SUMMARY:A quick guide to set up Debian Sarge on an ASUS A3500N laptop using the basic installation.

Installing Debian on ASUS A3500N

Working Status

This table summarizes the working status of the laptop installation. More details are found below.

About Debian

• The Debian Linux distribution is based on the free software premise. It includes over 15490 packages of precompiled software and gathers a huge community of volunteers and users that keep it up-to-date. You can download Debian here.
• A unique feature in Debian is that it evolves continuously over stable releases. New stable releases of Debian are made available from time to time, but users who already have Debian simply update their system using the apt-get (console) or synaptic (graphical) tools.
• The Debian is divided into three releases: stable, testing and unstable. The stable version is primarily recommended for serious production and working, since it contains throughly tested software, although not the most recent for obvious reasons.The testing is an almost stable version, with recent software that runs almost flawlessly.The unstable is for developers and wild users who like to live on the edge of software novelties.
• The system was installed using the Official Business Card for stable version. Important packages are mentioned whenever needed.

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System Configuration

• Linux Kernel 2.6.26.
• Using KDE desktop environment:
  • Install xorg package for graphical environment base system.
  • Install synaptic package for graphical package management.
  • Install kdm package for first instance desktop manager.
  • Install kdebase package for KDE graphical desktop.
• Using the Debian stable release.
• CPU frequency scaling is automatically set according to power source (battery/charger).
• Battery lasts for about 3 hours.

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Setup Details

Hibernate/Suspend to RAM

• Install acpid and powersaved packages.
• Install kpowersave package for KDE graphical power management.
• Assuming that the swap is in /dev/hdax, where x is the partition number, add 'resume=/dev/hdax' to the "Start default options" in /boot/grub/menu.lst. Example:

  ## ## Start Default Options ##
  ## default kernel options
  ## default kernel options for automagic boot options
  # kopt=root=/dev/hda7 ro resume=/dev/hda6 vga=791 splash=silent

• In /etc/powersave/sleep add the ehci_hcd and usbhid modules name to the UNLOAD_MODULES_BEFORE_SUSPEND2DISK, UNLOAD_MODULES_BEFORE_SUSPEND2RAM, UNLOAD_MODULES_BEFORE_STANDBY options, right after the uhci_hcd entry.
• In the same file, change SUSPEND2DISK_SHUTDOWN_MODE="shutdown".
• Users allowed to manage power settings and to use kpowersave must belong to powerdev group (adduser username powerdev).
• To change CPU, Suspend to Disk, Suspend to RAM, etc. settings simply use the kpowersave utility or the command powersave .
• Restart the powersave daemon (/etc/init.d/powersave restart) or, if you need to be really sure that these settings apply, restart the system.
  

Hotkeys

• The following hotkeys work out of the box
  • Suspend
  • Brightness Up/Down
  • LCD on/off
  • LCD/CRT switch display
  • NumLock, ScrollLock
• The remaining hotkeys
  • Wireless on/off
  • CD Player (Play/Pause, Stop, Previous Track, Next Track)
  • Volume (Up, Down, Mute On/Off)
  • Select Powersave Scheme
  • Launch Mail Application
  • Launch Web Browser
  • Enable/Disable Touchpad
  work with asus_acpi module, included in the kernel, as follows
  • Copy this homemade script hotkey_handler_asus_a3n into /usr/lib/powersave/scripts. Make it executable (chmod 755 hotkey_handler_asus_a3n).
  • Configure the asus_acpi module to automatically load at boot time (insert a "asus_acpi" line in /etc/modules).
  • Change the EVENT_OTHER="hotkey_handler_asus_a3n" in /etc/powersave/events.
  • Restart the powersave daemon (/etc/init.d/powersaved restart) and load the asus_acpi module (modprobe asus_acpi as root) or, if you need to be really sure that these settings apply, restart the system.
  The hotkey_handler_asus_a3n script is really easy to follow. Basically, it tests which key is pressed and runs a command accordingly. The "Enable/Disable Touchpad" button will work only if the line

  Option "SHMConfig" "on"

  is activated in /etc/X11/xorg.conf in the "Synaptics Touchpad" identifier section (see /usr/share/doc/xserver-xorg-input-synaptics/README.Debian for more details).

