G73 and asus-wmi linux driver.... I need *your* help

thx for the hints - i'll look at it.

 

I run my Debian in a VMWare virtual machine. I guess I'm a big cheater, but my linux works very well. Fire it up and press Ctrl Alt Enter. You can't even tell Windows 7 is running behind there.

 

Sometimes the function keys failed to work AFTER dual booting into Windows so I popped this in my /etc/rc.local and good to go on each shutdown / startup...

echo 0x00050021 > /sys/kernel/debug/asus-nb-wmi/dev_id
echo 0x82 > /sys/kernel/debug/asus-nb-wmi/ctrl_param
cat /sys/kernel/debug/asus-nb-wmi/devs

Also using NVidia for screen brightness, I needed to put this line below "Monitor0" (assuming your laptop is your main monitor) in my /etc/X11/xorg.conf.

Option "RegistryDwords" "EnableBrightnessControl=1"

Otherwise following directions in previous thread, I now have two *.deb packages I keep on backup drives, if I re-install or whatever, I can update kernel and modules without re-compiling. Makes life easy!

 

Nate,

First of all thanks for all your help. I was wondering if there were acpi scripts for the wmi stuff you have so that we can use the Fn F4 and Fn F5 keys for adjusting the back light brightness rather than executing commands on the terminal.

Thanks

 

As an Ubuntu Natty user who just got the g73sw, I'm a little confused as to what I have to do to get the keyboard light on. When running the echo and cat commands NaterGator suggests in a script, I get this result with a 2.6.39 daily kernel:

Code:

/home/scott/Documents/temp.sh: 1: cannot create /sys/kernel/debug/asus-nb-wmi/dev_id: Directory nonexistent
/home/scott/Documents/temp.sh: 2: cannot create /sys/kernel/debug/asus-nb-wmi/ctrl_param: Directory nonexistent
cat: /sys/kernel/debug/asus-nb-wmi/devs: No such file or directory

I'm getting my 2.6.39 kernel from the mainline daily kernel ppa. If this kernel won't do the job, how to I install the one that will?

Thanks!

 

Perhaps even better, if you could post a link to your .deb files lwarranty (assuming they'd work with Ubuntu natty), that would be amazing!! Thanks!

 

Done deal - sorry - removed, my handle should provide those ingenious enough to find the links needed with a dot yada yada...

 

lwarranty, WOW!! Thank you so much, that all worked perfectly!!

I've finished putting together a guide to setting up the g73sw in Ubuntu Natty. lwarranty, would you have any objection to me posting it to ubuntuforums.org? I bet there are a lot of people who would love a quick and easy solution guide to getting the g73sw running great under Natty. I ask your permission because you helped with so many fixes and provided links to your custom kernel .deb files. I try to give you and others full credit for each fix. Below is what I'd propose to post. If you have no objections, I'll post it up. I'd be happy to make any changes you suggest. I'll tweak the formatting on the ubuntuforums,org site.

---------

You have a brand new G73SW or G73S series laptop. It rocks. Except that in Ubuntu Natty you can't adjust the screen brightness, it won't hibernate or suspend, the keyboard backlight doesn't work, the keyboard backlight doesn't work in Windows anymore either, and the trackpad is incredibly touchy.

Thankfully, all is fairly easily fixable! Below is the quick and easy guide to getting your G73S in fighting form in Ubuntu Natty.

Adjust Display Brightness:
1. Open up a terminal and type gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
2. Directly below the line that says Option "NoLogo"
"True", put Option "RegistryDwords" "EnableBrightnessControl=1"

3. Save and exit.
4. After a reboot, brightness control should now work!
- Thanks to lwarranty ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...asus-wmi-linux-driver-i-need-your-help-6.html)

Turn on Keyboard Backlight and enable function keys:
1. Major kudos to lwarranty (scottsautorepair.net) for creating these files. Download two .deb files:

http://scottsautorepair.net/linux-image-2.6.39-rc6_2.6.39-rc6-10.00.Custom_amd64.deb
http://scottsautorepair.net/linux-headers-2.6.39-rc6_2.6.39-rc6-10.00.Custom_amd64.deb

