Aspire 3820TG Problems

[Magreet]

Hi there,
I've been trying to get Ubuntu to run on my 3820TG but had little luck.
There were few posts already out there of which none helped.
Issues so far:
-Backlight does not adjust
-internal, descrete graphics card switching
-touchpad (I don't care about multitouch but I can't even scroll up)
-battery lifetime: supposed to run 8h, ubuntu predicts 1,5h...

I'd be very gratefull for any help. I've switched from a MacBook Pro to get linux to know better and for programming compatibility and now I'm stuck with windows

[claude4]

Backlight does not ajust
As root edit /etc/default/grub
Change the line GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""
by GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="acpi_osi=Linux"
save the file
and then sudo update-grub and reboot.

The system do not see the touchpad, he see this as PS/2 mouse
Make a file psmouse.conf with this text
options psmouse proto=imps
save as root in /etc/modprobe.d/
The vertical scrolling then will be OK

Discrete graphics card switching
You must have Kernel 2.6.35 for that (Ubuntu 10.10)
As root, sudo su
and type echo OFF > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch
This will switch off the discrete card, you save ~10 W of power
You can see that
http://asusm51ta-with-linux.blogspot.com/

Sorry for my english

[Magreet]

Thank you very much, I'll give it a try!

[Rustybolts]

Acer aspire 5332 here and your fix worked for my screen brightness so thank you very much.

[Magreet]

Screen and mouse bugs are fixed! =)
How can I test which graphics card is active? If I use the switcheroo command the screen freezes in a colored dot picture...

EDIT:
I installed the ATI restricted driver as well and now it only boots to tty1.
if I try to start startx it says "No devices detectes"/"no screens found" =(

[claude4]

Don't use ATI driver.
Uninstall the flgrx driver.

[Magreet]

I reinstalled Ubuntu 10.10RC and it seems fine. shows about 4-5h battery life. I do not see a difference if I use echo OFF > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch
but the screen goes black if I try to do the opposite
echo ON > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch

Also tried to use the switch_between_cards.sh from the site.
Does not seem to make a difference...

EDIT:
... at least in AC mode.

Is there a way to enable the multi touch? 10.10 was supposed to support that?

[karmila]

@claude4: Thanks mate you saved my eyes

Oh, forgot to tell. Mine is Acer4741Z

[fantom1210]

Thank You claude4, your solutions works for my acer 3820tg very well

[kubco2]

hello,

is here some solution for enable switching cards on acer 3820tg? My system still freeze in colored screen when I use echo ON.

PLEASE