  The script works best if amixer, KWifiManager, Firefox, Thunderbird and KSCD are installed. Also, configure Notifications in KPowerSave to follow instantly the changes in the Powersave Scheme. You can define easily other default WebBrowser and Mail Reader by changing WEBBROWSEREXEC and MAILPROGEXEC variables. The Mail LED signals the touchpad lock.

  If you want to configure the hotkeys yourself, see these great scripts examples for ASUS laptops in /usr/share/doc/powersave/contrib (acpi_hotkeys_ASUS_L2400D and acpi_hotkeys_ASUS_M6842NW).

• For more details, see /usr/share/doc/powersave documentation, in particular the "Mapping Scripts to Events" section.

Modem

• Install hsfmodem driver from Linuxant to handle the modem's Conexant chip.
• The snd_intel8x0m module is overridden by the hsfmodem modules (good).
• Note: the hsfmodem is commercial. The free version limits the bandwidth to 14.4k, while the unlimited version costs 20U$ and allows for full speed.

• Use wvdial or kppp programs to connect to the internet.
• A good tool to diagnose the modem is found at LinModems, scanmodem. Read the generated ModemData.txt file in Modem directory for a comprehensive and tutorial report on your modem.

Wireless

• Unencrypted connections works out of the box. Try running ifconfig eth1 up.

• For encrypted connections, use the wpasupplicant package.
• Network-manager is an easy to setup graphical interfaces for wpa_supplicant. KDE and Gnome flavors are available.
• For command-line configuration, edit the /etc/network/interfaces and /etc/wpa_supplicant files according to your user data.
• When calling wpa_supplicant, use the generic Linux driver, not the ipw driver.
• An example for starting an encrypted connection

  iwconfig eth1 essid "connection_name" enc open
  wpa_supplicant -w -D wext -i eth1 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
  ifup eth1

• If required, get the ipw firmware from ipw2000 sourceforge project and extract it to /usr/local/lib/firmware. Restart the module (rmmod ipw2200, modprobe ipw2200) or restart the system.

MIDI

• Install timidity package.
• Enable TIM_ALSASEQ=true line in /etc/default/timidity.
• Add snd_seq to /etc/modules so that the sequencer module is started at boot time.
• In KDE and all similar applications, set the MIDI device to "Timidity Port 0 - ALSA device".

Secondary VGA Output / Dual Monitor

• This file is the standard /etc/X11/xorg.conf generated by running dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg.
• For dual monitor, copy this file to /etc/X11/xorg.conf .
• For dual extended monitor, copy this file to /etc/X11/xorg.conf .
• Use i810rotate to cycle through CRT, LFP and CRT+LFP.
• The maximum output resolution is 1280x1024.
• For more details, see this How-to.

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Technical List

lspci

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To Do

• IRDA testing.

Anyway, if you know how to work out this TO DO topic, please mail me.

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External Devices

• Canon LiDE 60 Scanner
  • Add the user to the scanner group (adduser username scanner).
  • Confirm the installation with sane-find-scanner and scanimage -L .
  • Now use Kooka program to scan.
• Epson Stylus D68 Color Printer
  • Just follow the instructions in Debian Reference Guide for the CUPS interface.
  • For more details, see the LinuxPrinting.org webpage entry.
• Canon A80 Camera
  • Add the user to the camera group (adduser username camera).
  • Use digikam (or similar) to download, see and organize your pictures.
• Pinnacle PCTV 100e TV Tuner
  • Install the tvtime and sox packages.
  • Copy the file em28xx containing

    alias char-major-81 videodev
    alias char-major-81-0 tveeprom
    alias char-major-81-1 em28xx
    options em28xx card=3 tuner=38
    options tuner pal=b secam=b

    to /etc/modprobe.d/.
  • To enable sound, run sox

    sox -t ossdsp -r 48000 -q -b -c 2 /dev/dsp2 -t ossdsp /dev/dsp

  • Scan the channels using tvtime-scanner and watch them with tvtime.
  • For more information, see video4linux wiki.

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Links

• Send any questions to jfvasconcelos (at) gmail.com.
• The same laptop on a pld-linux.org distribution here.
• Debian page here.
• Debian at Linux DistroWatch here.
• ASUS A3N official page here.
• ASUS ACPI module page here.

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Last updated: May 2009