X65 & Fedora 12

[nowatson]

I have installed Fedora 12 on my X65 laptop and it works generally very well. I installed from the standard x86_64 DVD iso and then followed http://www.mjmwired.net/resources/mjm-fedora-f12.html to install the additional programs needed. Currently using kernel 2.6.31.12-174.2.3.fc12.x86_64

However I thought I would just detail some of the issues that I faced/am facing.

Fixed -

1) Hybrid graphics mode not supported. Solution was to disable hybrid mode in the BIOS

2) Conflict when using nvidia propriety driver. Solution was to prevent the kernel from loading the nouveau driver by appending the following to the kernel boot parameters in /boot/grub.conf

rdblacklist=nouveau

See http://www.mjmwired.net/resources/mjm-fedora-nvidia.html#f12

3) Issue with graphical bootloader - Solution was to set the correct graphics mode in the kernel parameters. As above append to /boot/grub.conf

vga=869

See http://www.mjmwired.net/resources/mjm-fedora-f11.html#rhgb


4) Poor wireless performance, connection dropping, unable to reconnect. Solution was to install the latest drivers from http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Download

Outstanding -

5) Wireless does not re-enable after hibernate, even after re-booting. Both wifi and bluetooth are disabled and the blue light on the laptop if off. The only workaround to fix this is to boot into vista and use the Fn-F1 to re-enable. This raises a couple of points

* Upon returning from hibernation why is the wireless functionality not restored
* Can I reenable the wireless manually without having to use vista?
* Can this be mapped to Fn-F1 .

6) Operation of Fn-F10 - when connecting to a TV it produces a resolution that is an invalid format. Workaround is to use the nvidia Display Settings - however this a bit of a clunky compared to the Fn-F10. So a second workaround was to use the install and use the disper tool. http://willem.engen.nl/projects/disper/

7) Other special keys not functioning - Leading on from issues 5+6 above, some buttons such A4, Fn-F11 etc... cannot be assigned to a shortcut using Keyboards Shortcut preference dialog.

Note: Volume and Screen brightness Fn-Fx keys do function

[mrgoose]

Interesting to see your results, thanks for taking the trouble to write it up. And thanks for the disper link. I must have a play with that.

WRT point 5, this might not be entirely a Linux issue - certainly it isn't on the X16 series. I must admit it annoyed the **** out of me, until I discovered that you can keep wireless switched on by an adjustment in the BIOS. Might be the same on the X65?

Interesting you can't switch on wireless and Bluetooth with fn-Fx keys though. On the X16 series fn-F11 & fn-F12 do wireless & Bluetooth respectively.

FWIW, we're running 'Bunty 9.10 Karmic x86_64 c/w 2.6.31-17-generic kernel and both our X16 machines are 100% penguin-powered. In fact, we don't run any Microsoft operating systems (http://www.garfnet.org.uk/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=66&Itemid=16) on any of our machines, except Win 2K on one very old (2000-vintage) laptop that controls a document scanner (and remains isolated from the Internet), and in an experimental VirtualBox VM on one of the media servers (http://www.garfnet.org.uk/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=144&Itemid=58).

Best wishes, G.

[nowatson]

One other annoyance I missed

8) When displaying only on external monitor, closing lid will blank external monitor



As for your response to 5, I had a look in the BIOS, but there was nothing related to enabling/disabling wireless

[mrgoose]

Interestingly I cant find it on my X16 pro either - though that never suffered the problem. But there definitely was on my mums E16 - drove me nuts when I set it up. I'll take another look at her BIOS next time I see her and tell you where it was. I'll also compare BIOS versions.

Hmm, I wonder if there is a BIOS update for the X65 or something?

Best wishes, G.

[nowatson]

Solved #8

The "Do Nothing" option was removed (hidden) from gnome-power-setting panel for the setting "When laptop lid is closed".

Workaround is to run the following command
gconftool-2 --type string --set /apps/gnome-power-manager/buttons/lid_ac "nothing

More here
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=530211
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=589736
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-power-manager/+bug/390816

[nowatson]

As for the BIOS, here is the details in the X65

BIOS Type: Phoenix
BIOS ID: MVINA001.86C.0000.D.0905212329
BIOS Date: 20090521
BIOS Vendor: Phoenix Technologies LTD
BIOS Version: 1.0A-0004-0022
BIOS Size: 1572864

[mrgoose]

As for the BIOS, here is the details in the X65

BIOS Type: Phoenix
BIOS ID: MVINA001.86C.0000.D.0905212329
BIOS Date: 20090521
BIOS Vendor: Phoenix Technologies LTD
BIOS Version: 1.0A-0004-0022
BIOS Size: 1572864
Seems a pretty recent BIOS doesn't it? You could either:-


Ask the Novatech guys if there is an update?
Look for the Clevo number (usually on the base of the machine) and refer to the Clevo (http://www.clevo.com.tw)site to ascertain if there is a more recent BIOS? FWIW, my X16 Pro is really a Clevo W76TUN. That said, there is no new BIOS for mine.

Also you might find more info on line about the original Clevo product than the Novatech-badged one. In any event, it does seem quite wrong that you need to boot to Vista first just to switch on the wireless network.

Best wishes, G.

[nowatson]

Seems a pretty recent BIOS doesn't it? You could either:-


Ask the Novatech guys if there is an update?
Look for the Clevo number (usually on the base of the machine) and refer to the Clevo (http://www.clevo.com.tw)site to ascertain if there is a more recent BIOS? FWIW, my X16 Pro is really a Clevo W76TUN. That said, there is no new BIOS for mine.

.

Its actually a FIC PMN70D (First International Computer).


The problem seems to do with something called the RF kill switch. From what I can see in the system log files, during a hibernate the RF kill switch is enabled. On return from hibernation, I believe the RF kill switch is not being disabled due to a missing driver, causing the actual device to no longer be available (i.e. does not appear in lspci). I Think I need to go file a bug with ACPI - hopefully that will fix the Fn-F1 problem too.

[nowatson]

Some very small sucess is solving #5. Should also lead to a solution to #6 and #7. #5 is the most critical problem requiring solving though

I have managed to trap the Fn-F1 keypress- the button that should enable/disable RF devices, and assign it to XF86WLAN, using the command

# setkeycodes 63 238

Narrowed that down from the kernel messages

kernel: atkbd.c: Unknown key released (translated set 2, code 0x63 on isa0060/serio0).
kernel: atkbd.c: Use 'setkeycodes 63 <keycode>' to make it known.

[JUCIEBUSTER]

Nowatson. I have exactly the same problem with my WIFI
I have the same FIC laptop and formated the partition (for the 1st time since i purchased it 14 months ago) but my wifi device does not appear in the device manager now.

Can you asssit me with a detailed description of how to get the wifi working again.
my o/s is Win 7 ULTIMATE and I have the driver CD which came with the laptop.
Any help would be gr8. Been searchin all the forums and you are the only one that has given me any hope with the solution above. I am a newbie when it comes to this sort of stuff
Juice