky from the terminal or set it as start-up application ¹⁰

Always use path in Nautilus

gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.preferences always-use-location-entry true

Remove the Name applet (User Session Indicator) from the unity panel

sudo apt-get install dconf-tools

dconf-editor

Navigate to the Key 'Apps - Indicator-Session' and untick the checkbox next to sow-real-name-on-panel

Add Quicklist launchers to the unity dash