Linux on the ASUS N10 N10J

quick question about removing old kernels... am i also supposed to remove the '-generic' kernels?

...i tried using:

sudo dpkg -P linux-image-2.6.x linux-headers-2.6.x

and it didn't seem successful (though this works for your kernels, that are not '-generic')

 

awesome that works great,
thank you

 

It really doesn't matter, it's personal preference really. Just make sure to have at least two kernels installed at a time in case there is a problem with one or the other. I tend to leave three kernels installed, the latest stable, the latest rc, and the previous rc. I don't use the generic kernels at all.

Do a:

Code:

dpkg --get-selections | grep linux-

Then you should see the exact package names for your generic kernel and kernel header packages. Use those names with dpkg -P and you should be all set. Sometimes it won't remove the modules from /lib/modules/2.6.whatever-version so you may have to rm -rf those subdirectories in that case if you want it to be totally clean. Just be sure to get the right directory. If you delete the wrong one you'll need to immediately reinstall the kernel image deb to replace it so that your system will function.

 

thanks for that.

when i type:

dpkg --get-selections | grep linux-

i get:

linux-firmware install
linux-generic install
linux-headers-2.6.28-13 install
linux-headers-2.6.28-13-generic install
linux-headers-2.6.28-14 purge
linux-headers-2.6.28-15 install
linux-headers-2.6.28-15-generic install
linux-headers-2.6.31 install
linux-headers-generic install
linux-image-2.6.28-11-generic install
linux-image-2.6.28-13-generic install
linux-image-2.6.28-14-generic purge
linux-image-2.6.28-15-generic install
linux-image-2.6.31 install
linux-image-generic install
linux-libc-dev install
linux-restricted-modules-2.6.28-11-generic install
linux-restricted-modules-2.6.28-13-generic install
linux-restricted-modules-2.6.28-14-generic install
linux-restricted-modules-2.6.28-15-generic install
linux-restricted-modules-common install
linux-restricted-modules-generic install
linux-sound-base install


the 2.6.28.14-generic was what i tried to remove, and i see it is now listed as 'purge' as opposed to 'install' as the others (or simply gone as is the case when i remove your kernels)

i'm not sure if this is a bad thing.. but i'm asking as today, when starting up my computer, my keyboard did not work at all (i restarted, and it works again)... not sure if this is related or just coincidence.

i also don't use the generic kernels at all, but can't seem to remove them, and it seems update manager keeps updating new one (if i'm understanding what is happening).. which leads me to believe i'm going about things the wrong way in general

(i also realize i was a little hasty to remove too many of your old kernels, i'll be sure to keep some as back up in the future)

 

Ah, it sounds like it may be half removed. If this doesn't work:

Code:

sudo dpkg -Pa

Try this:

Code:

sudo dpkg --force-all -P linux-image-2.6.28-14-generic

If that doesn't do it, try reinstalling the package (and then purging again):

Code:

sudo apt-get --reinstall install linux-image-2.6.28-14-generic

Then try purging it again. If it doesn't reinstall because it's either not in your cache or no longer in the repo, try finding it on getdeb.net or another package search engine.

Hopefully you don't have to end up manually removing it. Good luck.

Also I've never had a problem with the keyboard... so I don't know what that's about. Could be something to do with HAL though.

If you purge linux-image-generic I think the automatic kernel updates will stop coming...

 

so when i type:

sudo dpkg -Pa

i get:

dpkg: dependency problems prevent removal of linux-image-2.6.28-14-generic:

linux-restricted-modules-2.6.28-14-generic depends on linux-image-2.6.28-14-generic.

dpkg: error processing linux-image-2.6.28-14-generic (--purge):

dependency problems - not removing

Errors were encountered while processing:

linux-image-2.6.28-14-generic



given it's a dependency problem, i'm not sure whether i should try:

sudo dpkg --force-all -P linux-image-2.6.28-14-generic


i don't want to balls up the whole system (though don't have any idea if it will or not)

 

Purge the dependent packages first then it will work

 

thanks, that worked.

