Nathan Blythe

Working on the Acer Aspire One page...


This page provides information on installing, configuring, and running Debian GNU/Linux on the Acer Aspire One line of netbooks.

http://www.tommasovitale.it/images/AcerAspireOne.jpg

Aspire One versions

There are several versions of the Aspire One on the market. All of these devices are based on the same design and the information presented here should apply to all. Version specific information can be found at the end of this page by clicking on the links below. Each version may have several editions with slightly different specifications.

Wikipedia has a good summary of the various versions.

Installation

The Aspire One does not have an optical drive, so installing Debian requires some creativity. There are three methods.

Install with an external memory device

Have you used this installation method? You can expand this section!

Install via the "network boot" method

Have you used this installation method? You can expand this section!

Configuration

All of the Aspire One's features are supported on Debian GNU/Linux, but may require some extra configuration depending on the kernel in use and other factors.

As of April 12, 2009, Linux 2.6.29-1 provides the most built-in support for the Aspire One.

Wired network device

The wired network card is a Realtek 10/100 device.

# lspci | grep Ethernet
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller (rev 02)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)

All modern kernels should include support for this device. The interface appears as eth0.

Wireless network device

The wireless network card is an Atheros 802.11 A, B, and G device based on the AR242 chipset.

# lspci | grep Ethernet
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller (rev 02)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)

Linux kernel < 2.6.26

Are you using this kernel? You can expand this section!

Linux kernel >= 2.6.26

Linux kernels 2.6.26 and newer include support for this device. The interface appears as wlan0. (Another interface, wmaster0, also appears but is not used. Do you know what wmaster0 is for? You can provide a brief explanation!)

The "kill switch" beneath the wireless indicator LEDs is supported.

As of Linux 2.6.29-1, the wireless indicator LEDs on the Aspire One are not functional.

Webcam

The webcam is a Microdia Pavilion device with a native resolution of 640x480 and frame rate of 30 fps. It is UVC compliant, meaning that it will work with Skype, aMSN, and many similar programs.

# lsusb | grep Webcam
Bus 001 Device 002: IE 0c45:62c0 Microdia Pavilion Webcam

Linux kernel < 2.6.26

Linux kernels prior to 2.6.26 do not support this device because they do not support UVC in general. You can install UVC support manually by compiling the uvcvideo module from source.

The source code is stored in a Subversion repository at svn://svn.berlios.de/linux-uvc/linux-uvc/trunk. Have you compiled and used the uvcvideo module from source? You can provide instructions here!

Linux kernel >= 2.6.26

Linux kernels 2.6.26 and newer include support for this device.

Audio

The audio card is an Intel HDA device.

# lspci | grep Audio
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)

Linux kernel < 2.6.26

Are you using this kernel? You can expand this section!

Linux kernel >= 2.6.26

Linux kernels 2.6.26 and newer include support for this device.

Some users report that they must add the following line to /etc/rc.local to ensure that the audio device is recognized by Linux.

options snd-hda-intel model=auto position_fix=1

Card readers

The card readers are JMicron devices.

# lspci | grep JMicron
01:00.0 System peripheral: JMicron Technologies, Inc. SD/MMC Host Controller
01:00.2 SD Host controller: JMicron Technologies, Inc. Standard SD Host Controller
01:00.3 System peripheral: JMicron Technologies, Inc. MS Host Controller
01:00.4 System peripheral: JMicron Technologies, Inc. xD Host Controller

The card readers behave differently depending on your machine's BIOS version and your kernel. To check your BIOS version, reboot your machine and press F2 at the Acer start-up screen to enter the BIOS. The BIOS version is listed on the displayed page.

BIOS < 0.3309, Linux kernel < 2.6.26

Are you using this BIOS and this kernel? You can expand this section!

BIOS < 0.3309, Linux kernel >= 2.6.26

Are you using this BIOS and this kernel? You can expand this section!

BIOS >= 0.3309, Linux kernel < 2.6.26

Are you using this BIOS and this kernel? You can expand this section!

BIOS >= 0.3309, Linux kernel >= 2.6.26

Linux kernels 2.6.26 include support for this device for BIOS versions 0.3309 and newer. When a card is inserted it appears as /dev/mmcblk0 or /dev/mmcblk1.

Some users report that the following lines must be added to /etc/modprobe.d/local.conf...

options sdhci debug_quirks=1
options pciehp pciehp_force=1

... and that the following lines must be added to /etc/modules.

sdhci
pciehp

Additional

The Linux kernel 2.6.26 includes a bug by which the Aspire One will lock up on boot if a card is in either card reader. To avoid this problem, users of this kernel should add the following lines to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf.

blacklist jmb38x_ms
blacklist memstick

Do you have any information on whether this bug is present in other kernels? You can edit this section!

Graphics

You can expand this section!

Always make a backup copy of /etc/X11/xorg.conf before making significant changes.

Touchpad

All modern kernels should include support for this device. The interface appears as /dev/input/mouse0. By default the horizontal and vertical scroll zones are not enabled, nor is click-and-drag via double-tapping. /etc/X11/xorg.conf must be edited to enable these features.

The "?InputDevice" section in /etc/X11/xorg.conf that describes the system's pointer may look something like that below.

Section "InputDevice"
       Identifier      "Configured Mouse"
       Driver          "mouse"
EndSection

To enable the additional touchpad features it should be edited to resemble the following.

Section "InputDevice"
        Identifier      "Configured Mouse"
        Driver          "synaptics"
        Option          "Device"                "/dev/input/mouse0"
        Option          "Protocol"              "auto-dev"

        Option          "VertTwoFingerScroll"   "1"
        Option          "HorizTwoFingerScroll"  "1"

        Option          "TapButton1"            "1"
        Option          "TapButton2"            "2"
        Option          "TapButton3"            "3"
EndSection

X must be restarted for these changes to take effect.

Some users may find that /etc/X11/xorg.conf includes an ?InputDevice section for a pointer with more details than the example given here (or possibly multiple similar ?InputDevice sections). In this case it is best to determine that the changes listed above are applied to the correct ?InputDevice section. These users most likely have a ?ServerLayout section present as well. It could look something like that below (it could differ significantly).

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier "Default Server Layout"
    Screen "Default Screen"
    InputDevice "Generic Keyboard" "Core Keyboard"
    InputDevice "Generic Mouse" "Core Pointer"
EndSection

These users should identify the ?InputDevice that is associated with Core Pointer. In this example it is named Generic Mouse. These users should then locate the ?InputDevice section in the file that contains that name in the Identifier field and apply the changes to that section. Most users will find that their /etc/X11/xorg.conf is fairly empty and these additional instructions are not needed.

Always make a backup copy of /etc/X11/xorg.conf before making significant changes.

Special keys

You can expand this section!

ACPI

CPU frequency scaling

You can expand this section!

Temperature monitoring

You can expand this section!

Battery monitoring

You can expand this section!

Suspend

You can expand this section!

Hibernation

You can expand this section!

Version-specific information

Version: A110

Do you own this device? You can expand this section!

Version: A150

Do you own this device? You can expand this section!

Version: ZG5

Do you own this device? You can expand this section!

Version: D150

Do you own this device? You can expand this section!


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