2. Install them both, starting with the header file.
3. Note that the second .deb file takes a very long time to install, during which it looks like nothing is happening. You'll know it's done when the power indicator in the top right corner of the screen turns red.
4. Reboot and enjoy adjustable keyboard backlighting.
- A HUGE thanks to lwarranty at lwarranty.com creating these customized kernels. Check out his helpful page for the G73SW at http://scottsautorepair.net/microsoft.sucks/G73SW.keyboard.lights.html. Also thanks to AllurGroceries, NaterGator, and others ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...asus-wmi-linux-driver-i-need-your-help-6.html)

Enable Suspend and Hibernate:
Part 1
1. Download the 20_custom-ehci_hcd file at the bottom of the post.
2. Open up a terminal and type gksudo nautilus
3. Navigate to your download folder. /home/USERNAME/Downloads
4. Copy (ctrl+c) the 20_custom-ehci_hcd
5. Navigate to /etc/pm/sleep.d
6. Paste (ctrl+v) the file.
7. In a terminal window type sudo chmod +x /etc/pm/sleep.d/20_custom-ehci_hcd

Part 2
1. Download the usb3-suspend-workaround file at the bottom of the post.
2. Open up a terminal and type gksudo nautilus
3. Navigate to your download folder. /home/USERNAME/Downloads
4. Copy (ctrl+c) the usb3-suspend-workaround
5. Navigate to /etc/pm/config.d
6. Paste (ctrl+v) the file.
7. Restart. Enjoy suspend and hibernation!
- Thanks to John Dias and Ipsi ( [SOLVED] Cannot suspend or hibernate Asus N61J Laptop - Ubuntu Forums)

Enable Backlit Keyboard in Windows
1. In a terminal type gksudo gedit /etc/rc.local
2. After the last line starting in "#" and before "exit 0", paste these lines:

echo 0x00050021 > /sys/kernel/debug/asus-nb-wmi/dev_id
echo 0x82 > /sys/kernel/debug/asus-nb-wmi/ctrl_param
cat /sys/kernel/debug/asus-nb-wmi/devs

3. Save and exit.
4. Reboot and your backlight keyboard should work in Windows again as well.
- Thanks to lwarranty ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...asus-wmi-linux-driver-i-need-your-help-6.html)

Trackpad fix:
The trackpad in the G73 can be a bit touchy, which can be particularly annoying if you've already got a mouse plugged in. Follow the instructions at the following address to turn off the trackpad automatically when a mouse is plugged in. Touchpad-Indicator Now Automatically Disables The Touchpad When You Plug In A Mouse ~ Web Upd8: Ubuntu / Linux blog

There you go! Hopefully this gives you the information you need to get your G73S up and running properly. I've collected this information from many different posts at many different forums. If I've not given credit properly or you notice anything that doesn't work or could be improved upon, please let me know. Thanks!

 

Holy cow - you sure did your homework! I think links to my site aren't allowed as I had to delete my previous post with them in it - moderator said I needed / should upload them to a megasite site or some such - AIN'T happening but I understand. They are still available...

I found the function keys working great in ALL instances except with installing Gnome 3, the console comes up showing keyboard lights but they do not respond. But with the /etc/rc.local script - they pop on and stay on.

Otherwise, I have installed these *.debs many times! You can still run "Software Updates", haven't had a problem yet. I've run dist-upgrade also, no problems. You might get an older kernel installed but the grub always reflects the highest version (the one's herein) so far.

Didn't know there were so many G73sw users looking for this, my little $39.00 plugbox server (hacked with debian) is melting down, 160+ downloads in two days....

Also - a little ditty on how to compile your own is posted but not NEARLY as neat and concise as the masterpiece in the previous post - thanks feller!

 

It's fine to link to someone else's site.. no problem there and nice writeup ctenorman.

Sorry for the inconvenience lwarranty.

 

Great stuff, thanks for permission guys!

lwarranty, I'll edit my above post in a little bit and put the .deb files in the public section of my ubuntu one account so your meltdown won't continue on account of my forum posts (unless you'd rather people accessed them from your site, in which case just give the word). Other than the .deb files, I'll leave the other links to your site intact.

