Friday, August 22, 2008

Ubuntu on Asus EeePC

I installed Ubuntu Eee on my Asus EeePC 900 some time ago and have been using it since then. I really like it. Screen resolution is ok, all my favourite apps are working and I can perform all the task I usually do.

The install process itself was painless, I made a bootable live USB stick from the Ubuntu Eee image, booted from it and installed it. After reboot Ubuntu started, and for example WLAN was working out of the box. First thing I noticed was that the touchpad was unconfigurable. I was unable to run gsynaptics. So I installed array.org kernel and enabled the elantech synaptics driver. Also xorg.conf needed some tweak in order to make gsynaptics to run. Shutdown had also a problem but unloading snd-hda-intel module on halt fix this problem.

Another thing was the sound volume buttons but fortunately there was good instructions on Eee User wiki. Another annoying problem was evolution launching every time when power cord was plugged in. Resolution was to remove /etc/acpi/events/asus-mail. After that there was one more problem: webcam. Resolution was to use ucview and to make some module tweaking.

Now I'm quite satisfied with my configuration. This is way more better than the default distibution. The performance is quite good, and there's enough memory for my use. I didn't even set up a swap partition, however it could be useful in for more powerful use. For light net surfing and desktop use I'll be just fine without swap. I doubt if I'll try another system since I'm too happy now for the Ubuntu.