one last question on this stuff, and a question on resuming

1.
when i type:

dpkg --get-selections | grep linux-

i now have this:

linux-firmware install
linux-generic install
linux-headers-2.6.28-15 install
linux-headers-2.6.28-15-generic install
linux-headers-2.6.31 install
linux-headers-generic install
linux-image-2.6.28-15-generic install
linux-image-2.6.31 install
linux-image-generic install
linux-libc-dev install
linux-restricted-modules-2.6.28-15-generic install
linux-restricted-modules-common install
linux-restricted-modules-generic install
linux-sound-base install

is it safe to assume that i can purge everything on this list that ends '-generic'?
(i realise i don't have enough back up kernels, i will be midful of that in the future)

2.
another thing, while your fix works great for resuming from 'hibernate', i was a little quick previously to say that things resume fine from 'suspend'.. it seems that when resuming from 'suspend', while the leds seem to come on fine, it does not always want to connect to the internet.. any ideas?

 

Yes you can purge all the remaining generic kernels, headers, and modules. Just remember that you'll probably have to do the modules and headers first and then the kernels due to dependencies.

If you copied that last script that I pasted in, it should work fine. It's reloading the ath9k module when it resumes. If that doesn't do it there is a different problem, which I've actually covered in that section. Please read it again, try the fix with restarting dbus and network manager, and let me know if that doesn't fix it. This shouldn't happen every time.

 

my computer is now -generic free, thanks.

as for resume from suspend, yeah sorry, i forgot there was more stuff in the how to guide... after i posted however, i upgraded to the newest kernel (2.6.31.1), and have suspended and resumed a number of times without any problems.. so all seems well

thanks again for all your help

 

The sound over HDMI isn't working, I can see it in the sound preferences. I tried switching the profile to Digital Stereo(HDMI) Output and Digital Stereo(HDMI) output + Analog Stero Input, both continue to produce sound from my laptop speakers

 

This should do it for mplayer:

Code:

mplayer -ao alsa:device=hw=0.3 file.avi

 

wow I completely missing .3 they have 2.6.31.4 out :O

 

With 2.6.31.4 I think the webcam patch may not be needed anymore. But I'm not positive.

Haven't really been using my N10 so much lately...

Edit: Updated howto for 2.6.31.4 and NVIDIA 190.40. The webcam patch is no longer needed. The mlme.c patch is optional but still recommended. I'm running without it now with no major issues. I updated the fingerprint reader section to reflect some of the discussion on the past few pages. Added a note for Ubuntu Karmic upgrades and added an appendix section with the command to remove the detectgpu script.

Edit 2: Update for 2.6.31.5 and NVIDIA 190.42. If you have problems upgrading to 190.40 or 190.42, before running the installer, manually remove the NVIDIA module:

Code:

sudo modprobe -r nvidia

 

Has anyone tried playing a 720p mkv on their mplayer? mine eventually crashes on me

 

Ok the only way I found for upgrading the kernel in karmic is the fallowing:

Fallow the instructions of this guide... When you reboot(boot with nvidia switch turned on) in the (Recovery Mode) of the new kernel press enter to enter normal boot.

Uninstall the old nvidia driver

re-install the driver

reboot into normal kernel version

this is the only way to get out of console flickering 3 times a second problem


lol post 666 XD

 

lulz! post 666 mark of teh beezt
/me ducks

Can't you just use Intel graphics until the kernel is installed, and then reboot with NVIDIA enabled and install the driver package?

What's the flickering problem? Where it says cannot start X do you want to view logs to diagnose (or somesuch)? If that's the case try Alt+F1 and /etc/init.d/gdm stop or killall gdm or killall X, you'd have to be quick on it. Or as you said you can just start in recovery mode or single user mode.

Also with ur mplayer question I haven't used an mkv in a while but I'm on Sid anyway so I'm not sure it would matter. It worked fine months ago though when I did try. There are a couple of options for reducing the load on the CPU, I think it was something like -lavdopts fast:skiploopfilter=all but I'm not sure if that works for VDPAU... *shrug*

 

no the problem is that the console flickers about 4 times per second and when you type sometimes it doesn't accept input(because it's probably trying to startx and it crashes) so you can't login(unless you are really lucky to type your password not to mention username) and you can't install while using intel, because it will tell you that you don't have the card. You can probably uninstall with intel, but I havn't tried

 

Is there a bug ticket for this? It doesn't sound right... I'll see if I can dig something up.

