Linux on the ASUS N10 N10J

Howto guide for Ubuntu and Debian GNU/Linux on the <a>ASUS[/URL] <a>N10[/URL] series: <a>N10J[/URL], <a>N10Jb[/URL], <a>N10Jc[/URL], <a>N10JE[/URL], <a>N10Jh[/URL], <a>N10HV[/URL] and <a>N10E[/URL]

Moved to wiki format: http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO

Mirror: http://allurgroceries.com/n10/wikimirror.html

Please continue to use this thread for discussion and troubleshooting.

The sections below now link to the new sections on the wiki article.

Contents:
Part 0: Getting Started
Dual Booting
Installation Media
Installation Process
First Boot
Part 1: Kernel Upgrade
Preparing the system
Building the kernel
Part 2: Graphics Drivers
Preparing the system
Installing the drivers
Upgrading graphics drivers
Part 3: Tweaks
Upside down webcam
Maximizing screen real-estate
Ambient light sensor
Touchpad
Fingerprint reader
Delays resolving hostnames or lookup failures
Hotkeys and Fn+F10 mute doesn't work
Magnify and power mode buttons
Startup, suspend and resume issues
Preload: the adaptive readahead daemon
CPU frequency scaling
Part 4: NVIDIA Tweaks
Color accuracy [NVIDIA]
Redraw issues with compiz [NVIDIA]
AVI videos look purple/blue (hues shifted) [NVIDIA]
HDMI audio [NVIDIA]
HD video decoding [NVIDIA]
Part 5: Appendices
Building MadWifi for the stock kernel
Removing the detectgpu startup script

Part 0: Getting Started
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Getting_Started

Dual Booting
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Dual_Booting

Installation Media
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Installation_Media

Installation Process
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Installation_Process

First Boot
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#First_Boot

Part 1: Kernel Upgrade
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Kernel_Upgrade

Preparing the system
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Preparing_the_System

Building the kernel
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Building_the_Kernel

Part 2: Graphics Drivers
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Graphics_Drivers

Preparing the system
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Preparing_the_system_2

Installing the drivers
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Installing_the_drivers

Upgrading graphics drivers
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Upgrading_Graphics_Drivers

Part 3: Tweaks
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Tweaks

Upside down webcam
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Upside_Down_Webcam

Maximizing screen real-estate
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Maximizing_Screen_Real-Estate

Ambient light sensor
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Ambient_Light_Sensor

Touchpad
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Touchpad

Fingerprint reader
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Fingerprint_Reader

Delays resolving hostnames or lookup failures
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Delays_Resolving_Hostnames_or_Lookup_Failures

Hotkeys and Fn+F10 mute doesn't work
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Hotkeys_and_Fn.2BF10_Mute_Doesn.27t_Work

Magnify and power mode buttons
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Magnify_and_Power_Mode_Buttons

Startup, suspend and resume issues
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Startup.2C_Suspend_and_Resume_Issues

Preload: the adaptive readahead daemon
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Preload:_The_Adaptive_Readahead_Daemon

CPU frequency scaling
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#CPU_Frequency_Scaling

Part 4: NVIDIA Tweaks
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#NVIDIA_Tweaks

Color accuracy [NVIDIA]
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Color_Accuracy_.5BNVIDIA.5D

Redraw issues with compiz [NVIDIA]
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Redraw_Issues_with_Compiz_.5BNVIDIA.5D

AVI videos look purple/blue (hues shifted) [NVIDIA]
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#AVI_Videos_Look_Purple.2FBlue_.28Hues_Shifted.29_.5BNVIDIA.5D

HDMI audio [NVIDIA]
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#HDMI_Audio_.5BNVIDIA.5D

HD video decoding [NVIDIA]
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#HD_Video_Decoding_.5BNVIDIA.5D

Part 5: Appendices
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Appendices

Building MadWifi for the stock kernel
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Building_MadWifi_for_the_Stock_Kernel

Removing the detectgpu startup script
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#Removing_the_detectgpu_Startup_Script

 

That's fantastic news!!! I found out about your post here from the ubuntu forums - I was the one posting about no audio.

