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    Series 7 Linux Thread

    Discussion in 'Samsung' started by muerteman, Dec 27, 2011.

  1. muerteman

    muerteman Notebook Consultant

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    Has anybody created a Linux partition for the series 7, and if so how does it run? I am interested in creating one to play around with.

    Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
     
  2. ltz_mtr

    ltz_mtr Newbie

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    I run Fedora 16 32 bit ATM, and I have played around with a partition, and it worked well. I am now testing with a Samsung 7k RPM drive in place of the original (on the BestBy model that does not have the SSD on board).

    My thoughts, after fixing processor issues (Jupiter + some boot command line settings) I like the machine a lot on Fedora (better than on Windows IMO). I am comparing it to a SONY vpcSE13FX, and though I like the i7 better, the (sony has an i5) the sony screen is much better overall - tough decision, but I think in day to day use, I like the sony better because of the display.

    PROs on Linux (fedora)
    - fast boot (under 40 seconds from off to ready to use)
    - most everything works out of the box (wifi, intel 3000 graphics, sound, LAN, suspend, etc.)
    - battery life on the unit is pretty good (about 4 hrs at full charge, half screen bright)

    CONs
    - touchpad (elantech I think) support is iffy (needs more sensitivity). It works, but is a chore
    - WiDi is not supported by Linux
    - ATI graphics is tough to get working (i left it out of my mix for round two install)

    If I think of anything else, I'll post.
     
  3. xnuo

    xnuo Notebook Enthusiast

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    dude, did you killed all the partitions on the drive and began from zero, or did u create an extra partition?

    i created a separate partition for data only, but the thing is that i cannot create another one and install windows and linux unless i kill all the other partitions... can u plz enlighten us by telling us how was your approach at installing fedora?
     
  4. WeeMaan

    WeeMaan Notebook Enthusiast

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    How did you guys get better batteryife?
    With ubuntu it´s at 2 hours and it gets hot and fans spinning way more than in Win.
    The cpu is at C7 all the time.
     
  5. codabrink

    codabrink Newbie

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    I would also like to know how better battery life is achieved. My laptop runs hot and I get about 2 hours in Linux compared to 8 hours in Windows 7.
     
  6. ultrah

    ultrah Notebook Guru

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    probably switchable graphics isn't set up correctly. you have to install the proprietary ati driver.
     
  7. m15k

    m15k Newbie

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  8. firecow

    firecow Newbie

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    I have the 14" 700Z3A-S01US model and I managed to get battery life to around 4-4.5 hours under Linux Mint (should be the same for Ubuntu) by only using the integrated graphics and disabling the ati discrete card (which was acceptable for my purposes). I originally wanted to get both working using switcheroo, but after messing with it for nearly a week I finally gave up. Switcheroo was turned on and I could pass it commands but it never actually powered down either of the graphics cards and the fan was spinning on max when I was just idling.

    My solution was to uninstall any ati and fglrx driver, blacklist the radeon kernel module, and finally install a custom module that powers down the ati card using acpi.

    Here is how to acomplish that...
    1) Uninstall the ATI driver / fglrx from the software manager.
    2) Edit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf and add "blacklist radeon" at the bottom. This will prevent the kernel from loading any radeon drivers and will in turn stop switcheroo from loading since there is only one graphics card driver loaded.
    3) I modified a kernel module I originally found for a lenovo laptop that I had the same issue with. Save this file as "ati_acpi.c"

    Code:
    /* Linux kernel module that disables the discrete graphics board for Lenovo
     * U330. Other lenovo laptops could work, but I don't know.
     *
     * Copyright (c) 2009: Sylvain Joyeux <[email protected]>
     */
    #include <acpi/acpi.h>
    
    MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
    
    static acpi_handle root_handle;
    
    static int __init kill_ati(void)
    {
        int i;
        acpi_status status;
        // The device handle
        acpi_handle handle;
        // The package elements
        union acpi_object package_elements[3];
        // The arguments to ATPX
        union acpi_object atpx_arg_elements[2];
        struct acpi_object_list atpx_arg;
        // For the return value of ATPX
        struct acpi_buffer buffer = { ACPI_ALLOCATE_BUFFER, NULL };
    
        status = acpi_get_handle(root_handle, "\\_SB.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP._OFF", &handle);
        if (ACPI_FAILURE(status))
        {
            status = acpi_get_handle(root_handle, "\\_SB.PCI0.PEG0.GFX0._OFF", &handle);
            if (ACPI_FAILURE(status))
            {
                printk("lenovo_acpi: cannot get ACPI handle: %s\n", acpi_format_exception(status));
                return -ENOSYS;
            }
            printk("lenovo_acpi: in discrete graphics mode\n");
            return 0;
        }
    
        for (i = 0; i < 3; ++i)
        {
            package_elements[i].type = ACPI_TYPE_INTEGER;
            package_elements[i].integer.value = 0;
        }
    
        atpx_arg.count = 2;
        atpx_arg.pointer = &atpx_arg_elements[0];
    
        atpx_arg_elements[0].type = ACPI_TYPE_INTEGER;
        atpx_arg_elements[0].integer.value = 2;
    
        atpx_arg_elements[1].type = ACPI_TYPE_PACKAGE;
        atpx_arg_elements[1].package.count = 3;
        atpx_arg_elements[1].package.elements = &package_elements[0];
    
        status = acpi_evaluate_object(handle, NULL, &atpx_arg, &buffer);
        if (ACPI_FAILURE(status))
        {
            printk("lenovo_acpi: ATPX method call failed: %s\n", acpi_format_exception(status));
            return -ENOSYS;
        }
        kfree(buffer.pointer);
    
        printk("lenovo_acpi: disabled the discrete graphics card\n");
        return 0;
    }
    
    static void dummy(void)
    {
    }
    
    module_init(kill_ati);
    module_exit(dummy);
    Save this file as "Makefile"
    Code:
    ifneq ($(KERNELRELEASE),)
      obj-m := ati_acpi.o
    else
      KERNELDIR ?= /lib/modules/$(shell uname -r)/build
      PWD := $(shell pwd)
    
    default:
    	$(MAKE) -C $(KERNELDIR) M=$(PWD) $(EXTRA_FLAGS) modules
    
    clean:
    	$(MAKE) -C $(KERNELDIR) M=$(PWD) $(EXTRA_FLAGS) clean
    
    endif
    
    Finally, run the following commands...
    Code:
    make
    sudo cp ati_acpi.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/
    sudo depmod
    echo ati_acpi | sudo tee -a /etc/modules > /dev/null
    That will build and install the kernel module. Next time you reboot the discrete card should be disabled, your fan should actually slow down, and battery life should double. Using powertop both before and after this I went from ~33W to ~15W on battery.

    If you have any problems with the kernel module (black screen, crashing, etc) all you need to do is edit /etc/modules from a live cd and remove or comment out the line "ati_apci" and it will stop loading the module on boot.
     
  9. codabrink

    codabrink Newbie

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    Thank you firecow! I thought Arch Linux on my Series 7 was hopeless until you posted that solution. That module nearly tripled my battery life.
     
  10. RatusBleu

    RatusBleu Newbie

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    Thanks firecow.

    I've already blacklisted the radeon module a few months ago.
    I tried your custom module but it did not make any difference for the battery life.
    I don't think it is really useful since the radeon module is not loaded. If this module is not loaded, the ATI graphic card is simply not recognized by the kernel.
    I'm maybe wrong, but in my case it doesn't make any difference.

    Anyway, blacklisting the radeon module clearly improves the battery life !


    I have a question: how did you manage to get more than 4h of battery life ?
    I run Arch Linux as codabrink, and I only get like 2h45 of battery life, with only a web browser and a terminal opened.

    I've installed laptop-mode-tools, the CPU frequency is at its lowest value when unused, HD stops spinning when unused, etc.


    How much battery life do you get codabrink ?