Revision as of 12:04, 13 February 2012

System Specification

• CPU: Intel Atom N450 (1.66 GHz, 512 MB L2 cache)
• Memory: 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM - can be expanded to a maximum of 2GB (one RAM slot)
• WiFi: Broadcom BCM4113
• Hard-Drive: 250 GB 2,5" SATA, 5400 RPM
• Optical Drive: None
• Integrated Graphics: Intel GMA 3150
• Sound: Intel HDA: Realtek ALC272
• Screen: 10.1" LCD 1024x600 (WSVGA)
• 5 in 1 Card Reader
• Webcam: Lenovo Easycam

Wireless

This laptop uses a Broadcom BCM4113 chipset for wireless networking. Some revisions have an Atheros AR9285 802.11b/g chipset.

Free kernel driver for the Broadcom BCM4113 chipset

As of kernel version 2.6.37, there is now a Free driver in the kernel: brcmsmac. This driver should be loaded out of the box. It does however suffer from a resume issue in kernel 2.6.37 when the laptop resumes from suspend. The Wi-Fi does not come back up unless it is reloaded.

Non-free alternative driver for the Broadcom BCM4113 chipset

An alternative may be the 802.11 Linux STA driver, which can be installed from the AUR: Template:Package AUR

Free kernel driver for the Atheros AR9285 802.11b/g chipset

The ath9k module is detected by udev and loaded out of the box.

Some users report issues with the ath9k driver and this particular chipset. In this case, use the ndiswrapper method. Also, add !ath9k and ndiswrapper to the MODULES array in /etc/rc.conf.

Graphics

The Intel GMA 3150 requires the Template:Package Official module. No xorg.conf file is required.

Input

The keyboard and touchpad work more or less without problems using the Template:Package Official and Template:Package Official modules, respectively. Right- and left-clicking works, as well as vertical edge scrolling and right-click tapping. I have not managed to get two- and three-finger taps to work, nor two-finger scroll.

Function Keys

The function keys only work for some extent, e.g. the keys for turning off the LCD backlight works but not those for turning on and off Wi-Fi, touchpad, etc. To make the volume keys work, map "XF86AudioRaiseVolume" to "amixer set Master 5%+" and "XF86AudioLowerVolume" to "amixer set Master 5%-"

The brightness keys do not work and do not appear to be recognized by the system. To adjust brightness, I modified this script [1] and mapped Template:Keypress+Template:Keypress and Template:Keypress+Template:Keypress to the up and down scripts, respectively.

Create a file called something like "brighness_up" in a directory of your choice, e.g. /home/your_user_name/scripts/brightness_up

Paste the text below, and save the file.

#!/bin/bash

# these are the possible values:
# 42 56 70 92 AF CC E5 FF
# 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 %

Current=`sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B`
case $Current in
  42)
    sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=56
  ;;
  56)
    sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=70
  ;;
  70)
    sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=92
  ;;
  92)
    sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=af
  ;;
  af)
    sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=cc
  ;;
  cc)
    sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=e5
  ;;
  e5)
    sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=ff
  ;;
esac
Current=`sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B`
case $Current in
  42)
    notify-send "Brightness is at 30%"
  ;;
  56)
    notify-send "Brightness is at 40%"
  ;;
  70)
    notify-send "Brightness is at 50%"
  ;;
  92)
    notify-send "Brightness is at 60%"
  ;;
  af)
    notify-send "Brightness is at 70%"
  ;;
  cc)
    notify-send "Brightness is at 80%"
  ;;
  e5)
    notify-send "Brightness is at 90%"
  ;;
  ff)
    notify-send "Brightness is at 100%"
  ;;
esac

And make the file executable, e.g

chmod u+x ~/scripts/brightness_up

For lowering the screen brightness, make a script containing this:

#!/bin/bash

# these are the possible values:
# 42 56 70 92 AF CC E5 FF
# 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 %

Current=`sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B`
case $Current in
  ff)
    sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=e5
  ;;
  e5)
    sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=cc
  ;;
  cc)
    sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=af
  ;;
  af)
    sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=92
  ;;
  92)
    sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=70
  ;;
  70)
    sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=56
  ;;
  56)
    sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=42
  ;;
esac
Current=`sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B`
case $Current in
  42)
    notify-send "Brightness is at 30%"
  ;;
  56)
    notify-send "Brightness is at 40%"
  ;;
  70)
    notify-send "Brightness is at 50%"
  ;;
  92)
    notify-send "Brightness is at 60%"
  ;;
  af)
    notify-send "Brightness is at 70%"
  ;;
  cc)
    notify-send "Brightness is at 80%"
  ;;
  e5)
    notify-send "Brightness is at 90%"
  ;;
  ff)
    notify-send "Brightness is at 100%"
  ;;
esac

Suspend & Hibernate

Works without any problems after installing Template:Package Official, but if your laptop screen does not come back on after suspending and resuming, you need to add nohpet to the kernel boot options (those using the 2.6.x Linux kernel might try intel_idle.max_cstate=0 instead).

Card Reader

Works out of the box.

Web Cam

Works out of the box