Linux on the U3S

Alrighty, overall Ubuntu works wonderful on the U3S.

First thing you need to do, is hop on vista and upgrade your bios. If you don't the sound won't work properly. It should be on the asus web site under the support section. Just use winflash to do it.

Then, you need to setup a script to enable the switching of multiple cards.

From an article (this does work):
"To use the Stamina/Speed switch, John Lathouwers (email) has written a little script to switch from one xorg.conf to another depending on the video chipset used. He uses two xorg.conf files in /etc/X11: xorg.conf.stamina and xorg.conf.speed. You then have to create a small script in /etc/init.d (called xorg_conf) with the following content:"

Code:

VIDEO=`/usr/bin/lspci |grep -c nVidia`

if [ "$VIDEO" = 1 ]; then
cp -f /etc/X11/xorg.conf.speed /etc/X11/xorg.conf
else
cp -f /etc/X11/xorg.conf.stamina /etc/X11/xorg.conf
fi

Soft linking the script into rc2.d as S12xorg_conf will copy the correct xorg.conf file into place before X starts.

So, basically create those 2 files using your xorg, and make sure that you setup the softlink properly (ln command). Your switch will now work properly.

Set your keyboard to "US English" only (no dead keys).

To fix the overly sensitive touchpad, follow this article (will fix the random clicking): http://ubuntu.wordpress.com/2006/09/20/disable-touchpad-temporarily-when-typing/


You should be good-to-go from here! Enjoy (and use Gutsy 7.10 release of ubuntu)

 

Thanks for sharing the info, I have my eyes on this laptop since last month, knowing that Linux runs easily on it is great news for me.

 

Small question, is the webcam working in Ubuntu ?

 

I don't have the webcam working yet. I found a work around, just need to give it a try. I'll let you know as soon as I have that working (it may need a kernel recompile...which is no biggy, just takes awhile).

I'll also post up the commands to get it all working.

 

I finally got hibernate and suspend to work properly on the u3s. The g1s and u3s are very similar, and thus use the same suspending/hibernate routine. Follow this guys instructions (under suspend/hibernate), and then you'll be able to finally suspend and hibernate on your u3s:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=681099

Also, for webcam support visit this topic I made:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=188106

 

Is this the one with integrated GPS? How does that work? What software do you use for it?

 

(Sorry if what I'm about to post is obvious. I thought that folks who might struggle with this subject might be able to use a little assist..)

I just wanted to provide a little more description to someone trying to setup automatic video support switching on a U3S. This technique for switching X GPU configurations, was derived from a hack that users of the Sony SZ series of laptops came up with, as it was one of the first laptops to offer both Intel and nVidia GPUs in a single laptop. As a matter of fact the article quoted above in Scythe's post is likely from a howto for running Ubuntu on the SZ110, which is located here.

This method of video switching involves building 2 different X server configuration files, (/etc/X11/xorg.conf), which you will name specific to the video card they support. /etc/X11/xorg.conf.stamina for supporting the Intel GPU, and /etc/X11/xorg.conf.speed for supporting the nVidia GPU. Next step is to write a shell script which will detect whether or not the nVidia GPU is enabled, and if it is, copy /etc/X11/xorg.conf.speed to /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Then when your X server loads at the end of the boot process, it will load the nVidia configuration. If the shell script does not detect the nVidia GPU, then it will copy the /etc/X11/xorg.conf.stamina to /etc/X11/xorg.conf, which will load the Intel GPU configuration when your X server loads. The last part of the process is to link this shell script into your OS's startup, so that it is run as part of the boot process.

You should know by using this dual xorg.conf file approach, any changes you make to your existing /etc/X11/xorg.conf will NOT be saved, and will simply be overwritten the next time you boot. If you want to make changes permanent to your X configuration, you need to edit BOTH /etc/X11/xorg.conf.speed and /etc/X11/xorg.conf.stamina, and save them. OR.. If you make changes to your running /etc/X11/xorg.conf configuration file and you need it to be saved, you will need to open a terminal window and manually copy it to either /etc/X11/xorg.conf.stamina or /etc/X11/xorg.conf.speed, depending on which GPU you are currently running, BEFORE you reboot. Also if you are planning on using the latest nVidia Linux drivers with their direct rendering support, the changes the driver installation makes to your system, will make configuring direct rendering support for the Intel GPU a problem.