Thanks a lot for writing up how you got it too work - can't wait to give it a try.

One question, though. How are you dealing with the dual intel / nvidia graphic cards. Are you just manually changing your xorg.conf each time, or do you have a script? If so, it would be great if you could share it. I have experience installing linux, compiling the kernel and all that jazz, but absolutely zilch when it comes to writing scripts.

Way to go, and I hope that a linux community builds up around the n10j because at the moment it seems that it's only me, you and that other guy who started the audio problem thread on the ubuntu forum! Sad, really, considering the potential of this device.

 

Erm, good question, because at this point I have kept to the nvidia gpu alone. I've yet to try and figure out how to tackle this, if anyone has any ideas...

Edit: I thought I should update this post for anyone just joining the thread... Switching between GPUs is covered in Part 2 of the guide.

 

Thank you so much! this was really helpful!

 

Since it was not explicitly stated, I will ask. Did you ever get the sound to work properly?

Thanks

 

Yeah sound works.... it's in my guide above... just need to select Intel HD audio in menuconfig before kernel compilation. See my youtube vid.

 

I was wondering where you found the Wireless and the PCISound i'm totally lost in the menuconfig


EDIT:
Found lan:
Device Drivers->Network device support->Wireless Lan(selected in rc4 for me)

Found Pci sound:
Device Drivers->Sound Card support->Advanced LinuxSound Architecture->PCI Sound devices(was not selected)

 

Ah, I'm sorry, I should have specifically mentioned that.

Intel HD audio:
Device Drivers->Sound card support->Advanced Linux Sound Architecture->PCI Sound Devices->Intel HD Audio

Atheros wireless:
Device Drivers->Network device support->Wireless LAN->Atheros 802.11n wireless cards support

 

Ran into the fallowing error:

When I reboot the gdm

 

I assume you recompiled and installed the nvidia drivers according to the directions. Make sure the switch for the nvidia graphics is physically turned on on the left hand side of the case. If all that is good, your xorg.conf is messed up -- try overwriting it. Try this:

Code:

modprobe nvidia
cd /etc/X11
rm xorg.conf
wget -O xorg.conf http://allurgroceries.is-a-chef.com/public/xorg.conf.txt
/etc/init.d/gdm restart

 

It was probably the mobprobe that I was missing.
<3 my new n10j-a1 !

 

I added that to the directions... my bad, thanks for letting me know

 

The only thing is when I do "sudo apt-get update" and "sudo apt-get upgrade" it says that a package was not completely installed (the kernel package) Should I just re-try to recompile from the older kernel?

 

*update*
Reinstalling ubuntu: compiling the rc5(has both the athros and the intel HD selected by default, but people should check anyways)

 

Have you tried:

apt-get -f install

 

I think they are probably selected for you from your rc4 config since you already compiled once. You shouldn't need to do menuconfig again unless you need to change something else, just make oldconfig and compile.... but make sure to edit the mlme.c again before compilation if you want that tweak for wifi

edit: of course after rebooting with the new kernel you'll have to reinstall the nvidia drivers again from your custom .run, don't need to entirely recompile the nvidia drivers with the patch unless the minor version of the kernel has changed (just an rc in this case)

 

actually I reformatted my / partition unless is stored it in my BIOS or SWAP partition I don't think it would keep them

Also new in RC5 is no more *running in low graphics mode* it boots straight to GUI keep you posted currently updating NVIDIA Driver


*EDIT*
I ran the update and the upgrade and I no longer get the error
RC5 IMO Is much better than RC4 for this laptop =)

 

Oh, you reinstalled from scratch? I guess it would depend if your /boot was separate or not. Did you use a newer build of Ubuntu?

You should automatically get into gdm anyway after installing the nvidia drivers, that's not new to rc5

 

No i meant b4 I got to the /etc/init.d/gdm stop part it allows me to go directly to the GUI where as b4 in rc4 it said runnin in low grphx

 

And what about HDMI and 720p video? Looks like that windows can't play it well. So what about Linux? The latest beta drivers 180.06 from nVidia has VDPAU API (Video Decode and Presentation API)! Did you try them?

