ASUS Eee PC 1201NL

Device	Status	Modules
Nvidia GeForce 9400M	Working	nvidia
Ethernet	Working	atl1e
Wireless	Working	rtl8192se
Audio	Working	snd_hda_intel
Camera	Working
Card Reader	Working
Function Keys	Working	acpi-eeepc-generic
Suspend2RAM	Working	pm-utils
Hibernate	Working	uswsusp-git
Multi-input touchpad	Only emulation

This is just a draft - more detailed instructions coming up soon + more detailed tests

Netbook works flawlessly with Arch Linux (if you encounter freezes see Troubleshooting below)

HDD important issue

With the Western Digital hard drive (not SSD), there is an important issue: using the APM (Advanced Power Management) there are too nomerous spin-down, that can damage the hard drive. To confirm this issue you have to install smartmontools:

# pacman -S smartmontools

And you have to run multiple times this command (once in a minute for like 5 minutes):

# smartctl -a /dev/sda|grep Load_Cycle_Count

If the number under Load_Cycle_Count is increasing in a small amount of time (1 or 2 in a minute) you have this issue. The problem is easily solvable using laptop-mode-tools. In your /etc/laptop-mode/laptop-mode.conf you have to set:

#
# Should laptop mode tools control the hard drive power management settings?
#
CONTROL_HD_POWERMGMT=1

#
# Power management for HD (hdparm -B values)
#
BATT_HD_POWERMGMT=255
LM_AC_HD_POWERMGMT=255
NOLM_AC_HD_POWERMGMT=255

This disable all power management systems of the hard drive cause a light heat up (maybe). The same behaviour can be obtained running this command:

# hdparm -B 255 /dev/sda

the 255 number is the power-management level, in a range of 1-255 where 1 is maximum powersaving and 255 powersaving disabled. However setting the value to 253 causes a lot of spin-down. Setting the spin-down feature (it parks the heads away from disk) however can save hdd in case of fall.

Graphics

Nvidia's Closed-Source Driver

Just install the official closed source drivers from arch extra repo:

pacman -S nvidia

Open-Source Driver

If you desire Kernel Mode Setting and xinerama (better multihead support), then install nouveau instead of the closed-source driver.

pacman -S xf86-video-nouveau

And (experimental) 3D support:

pacman -S nouveau-dri

Wireless

There is native support from 3.0 kernel version with rtl8192se module.

ACPI Functions

In order to use the function keys and extend battery life, you can set up the ACPI Driver, then install and configure the tools below.

The driver for the ACPI functions of the 1201N is called eeepc_laptop. It is part of the mainline kernel, so all that needs to be done is to load the module:

modprobe eeepc_laptop

If the command fails with such error message:

FATAL: Error inserting eeepc_laptop (/lib/modules/2.6.32-ARCH/kernel/drivers/platform/x86/eeepc-laptop.ko): No such device

you need to add acpi_osi=Linux to kernel parameters in your bootloader configuration.

Function Keys

You must have acpid installed to use the Function keys:

pacman -S acpid 

After installing acpid, you will have to add it to your DAEMONS array in rc.conf.

Then, you need to install acpi-eeepc-generic package from AUR and edit file /etc/conf.d/acpi-eeepc-generic.conf:

EEEPC_MODEL="1201N"

Comment out EEEPC_CONF_DONE option:

#EEEPC_CONF_DONE="no"

If you are using linux drivers for wifi you should also edit the WIFI_DRIVERS array:

WIFI_DRIVERS=("r8192se_pci")

Otherwise the wifi toggle button won't work.

Afterward, you must restart acipd:

/etc/rc.d/acpid restart

Power Management with Laptop Mode Tools

You can use Laptop Mode to substantially increase your battery life on Linux. To do so, Install the [Laptop Mode Tools|laptop-mode-tools] from extra repo:

pacman -S laptop-mode-tools

and add "laptop-mode" to your DAEMONS array in rc.conf. Many of the power managment settings in laptop-mode are disbaled by default, so it is encouraged that you explore the configuration files throroughly. Here are some highlights of configuration options worth exploring:

Super Hybrid Engine

Super Hybrid Engine is a simple FSB tweaker that can radically reduce power consumption.

To enable automatic SHE manipulation just edit /etc/laptop-mode/conf.d/eee-superhe.conf:

CONTROL_SUPERHE=1

If you've configured function keys using acpi-eeepc-generic, you can manually change SHE mode by using Fn+Space.

Wifi Power Management

The linux native wifi driver supports wifi power management. If you are using the linux-native wifi driver, you can enable basic power management by editing /etc/laptop-mode/conf.d/wireless-power.conf:

CONTROL_WIRELESS_POWER_SAVING=1

Suspend2RAM

Install pm-utils:

pacman -S pm-utils

If you are using linux wifi driver you need to unload it before suspending otherwise the machine won't resume. To do this automatically uncomment and edit appropriate line in /etc/pm/config.d/config file:

SUSPEND_MODULES="ehci_hcd r8192se_pci"

The ehci_hcd module is responsible for usb hub. Removing it solves the immediate resume issue (see Troubleshooting) You can try out the suspend2ram either by using function key Fn+F1 (if you've configured them to use pm-utils in /etc/conf.d/acpi-eeepc-generic.conf) or by running:

pm-suspend

Hibernate

Install uswsusp-git package from AUR.

Set resume device parameter (your swap partition) in /etc/suspend.conf

resume device = /dev/sda3

Add possibility to suspend2disk with closing laptop if you installed acpi-eeepc-generic.

Modify /etc/conf.d/acpi-eeepc-generic.conf

Add next lines

COMMANDS_HIBERNATE=("/etc/acpi/eeepc/acpi-eeepc-generic-suspend2disk.sh")
SUSPEND2DISK_COMMANDS=("s2disk")

Edit variable COMMANDS_LID_CLOSE_ON_BATTERY value like this

COMMANDS_LID_CLOSE_ON_BATTERY=("${COMMANDS_HIBERNATE[@]}")

Now copy /etc/acpi/eeepc/acpi-eeepc-generic-suspend2ram.sh to /etc/acpi/eeepc/acpi-eeepc-generic-suspend2disk.sh and edit command to run

execute_commands "${SUSPEND2DISK_COMMANDS[@]}"

Now restart acpid

#/etc/rc.d/acpid restart

LCD brightness

To enable LCD brightness automatic manipulation you need to edit /etc/laptop-mode/conf.d/lcd-brightness.conf and set proper BRIGHTNESS_OUTPUT path:

BATT_BRIGHTNESS_COMMAND="echo 8"
LM_AC_BRIGHTNESS_COMMAND="echo 15"
NOLM_AC_BRIGHTNESS_COMMAND="echo 15"
BRIGHTNESS_OUTPUT="/proc/acpi/video/IGPU/LCDD/brightness"

Troubleshooting

Machine does not resume after suspend2ram

You have to unload r8192se_pci module right before suspending. See Suspend2RAM section of this article for details.

After suspending the machine immediately resumes

You have to unload usb module(s) before suspending. See Suspend2RAM section of this article for details.

Tips

1366x768 in console with NVIDIA proprietary driver

Load kernel with parameter acpi_osi=Linux

Reboot

Load kernel with parameters acpi_osi=Linux vga=0x034d