So the toughest part of the this process is to come up with a good xorg.conf for each GPU configuration. Here is the xorg.conf.stamina and xorg.conf.speed examples of the Sony SZ110 Ubuntu configuration referenced earlier. You can see by comparing them where they are the same and where they are different. I would not recommend simply using them as is for your U3S. I don't know what resolutions are supported on the U3S LCD, or other laptop specific configurations you will need in your /etc/X11/xorg.conf, but it's likely they are different from the Sony SZ laptops. So before you go any further, you will need to come up with the right two xorg.conf files for your U3S. My advice would be to enable your nVidia GPU, and build a good working xorg.conf, configuring any nVidia specific settings that you need. Once you've done that, copy it to the /etc/X11/ directory as xorg.conf.speed and then edit that same /etc/X11/xorg.conf file, by deleting all nVidia specific settings, and replacing it with Intel GPU specific settings, and save it simply as /etc/X11/xorg.conf for now. Reboot and turn off your nVidia GPU, and then boot back into Linux and X, and fine tune your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file Intel GPU specific settings, adding anything else necessary, and then save it as /etc/X11/xorg.conf.stamina. BTW, if current U3S users who have Linux up and configured correctly would like to share their working xorg.conf files, (whether they switch or not), it would be a help to those wanting to do it in the future. If you have one good working xorg.conf, then building the other one is a bit easier.

You can now complete the process of building the switcher shell script and linking it to your boot process, so that xorg.conf files will be selected depending on what GPU HW is enabled. Before doing this you should know that each Linux distribution can handle things such as booting and what's called "runlevels", as well as the location of configuration files, such as xorg.conf files, differently. The instructions on the original SZ110 howto, and these instructions in this forum post, indicate you are installing on an Ubuntu distribution. It may not work correctly for other distributions. For example this won't work with my Linux distribution, Gentoo. Once you have your separate xorg.conf configuration files configured as you need them, and installed into the /etc/X11 directory, you can begin the process for creating an xorg.conf switcher shell script and linking it to your Ubuntu boot process.

1. Create the start-up shell script for switching xorg.conf files named here xorg_conf:

Code:

sudo nano /etc/init.d/xorg_conf

then enter into the blank file the following

Code:

#!/bin/bash
#xorg.conf switcher shell script

VIDEO=`/usr/bin/lspci |grep -c nVidia`

if [ "$VIDEO" = 1 ]; then
cp -f /etc/X11/xorg.conf.speed /etc/X11/xorg.conf
else
cp -f /etc/X11/xorg.conf.stamina /etc/X11/xorg.conf
fi

and save it.

2. Next make the script executable:

Code:

sudo chmod +x /etc/init.d/xorg_conf

3. Finally, link the script to the appropriate Ubuntu startup run-level:

Code:

sudo ln -s /etc/init.d/xorg_conf /etc/rc2.d/S12xorg_conf

4. Finally, reboot your system and you should now have a system that will correctly switch between X server GPU configurations depending on which GPU is enabled at boot time.

If installing the latest nVidia Linux drivers is necessary for you, then supporting direct rendering on both nVidia and Intel GPUs, requires a modification to this method, that an Ubuntu forum poster has provided in their post here.

Some other notes. All commands here pretty much should be done with superuser rights. So however you like doing that, either sudo as shown in the examples, or by running a superuser terminal session with su. Also you can obviously use any editor you like to edit these files, but again it should be done as superuser. Finally, if you have any graphical tools that help you build your xorg.conf file, using them is fine, as long as you remember that you need to open a terminal window and copy your freshly configured /etc/X11/xorg.conf file to /etc/X11/xorg.conf.stamina or /etc/X11/xorg.conf.speed, (depending on which GPU you are currently running), BEFORE you reboot, as described above.

Good Luck.

 

Thanks for the detailed writeup Jas, I got a tad bit lazy

 

Well, it doesn't work [yet] for linux. I'm working on it though (and also talking with the gpsdrive dev).

 

Alrighty, so -- what else did I do to get linux [ubuntu distro] to behave nicely with the U3S?

Well, Synaptic plays awkwardly with firefox. Sometimes Firefox will randomly go back when you slide your finger a certain way. So, here's how you fix that:

That should prevent the random synaptic back stuff, while still allowing hscrolling.

