Translations: [:DebianEeePCFrench/HowTo/Configure:French], [:DebianEeePCGerman/HowTo/Configure:German], [:DebianEeePCPortuguese/HowTo/Configure:Portuguese]

?TableOfContents

Repository

The new installer adds our ["DebianEeePC/Repository"] to your /etc/apt/sources.list automatically. This includes some packages required to take full advantage of hardware in the Eee PC which not yet suitable for inclusion in the official Debian archives.

Model specific issues

Please go to ["DebianEeePC/Models"] to find out about model specific configurations.

Additional modules not yet in Debian kernels

Introduction to building out-of-kernel modules

The instructions below require you to install and compile module source packages using module-assistant. This can be done on your Eee PC, but will result in the installation of a lot of development tools that you might not otherwise need.

An alternative method is to do the installation and compilation of the modules on another Debian machine (one that is faster and has more disk space), and then install the resulting module packages on the Eee PC.

If you decide to go this route, refer to the manpage for module-assistant. You will need to run "m-a build ..." instead of "m-a auto-install ...". Note that if your Eee PC is running a different kernel version than your build machine, you will need to install the linux-headers and linux-kbuild packages corresponding to the Eee PC's kernel, and use the "-l" option to specify that version when you invoke module-assistant.

Once you have successfully built a module, copy the resulting .deb to the Eee PC and install it there with "dpkg -i ...".

Ethernet (atl2)

This just works now. The old version of our installer had a bug which required a manual install of atl2 after installation – this is now no longer required.

Wireless (madwifi)

This is installed automatically by the new installer. See ["DebianEeePC/HowTo/Wifi"] to set up wifi with or without encryption.

Webcam (uvcvideo)

The module source in Lenny should work with module-assistant:

Become root and invoke the following commands:

apt-get install linux-uvc-source
m-a a-i linux-uvc
modprobe uvcvideo

Then test it's working by executing:

Become root and invoke the following command:

apt-get install luvcview
As normal user you can now make use of your web cam tool
luvcview -f yuv

The camera is switched off by default after the installation. You can enable it in the BIOS, or by doing:

echo 1 > /proc/acpi/asus/camera

You should see messages about the camera being detected if you do:

dmesg | tail

You need to have installed acpi for this (see below) – at least in lenny.

If you broke your webcam settings, use mplayer -fps 30 tv:// once to restore them.

Power management & hotkeys

Kernel module (eeepc-acpi)

The eeepc-acpi kernel module and eeepc-acpi-scripts are now installed automatically by the new kernel.

Notes:

Scripts (eeepc-acpi-scripts)

Special keys

Key

Function

Work, comment

Fn + F1

sleep

Yes

Fn + F2

wifi

Yes (read details below)

Fn + F3

- light screen

Yes

Fn + F4

+ light screen

Yes

Fn + F5

Change screen

Yes

Fn + F6

Task manager

No, nothing append

Fn + F7

disabled Sound

Yes

Fn + F8

- sound

Yes

Fn + F9

+ sound

Yes

Install the eeepc-acpi-scripts package to get the described functionality. This is now available in unstable and testing. Please note that this package conflicts with acpi-support. As root you must apt-get purge acpi-support. This removes all of the acpi-support scripts that would remain in /etc. If you do not follow this step you will cause conflicts.

Enabling/disabling the wifi works like plugging/unplugging the PCI Express wifi card. To ensure that it properly gets enabled when it is plugged, you need the pciehp kernel module. (And for some reason, it only works with the "pciehp_force=1" option.) Create a file /etc/modprobe.d/pciehp with 'options pciehp pciehp_force=1' in it and put 'pciehp' in /etc/modules. Then 'rmmod pciehp; modprobe pciehp'.

Read the doc in /usr/share/doc/eeepc-acpi-scripts/README.Debian and configure /etc/default/eeepc-acpi-scripts as needed.

[Lutz] ""Volume Up/Down/Mute"" Solved - With kernel 2.6.25 and default ALSA installation I had problem with audio hotkeys (alt + f7,8,9). Sleep and wireless button work fine but volume does not change. That's why the Hotkey event is correctly handled, but the acpid action works on the ?LineOut Channel that, on my eee701, is not present or has a different name. You can fix it by editing /etc/default/eeepc-acpi-scripts and modify this line as follow

VOLUME_LABEL='Master'

Xorg

DRI

Install the package libgl1-mesa-dri so that DRI can be enabled, providing 3D hardwrare acceleration.