 

I don't get it - but I get it - regardless, none of this would have gone anywhere without your and others contributions!

I remember in the 70's when "make world" took 12-18 hours on an 8088, never imagined it would have come this far!

It's all good here - basically I was surprised at the turn out. I will be working on the latest greatest kernel next....

next-20110509 and 2.6.39-rc6-git6 - who knows!

Thanks again - you did one heck of a fine job on that post - if you have no objection, I'd like to append my insignificant piece of crap page to include your instructions?

ctenorman a couple of notes:

Adjust Display Brightness:
1. Open up a terminal and type gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
2. Directly below the line that says Option "NoLogo"
"True", put Option "RegistryDwords" "EnableBrightnessControl=1"

When I run dual monitors, I had to make sure I put this in the entry for the notebook display - the one with "DPMS" or "Monitor0" in my case, if I put it elsewhere it hung? I did NOT revisit this and I could / most likely be wrong...

Enable Suspend and Hibernate:
Part 1
1. Download the 20_custom-ehci_hcd file at the bottom of the post.

Didn't see the link to download as instructed? However following the link in Part 2 will get you to where you need to be?

As for posting them and/or any information I have contributed elsewhere - post them ANYWHERE - share the knowledge! I cannot thank the community enough for all their efforts, anything to help the cause.

And whomever cleaned up my three post fiasco - thanks!

 

2.6.39-rc7 *.deb's are ready to roll and posted...

Keep in mind, these might break your system, it's a good idea to keep a few versions of your linux-image-xx.xx.xx installed. When your comfortable, go to Synaptic Package Manager and enter linux-image in the search window, right click older images and mark for complete removal IF you need to free-up space. You can also remove these using the same method - boot into an older kernel first! If you make the mistake of installing these *.deb's twice - problems may result UNLESS you remove the previous linux-image-xx.xx.xx!

 

Good job guys! Sorry I was unable to get in here and help, I was tied up with other obligations over the past few weeks.


Still reaching out to Corentin to get the keyboard backlight LEDs properly registered with the LED subsystem. Once that's done and integrated into the mainline kernel it should smooth away most of these headaches with .debs etc.

 

This is GREAT news, thanks for the follow-up on your efforts, we'd still be in without folks like you!

 

ctenorman post seems really great, it helped me to fix the brightness keys.

But I installed the 32bit version of Natty so i think i cannot install the patch for the backlights

Is there an easy (newby) way to do it in a 32bit version ?


Nice job overall
(I'm on a G53SW)

 

Brightness still not working with my g53jw with the Option "RegistryDwords" "BrightnessControlEnable=1" on natty

could these 2 system be that much different?

 

here a dump from my Asus G73JH (Win 7 64 SP1, if relevant)

 

You probably need to create a new file with that line in /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/

BTW - not related - 2.6.39 stable has been out for a few days now. The .config I uploaded earlier shouldn't need any changes.

 

hi - is it known behaviour that bluetooth gets blocked as soon as wifi is enabled and vice versa if you press fn+f2 running a kernel with RFKILL_INPUT compiled in?

i found no other way to enable bluetooth and wifi at the same time than building a kernel without RFKILL_INPUT. doing so i can disable and enable bluetooth by pressing twice fn+f2 but i can't control wifi.

i use a G73SW and a 2.6.39 kernel with asus_wmi.

