Envy 14 & Linux

I don't have my notebook yet and ran across these Linux issues for those that plan on using Linux on their Envy 14.

Envy 14: Turn switchable graphics off in BIOS? - HP Support Forum

Envy 14: display backlight controls not working under Linux - HP Support Forum

 

Hmm that's not good as I too plan to use linux occasionally.

 

i'd like to know more about this too!

 

--- Update july 19th 2010 ---
Envy 14 & Linux HOWTO
I have written an ENVY 14 Linux compatibility guide:
Andreas Demmer Review: Running Linux on the HP Envy 14
--- original post follows ---

It was me who posted the threads at the HP support forum!

So far everything works on the E14 except backlight control and switchable graphics. Chances are high to get switchable graphics running because I am currently talking to the maintainers of the free radeon drivers.

Meanwhile, integrated graphics work fine.

 

Ya but isn't the open source driver pretty limited? Can you even run compiz with it?

 

Hi ademmer,

Could you please tell me if with vgaswitcheroo is possible to switch off completely the ATI chip and only use Intel?

 

The open source driver is pretty limited, you are right. KWin 3D effects run on it, but most special effects like blur etc. are disabled. Sucks!

The good news is that the Intel Arrandale chip is fast enough to run the 3D effects well and this works out of the box.

 

This is easy to do! Right after boot, vga_switcheroo creates a file /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch with the following content:

Code:

0: :Pwr:0000:01:00.0
1:+:Pwr:0000:00:02.0

First entry is the ATI card, second one is the Intel card. This means, that both cards are powered but only the Intel card is used ATM. So you can easily switch the ATI card off:

Code:

echo OFF > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch

Keep in mind, that you need kernel 2.6.34 or better!

The following two facts proove that unpowering the ATI card worked.

First: The switch file now contains:

Code:

0: :Off:0000:01:00.0
1:+:Pwr:0000:00:02.0

Second: The system idle temperature immediatly drops by a few degrees. Cool, isn't it?

 

how is the battery life? abysmal?

 

It is! Thanks for the info, any idea about the best way to have the ATI chip switched off at every boot? I will only really use Intel anyway. One proprietary driver is already enough for me (Broadcom...).

By the way, with only the Intel chip on can the screen brightness be somehow changed? And anyway, are there defaults (power/battery) for screen brightness in bios that can be set and work when plugging and unplugging in Linux?

thanks again for all the info

 

Does anyone know where would be the best spot to post our complains about the limited support for Linux of the Envy line?

I think it would be good to find the right place and all ask for better support.

 

Just put it in an init script..

 

To disable the ATI adapter automatically at each boot, add this line to /etc/init.d/boot.local:

Code:

echo OFF > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch

I did it myself and it works perfectly.

The screen brightness controls do not work even after disabling the ATI adapter. It seems the ACPI support of the E14 lacks this feature. And there is not BIOS setting for "dim when unplug", too. My DELL XPS M2010 had such a BIOS setting.

I guess we need to hope that HP addresses this issue with an updated BIOS.

 

Good question! I already had a look for a good place to complain but found none. Directions appreciated! Maybe we all should complain at HP to make ourselves heard. Maybe we should even point HP at this thread and invite lots of HP Envy 14 users to vote here.

 

I think we need to take as many issues, especially BIOS related, as possible to HP. I sent back my old Envy15 because its nonACPI compliant BIOS meant thermals were horrid under Linux. I was hoping they wouldn't make the same sort of mistakes again.

My Envy14 is coming without switchable graphics, using only discrete ATI, thanks to its Quad core processor, so I wonder how it will fare. I don't object to using Catalyst (fglrx) but if there are screen brightness issues...

I'm reading that the wireless card is a Broadcom option. Is this one of the "Bluetooth and 802.11 on a single card" miniPCIs, or is there a discrete bluetooth adapter in there somewhere? How difficult is it to get the wireless/bluetooth working? I was considering buying another card, such as an Intel 6300 or 6250 (WiMax + WiFi) but will that mean I lose bluetooth?

 

I have no heat issues whatsoever. With internal graphics, the machine is ideling at 48 degrees celsius, very cool IMHO. Fan controls work, ACPI can control the fans and read the temperature.

Bluetooth works out of the box (bluez and kbluetooth with KDE), wireless card needs proprietary Broadcom wl driver. I simply downloaded the driver from the broadcom site, compiled and installed it. No big deal... Maybe there are even precompiled packages for your distro. But I am running openSUSE 11.3 RC2 which has no prebuilt packages yet.

 

What is your battery life like with the screen running full tilt?

 

2,5 hours until Linux shuts down with 5% battery left.

 

Is the CPU being throttled down? Also have you done a run-down test with integrated vs discrete graphics to determine the time difference?

 

The CPU is not throttled down. Unfortunally, I have not run comparisons between discrete and integrated graphics.