Also, to save even more battery power and to keep the laptop cooler, add the cpu frequency applet using this tutorial:

http://feedfury.com/content/7264788-howto_change_cpu_frequency_scaling_in_ubuntu.html

 

Hi there
I found that when the nvidia-glx driver was installed I couldn't get 3d acceleration on the Intel card. The script above doesn't get around this.

Good news though, "xixsixxix" posted a script and commands to set up symlinks to get it working and now I have 3d on both the Nvidia and Intel cards.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=419841&highlight=xorg_conf

Also to get the webcam working on kubuntu 7.10 all I had to do was install v4l2.

 

Good point. I edited my post to provide the link to the Ubuntu forum post you are referring to. Most people will likely be using the latest nVidia drivers anyway.

Thanks.

 

Just as a side note, the new 305 bios that Asus just put on for the u3s, keeps the laptop 4*C cooler on both the Intel and nVidia card. So, download those. Also it fixes a precharge battery issue. I highly recommend it for those on linux.

 

Attatched is the changes to my acpi-support file for the U3S -- which is using the previously posted s2ram/s2both suspending and hibernating routines. This has a change for nm-applet, so if you use another wireless connection utility, change it in the file.

The reasoning for the changes: occasionally it won't load from resume or hibernate. Or, it'll completely lock up on suspend. So, there are changes to this file to fix that, as well as a few wifi lockup issues (aka: wifi won't work at all on resume). The wifi gets turned off in the bios on hibernate/suspend for some reason, and I'm still finding a fix for that.

Regardless, if you want to hibernate/suspend properly using both intel and the nvidia card, use this acpi-support file:

Make changes to your default one using: sudo gedit /etc/default/acpi-support

 

Hi,

I was really happy to see that I am not the only u3s user that runs linux. The tutorial about swiching the xconfig was very helpful.
I still though got some problems with the intel driver. I can not play video. I hear the sound but do not see the picture. I wondered if one of you could post the xconfig so I can compare with mine?

Apart from that everything worked out of the box. Only for the webcam I needed to make uvcvideo from the svn.

I am still puzzled about the gps. I do not know if my model has gps or not. It is a U3S-3P050G It has UMTS for sure but I did not get any software for gps. How can I figure that out? And did any one of you get it to work with linux?

Thanks,

Toby

 

Sorry for the delay, here's my two xorg's (used in conjunction with the switcher script)

[xorg.conf.stamina = intel]

Also, for those that have hibernation problems, I can help a bit more now. With ususp, don't forget to install "hibernation" (from synaptic).

 

Hi,

On my U3S, I have installed dual-boot with ubuntu and vista.

The defaut program from Asus, I don't know the name, propose me to upgrade the bios. I did it. But when the notebook restarted, nothing, blank screen. It don't work anymore.

Somebody to help me?

Thanks,

 

Can you boot into any of your OS's (or at least get GRUB)?

Also, how did you flash your bios?

 

I can not boot in any OS !

The update program from Asus propose me to upgrade the bios. I did it. It proposed me to restart. And at restart nothing ...

 

Sounds like your bios' are messed up

Call Asus's tech line and see what they can do. That's horrible :/

 

I have returned at Asus. I expect from news.

 

I've had the same thing happen to mine, about 7 weeks ago.

Asus (UK) have had it for 32 days now and still claim to be waiting for a replacement motherboard.

Their support is absolutely terrible.

 

There is a known problem with xv on latest Xorg:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=239125

to see the picture try to use -vo x11

as for GPS, I haven't had a chance to locate even specs for it, and that's too early to discuss linux driver at the moment. GPS sits on USB, and is pretty fresh. It doesn't appear to be recognosed by usbserial stuff, so someone needs to bug vendor (of gps thing) fot specs.

 

I have all the specs from nxp. Tried to contact the guys from gpsd on irc. But noone was responding.

http://www.maxim-ic.com/products/wir...41.cfm?CMP=490
http://www.mwrf.com/Articles/ArticleID/14303/14303.html
http://datasheets.maxim-ic.com/en/ds/MAX2741.pdf

The Challenge is that the chip does only deliver raw gps data and all the work has to be done in a software or driver.

Maybe you have better luck.

cheerio n3utrino