Ubuntu UNR 9.10 (Linux) works wonderful on my 1810tz

I've installed ubuntu netbook remix, and it really works great out of the box. Didn't try 720P youtube streaming yet.

Pros I found out so far (which are relevant):
- Great battery life, I had 35% left, and I still managed to get 3.5 hours out of it, including one hour streaming (reasonable quality), and half an hour playing Diablo II (game). I'm gonna give an update tomorrow!
- looks are quite nice
- very responsive
- plays 720P and 1080P fluently
- camera works
- wifi works good
- volume of speakers is good
- can be installed from within the windows OS
- pinguin

Cons
- two finger scrolling doesn't work yet, only one finger (using the edge) scrolling.
- keyboard layout had to be set to US
- unfamiliar applications, for some windows applications you might not have a substitute, but that's a con of Linux in general...
- different

Haven't had much time to test yet, but I encourage you to try it out!

EDIT: Oh before I get people complaining about broken 1810t(z)'s, USE AT OWN RISK!

 

I installed the desktop version of Ubuntu 9.10 on my 1810T, I have not really spent any time since I am dual-booting that and Windows 7 Ultimate, and I am still installing all my stuff on Windows. I basically only just completed the Linux installation and went back to Win7.

It did not look like WiFi was working for me out of the box, I have the Intel 5100 module. Bluetooth and sound were both working, to my surprise.

Also, I was not able to install the amd64 version, so this is the i386 instead. I thought that the Intel processors should be more or less compatible?

edit: Nevermind, WiFi is working out of the box. Pretty nice!

 

I'm very interested in detailed battery life tests and battery life optimization tips.

 

I have also installed Ubuntu 9.10 and everything is fine out of the box: wifi (wifi link 1000 here), sound, ethernet, FN+keys... everything.

As for battery life: I haven't really tested, but I believe I get around 6 hours. I never stay so long in front of the computer, so can't really check. Anyway, when the computer is in use, I use it constantly: amsn, internet, mail check and so on. Most of the times with compiz running, too.

My optimization tricks:

- Custom 2.6.31.5 kernel with PHC undervolting enabled, and quite stripped down without unnecessary things (at least for me )
- Intel iwlagn driver from kernel 2.6.32-rc6 (in .31 the intel wifi powersaving won't work, and saves quite a bit of power!)
- Some scripts that, when running on battery, will put Sata, pci_express and wifi into power saving mode, as well as some other entries to reduce disk usage.
- In gnome-power-manager I've set the option to slow down the Hard drive when possible, to dim screen when not in use, and set the screen at 50% brightness
- Used lm-profiler to disable uneeded services while on battery.
- Some other tricks: using xbindkeys, I've set FN+F2 button (the one that shows system properties in Windows) to hibernate the laptop (using uswsusp).

And I think that's it.. I'm not getting the 8+ hours, but I highly doubt the SU4100 will do them, since they advertise the same for the SU3500, so one of them won't.. and that would be the "power hungry" 4100, won't it?

I'm really happy, since it works very well, responsive and so on. Much better than Windows!

 

Thanks a bunch, PatrickVogeli

 

Whoa! 6hrs.. I'm getting 3.5h with WiFi on and min brightness on stock Ubuntu Desktop 9.10 x64. Is there any way you can write a more detailed guide on how to do all of the above powersaving tweaks?
I'd also really appreciate if you provided a list settings that you changed and how you enabled PHC undervolting, so that I can compile my own kernel.

Thanks!

PS: If you are going to write a guide, please do so on http://ubuntuforums.org/ Thx

 

I agree with prikolchik. It would be cool if you Linux experts could create some guides for n00bs(like me). I would love to add a Linux section to Timeline Tweaks. Why not promote Linux some more? In combination with the Windows refund this might be interesting for many people out there. I would like to try Ubuntu on my 1810t too, as I will wipe my HDD anyway because of Win7. A dual boot guide would be very helpful too.

 

Well, I had to use Fedora Beta 12 to get almost everything working on my 1410 (with the SU2300 processor..)

So far:

1) now acerhdf works, I emailed the author patches for a 1410 with bios 3120, so now I can quiet down that fan!

2) The mic doesn't work under skype.. appears to be on a different pin than alsa wants it on..

3) thermal information on the dual cores is available by using coretemp. They register about 9 degrees lower than the EC gives..

