ASUS ROG G73 and Ubuntu

Hello guys I am new to my new G73SW as well as to Linux. I have used it off and on for development at work but mostly know just enough to get by. Does this mean in order to get the function keys working for back lighting we need to wait for a future patch or is there a work around that I missed?

I am also concerned that my video card may not be working properly. It says in the additional drivers area that the nvidia proprietary driver is activated but it is not being used.

However this makes it look like it is:

Code:

billy@billy-G73Sw:/usr/lib/nux$ ./unity_support_test -p
OpenGL vendor string:   NVIDIA Corporation
OpenGL renderer string: GeForce GTX 460M/PCI/SSE2
OpenGL version string:  4.1.0 NVIDIA 270.41.06

Not software rendered:    yes
Not blacklisted:          yes
GLX fbconfig:             yes
GLX texture from pixmap:  yes
GL npot or rect textures: yes
GL vertex program:        yes
GL fragment program:      yes
GL vertex buffer object:  yes
GL framebuffer object:    yes
GL version is 1.4+:       yes

Unity supported:          yes
billy@billy-G73Sw:/usr/lib/nux$ grep drv\.so /var/log/Xorg.0.log
[    13.500] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/extra-modules/nvidia_drv.so
[    13.501] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/nouveau_drv.so
[    13.502] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/vesa_drv.so
[    13.502] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/fbdev_drv.so
[    13.504] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/extra-modules/nvidia_drv.so

Does this mean one of these other drivers are being loaded/used instead? Do I need to remove them somehow to force my machine to use the NVIDIA ones or am I making some sort of n00b mistake here?

Thanks,

 

If you're on Ubuntu make sure you have nvidia-glx installed.

To turn on the G73SW keyboard backlight see this post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...ux-driver-i-need-your-help-5.html#post7376714

You need to create that config file if it doesn't exist.

 

Groceries,

Thanks. How do I ensure that nvidia-gix: is installed? Do you think the nouveau drivers are causing issues? I noticed your post here

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lin...rietary-nvidia-binary-blob-driver-debian.html

Do you recommend I do that? I see that the driver I have (see previous) is the newest driver.

Thanks,

 

Groceries,

I can turn the backlight on with the command Nate provided but I would like to be able to press Fn F3 and Fn F4 to adjust the back lighting. Maybe I am to new and just missed the boat on what I need to get that to work.

Thanks,

 

Fuzzy, do you have nvidia-settings installed? If you run nvidia-settings does it work?

I would absolutely not recommend doing it the manual way unless you have a good reason to, like if the driver provided by your distro doesn't support your card.

You may just need to reinstall nvidia-glx like:

Code:

sudo apt-get --reinstall install nvidia-glx

Or run:

Code:

sudo nvidia-xconfig

To configure your xorg server to use the binary driver instead of nouveau.

The asus-wmi kernel module doesn't yet work for FN+F3 and F4 as of the last time I checked, the author said their target is 2.6.40 for that, and the initial patches provided do not work. The details are a few pages back.

 

Groceries,

Thanks for the info I do have the nvidia settings installed. I tried to configure my xorg server with the command given and I get this error:

Using X configuration file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf".

VALIDATION ERROR: Data incomplete in file /etc/X11/xorg.conf.
Device section "Default Device" must have a Driver line.

Backed up file '/etc/X11/xorg.conf' as '/etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup'
New X configuration file written to '/etc/X11/xorg.conf'


There is not a whole lot in that file what should it look like?

 

I dunno, it's been a while since I had an NVIDIA card, so I don't have a working config file I can paste in, maybe someone else does...

You can try moving /etc/X11/xorg.conf to /etc/X11/xorg.conf.old and then re-run nvidia-xconfig to start fresh.

Also there is a huge wiki page here with detailed instructions for Ubuntu: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/Nvidia

 

Groceries,

It appeared to add the missing Driver line it needed on its own. I now see a Nvidia splash screen on startup. It still says the driver is activated but not being used but I think it is pretty clear that it is. I made the mistake of trying to remove the driver from the additional drivers app and then reinstall it. I wont do that again. I could not run unity and my resolution went to crap. Since I had no idea how to fix it I ended up having to use the Ubuntu cd to fix it then had to rebuild the rc6 kernel etc I think I will just leave it alone now. I don't feel daring enough to remove the nouveau driver to see if that is the issue with it saying its not activated.

 

I think that's probably a bug with the hardware driver utility in ubuntu. If you can use the nvidia-settings app, and especially if you get the nvidia splash screen, you are using the nvidia driver. Too bad about rebuilding, but it only takes like 10 minutes on that machine.

If you run into serious trouble you can use my manual nvidia install guide (under the troubleshooting sections) to get back to a working configuration.

Edit: found a couple of bugs, this one has a post from about a week ago: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/jockey/+bug/547066

 

Hey Groceries, thanks for the info. I have the same (G73sw) laptop as Fuzzy. I ran

Code:

sudo nvidia-xconfig

as you suggested. This also got my screen brightness up to where it should be, although I can not adjust the brightness level with the function keys. My screen flicker problem is less frequent but still present, however. Thanks for your help.

 

Hi marinegundoctor, you can try this xorg.conf option:

Code:

Option "RegistryDwords" "EnableBrightnessControl=1"

You may have a 20-nvidia.conf file in /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/ where it would be appropriate to put this.

There is discussion of it starting here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...ux-driver-i-need-your-help-4.html#post7194651

 

Thanks, I just finished reading that entire thread before logging in to the site. I'll ask my next question there.

 

hello guys... new with the G73sw and (extremely) new with ubuntu (jeje)... here's the question: the Geforce 460gtx seems to be heating more, do I need to configure or install something? Please bare with me, I don't know squat about ubuntu.

 

Hi chochanga, you can install the proprietary nvidia drivers from the 'Hardware Drivers' app in ubuntu. The default nouveau driver is open source, but it may not have support for the lower clocks on your video card. The proprietary nvidia driver will have powermizer which downclocks the card when it's not doing 3d.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/Nvidia

 

To ALLurGroceries, thanks for the quick response. I have installed the 270.41.03 version (for Linux-x86_64)... The thing is that in Windows 7 the GPU temperature (when I turn the G73 on) is usually around 35ºc... and in Ubuntu is between 45ºc and 50ºc. Am i doing something wrong?

 

@chochanga, if you run the nvidia-settings command, you should see a section for powermizer that will show you your clocks. If it's not clocking down that could be the issue.

Are you noticing any difference between battery and AC, or is it just running hot all the time?

 

sorry for being such a noob, but on ubuntu 11.04 x86 G73SW i tried using the kb up/down files as well as applying the line 4 changes, but it wont work

would it be possible to get a .zip of the final reworked keyboard controls?

thanks SO much in advance, its frustrating to have to use windows at night just so i can see what im doing

 

On the SW I haven't heard of it working, I'm not sure what the status is there with the asus-wmi module.

You can turn it on manually: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...ux-driver-i-need-your-help-5.html#post7376714