Thanks for the info

 

I know it doesn't sound right, but it has something to do with the nvidia drivers, because xorg starts/crashes in an infinit loop

 

is updating to the 2.6.31.5 kernel the same thing as updating to karmic (or can i do one without the other)?

and with removing the detectgpu script, as i'm using an n10e, does booting with intel graphics just mean normal booting up (if not, how do i boot with intel graphics)?

thanks

 

No upgrading to karmic gives you the 2.6.31-Generic kernel where as the kernel compiled with the tutorial is a custom kernel

I can guarantee 100% if you are upgrading from jaunty(until karmic is actually released), if you don't take off detectgpu and boot with intel driver, you will have the blinking console of DOOM

I don't know about upgrading say from 2.6.31.2 to 2.6.31.5, if you get it or not, if you do, you will know how to fix it


*NOTE* I am running the N10j-A1 if you don't have a nvidia graphics card you won't have the console of doom

 

Thanks for answering that I tried to rep u but I've repped you recently I guess, it wouldn't let me.

I don't think the 31.2 to 31.5 upgrade should cause any harm as far as this is concerned, it would have to be an update to gdm or xserver-xorg-core or something. I think.

I never found a bug ticket either, I searched ubuntuforums.org and nvnews.net linux forums without any real success... bleeargh.

On my next update to the guide I'll try and clarify that bit about switching to NVIDIA since it's irrelevant for N10E users. Should be smooth sailing for the karmic upgrade on an N10E.

 

Yeah well I just got it on my other laptop... now to find the nvidia generic drivers with dpkg and grep....which I don't remember how..

 

I think the latest in Karmic is nvidia-glx-185 (185.18.36):
http://packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywords=nvidia&searchon=names&suite=karmic&section=all

If you want to do it from the command line it's:

Code:

apt-cache search nvidia

You can use grep to see if you have it already installed:

Code:

dpkg --get-selections | grep nvidia

 

Hi ALLurGROCERIERS! Thanks for you GREAT(!!!) work!

So I'm finally going to install Debian on my N10.
(For start like dual-boot with WinXP)

(I already had Ubuntu on it (for about 2 weeks) ... As well as some others - but those basically just for few days ...)

I want ask few things:

How is it with USB modem support under Debian these days ... ? Still problematic ... ?

Under Win there exist DXVA acceleration of HD videos = by VGA, is something like that under Debian?

Best regards,
Yimo

 

USB modem... cellular or POTS? Shouldn't have a problem with either. You may need a kernel module that I don't have in the config, but most common cards I've selected for the N10 config so it should hopefully work without having to do anything manually.

For video acceleration there is VDPAU for the NVIDIA card. It works with mplayer currently. See this and serach on the page for vdpau or just scroll down:
http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/man/en/mplayer.1.html#VIDEO%20OUTPUT%20DRIVERS%20%28MPLAYER%20ONLY%29

If you search this thread for vdpau you'll find some examples of how to use it.

 

Well I found out the problem, Karmic screwed up my xorg.conf, in the xorg log it says it couldn't load the kernel module for NVIDIA.. I just ran a

and did a startx and works

 

NOW this is starting to make sense! I found a thread on ubuntu forums about the xorg.conf needing the PCI ID for Karmic, so if you just remove the xorg.conf it should probe for it automagically. Glad it works

 

Well I can confirm its a xorg.conf/nvidia problem, I tried doing a nvidia-xconfig and it will reproduce the bug

 

Is there a PCI ID in the nvidia-xconfig version of the file? If there is and it matches the xorg.conf.nvidia it's not the PCI ID. Must be some option line that is bugging it out tho.

 

Nope NVIDIA does not include the PCI ID in the xorg.conf

 

i just updated to .31.5 from .31.1 (i'm using jaunty) and it seems the camera is not flipped right way up.. so it seems the webcam patch may still be needed


is there anything i can do at this point to flip the camera on this kernel?

 

Indeed even on Karmic it's upsidedown, personnally I don't care because I don't use it/use a logitech HD cam, but patch is still required on .5

 

I put the patch back if you need it. Sorry.

Edit: Updated howto for Karmic final release. Moved the webcam patch to its own section. Will probably do this for the mlme.c patch too since I don't use it anymore.