There is no cpufreq support for this processor - I did patch p4-clockmod, and it comes up with a bunch of freqs, but it doesn't save you any power - it's more for thermal limits. The Acer/Insyde bios does not have any p-state information in it..

 

Oh, and here's my power savings script (again, for a 1410/SU2300/bios 3120/Fedora 12 setup)

Code:

#!/bin/bash

#
# number of seconds before turning down chip
#
echo 5 > /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save
#
#
#
echo 1500 > /proc/sys/vm/dirty_writeback_centisecs
#
# try use power efficient scheduling..
#
echo 1 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/sched_mc_power_savings
#
# make FS happier, kills writes on reads..
#
/bin/mount -o remount,noatime,nodiratime /
#
# bunch writes together, let drive spin down
#
echo 5 > /proc/sys/vm/laptop_mode
#
# slow things down, uses less power.
#
echo min_power > /sys/class/scsi_host/host0/link_power_management_policy
#
# totally disable wake-on-lan
#
ethtool -s eth0 wol d

 

I absolutely LOVE Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 on my AS1410 (SU3500). I actually upgrade my 9.04 install and everything works perfectly. I love the remix interface and the fact that it plays full screen HQ youtube videos right out of the box. I've even running a full development stack on it. It takes a little longer to compile projects, but it doesn't bother me enough to put this little machine down.

Also, I just installed Windows 7 and it went well, but I'm still short a driver or two. And as nice as 7 looks, I'm so happy with Remix, I think I'm 99% done with Windows at this point.

 

Keep in mind, the TZ has the 5600mAh battery so he is getting the same ~2 hours less than claimed capacity as we are.

I should add the a) I'm getting a little more life from my battery that you are, b) I use powertop, and c) I would also like to learn more about tweaking the power settings!

We need a "TimeLine Tweaks Linux Edition thread"! lol

 

Here's your guide:

1. Install Windows first.
2. Install Ubuntu or similar distro. It will install the grub menu.
3. Enjoy! As long as you don't do a clean install on your Windows partition, you'll be fine and by time you do mess everything up with a fresh Windows install, you will know how to fix your grub menu.

That's it, you're in!

 

Thanks
You'll get some rep tomorrow when I've restored my points

Btw, a dedicated Timeline Linux thread would be great!

 

Thanks, but I'm the one who needs to start rep'in you guys!

 

Hi there again,

Thank you tdavis: acerhdf now works fine in my 1810TZ. The version I downloaded didn't work, so I modified the acerhdf.c file to include the 1810TZ and then enabled it: silent laptop, finally!! So much better!

I've been really bussy this month, but I'll do my best to set up some howto this weekend. Problem is that my setup is quite time consuming: custom kernel and so on.

I also have to do some more research: right now I use uswsusp to hibernate the laptop, but I have some random kernel panic and / or crashing when resuming from hibernate. I hope using Tux On Ice will solve this little issue.

I'll report back

 

Be sure to also load coretemp module - that will give you CPU temperatures, which is lower than the EC temperature. I also run mine with higher temps - the defaults are ok, but the SU2300 can run hotter than an Atom from what I can tell. The defaults are 63C on, 58C off.. I up that to 67C on, 63C off.

The other thing - the value I put into acerhdf, doesn't turn the fan off, it just sets it to the lowest speed.

Last, be sure to send a patch to the author to get the 1810tz in. Need to find a 1810t model and see what it reports..

 

Yeah, I'll make sure to send a "patch" to the author. As for the fan off.. how would it go? I think it would be nice to turn it off completely. Or at least, see how it does..

thanks

 

I have an 1810T. What can I run to check this for you?

 

Get the acerhdf module here. Once you uncompress it, in the acerhdf.c file, find the following:

Code:

/* Acer 1410 */
{"Acer", "Aspire 1410", "v0.3120", 0x55, 0x58, {0x9e, 0x9e, 0x00} },

below that, add the following:

Code:

{"Acer", "Aspire 1810T", "v0.3120", 0x55, 0x58, {0x9e, 0x9e, 0x00} },

This is for BIOS v3120, for 3303 it would be "v1.3303"

save and close, and then run make, sudo make install, sudo modprobe acerhdf

Once the module is loaded, you must enable it:

sudo -s
echo -n "enabled" > /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0/mode

If you need some help, don't hesitate to ask

Also, you may find more information on running linux in the 1410/1810 here