MSI Wind U120
Contents
Introduction
This article pertains to installing Arch Linux on the MSI Wind U120 netbook. It does not cover the entire installation process, but rather any quirks that are above and beyond what you might encounter during a routine Arch installation.
Hardware Specifications
The MSI Wind U120 is known to ship with a few different configurations...
Base Components
- 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 "Diamondville" Processor
- 1GB DDR2 RAM @ 533MHz
- Intel i945GSE northbridge chipset (graphics and memory management)
- Intel 82801GHM (ICH7M) southbridge chipset (audio and other peripherals)
- 160GB SATA HDD 5400RPM (WDC WD1600BEVTY-22ZCT0)
- Realtek RTL8101E Ethernet adaptor
- Realtek RTL8187SE Wireless (b/g modes)
- BisonCam NB Pro 1.3 megapixel webcam
Additional Options
- 3G network capabilities
- Bluetooth adaptor
lspci output
Hardware components as reported by lspci:
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03) 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03) 00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03) 00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02) 00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02) 00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 02) 00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02) 00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02) 00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02) 00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02) 00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02) 00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2) 00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02) 00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) SATA AHCI Controller (rev 02) 01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller (rev 02) 02:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8187SE Wireless LAN Controller (rev 22)
Installation
Consult the standard documentation ( official and unofficial) on Arch Linux installation for general installation steps. What follows are items of particular interest to U120 owners.
Dual Boot Windows/Linux
The U120 ships with three partitions (sizes are approximate):
- 4GB hidden partition containing system recovery information
- 35GB Windows XP Home system partition
- 90GB empty partition for general storage
If you wish to retain Windows XP, choose the manual partition method during the Arch installation and change only the third partition (sda3). You can also use a partition management program to resize the Windows XP partition before installing Arch Linux. This author used a GParted Live CD to reduce the XP partition to 25GB prior to installing Arch.
Kernel Modules (Drivers)
For the most part the hardware should Just Work™. Hardware-specific modules include:
i915 intel graphics r8169 realtek ethernet rtl8187se realtek wifi snd_hda_intel intel audio uvcvideo bisoncam nb pro webcam
- i915 - you will, of course, need to install the xf86-video-intel package and configure Xorg for a proper desktop.
- uvcvideo - you may need to add this module to the MODULES array in /etc/rc.conf for automatic loading.
AHCI SATA Mode
The U120 supports the AHCI SATA specification, however this feature is disabled in the BIOS by default. To enable AHCI during setup:
- Add "ahci" to the MODULES array in /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
- Once Arch installation is complete, reboot and enter the BIOS
- Change AHCI Mode to "Enabled"
Note: To enable AHCI after installation:
- Add "ahci" to the MODULES array in /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
- Run the following as root:
# mkinitcpio -p kernel26
- Reboot and enter the BIOS
- Change AHCI Mode to "Enabled"
Check dmesg output for confirmation. You should see something like this:
ahci 0000:00:1f.2: version 3.0 ahci 0000:00:1f.2: PCI INT B -> GSI 19 (level, low) -> IRQ 19 ahci 0000:00:1f.2: irq 26 for MSI/MSI-X ahci 0000:00:1f.2: AHCI 0001.0100 32 slots 4 ports 1.5 Gbps 0x5 impl SATA mode ahci 0000:00:1f.2: flags: 64bit ncq pm led clo pio slum part ahci 0000:00:1f.2: setting latency timer to 64 scsi0 : ahci scsi1 : ahci scsi2 : ahci scsi3 : ahci
Advanced Configuration
Hotkeys
Most hotkeys are properly detected by the kernel out-of-the-box and XF86 aliases (XF86AudioMute, etc.) are automatically assigned to most hotkeys as well . The following hotkeys do not produce keycodes, however they do function as intended:
- Fn+F6 (webcam)
- Fn+F10 (eco mode)
For more information on the U120 hotkeys, refer to the Tips & Tricks: More on Hotkeys section below.
Webcam Usage
To load the webcam driver automatically you may need to add uvcvideo to the MODULES array in /etc/rc.conf.
Install the cheese application:
# pacman -S cheese
To view input from the webcam, you can use mplayer:
$ mplayer -tv driver=v4l2:width=640:height=480:device=/dev/video0:fps=15 tv://
Note: You may need to enable the webcam (Fn+F6) before the above applications will work.
Hard Drive Clicking/Ticking
SATA power management settings are aggressively conservative by default. This can produce a clicking or ticking sound every few seconds as the hard drive head attempts to 'park' itself. Not only is this annoying, it can shorten the life of your hard drive. To avoid this:
Install the hdparm utility:
# pacman -S hdparm
Add the following to /etc/rc.local:
# lowest SATA power management setting, highest I/O performance hdparm -B 254 /dev/sda
- or -
# disable SATA power management entirely hdparm -B 255 /dev/sda
Tips & Tricks
More on Hotkeys
To make life easier for others, what follows is a list of hotkey definitions for use by xbindkeys:
Fn+F2 (screen)
m:0x10 + c:214 Mod2 + XF86Display
Fn+F3 (touchpad) <-- This hotkey will toggle the touchpad regardless of its binding under Linux
m:0x10 + c:249 Mod2 + NoSymbol
Fn+F7 (vol dn)
m:0x10 + c:174 Mod2 + XF86AudioLowerVolume
Fn+F8 (vol up)
m:0x10 + c:176 Mod2 + XF86AudioRaiseVolume
Fn+F9 (vol mute)
m:0x10 + c:160 Mod2 + XF86AudioMute
Fn+F11 (wifi) <-- This hotkey will toggle the wifi antenna regardless of its binding under Linux
m:0x10 + c:243 Mod2 + NoSymbol
Fn+F12 (suspend)
m:0x10 + c:223 Mod2 + XF86Standby
Power Button
m:0x10 + c:222 Mod2 + XF86PowerOff
More Resources
- MSI Wind U100 - Arch Linux wiki on the MSI Wind U100
- MSI Notebook Official Website
- MSIWind.net - Community website dedicated to MSI Wind netbooks, includes forums and a wiki
- Arch Linux wiki @ MSIWind.net