 

I haven't tried it yet to be honest..I don't have that many 720p/1080p videos lying arround(I know if it does work it's going to be a lot less sluggish than Vista)

P.S. for others I have a suggestion for you:
go to System->Preferences->Appearance->Fonts(change them all to 8(instead of 10)(in Details: Change DPI(or resolution) to 90 instead of 96)

This will give you a lot more screen place especially for web browsing/big windows

You can also right click on one of your panels(top or bottom bars)->Properties and activate hide show
to give you the ability to hide the bars to give you the maximum screen size while hiding the bars

 

And what about 720p video on your setup? How it works? Any problems?

 

And what about battery life in linux? Does it works longer, than windoze?

 

I was able to get Both video cards to work with ubuntu and debian....

It twas quite simple..I was searching for ways people had been dealing with hybrid graphics with xorg and came across a few posts, one said to use the pci device id and write you x config to support both, and the other was to write a script to look at boot-time.


However Open gl(and thats still the problem) is not working on the intel graphics side of things...(After this post im going to reboot with my modified script that copy's the correct libs, see what happens)




1) create nano /etc/init.d/n10jvideo
2) paste in the following:

#!/bin/bash
VIDEO=`/usr/bin/lspci |grep -c nVidia`
if [ "$VIDEO" = 1 ]; then
echo "[Nvidia Switch enabled, using Nvidia xconfig]"
cp -f /etc/X11/xorgNVtest.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf
else
echo "[Nvidia Switch disabled, using intel xconfig]"
cp -f /etc/X11/xorgIntel.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf
fi


3) chmod +x /etc/init.d/n10jvideo

4) ln -s /etc/init.d/n10jvideo /etc/rc2.d/S12n10jvideo

5) you need to have your 2 xconfigs as well
I used the one for nvidia posted at the begining of this thread and here is the xorgintel.conf that im using:

# xorg.conf.failsafe (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg


Section "Module"
Load "i2c"
Load "bitmap"
Load "ddc"
Load "dri"
Load "extmod"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
Load "int10"
Load "vbe"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Driver "intel"
Option "MonitorLayout" "LVDS,VGA"
Option "DRI" "true"
Option "Clone" "true"
Option "AccelMethod" "EXA"
Option "MigrationHeuristic" "greedy"
VideoRam 229376
Option "CacheLines" "1980"

EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
EndSection










5) Im working on the gl thing now for the intel cards, we need to move some modules around as well if its using the intel card..for now..this will get both cards up and going

 

I have one 1080p movie Im attempting to play....The 25th hour....The initial results are that its choking bad.....however this could be because im trying to play a 6 gig video from a usb drive...Im now copying it to the hard drive. Mplayer was spitting out messages that there were "to many packets in the buffer". This is In ubuntu btw

 

the depressing results......

1080p = wayyyyyyyyyyy...to choppy
720p = wayyyyyy to choppy

I tried everything....so ..now im building an atomized version of mplayer with the vdapu patches , and installing the beta nvidia drivers...

I will keep you posted

 

Which version of nVidia driver do you use?

 

173,177 and now the beta 180.06

 

I put the orignal hard drive that has vista on it back in the laptop...windows plays 720p and 1080P just fine due to the pure video decoder....back at the linux ranch I was able to finally get a 1080p video to play with the beta nvidia driver and the pached mplayer with the vdapu stuffs...

 

Has anyone had any luck with the wireless? even with the 100HZ patch it seems to be choppyer than in windews

 

I haven't had any problems since I changed the value.

What do you mean by choppy... is it disconnecting entirely, so that you lose association with the AP? Or is it just laggy?

Changing the value to 100Hz is only intended to fix the problem with repeated disassociation. If it's still dropping your connection like that you can up it, all the way to 1000Hz. If your signal is weak tho, that isn't going to help.

 

yeah sometimes it just drops or stays @ 56% wireless where as the router is right next to my n10(10 feet away) and its kinda weird... When im browsing in firefox I have about 50% chance of getting to the website.

So yeah you could say that the internet drops from time to time, I am going to try compiling rc6 with 1000Hz(p.s. is 1000Hz the max?)