Touchpad Scrolling

The default debian installer did not enable the touchpad scrolling for me. The following are bits that I had to add to xorg.conf to enable touchpad scrolling.

Section "InputDevice"
        Identifier      "Synaptics Touchpad"
        Driver          "synaptics"
        Option          "CorePointer"
        Option          "SendCoreEvents"        "true"
        Option          "Device"                "/dev/input/mice"
        Option          "Protocol"              "auto-dev"
        Option          "HorizEdgeScroll"       "1"
EndSection
Section "Server Layout"
    Identifier          "Default Layout"
    Screen              "Default Screen"
    InputDevice         "Generic Keyboard"
    InputDevice         "Synaptics Touchpad"
EndSection



mousewheel.horizscroll.withnokey.action   (change 2 to 0)
mousewheel.horizscroll.withnokey.numlines  (change -1 to 1)


Synaptics Touchpad no synaptics event device found
...
Query no Synaptics: 6003C8

Perhaps 901 no longer have such a device?


Query no Synaptics: 6003C8

although "tpconfig -i" finds it. I checked my configuration against Asus default Xandros, it is OK. It seems that Asus patched either synaptics xorg driver or something at the kernel in order to make it work. I am still to find more about this. Any progress, please let me know at fabio dot ornellas dot gmail dot com.

Display resolution and desktop size

In /etc/X11/xorg.conf, make sure any "?HorizSync" and "?VertRefresh" lines are commented out or removed from the "Monitor" section and set "Virtual 2048 2048" in the "Display" subsection of your "Screen" section, e.g.

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier      "Generic Monitor"
        Option          "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
        Identifier      "Default Screen"
        Device          "Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller"
        Monitor         "Generic Monitor"
        DefaultDepth    24
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           24
                Virtual         2048 2048
        EndSubSection
EndSection

Multiple displays

If you plug in an external display and press Fn-F5, the desktop is shared between the LCD and external display by default.

If you want, instead, to have one big desktop with the external display positioned above the Eee's own display, edit /etc/default/eeepc-acpi-scripts and set COMBINED_DISPLAY_SWITCHES="--above LVDS --auto".

Aiglx support for compiz

The following were needed to get [http://compiz.org/ Compiz] working. Compiz works for me with xfce, but its a bit choppy rotating the cube to a workspace that has opened programs on it. (If you have a good working xorg.conf thats different to this, please update)

Section "Device"
        Identifier      "Configured Video Device"
        Driver          "intel"
        BusID           "PCI:0:2:0"
        Option          "EnablePageFlip"    "on"
        Option          "AccelMethod"        "EXA"
        Option          "MigrationHeuristic"   "greedy"
        Option          "AccelDFS"      "true"
        Option          "DynamicClocks"    "on"
        Option          "ColorTiling"       "on"
        Option          "FBTexPercent"       "95"
        Option          "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps" "true"
        Option          "AddARGBGLXVisuals"     "true"
EndSection
Section "DRI"
    Mode 0666
Endsection
Section "Extensions"
    Option              "Composite"     "Enable"
Endsection

Notes:

Hibernate

[?DamyanIvanov] Hibernate worked for me just fine after I've set up a 256M dedicated SWAP partition. Perhaps the same is possible using swap files too. The only glitch is that I have to quit memory-hungry programs like Iceweasel before attempting hibernate, as otherwise the swap space is not enough. To hibernate, run s2disk as root (from the uswsusp package). If you use gnome-power-manager you can just press the power button (but remember to disable the button action in /etc/acpi/actions/power.sh installed by debian-eeepc-scripts to avoid double prompts).

Graphical boot

This splashy package will enable a graphical status boot screen for your EEE, which is way pretier than that bunch of characters scrolling at the screen (OK, for a server, not for a mobile workstation).

Install splashy

apt-get install splashy

Now it is time to configure your boot loader. With grub, edit /boot/grub/menu.lst file and add

hiddenmenu

To NOT show that blue screen. Also remove the timeout, changing the timeout line to:

timeout 0

You will find a commented line similar to this:

# kopt=root=/dev/sda1 ro

Add these (read below):

# kopt=root=/dev/sda1 ro quiet splash vga=788

the vga=788 stands for 800x600, suitable for 900 model. Previous models should try vga=785, which stands for 640x480. There is a black magic way to make it work at native resolutions, which if you know, please write it here.

That's it. You should have your graphical boot working. Also try to splashy-themes package for some other themes.

Troubleshooting

If you have problems with any of the steps above, see our [:DebianEeePC/HowTo/Troubleshooting:Troubleshooting ?HowTo].