Samsung series 9

[lkub]

FIX FOR THE ANNOYING TOUCHPAD!

echo "options psmouse proto=exps" >/etc/modprobe.d/psmouse.conf


This makes the touchpad recognize right click, left click/grab+scroll etc.

Reboot, done!


You can also test without rebooting with:

1) launch gnome-terminal
2) as root, start:

rmmod psmouse
modprobe psmouse proto=exps


To enable middle click, do:

apt-get install gpointing-devce-settings


Run it (gpointing-devce-settings), and enable middle click emulation. Unfortunately the change is lost across reboots and suspend, and I don't know how to make it permanent.



There is still one issue with the touchpad: mouse is annoyingly slow, even if we set it to the highest speed in System Settings -> Mouse!

As a workaround, you can add to "Startup Applications" this command (unfortunately, after suspend, the change is lost and the mouse is slow again):

xset m 6 1

Test with different values to find the one you like.


If anyone finds a solution to slow mouse and middle click emulation to be permanent across suspends - would be great.

=>I've tested 11.10 with kernel 3, both 32 bits and 64 bits (from a USB stick, for now). Both seem to work fine and show no problems except for some Fn keys (not too important, IMO) and for an annoyingly slow mouse. That (second) one is a deal-breaker for me. I tried the fix of TomaszC above, and it works - the mouse does become much faster. Tomas, what's the meaning of the two parameters? Also, is it possible to make it permanent and stay there both after reboots and after sleeps?

If there is a _permanent_ solution to the slow mouse problem, we have a winner with this one, IMO. - I haven't seen any other problems people pointed out here (WiFi, freezes, boot, etc).

[TomaszC]

=>I've tested 11.10 with kernel 3, both 32 bits and 64 bits (from a USB stick, for now). Both seem to work fine and show no problems except for some Fn keys (not too important, IMO) and for an annoyingly slow mouse. That (second) one is a deal-breaker for me. I tried the fix of TomaszC above, and it works - the mouse does become much faster. Tomas, what's the meaning of the two parameters? Also, is it possible to make it permanent and stay there both after reboots and after sleeps?

If there is a _permanent_ solution to the slow mouse problem, we have a winner with this one, IMO. - I haven't seen any other problems people pointed out here (WiFi, freezes, boot, etc).

See man xset to see the meaning of these numbers.

The command could be added to "Startup Applications". But I don't use it anymore.

System Settings -> Mouse and Touchpad

Set:

Acceleration -> to maximum Fast
Sensitivity -> minimum Low

[lkub]

See man xset to see the meaning of these numbers.

The command could be added to "Startup Applications". But I don't use it anymore.

System Settings -> Mouse and Touchpad

Set:

Acceleration -> to maximum Fast
Sensitivity -> minimum Low

Many thanks for both items, TomaszC. I'm aware of the menu path (System Settings->Mouse and Touchpad), and it works fine with my other Ubuntu machines including laptops. However, it doesn't work with my Samsung - at least, when I'm running Ubuntu from a USB stick as I do now. Does it work for you after installation and remains permanent after reboots and sleeps? If so, then perhaps it will work on my Samsung as well when I'll install it (as opposed to running it from USB).

RE: Adding mouse settings to "Startup Applications": your own post 105 stated that that doesn't work after suspend. Is it not the case anymore?

If your Ubuntu is installed (and not running from USB), would you care to post what version you're running: 32 or 64 bits? And what partitions your installer created? (I usually create partitions myself and use a Windows bootloader as the main one).

[vaijab]

Hi People,

I wrote a blog post on my experience with Fedora 16 on my Samsung Series 9 laptop.

There are solutions and fixes to most of the problems you are having. With a bit of common sense those can be adapted to Ubuntu Linux.

http://jablonskis.org/2011/fedora-16...es-9-np900x3a/

Feedback is welcome

[tml240]

Just got a Series 9 and installed the 11.04. Have been getting about 4 hours of battery with the lowest brightness (Really bright I gotta say) and Wifi.

