ASUS u36sd support thread

**arneanka** · August 24th, 2011

Originally Posted by nwadams

With the new bumblebee/ironhide we are going to be able to take advantage of the dual graphics as well instead of just disabling the nvidia card. So that will be different from the u36jc instructions (bumblebee/ironhide didn't exist then)

But I created this thread in case asus threw a curveball at us with the new model. I suspect the instructions will end up being very similar though.

Taking advantage of the dual graphics just seems like a dream. But does the fn-key really not work? I thought they did in u36jc, is there any known difference between the models in this aspect?

**adrien214** · August 24th, 2011

the fn key thingy should be updated in the first post as I haven't had the time to fix this on mine (i discovered the u36jc setup guide just today) and used another fix for it.

also dual graphics im not too sure about it yet, i installed ironhide and i think i messed up the config when choosing the output screen so i had to remove it and it messed up the whole system to point of non-return (e.g. fresh install).

**arneanka** · August 24th, 2011

Originally Posted by adrien214

the fn key thingy should be updated in the first post as I haven't had the time to fix this on mine (i discovered the u36jc setup guide just today) and used another fix for it.

also dual graphics im not too sure about it yet, i installed ironhide and i think i messed up the config when choosing the output screen so i had to remove it and it messed up the whole system to point of non-return (e.g. fresh install).

I kind of feel like I could survive without dual graphics too as long as stuff doesnt look horrible (will just dual boot in W7 for games, which I hardly ever play).

But how does things work out? Compiz? Does the Unity Wokrplace manager run smoothly?

Greatly thankful for your time and answers!

**adrien214** · August 24th, 2011

I've sadly only managed to run my machine with failsafe graphics until now so I dont know if the intel HD onboard can manage compiz. Gotta install or unity-3d unity-2d (sudo apt-get install unity-2d and then select unity-2d in login window options).

Also if you plan on disabling the nvidia, please read the setup guide above as well asthis page.

but I have to say that I find unity deeply repulsive, I need a normal desktop and compiz is a waste of time ^__^ I mean, glitters are for windows because the inside is hiding the ugly and rusty carcasse of 3.1, but I disgress.

**olof_** · August 24th, 2011

hello out there! Im so glad I found this thread, and its only some hours old

On my first install I was able to get the real Unity (Unity 3d) to work (I do love it...) but then I tried to install the latest nvidia drivers from the nvidia website and gdm/x died on me.

After a ubuntu reinstall (solving problems the easy way...) unity 3d does not work anymore.

When installing ubuntu for the first time I first started Windows 7 and there selected the nvidia 520m (performance mode) and then rebooted and installed ubuntu. Then Unity 3d worked. the second time I first had ubuntu without any GUI and then formatted the drive and reinstalled. then unity 3d did not work.

I confirm that the fn keys does not work, and in skype the video is upside down. But the multitouch seems to work though

**arneanka** · August 24th, 2011

Originally Posted by olof_

hello out there! Im so glad I found this thread, and its only some hours old

On my first install I was able to get the real Unity (Unity 3d) to work (I do love it...) but then I tried to install the latest nvidia drivers from the nvidia website and gdm/x died on me.

After a ubuntu reinstall (solving problems the easy way...) unity 3d does not work anymore.

When installing ubuntu for the first time I first started Windows 7 and there selected the nvidia 520m (performance mode) and then rebooted and installed ubuntu. Then Unity 3d worked. the second time I first had ubuntu without any GUI and then formatted the drive and reinstalled. then unity 3d did not work.

I confirm that the fn keys does not work, and in skype the video is upside down. But the multitouch seems to work though

Well what is ubuntu without a little fidgeting? Haha... Well Im glad FN-keys are working.

There are ways to get the webcam to work for the U36JC, and also a guide on how you turn of the nvidia graphics (dont run these drivers!!) - did you check it out? Hopefully it will make things easier for you.

Link
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1705406

**olof_** · August 24th, 2011

Originally Posted by nwadams

Does not work out of the box
Fn shortcut keys - adrien214

there are several fn-keys and quite alot of them are actually working.

Working

“ZZ” Icon (F1): Places the Notebook PC in suspend mode.
Radio Tower (F2): Toggles theinternal wireless LAN on.
Sun Down Icon (F5): Decreases the display brightness.
Sun Up Icon (F6): Increases the display brightness.
LCD Icon (F7): Toggles the display panel on and off.
LCD/Monitor Icons (F8): Toggles between the Notebook PC’s LCD display and an external monitor.
Num Lk (Ins): Toggles the numeric keypad on and off.
Scr Lk (Del):

Originally Posted by AbtZ

Scroll Lock works. At least it shows up in when running "xev" -- none of the other non-working keys do.

Not Working

Crossed-out Touchpad (F9)
Crossed Speaker Icons (F10)
Speaker Down Icon (F11)
Speaker Up Icon (F12)
Stop (Up Arrow)
Play/Pause (Down Arrow)
Next (Right Arrow)
Previous (Left Arrow)

observe that this is with an out of the box setup. Ubuntu 11.04, x86.

**olof_** · August 24th, 2011

Originally Posted by arneanka

There are ways to get the webcam to work for the U36JC
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1705406

Well, not anymore...

Originally Posted by chaltain

Everything went fine until I got to the command "sudo apt-get install gtk-v4l". When I run this command, I get the message "Unable to locate package gtk-v4l". Note that I added the repository OK and that I was able to install libv4l-0.

the same happens for me, there is no package named gtk-v4l in that ppa anymore.

**adrien214** · August 25th, 2011

Originally Posted by olof_

When installing ubuntu for the first time I first started Windows 7 and there selected the nvidia 520m (performance mode) and then rebooted and installed ubuntu. Then Unity 3d worked. the second time I first had ubuntu without any GUI and then formatted the drive and reinstalled. then unity 3d did not work.

this is really really interesting, it means there's a bios switch available, just have to find it I guess.

anyway, follow updates for bumblebee on twitter. latest release yesterday.

**jadahl** · August 26th, 2011

Anyone bought the one with an SSD drive (I think usually a 160GB one) instead of the magnetic disk hard drive? In that case, what manufacturer and model is it? I've been trying to find this out, but seems almost like some kind of secret, which makes me reluctant to buying.