Intrepid on a Acer Aspire One

[upallnight]

I just got WiFi working on my Acer Aspire One with 8gb ssd and 1.5gb ram (upgraded) and Ubuntu Intrepid 8.10 after the default Atheros 802.11 Hardware Drivers didn't work and the installed madwifi 5xxx series drivers didn't work either and heres how:

Install the latest version of the madwifi drivers from their website by building the source code.

First, go to System->Administration->Hardware Drivers
and de-activate all the Atheros wireless drivers (one by default and two if you installed madwifi).

Second, download the newest source code for madwifi from here:
http://snapshots.madwifi-project.org...-hal-0.10.5.6/

Current version:
http://snapshots.madwifi-project.org...0081105.tar.gz

Then extract the archive using Archive Manager or use a terminal and create an extract directory, copy the archive there and untar it:

mkdir madwifi
cp madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3875-20081105.tar.gz ./madwifi/
cd madwifi
tar -xzvf madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3875-20081105.tar.gz

Then open a terminal and make sure you have the gnu compiler installed:

sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)

Now build the madwifi source code:

make
sudo make install

Now to add the madwifi module to the kernel every boot, add this line anywhere before the exit 0 in your /etc/rc.local file:

modprobe ath_pci

Now reboot and your wifi card will work!

The wireless toggle button at the front of the netbook also works, but the two LEDs won't ever turn on and the only feedback will be from the Network Monitor in the taskbar and because your internet connection has died
Toggling between WiFi on/off works without any extra modification.

This is a list of hardware that have issues after installing Intrepid:
built-in speakers - no sound until following the instructions found here:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AspireOne110L#Audio then it works fine
headphones - work fine without modification
built-in mic - works but has tons of static
external mic - doesn't work
all the usb ports work
I haven't tried the sd and hdsd card reader ports yet but I hear they don't work
The Function+Vol Up/Down buttons work by default!

[mustang]

I just got WiFi working on my Acer Aspire One with 8gb ssd and 1.5gb ram (upgraded) and Ubuntu Intrepid 8.10 after the default Atheros 802.11 Hardware Drivers didn't work and the installed madwifi 5xxx series drivers didn't work either and heres how:

Install the latest version of the madwifi drivers from their website by building the source code.

First, go to System->Administration->Hardware Drivers
and de-activate all the Atheros wireless drivers (one by default and two if you installed madwifi).

Second, download the newest source code for madwifi from here:
http://snapshots.madwifi-project.org...-hal-0.10.5.6/

Current version:
http://snapshots.madwifi-project.org...0081105.tar.gz

Then extract the archive using Archive Manager or use a terminal and create an extract directory, copy the archive there and untar it:

mkdir madwifi
cp madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3875-20081105.tar.gz ./madwifi/
cd madwifi
tar -xzvf madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3875-20081105.tar.gz

Then open a terminal and make sure you have the gnu compiler installed:

sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)

Now build the madwifi source code:

make
sudo make install

Now to add the madwifi module to the kernel every boot, add this line anywhere before the exit 0 in your /etc/rc.local file:

modprobe ath_pci

Now reboot and your wifi card will work!

The wireless toggle button at the front of the netbook also works, but the two LEDs won't ever turn on and the only feedback will be from the Network Monitor in the taskbar and because your internet connection has died
Toggling between WiFi on/off works without any extra modification.

This is a list of hardware that have issues after installing Intrepid:
built-in speakers - no sound until following the instructions found here:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AspireOne110L#Audio then it works fine
headphones - work fine without modification
built-in mic - works but has tons of static
external mic - doesn't work
all the usb ports work
I haven't tried the sd and hdsd card reader ports yet but I hear they don't work
The Function+Vol Up/Down buttons work by default!

Thanks upallnight. These instructions worked perfectly.

[bobnutfield]

I believe that the hard driver version (model 150) uses the same Atheros wireless chipset as the 8GB SD version. I have Intrepid running on a USB stick and wireless is working with the ath5k module (no madwifi needed.) You simply have to blacklist the ath_pci module.

[Yumpin_Yimminie]

I have an Acer Aspire One with 512 MB ram and the 8 GB SSD drive. I've read various comments about SSD drives having a very limited life so it is advised to avoid putting a swap partition on the drive. I believe SSD drives can be replaced in this computer. Taking things apart and putting them back together so they work is not one of my strong points.