But this morning it just lost the GRUB menu when I started the machine. Not a hard thing to recover but has it happened to anyone so far?

And any updates on battery life with newer kernels and the keyboard backlight? (I've been running 2.68.38-13)

[aviramj]

I've been using this laptop extensively and checked the battery thing thoroughly since I fly a lot and battery life is important.

Here is what I found so far:
@tmp240: stay with 2.6.38. The 3.0.x kernels seem to have poorer battery life. 3.1 and 3.2 are ok again.
CPU mode is important. I ended up installing 'jupiter', but even before, just putting the CPU mode on the taskbar and changing it to 'power save' mode helped.
Keyboard backlight is about 1W/h. If you click on the battery icon, click on 'battery', at the 'details' screen you will see the discharge rate. Mine is around 9-10 if I'm not trying hard (i.e. screen brightness in the middle, wifi, background tasks) and I can bring it down to 6-7 if I turn everything off (good if I am watching a movie on the plane), so the keyboard backlight being an additional 1W is about 15% more battery time.


@vaijab: thanks for the guide. Excellent tips there! However the new samsung driver did not work for me. Gnome will not come up after boot, it seems there is some graphic issue

One last thing to keep in mind is the 'battery saver' mode is there for a reason. I've had this laptop for about 8 months now, and I already had to replace the battery. On the 'details' page of the battery you will notice 'Energy when full'. This should be 46.6. Mine got down and down until it reached around 30, which means I only have 2/3 of the original battery capacity.
When I replaced to a new one, I was told by samsung it happens a lot, and their recommendation is to turn on 'battery saver' mode in the bios to have it charge no more than 80%. I did that, and my plan is to only turn it off and fully charge it when I fly.

One more thing: I was originally disappointed that the battery was internal and I could not carry an extra one. Then I found energizer power packs. It costs the same as an extra battery, and fits a whole range of devices. It weighs a bit more than an extra battery but I find it very convenient. Took them a few months to create an adapter for Samsung Series 9, but it's now available for all, and I absolutely love it.

[tml240]

One last thing to keep in mind is the 'battery saver' mode is there for a reason. I've had this laptop for about 8 months now, and I already had to replace the battery. On the 'details' page of the battery you will notice 'Energy when full'. This should be 46.6. Mine got down and down until it reached around 30, which means I only have 2/3 of the original battery capacity.

When I replaced to a new one, I was told by samsung it happens a lot, and their recommendation is to turn on 'battery saver' mode in the bios to have it charge no more than 80%. I did that, and my plan is to only turn it off and fully charge it when I fly.

Wow, I'm surprised to read (less than 8 months) when I've been at that capacity on this Dell Vostro (4 years old almost).

[aviramj]

Wow, I'm surprised to read (less than 8 months) when I've been at that capacity on this Dell Vostro (4 years old almost).

Depends on your usage patterns. What can I say, I abuse my laptops. This Samsung laptop is almost completely discharged and charged twice or more every day.
That said, it probably says something bad about the battery too. Just for reference, I've had this happen to me with a Dell laptop in the past (at a similar rate), while a Toshiba Portege that will turn 3 soon still has 50 of 62. Since in the past I used to carry extra batteries, it didn't bother me that much. The fact that the samsung has an internal battery made it more of an issue.

[liquidmonkey]

anyone having issues with their series 9 from the latest ubuntu updates?
i cannot get past the boot screen where it says:

-------------------------------------------------------
starting mDNS/DNS-SD daemon
starting KVM
starting system V runlevel compatibility
starting CPU interrupts balancing daemon
starting network connection manager
stopping cold plug devices

*stopping log initial device creation
*starting enable remaining boot-time encrypted block devices
*starting configure network device security
*stopping enable remaining boot-time encrypted block devices
ueyeusb is running
*starting bluetooth
not starting as we're not running in a vm
*(red color) pulseaudio configured for per-user sessions
saned disable; edit /etc/default/saned
*checking battery state
---------------------------------------------

[liquidmonkey]

this is error is the result of a totally full HDD.
i deleted the directory and all is good.

thank you!