 

Its great that you a also a kde user. I am looking toward to getting this laptop and would be running kde on it

But I have the following questions and would really appreciate if you could address them.

I don't know yet which graphic card would be best on the laptop Intel Ati (free) or Ati (Proprietary) How well is the Integrated Intel card on the machine. I use a laptop with the Intel GM965 and kwin performance on it can be very chubby (especially on kde 4.5 RC) How smooth are the transitions and effects of kwin on the Intel driver? and what is the default resolution of the integrated Intel driver as against the ATI driver?.

I also would like to know if u were about to get multitouch to work on the touchpad.

what about the internal mic? are u able to use it for say make call on skype I heard it has a mic for noise cancellation how well does that work on linux?

What about the ambient light sensor? does it work as it should on linux?

I Thought I heard the backlit keyboard is activated by a hardware button can u confirm?

Would really appreciate your take on the above issues. Thanks in advance.

 

This is crappy, does suse not support it?

 

Good news, anyone! It seems like the dysfunctional backlight controls can be fixed! There is already an experimental patched Ubuntu kernel and a Envy 14 owner reports that this fixed the backlight controls for him: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/568611/

I will merge the patches to a branched openSUSE kernel (the one that has already improved clickpad support) later this day. I really hope this fixes the issue for me too.

 

The integrated Intel i915 is powerful enough to run the desktop effects of KDE 4.5 RC2 smooth enough at most times. Under load, it gets choppy from times to times, that's true.

The free radeon driver has no 3D acceleration yet, so it renders effects with software rendering which is ultra-slow. Not an option at all.

The proprietary fglrx driver does not work ATM because of the non-disable switchable graphics feature. BUT there is hope: I have contact to a graphics developer who managed to find out the problem: Kernel vga_switcheroo (the subsystem for switching between cards) keeps the Intel firmware in the memory at all times, even when the fglrx expects the ATI firmware at this address. He already managed to extract the ATI firmware from the memory and is currently working on a vga_switcheroo patch that writes the firmware into the correct memory location that fglrx will find it.

I guess there are good chances to get this working. If so, we will soon see full switchable graphics support for the Envy 14 under Linux with fglrx!

Both cards are running 1600x900px but the integrated one cannot access the display port or HDMI port.

It is working even better than it does under Windows 7! An openSUSE developer (Takashi Iwai) has written some really nice ClickPad patches that bring multitouch, dead-zones support for the button area and even LED-Support. If you are running openSUSE, you can find a patched kernel and xorg-x11-driver-input package here:
Index of /repositories/home:/tiwai:/clickpad

If you use another distribution, the original patches may be useful to you:
https://build.opensuse.org/package/...-x11-driver-input&project=home:tiwai:clickpad

The mic is one of the things I am currently working on. Both internal and external mic record a very deep pitched-down voice which is very strange. Happens even with an external USB soundcard. I tested this only under Skype and will test this with other tools later because I suspect this is rather a issue with my current installation than with the hardware. I will also try the instant-on Linux (HP ReadyWeb) which has Skype. If it works there, it will also work on all Linux distributions.

The Envy 14 has an ambient light sensor? Where is it placed? Since brightness controls are not working ATM, the light sensor is useless. But the controls will hopefully work as described above. I have a look at the input devices to see if the sensor gives any information to the kernel.

Yes, backlit keyboard works with a FN key combination even in Grub. This is likeliy to be a hardware key.

 

Hi, I am interesting in this envy and I have some questions.

The battery live in windows and linux, how much is it?
Is a good laptop for informatics people, it is good for programming?
How about the temperature of it?, it is too hot, like previous envys?

Finally with version of linux do you install? the one of 32 bits of the 64 bits version?

Thanks.

 

Currently 4.5h under Windows, 2.5h under Linux because of the non-working display dimming. Hopefully, this issue will be solved soon.

Absolutely! I am a coder myself and I bought it exactly for this. Good keyboard for typing.

No, it runs cool especially with integrated graphics: ~45 degrees celsius when idle (i5-520M CPU).

64bits.

 

What is the 64 bit like?

 

What do you mean "What is it like"? It just works [TM]! Everything works, but some proprietary 32bit software like Skype or Flash player require the installation of 32bit compatibility libs. Since the package manager resolves this, it is no problem at all.

 

Forgot to say that this is my first 64bit OS, too. I wanted to take full advantage of the 4 GB RAM. Linux 32bit could also use the 4 GB RAM (unless Windows 32bit that is limited to 3 GB RAM). The advantage of 64bit is, that a single process may consume more than 2 GB RAM. A 32bit Linux cannot do this. There is no advantage whatsoever in terms of speed etc.

Since Linux is available in 64bit for ages, it is much more matured than 64bit Windows.

 

ademmer, maybe in ubuntu for example you can install the version of 32 bits and compile a kernel that read more than 3 GB.