 

@ jehan

Can't you control bluetooth by the sysfs interface? I'm not sure about asus_wmi but with asus_laptop it's in /sys/devices/platform/asus_laptop/bluetooth

 

hmm - i don't know enough about the sysfs structure and at the moment i have no idea where i could start to control bluetooth via sysfs. for me '/sys/devices/platform/asus-nb-wmi/rfkill/rfkill1' looks like a candidate to start with - what do you think?

btw. the structure under '/sys/devices/platform/asus-nb-wmi' looks like this:

Code:

.
├── cpufv
├── driver -> ../../../bus/platform/drivers/asus-nb-wmi
├── hwmon
│ └── hwmon0
│     ├── device -> ../../../asus-nb-wmi
│     ├── name
│     ├── power
│     │ ├── autosuspend_delay_ms
│     │ ├── control
│     │ ├── runtime_active_time
│     │ ├── runtime_status
│     │ └── runtime_suspended_time
│     ├── subsystem -> ../../../../../class/hwmon
│     └── uevent                                                                                                                                                                         
├── input                                                                                                                                                                                  
│ └── input5                                                                                                                                                                             
│     ├── capabilities                                                                                                                                                                   
│     │ ├── abs                                                                                                                                                                        
│     │ ├── ev                                                                                                                                                                         
│     │ ├── ff                                                                                                                                                                         
│     │ ├── key                                                                                                                                                                        
│     │ ├── led                                                                                                                                                                        
│     │ ├── msc                                                                                                                                                                        
│     │ ├── rel                                                                                                                                                                        
│     │ ├── snd
│     │ └── sw
│     ├── device -> ../../../asus-nb-wmi
│     ├── event5
│     │ ├── dev
│     │ ├── device -> ../../input5
│     │ ├── power
│     │ │ ├── autosuspend_delay_ms
│     │ │ ├── control
│     │ │ ├── runtime_active_time
│     │ │ ├── runtime_status
│     │ │ └── runtime_suspended_time
│     │ ├── subsystem -> ../../../../../../class/input
│     │ └── uevent
│     ├── id
│     │ ├── bustype
│     │ ├── product
│     │ ├── vendor
│     │ └── version
│     ├── modalias
│     ├── name
│     ├── phys
│     ├── power
│     │ ├── autosuspend_delay_ms
│     │ ├── control
│     │ ├── runtime_active_time
│     │ ├── runtime_status
│     │ └── runtime_suspended_time
│     ├── properties
│     ├── subsystem -> ../../../../../class/input
│     ├── uevent
│     └── uniq
├── modalias
├── power
│ ├── autosuspend_delay_ms
│ ├── control
│ ├── runtime_active_time
│ ├── runtime_status
│ └── runtime_suspended_time
├── rfkill
│ ├── rfkill0
│ │ ├── claim
│ │ ├── device -> ../../../asus-nb-wmi
│ │ ├── hard
│ │ ├── index
│ │ ├── name
│ │ ├── persistent
│ │ ├── power
│ │ │ ├── autosuspend_delay_ms
│ │ │ ├── control
│ │ │ ├── runtime_active_time
│ │ │ ├── runtime_status
│ │ │ └── runtime_suspended_time
│ │ ├── soft
│ │ ├── state
│ │ ├── subsystem -> ../../../../../class/rfkill
│ │ ├── type
│ │ └── uevent
│ └── rfkill1
│     ├── claim
│     ├── device -> ../../../asus-nb-wmi
│     ├── hard
│     ├── index
│     ├── name
│     ├── persistent
│     ├── power
│     │ ├── autosuspend_delay_ms
│     │ ├── control
│     │ ├── runtime_active_time
│     │ ├── runtime_status
│     │ └── runtime_suspended_time
│     ├── soft
│     ├── state
│     ├── subsystem -> ../../../../../class/rfkill
│     ├── type
│     └── uevent
├── subsystem -> ../../../bus/platform
└── uevent

it seems to me that i'm the only one here having a problem to enable bluetooth and wlan at the same time. ALLurGroceries what do you think: should this generally work if i have RFKILL_INPUT enabled?

 

I'm not sure how it works with the wmi driver, I had an Eee that used it and had bluetooth but I completely forget where the toggle was.

If you're on a kernel with rfkill enabled, make sure you have the rfkill package installed and see if you can get bluetooth unblocked using the rfkill command.

Code:

sudo rfkill list

I get this:

Code:

0: phy0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
8: hci0: Bluetooth
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no

So my bluetooth is 8, to unblock it if it was soft blocked:

Code:

sudo rfkill unblock 8

See where that gets you, if it doesn't help at all I guess just post the output of rfkill list while your bluetooth isn't working.

