Translations: [:DebianEeePCFrench/TipsAndTricks:French], [:DebianEeePCGerman/TipsAndTricks:German], [:DebianEeePCSpanish/TipsAndTricks:Spanish], [:DebianEeePCPortuguese/TipsAndTricks:Portuguese]
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Extending flash memory life
It is a commonly accepted view that SSD devices can only be written a limited number of times before they die, and while that may have been a concern for earlier generations of devices where that limit was relatively low, modern SSDs, such as the one in the Eee increase that number sufficiently so that they will last many years before they die, outlasting any HDD. Before you spend herculean efforts to extend your Eee's flash lifespan, consider this article: http://wiki.eeeuser.com/ssd_write_limit. Nevertheless, many tips are easy to do and at the very least are harmless, or have other benefits (such as less time spent doing IO making your system more responsive,) so here are a few.
- Open /etc/sysctl.conf and set vm.dirty_writeback_centisecs = 1500. This will prolong the life of your SSD by writing to the disk every 15 seconds instead of 5.
Probably many of the tips useful for [http://www.cyrius.com/debian/nslu2/linux-on-flash.html Linksys on NSLU2] can be applied to the EeePC.
- Use tmpfs for directories whose content doesn't need to be preserved over shutdown/reboot:
/tmp: echo "tmpfs /tmp tmpfs defaults 0 0" >>/etc/fstab;
/var/run & /var/lock: set RAMRUN=yes and RAMLOCK=yes in /etc/default/rcS.
Mount your disk-backed filesystems with the '[http://lwn.net/Articles/244829/ relatime]' option.
Text Mode
Follow the instructions listed at [http://nathancoulson.com/proj_eee.shtml this site.] I've included some notes below. Ideally, eeepc archive would contain these mods for grub2 and maybe have a grub2-eeepc package so that the mods listed below don't get wiped out everytime grub-install is called.
Probably not necessary, but I upgraded to grub-pc first.
- Download grub-1.96 source and the 915resolution patch linked at the site.
- Patch the grub sources with the 915resolution patch.
- Build and install grub.
Run 915resolution -l
eee01:~# 915resolution -l | grep 800x480 Mode 3c : 800x480, 8 bits/pixel Mode 4d : 800x480, 16 bits/pixel Mode 5c : 800x480, 32 bits/pixel
Add the following lines to /boot/grub/grub.cfg. I put it at the end of the 00_header section:
insmod 915resolution 915resolution 3c 800 480 #915resolution 4d 800 480 #915resolution 5c 800 480
To figure out your vga number, add 0x200 to the mode. i.e. for 8 bit mode: 0x200 + 0x3c = 0x23c = 57210
Add vga=572 to the kernel line in the /boot/grub/grub.cfg file.
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ### menuentry "Debian GNU/Linux, linux 2.6.24-1-686" { linux (hd0,1)/vmlinuz-2.6.24-1-686 root=/dev/sda3 ro vga=572 initrd (hd0,1)/initrd.img-2.6.24-1-686 } menuentry "Debian GNU/Linux, linux 2.6.24-1-686 (single-user mode)" { linux (hd0,1)/vmlinuz-2.6.24-1-686 root=/dev/sda3 ro vga=572 single initrd (hd0,1)/initrd.img-2.6.24-1-686 } ### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
Desktop environment
If you use a Gnome desktop on your Eee, here are some ways to make better use of the limited screen height:
- Enable the autohide property on the Gnome panels at the top and bottom of the desktop, so they get out of the way unless you mouse over them. To do this, right click on a blank part of the panel, then choose Properties, and go to the General tab. Unfortunately, Gnome's idea of "hidden" may not match yours (or the dictionary's); it still leaves a bar several pixels wide. You can reduce that to 1 pixel (but not to zero) by using gconf-editor to change /apps/panel/toplevels/panel0/auto_hide_size (you have to do this for panel0, panel1,...).
- In many applications, like gnome-terminal and firefox (iceweasel), you can use the F11 key to toggle a fullscreen mode tha