Other thing, is better I7 or I5, for battery, temperature... thanks.

And the end you solve the problem of screen in linux and the the resolution is good for programming you can read the screen well with any problem, and the speaker is good?

Thanks, maybe I buy it in 3 days xD and I need to know lot of things.

 

i5 runs cooler and sucks less battery. i7 is way hotter but a little bit faster.

The screen is perfectly readable and the best one I have ever seen on a notebook. The sound is ok with the built in speakers. Not terribly great but what to expect from a laptop? With headphones, the sound really sounds good.

 

Ademmer

Here in spain the only configuration posible is the one with i7, do you think the battery is used to be and de temerpatu also incredible.

If you give that I will not have any problem to work with him, I used to pass lot of hours programming, I will have it the next week and I used to try to be other beta tester in linux word with this neetbook.

Other thing the weight, is incredible too, and you buy any bag or something to move it, and any cooler to put behind it.

Thanks.

Bye.

 

Yay!

Weight is ok, not too heavy but also not light. I bought 2 bags: A neoprene sleeve for everyday carriage and a Dicota notebook case if I also want to transport charger, mouse etc.

Since I have bought a second charger that I placed in the office, I mostly use the neoprene sleeve.

 

Good news, anyone! I compiled the latest openSUSE 11.3 kernel 2.6.34 and applied the patches from the Ubuntu kernel maintainer and now I got backlight controls working, yay! )

I currently monitor power usage with powertop and disable unneeded power consumers. I managed to bring my notebook down from >50W at full power consumption to now ~21W.

Any comparisons with Windows power consumption?

 

And now how about the battery live in linux and the temperature?

Also the live of battery should be more, because you don't use de ati graphics, you use the intel graphics no?

Can you confirm is the resolution of the screen is 1600 x 900

Thanks

 

That is good news! My Envy comes today and i plan on installing Linux pretty soon. If you get the chance at some point (I'm sure you're busy with your new toy!), could you give us battery life numbers with the mods you made? Even ballpark figures would be cool. Thanks!

 

You need to sort out how to get the cpu to downclock itself, people getting 4+ hours are sucking down ~14 watts.

 

Anyone tried Arch with the E14?

Anyone tried battery life without X, just tty? Most of my programming can be done from TTY so if the battery is significantly improved that would rock!

 

When my Envy comes, I'm planning to put Arch on it as well, alongside something Ubuntu-based and Windows.

 

Anyone who can answer to it:

And now how about the battery live in linux and the temperature?

Also the live of battery should be more, because you don't use de ati graphics, you use the intel graphics no?

Can you confirm is the resolution of the screen is 1600 x 900

Thanks

And two more questions, can anyone to take a photo of the screem to saw how it see the letters.

How many slots of ram it has?

Thanks.

 

Linux has worse power management and thus, as stated, the battery was 2:30 as opposed to 4:30.

 

and that is because the screen brightness could not be adjusted on linux hence the laptop ran on full brightness. However the issue as been fixed on ubuntu and the patch made available for other distros.

 

screen brightness is not the only problem, although it is one. Another is the CPU throttling and also the power required by X. In windows, the cpu is down clocked when it is not in demand, i believe. Also i do not think X and the drivers are as efficient as their windows counterparts, so the graphics card is using more power while more or less idle.

 

Battery life is still around ~2.5h, I need to figure out how to decrease the power consumption a lot more.

Temp is ~45 degrees celsius idle and ~60-70 degrees celsius under load (compiling code).

Screen resolution is 1600x900.

 

Just to let you know: I have written a comprehensive reivew of the HP Envy 14 and Linux compatibility. It also contains help getting all components working. If you are interested, head over here: Andreas Demmer Review: Running Linux on the HP Envy 14

 

We have to know how to get more life in our battery in Linux System.

bye

 

According to Intel Ubuntu is supported with the N 6200. Anyone try other distros? I've tried a couple VMs (not Ubuntu) and no joy with wireless yet.

 

Good news, everyone:

I found out that the ATI adapter eats battery even when the radeon module is not loaded. If you load the module and power the ATI adapter off as described in my blog post, the power consumption decreases dramatically. Now my notebook consumes about 9W idle and 13-15W while surfing with wireless, minimum display brightness and deactivated desktop effects. This power consumption matches the values measured with Windows 7. Now the Envy 14 runs more than 4h before switching off, yay!

Now I need to automate all power saving measures with a power plan. I will blog about this later.

 

I figured you did that already ... the other way to do it is to turn it off in bios before you load linux.

 

I unloaded the radeon module at runtime because it conflicts with the i915 driver resulting in a black console before X server starts. But I forgot that the card may still be powered than. It turned out it was! Luckily I found out about this.
You cannot disable the switchable graphics in the E14 BIOS (yet). If you could, using fglrx would be possible.