 

By the way argyll is in the Karmic repos

 

Thanks, I updated the color accuracy section to reflect that.

 

with the webcam patch, i typed in everything as written, and it didn't work.

i'm guessing my mistake was with writing 'uname -r'.. am i supposed to here write my username in place of uname? .. and do i keep the -r? and do i keep the ''?... in other words, if my username was bob, in place of 'uname -r' do i type bob -r or 'bob -r'?

 

It's a backtick, not a quotation mark. It usually shares the same key as the tilde, and is next to the number 1 on most keyboards.

This is a backtick: `
This is a quotation: '

uname -r returns the release of the currently running kernel. Type uname --help to see more about it.

The idea with the commands in the howto guide is to copy and paste them in to the terminal (and hit enter at the very last one).

 

sorry, i wrote it wrong in the post above (though thanks for the backstick-quotation distinction)... but when putting the commands in for the patch (into terminal) i did cut and paste as you have things... and it does not flip my camera right way up

 

That's my fault. I missed a step:

Code:

rm /usr/src/linux-`uname -r`/drivers/media/video/uvc/*.o

Updating the guide now.

Edit: This should definitely work, I actually ran it this time and it's just flipped my cam upside down after being right side up.

 

yup, that worked.. thanks.

 

just a basic question about updating from jaunty to karmic... given that i'm using the custom kernel, do i still just update to karmic using update manager?

 

Yeah for update-manager I think it would be:

Code:

gksudo update-manager --dist-upgrade

It might install a generic kernel, I'm not positive, so your default menu entry might not be the custom kernel after the upgrade. You'd need to redo part 2 if you have a model with an NVIDIA card.

 

I believe I have the same laptop as yourself allurgroceries (N10J-A1), but can you see 5GHz wireless? I can't and I just got a dual band router s it because the n10j isn't dual band or is it the drivers for the wireless? I e-mailed asus to check what's going on...maybe you know?

 

Yeah I have the N10J-A2. AFAIK they are NOT dual band cards, it's an AzureWave AR5891 which is single band (2.4GHz). Here's my lshw output see the bold:

Code:

                description: Wireless interface
                product: AR928X Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express)
                vendor: Atheros Communications Inc.
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
                logical name: wmaster0
                version: 01
                serial:
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix bus_master cap_list logical ethernet physical wireless
                configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath9k ip=192.168.x.x latency=0 multicast=yes [B]wireless=IEEE 802.11bgn[/B]
                resources: irq:17 memory:f9ff0000-f9ffffff

There is another rev of this card that is supposed to be dual band but it is not the one in my N10J. I think it was probably a typo in the specs or whatever. ASUS is notorious for having the wrong specs even on their website.

 

Same here mkv's crash my mplayer/smplayer. funny thing is in ubuntu 9.04 with the same version of mplayer/smplayer/nvidia drivers (190.42) everything works fine.
If i run smplayer from ubuntu 9.10 and i play mkv files smplayer crash in max 1 min of play. Maybe it's kernel who knows.

 

If you run mplayer from the terminal, are there any messages or other output following or immediately preceding the crash?

If not try turning up the debug level with mplayer -msgmodule -msglevel all=6

 

geez that's an awesome response time for a forum. my congrats for this.

the error mesage is:

MPlayer interrupted by signal 6 in module: filter video
ID_SIGNAL=6
- MPlayer crashed. This shouldn't happen.
It can be a bug in the MPlayer code _or_ in your drivers _or_ in your
gcc version. If you think it's MPlayer's fault, please read
DOCS/HTML/en/bugreports.html and follow the instructions there. We can't and
won't help unless you provide this information when reporting a possible bug.

and in both distros (ubuntu 9.04/9.10) i use latest default generic kernels. also the mplayer it's compiled from latest svn from mplayer site. seems in ubuntu 9.10 EXACTLY after 1 min crashes and no i don't have any screensavers/power management activated.

 

Yeah I woke up early today so I'm lurking the forums

So it's aborting after a minute... I didn't find anything on their bugzilla so maybe it's time for a bug report?

You can try this and see if it turns up any more good stuff (put the rest of your options including filename at the end of the line):

Code:

mplayer -msglevel vfilter=9