 

i unblocked bluetooth earlier and although 'rfkill list' shows that bluetooth wasn't blocked i couldn't enable it - i could either enable wlan _or_ bt.
surprisingly if i disable the kernel option RFKILL_INPUT i still can en-/disable bt by pressing fn+f2 twice while wlan is 'on' all the time.
if i enable RFKILL_INPUT i only can enable bt or wlan by pressing fn+f2 once

 

@jehan did you make any progress on that? I don't own an asus system that uses WMI for hotkeys at the moment so I can't test out the kernel module.

Can anyone else comment about the bluetooth toggle on a G73SW or G53SW?

 

unfortunately no progress here. for now i have disabled RFKILL_INPUT in the kernel config which means that wlan is always on and bluetooth can be switched on and off by pressing fn+f2 twice.

 

Well maybe if you can get someone else to confirm this behavior you can submit a bug ticket for asus-wmi: acpi4asus - Issues - dev.iksaif.net

Otherwise maybe it's a bug somewhere in your distro?

 

yes my hope was that someone else here can confirm this behavior. also a statement like "i use the kernel option RFKILL_INPUT and i have no problems" or "this kernel option causes some problems in conjunction with asus-wmi at the moment" would be a step further.

if i find someone who confirms that RFKILL_INPUT works i can investigate my kernel .config and search for a configuration error.

otherwise if no one else here can confirm nor deny this behaviour i'll write a asus-wmi bug report.

concerning the distro bug: i use debian unstable with a home brew kernel.

 

I run debian sid too and I have some problems re-enabling bluetooth from resume with the latest bluetooth-applet (from gnome-bluetooth 2.30.0-2) on 2.6.39.1. I am not sure if it is related to your problem. I have to force it off and on via sysfs but obviously you can't use that solution since you said there is no sysfs entry.

I'm not seeing any bugs that look too relevant: http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?pkg=gnome-bluetooth;dist=unstable

Also is there anything interesting in syslog when your bluetooth goes on the fritz?

 

okay - today i did something i should have done before: i compiled the latest stable kernel 2.6.39.1 and the problem is gone! i used 2.6.39 before.

now if i press fn+f2 bluetooth AND wlan gets en- or disabled ... that's better

ALLurGroceries thank you very much for your help and your kind assistence!

 

Haha! Nice, glad it worked out. That's a logical enough fix.

 

Hi.
I have openSUSE so I couldn't use the deb's so I patched and installed 2.6.39.3 kernel from kernel.org and the backlight worked! The buttons still don't work but I can use it by:

Code:

echo 0x00050021 > /sys/kernel/debug/asus-nb-wmi/dev_id
echo 0x82(OR 81,83) > /sys/kernel/debug/asus-nb-wmi/ctrl_param
cat /sys/kernel/debug/asus-nb-wmi/devs

What should I do to make the hotkeys working?

 

Is there a move to merge the keyboard backlight patch into the mainline kernel? I don't want to have to build a custom kernel whenever there's an update if at all possible, and that's the only thing I would be building it for.

- Trip

 

The author of the asus-nb-wmi module said they were targeting "2.6.40" (aka 3.0) with that patch, but it didn't work against the existing code.

Maybe adding a new response here would get some attention from the author: acpi4asus - Bug #159: ASUS G73-SW Keyboard leds are not working. - dev.iksaif.net

Make sure to note that you have a G74SX, there could be differences.

I took a look at the 3.0 code and only a few error messages and some code for the LCD backlight was changed.

 

Thanks, somehow I missed your post earlier. I've posted accordingly.

I came back to note something I found amusing. I didn't bother recompiling the kernel for the keyboard backlighting last time an update was available, so it's been left dark. Anyway, I put my computer into suspend. When I woke it up, the keyboard backlight turned itself on. I still can't control it, but now the backlighting is on.

