Yet another way to install Ubuntu 7.10 to ASUS Eee PC

The ASUS Eee PC model 701 (Pearl colour) comes with the following configuration :

Intel Celeron 630MHz CPU (someone in the net is reported as 900MHz)
4GB SSD hard drive
512MB RAM
1 X SD/SDHC/MMC card reader
3 X USB ports
1 X webcam
1 X VGA out

Step 1 :
I installed Ubuntu 7.10 SE (my remastered Ubuntu SE) on a Transcend 8GB Class 6 SDHC card with a no hard drive desktop computer as usual. My desktop is using mobile rack and it is very easy to remove the hard drive. Make sure to use ext2 ext3 (or JFS or XFS) and without with creating a at least 1024MB swap partition.

Updated on 2007-NOV-23 :
go to /etc/sysctl.conf file

sudo nano /etc/sysctl.conf

and set or add the swappiness to
vm.swappiness=0

After the installation, I deleted the xorg.conf at /etc/X11 to make the SDHC capable to run on every computer. You can delete the file after the reboot from the SDHC on the no hard drive desktop.

sudo rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Step 2 :
Install ndiswrapper when it is still at the no hard drive desktop. Make sure you have activated all the respositories at the Synaptic.

sudo install ndiswrapper-common ndiswrapper-utils-1.9 ndisgtk

Add “ndiswrapper” to the /etc/modules :

sudo nano /etc/modules

Then download the ASUS Eee PC Windows XP wireless driver from her website or from the accompanied DVD.

Step 3 :
Change “SAVE_VBE_STATE” to false at /etc/default/acpi-support to make Eee PC to suspend to RAM. However, you should disable Compiz Fusion before doing this. However, it could not suspend to RAM or my BIOS version 401 caused the problem.

Step 4 :
Add “noatime” to /etc/fstab. (use this at your risk)
Also add “tmpfs /var/log tmpfs defaults,noatime 0 0” at the bottom of the file.

Updated on 2007-NOV-23 :

Also add /tmp, /var/lock, /var/run and /var/tmp to the tmpfs.

Step 5 :
Add “rmmod snd-hda-intel” at the beginning of /etc/init.d/halt script in order to make the device shutdown completely.

Step 6 :
Add “blacklist ath_pci” and “blacklist ath_hal” at the end of /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist script.

Step 7 :
Insert the SDHC to the Eee PC and set the BIOS to boot from removable device and make the SDHC the first boot option.

After booted up and logged in, change the resolution of the Eee PC :

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

Follow the instructions on the screen, normally accept the default. When asking for resolution, select all up to and include 800×600 from the top to bottom. Add “800×480” to
/etc/X11/xorg.conf :

sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Step 8 :
Install the ASUS Eee PC Windows XP wireless driver to ndiswrapper via the GUI, be sure to select ndis5x folder and net5211.inf to install.

Step 9 :

sudo depmod -a

Reboot your Eee PC, that’s all.

Problems not yet been solved :
The following function keys are not working –
Fn+F1 (standby), Fn+F2 (wireless), Fn+F5 (LCD/Monitor), Fn+F6, Fn+F7 (speaker), Fn+F8 (speaker) and Fn+F9 (speaker)

Reference : Installing Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) on an Eee PC 701 4G

Updated on 2007-Nov-14 :
I installed ucview and skype 2.0 beta to the Ubuntu Eee PC successfully today. The webcam including video and sound capture is working.

WebCam :

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Add “deb http://unicap-imaging.org/packages feisty contrib” to the end of the file without quote.

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install ucview

Make sure you enable the camera at the BIOS. Then execute “ucview” at the terminal.

Skype 2.0 beta :

Download the beta version at
http://www.skype.com/intl/en/download/skype/linux/beta/
And then install it according to this method as the package is for Ubuntu 7.04 :
http://fourdollars.blogspot.com/2007/11/ubuntu-710-skype-20013.html

Sound capture :

Step a –

sudo alsactl store

sudo nano /var/lib/alsa/asound.state

Find “Capture Switch” and change 2 “false” to “true”.

sudo alsactl restore

Step b –
Edit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base and add the line “options snd-hda-intel model=3stack-dig” to get microphone working.

Launch speed after login :
When I disabled the Compiz Fusion (Special effect), the launch speed after login is improved.

Updated on 2007-NOV-23 :

Tweaking the bootup and shutdown process :

Step I

sudo mv /etc/rc2.d/S12hal /etc/rc2.d/S13hal
sudo mv /etc/rc3.d/S12hal /etc/rc3.d/S13hal
sudo mv /etc/rc4.d/S12hal /etc/rc4.d/S13hal
sudo mv /etc/rc5.d/S12hal /etc/rc5.d/S13hal

Step II

sudo nano /etc/init.d/rc

Look for CONCURRENCY=none and change it to:
CONCURRENCY=shell

More complete note is at

http://wiki.eeeuser.com/yet_another_way_to_install_ubuntu_710