With only 512 MB ram, swap would be a pretty nice thing to have. So I went out and bought a 8 GB sdhc card and put it into the left hand card reader. Then started installing Ubuntu .... again. When it came to partitioning I went ahead and made the SSD internal drive all 'ext2'. I also went ahead and partitioned the sdhc card in the left card slot. I set 1.5 GB for swap and the rest for 'ext2'. I loaded it at the / level. Which I don't have a clue what that is or means.

Now mostly I had done the initial installation of Ubuntu on the Aspire following the instructions of Christian Paratschek at: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AspireOne110L

But as mentioned I am a neophyte in Ubuntu and Linux in general.

I've got a bunch of questions and hopefully someone(s) will have the patience to help answer them.

The very first is swap space on the sdhc card that is located in the left card reader position. Would the operating system actually use the swap parition that is on this sdhc card? When I did partition this sdhc card during a full install of the Intrepid Ibenix I devoted the remainder of the space not going to the swap area to 'ext2'. Not being that familiar with the Ubuntu filing system. Is 'ext2' the best file system for the partition that takes up the remainder of the space on the sdhc card or should I be using a different alternative such as NTFS or 'ext3'.

Another area of questioning is about the package 'GParted'. When I fire up 'GParted' the SSD drive can be worked with. But there is no way to work with the partitions that I set up while installing 8.10 the Intrepid Ibenix on the sdhc card that is in the left hand card slot.

The last area of questions is the amount of files that have been installed on the sdhc card in the left side card slot of the computer. The sdhc card is 8 GB. There is a 1.5 GB partition for the swap. That left 6.5 GB for the 'ext2' partition that is currently on the card. When I pull up properties it shows:

Name: 6.5 GB Media
Type: folder (inode/directory)
Contents: 111,518 items, totalling 1.8 GB (some contents unreadable)

Then a pie chart with the following detail

Free space: 3.6 GB

yellow portion of the pie chart says 2.3 GB used
blue portion of the pie chart denoted 3.6 GB free

Filesystem type: ext3 [note when I partitioned this card I partitioned this with a file system of 'ext2'.

When I click on the Volume Tab of the Media Properties Window it states:

File System ext2


When I browse the 6.5 GB disk I see file folders for 'bin', 'boot', 'dev', 'etc', 'home', and a bunch more files that all look like they are related to system operations. I was going to ask how did they get there. But silly question, I put them there. I just don't know how I did it. It doesn't seem like they really need to be on this sdhc card in the left hand slot of the computer.

As an experiment I took and removed the partition on the internal SSD drive. I then shut down the computer. Removed the connection to CD drive that I was running the LiveDisk from. I then tried rebooting the computer with the sdhc card configured as detailed above and the computer wouldn't boot to the Ubuntu system. So I'm feeling pretty confident that all those system files that are on the sdhc card in the left hand slot of the computer aren't needed to be on that card.

So what do I want to do? Here is the list:

1) Install Ubuntu 8.10 on my Acer Aspire One.

2) Be able to have the internal SSD drive to be partitioned entirely in 'ext2' with no swap partition on the drive. I want to avoid wearing out the SSD drive for as long as possible.

3) Have a swap on the sdhc card that is in the left hand slot of the computer. Figuring it is much easier and cheaper for me to wear out and replace a sdhc card in the left slot of the computer then having to take the computer apart and replace the internal SSD drive.

4) Find out what the best type of partition to set up on the sdhc card that is in the left slot of the computer for the space left after a swap partition is allocated to that sdhc card.

5) Find out how to avoid getting all those system files that are on the sdhc card when I redo the partition.

6) Find out how to use 'GParted' to change the partitioning on that sdhc card. Currently when I run 'GParted' it will see the internal SSD card and let me make changes to the partitions on it, but won't see the sdhc card that is the left hand slot of the computer. If I can't use 'GParted' to change the partitioning on the sdhc card is there another program that I can use that will allow me to change the partitioning on the card?

7) Is it possible to get updates for the Bios on this computer?

I thank you for your patience and any help you can provide.

Have a Great Day,
Jim

[Aearenda]

I can answer a few of these, and pose more questions!