- Trip

 

I didn't have a 20-nvidia.conf file in /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/, but I did add to etc/X11/xorg.conf :

Code:

Option "RegistryDwords" "EnableBrightnessControl=1"

and my screen brightness Fn keys work great.
I got my backlit keyboard working thanks to lwarranty and CTENORMAN's information.
<del>Has anyone figured out how to get the keyboard brightness Fn keys working (Fn3/4)?</del> Also, when I push the button to turn off the keyboard LED's they will not turn back on.
I'm about to test out the touchpad-indicator next.
Thanks for all of the great information and work here.
I have a G73SW-XT1 running propriety graphics drivers for the GeForce 460M.
Update:
My Fn3/4 keys for the backlit keyboard are working now and "touchpad-indicator" works well.
I used

Code:

syndaemon -i 3 -d -t -k

to stop my cursor from jumping about via the touchpad while typing. (Sometimes I like to have the touchpad on with the mouse in; I get too lazy to move my hand that far )

 

Hi !

I have a G53SW and i have a problem with sleep / hibernate.
I follow the instruction given by the post. ( 20_custom-ehci_hcd and usb3-suspend-workaround file but i haven't install the custom kernel).
The computer sleep and hibernate well but when i resume the computer, the USB ports stopped to work. When I plug a USB stick, the LED doesn't light.

Sorry for my english mistakes (I'm French).

Ced

 

I'm not sure if my USB ports stop functioning upon resume. I will test that and post back.


UPDATE
My USB ports seem to be fine after resuming. I can't hibernate though. Says not enough swap. I think I set it at 4Gb on install.

 

Hello I just updated to the new Ubuntu Ocelot. I am seeing a couple of issues.

1. Fn F3 does not dim the keyboard backlights however FN F4 does show the increase backlight.

2. When I close the lid of the laptop or go into hibernate it is taking a long time to come alive and show the login prompt. It does eventually show up but for about 30 seconds or so all I see is a black screen with a semi-responsive mouse cursor. Has anyone else been experiencing this at all?

 

I have the exact same problem on the G73SW-91105V having 11.10 installed. However, I managed to turn on the keyboard LEDs modifying rc.local accordingly. Will figure out the other ACPI stuff as well.

I can't reproduce this behaviour on my machine. It goes black, but it's right back when I reopen the lid. Though, I edited in the system preferences to take no actions when the lid is being closed.

I hope there will be some kernel adjustments soon, so that tedious workarounds won't be necessary any more. Any news from that side?

 

I just looked at the commits since October and I don't see anything new. Has anyone tried kernel 3.1?

Here's a config I made if you want to compile 3.1 yourself: config-3.1.0-rc10.txt

 

Hello.
I am running Linux Gentoo on Asus G53SX-S1183 and there is no driver for the backlight yet. So i am thinking of writing one but i need the name and model of the controller to search for it's documentation. Do you know where to find it, i wrote a mail to the Asus support, hope they will help.
Thanks.
---
Ted

 

X0rrify, this thread you have posted in is not related to your question, so I am going to move this to the thread here.

The driver for the G53SX keyboard backlight WMI interface is called asus-wmi. It is in 2.6.37 and later, although I am not sure it works as expected yet.

Homepage: Overview - acpi4asus - dev.iksaif.net

Interesting new bug here: Bug #227: asus-wmi-nb: keyboard backlight brightness never updates in sysfs - acpi4asus - dev.iksaif.net

Post with instructions on getting the LED working: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...ux-driver-i-need-your-help-5.html#post7376714

 

i finally got my backlight running on my g53sx with the 3 lines of code form natergator.

i run gentoo hardened 3.2.11 kernel on that computer.

 

This website seems to be down:
http://scottsautorepair.net/linux-image-2.6.39-rc6_2.6.39-rc6-10.00.Custom_amd64.deb
http://scottsautorepair.net/linux-headers-2.6.39-rc6_2.6.39-rc6-10.00.Custom_amd64.deb

Could someone please post the kernel files I need to get my G73sw working. The keyboard lights and lcd dimmer. I have been looking all over for a fix for this thing and do not want to go back to windows. Thanks for the help!

 

Does anyone have these files? I was thinking of just recompiling my kernel and looking for options to enable the features I need but would like to find an easier solution. Thanks again!

 

Anyone? Or is this forum dead?