 

I think 1000Hz is the highest I've tried. I haven't tried it that high on my N10J though, I stopped when it worked at 100. I'm not sure what the absolute limit is. Do you have any other wireless networks interfering with yours? I know you said it was right next to you but the wireless stack in windows is much more robust than ath9k at the moment, by a long shot.

 

There's 1 other network but its so weak I cant connect to it.

I'm trying to install the new NVIDIA 180.08 beta drivers, do you know if the patch can still be applied? or do I have to try to find a patch for the laptop?

Supposedly its a lot better for video(specially for 720p+)

 

The 180.06 drivers (which is what I think you mean?) work without the patch... I have updated the howto

BTW on the wireless I was asking if there are other nets around because they could be interfering with yours, so switching channels away from the other would help in that case, if your wireless network is less than 3 channels away from the other right now. But if you're right next to your AP, changing the polling interval to be higher in the c source file will probably take care of it and is worth a try.

 

Still compiling the kernel....5 hours later...
Anyways I meant 180.08
nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=122606

p.s. if you meant that if I had more than one network on my router(I only have 1) the other one is my neighbour's

 

I just installed 180.08 with no problem, didn't even know it was out!! thx will update the howto once again!

No I do mean any wireless net around you not more than one on your router. Changing your channel away from the other is what I mean.. for instance if your neighbor is on channel 11 go to channel 6 or 1, if he is on 1 go to 6 or 11, if they are on 6 go to channel 1 or 11... you see what I mean? There is overlap between channels on 802.11b/g

 

Yeah I know what you mean the other person is channel 8 and I'm #1(lol.. yes im #1) although I'm on N where as he only has G just finished compiling kernel.... time to install and test out the 1000Hz

 

Dang... if it's N there is NO excuse for bad signal!! It's gotta be the driver in that case, I was just trying to rule out the usual stuff

 

The massive compile time really is dreadful, I think I am going to strip down my kernel next go around and I'll post my config... it wastes so much time compiling all those modules on the Atom arrrghh

 

True.. we dont need intel wireless drivers for example strict minimum would be cool

BTW do you have a command to remove a deb package? I was trying to upgrade from rc5 to rc6 and kept giving me an error that something (/lib/at...) was in use I had to reboot in 2.6.27 and use cruft remover(which wasn't installed?) to remove RC5 then install RC6

also while trying to install NVIDIA drivers(even after stopping GDM) xorg was still running I just did a quick "sudo killall gdm Xorg"

Well after I put it to 1000Hz...it no longer worked.. so I had to recompile with 200Hz(just to try it) it seems to be working pretty well right now

 

I stripped out the kernel config and it compiled 1.5hrs

There is still more yet that can be removed but I wanted to be conservative.

-- Edit: I rolled the config into the howto --

 

rc7 is out going to try your stripped version

Code:

export CONCURRENCY_LEVEL=2

what does that do?
tells that the laptop has 2 cores?

 

Yeah, precisely... it should help a lot! I forgot to add it in before. Along with the stripped config it really cuts the time down... thanks for letting me know about rc7 I will get to that later today.

Edit -- Further stripped down my config and rc7 compiled in about 15 mins less this time... I updated the howto

 

so far everything is working. going to test the HDMI output tomorrow.

 

Cool... I hope your compile time was shorter.. I am still going to cut more out yet, I will keep you updated

Edit: There is a new nvidia beta driver out, 180.11. I updated the howto.

 

nope I didn't use the rc6 config and didn't know if rc6 was compatible with rc7 so let it compile during the night

i'll test out HDMI probably this weekend(things came up)

 

That's too bad... it would have worked, 'make oldconfig' will just prompt you for new configuration options and you can just hold down enter to accept defaults and then do the build. I've not had any problems with my config at all but it's not yet as small as I'd like.

 

yeah the first time I compiled rc4 it let me hold down enter for asking me questions and now it just auto-configs it .. is that normal?(they are extracted in different folders.

 

Yeah, it will only prompt you if there are new options, between releases, especially RC releases there tend to be no new configuration options. So that's normal