Question 2 - ext3 is a journalling version of ext2, and you're right to use ext2 on the SSD (at the risk of lost data on power loss). But I think you need to have '/' on the SSD - see below.

Question 3 - I would question the use of the sdhc card for swap. First, do you really need any swap space at all? This depends on what apps you plan to use. However, a swap partition is definitely needed if you want to use hibernation. Secondly, is it fast enough? There's no point in swapping if it makes the computer go slower than it would without swap. I hope others will chime in with comments on this - my Aspire One has a hard disk, so I haven't experimented with this. I guess the use of similar devices for Vista 'readyboost' suggests they are fast enough. My Aspire One running Hardy uses about 230Mb for the logged-on system, before running any applications. Don't forget that Linux uses the rest of the memory for disk caching, so it always 'seems' to be all in use.

Question 4 - Ext2 again, for the same reasons.

Question 5 - the files on your sdhc card are the operating system itself, because you placed '/' there. On Unix and Linux systems, '/' is the root of the filesystem. Windows uses drive letters instead, and has a separate filesystem within each partition. Linux 'mounts' additional partitions at empty folders in the root filesystem, so that all the partitions look like they are part of a single filesystem tree. The operating system files go in '/' by default. One of the folders that is created is called '/home', and corresponds to "Documents and Settings" on Windows. This folder is often used as the mount point for a separate home partition. It sounds to me as though you have your SSD mounted as '/home' and you are booting off the sdhc drive. I assume you've acted upon the recommendations to reduce logging - or you could usefully use the data partition on the sdhc card for /var, and keep logging as normal.

I don't know about Questions 6 and 7.

EDIT: On Q6, I just put a card in the left slot of my Hardy system, and rebooted. In GParted on Hardy, I *can* select the partition on that drive and work with it, using the drop-down list at the top right of the window. Maybe you can't because the partition is in use on your system and GParted is preventing disaster.

By the way, just for the record, you didn't need to re-install Ubuntu to add the swap partition. It may be harder because of being on the sdhc card, but there are normally four command-line steps involved: 1) use fdisk (or GParted) to create the partition 2) use mkswap to format the partition 3) use swapon to bring it into use on the running system (no reboot needed) 4) Modify /etc/fstab to make sure it is used on subsequent reboots. I haven't given details of the parameters here because I don't remember what the sdhc device was called (I've turned my AA1 off again).

Another afterthought: I think on reflection that your AA1 may be booting GRUB (the bootloader) initially from the internal SSD, but then loading Ubuntu from the sdhc card - unless you have changed the boot order in the BIOS. Also, maybe you have not mounted the SSD as /home after all, judging from your experiment about removing the partition. I'm a bit confused about exactly what you did there!

I hope this helps!

[thor2002ro]

anyone know how to boot off the sdhc? i know bios doesnt support it so you got to have grub on the hdd , but how do you boot it

[mustang]

Thanks upallnight. These instructions worked perfectly.

Hmmm I take this back. Wifi gets a little twitchy after multiple suspends and resumes. The access point list doesn't refresh sometimes.

And unrelated to wifi, suspend will not work sometimes.

[jbernardo]

When you say the ath5k driver is too unstable, what are the symptoms? I've been using ath5k since I upgraded to 8.10 beta (because the wiki guides told me ath5k 'just worked' in 8.10), and the only problems I've seen have been with gnome-power-manager periodically hanging every few minutes and recently sound ceasing to work, but wireless actually seems fine (though not with the performance I'd always expect).

Sorry for the long delay replying, but the last two weeks have been very busy.
When I say the ath5k driver is unstable, I mean not only that it shows a lower connection quality and has more trouble connecting than the madwifi driver, but also that it will hang my one (not even answering to alt-sysrq) if there is more than one AP with the same ssid in the neigbourhood. I've seen it happen in hotels and airports, where the APs have all the same SSID.

[rudinger]

Hi!

Remember that there is a switch below the wifi led to turn on/off the wifi. I didn't know and I became crazy!

Thanks

[fallenclient]

I have the 120Gb hdd with 1Gb memory AAO, that has some problems with the madwifi drivers. Following the community instructions for madwifi under hardy on my intrepid install it seemed to have worked fine. But it only intermittantly comes up after boot, sometimes three or four boots before it will show up and connect to my router. Flicking the wifi kill switch at these times doesnt make any difference other then switch the LED on/off.