Linux « Zuan’s blog

Review on Acer Aspire 5612ZWLMi + Debian Linux

April 29, 2007

I have been with this laptop for around one and a half month.
So it is a time to write a review on it.

Specification:
- CPU: Intel Core Duo T2060, clocked at 1600MHz. ( It is marketed as “Intel Pentium Dual-core processor T2060″ )
- RAM: 1GB DDR2
- Harddisk: 80GB
- Display card: Intel GMA950
- CD-ROM: CD-RW + DVD-R
- Network chipset: Ethernet: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX; Wireless: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller
- Audio chipset: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller
- Preloaded OS: Windows Vista Home Premium

The first thing I do is to get Vista off my laptop, since it will turn some dual-core CPU into an ancient 80386…

Ok, let me save the crap for later, and comment on Linux’ support on the laptop’s various hardware. Just to note that my kernel version is 2.6.18, and I am using Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 ( Codename `Etch` )

- CPU => OK
This CPU worked quite well. Just that the speedstep wasn’t setup properly by the system by default. A few modprobe solved it:
modprobe cpufreq_ondemand modprobe speedstep_centrino echo ondemand > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor echo ondemand > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu1/cpufreq/scaling_governor

- RAM and Harddisk => Good
Of course it works.. -_-”

- Display Card => Good
Auto-detected by default. I didn’t install 915 resolution, because 1024*768 is good enough for me. Beryl worked well with this chipset.

- CD-ROM => Good
Auto-detected by default. Burn CD without trouble. ( Using k3b. )
k3b’s auto burning speed’s around 10x.

- Network Chipset ( Ethernet ）=> Good
Auto-detected by defualt. No problem till now.

- Network Chipset ( Wireless ) => OK
Auto-detected by defualt. But there are transmission power problem. Able to access the network within 10~15 meter from the access point. ( Using Linux’ native driver. )
You might also want to try the ndiswrapper driver, maybe it will work better.

- Audio Chipset => Good
Auto-detected by defualt. No problem till now

- Hotkeys => Doesn’t work
Extra keys on the laptop ( Those on the left most and beside the power button ), that provide shortcut to some functions ( Eg: E-mail, Browser, media player ) doesn’t work, but who cares? =)

- Preloaded OS => Worst + Lousy
echo “Windows Vista” > /dev/null ; install linux

2 Comments | Linux | Permalink
Posted by john0312

Debian Etch, nVidia x86_64 and Beryl Window Manager.

February 12, 2007

It was recently that I attempted to install x86_64 nVidia video card driver on my Debian Sarge box, equiped with Sempron 2800+ and onboard nVidia GeForce 6150. Somehow, the driver installer just crash with Segmentation Fault ( Oh… well, it is equivalent to the memory access exception/violation on Windows ). I tried whatever I can, it just doesn’t work. I was very sad, so I boot back with my x86 kernel on Sarge. Then I forget about it…

Debian Linux have a long developement cycle, Sarge is already one and a half year old. More recently, the going-to-release Debian Etch caught my attention. It looks very promising, now the x86_64 ( aka amd64 ) architecture is officially supported. Also, x.org is now the official X Server, implying that XGL/AIGLX/Composite rendering is supported, and we can use the Compiz/Beryl Window Manager.

At first when I tried out the Debian Etch RC1 amd64 version, I met an error, but it was quickly solved by throwing my questions onto the debian-boot mailing list, refer to my post here: http://lists.debian.org/debian-boot/2007/02/msg00167.html

Most of my old problems with Debian Sarge is automatically solved by installing the new Debian Etch, especially the nVidia driver problem. The GeForce 6150 just works great with Debian Etch! Also, the problem with Chinese Input method is also solved.

I also installed the Beryl Window Manager, the GUI’s absolutely sweet ( ha… eye candy! )
Here’s a few screenshots:

The normal desktop.