Acer Aspire One

Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex (8.10) on the Acer Aspire One 110 (SSD)

Introduction

Compiled from:

• https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AspireOne110L
• https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AspireOne
• http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=164&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=10#p1177

Hardware Summary

• Audio [works out of box, has problems with suspend]
• Video [works out of box]
• USB [works out of box]
• Wireless Networking [Using madwifi: works after tweaking]
• Wired Networking [works out of box]
• Card Readers [works out of box]
• Webcam [works out of box]
• Silent Fan [works after tweaking]

Installation Guide

Prerequisites

• A copy of Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex
• A wired network connection
• A 1gb usb drive that can be formatted
• Another working computer with internet access

Preparation

In your other computer, insert the Ubuntu CD and boot into Ubuntu. In System -> Administration, run the "Create a USB startup disk" program. This will make your USB drive bootable and transfer the installation files onto it. You can then use it as if it were a bootable CD.

Installation

Shut down your Aspire One and insert the USB drive.

Tristan's Notes

• If you're having problems creating the USB boot drive, try removing any FAT partitions and creating an ext2 partition using gparted.

Josh's Install Notes (to be expanded upon)

1. install off the usb drive, formatting the SSD into one big ext2 partition (no swap)
2. installed madwifi wireless
   1. wget http://snapshots.madwifi-project.org/madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-current.tar.gz
   2. sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)
   3. tar -xzf madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-current.tar.gz
   4. cd madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6*/
   5. make
   6. sudo make install
   7. sudo modprobe ath_pci
3. edit /etc/modules
   1. add 'ath_pci' so that the module loads when booting
4. edit /etc/default/linux-restricted-modules-common
   1. add 'ath_hal' to the DISABLED_MODULES= line
5. fixed wifi on suspend/resume
   1. save the 'Restart Wifi Script' (below) as /etc/pm/sleep.d/00wireless
   2. sudo chmod u+x /etc/pm/sleep.d/00wireless
6. fixed wireless LEDs (put the following lines before 'exit 0')
   1. sysctl -w dev.wifi0.ledpin=3
   2. sysctl -w dev.wifi0.softled=1
7. fan control
   1. sufo apt-get install dmidecode
   2. download the following two files acer_ec.pl acerfand
   3. chmod a+x acerfand
   4. sudo cp acer_ec.pl acerfand /usr/local/bin
   5. sudo acerfand
   6. check /var/log/syslog for confirmation that it worked
   7. run it at boot by adding '/usr/local/bin/acerfand' to /etc/rc.local
8. optimize for SSD
   1. change the SSD from 'relatime' to 'noatime' in /etc/fstab
   2. use the "noop" I/O scheduler (see the Aspire One 110L ubuntu wiki page)
   3. moved log files over to tmpfs
9. did the two edits in the Fonts section of the 110L page but didn't notice any change
10. changed 'CONCURRENCY=shell' to shell in /etc/init.d/rc
11. followed Audio section of main Aspire One ubuntu wiki page, this broke wifi, so I had to make clean, make, and sudo make install again to get it back.
12. install NetBook Remix
    1. add sources
    2. apt-get install go-home-applet human-netbook-theme maximus netbook-launcher window-picker-applet
    3. add maximus and ume laucher to startup programs (System->prefs->Sessions)
    4. configure top panel, remove bottom panel
13. turn on subpixel smoothing in Appearance (looks much better)
14. decrease power usage of USB when idle
    1. [ -w /sys/bus/usb/devices/1-5/power/level ] && echo auto > /sys/bus/usb/devices/1-5/power/level
    2. [ -w /sys/bus/usb/devices/5-5/power/level ] && echo auto > /sys/bus/usb/devices/5-5/power/level
15. firefox
    1. install addons
       1. stop or reload button
       2. personal menu
       3. autohidestatusbar
    2. instal theme
       1. classic compact
    3. configure personal menu to include everything from original menu bar, then disable it

Restart Wifi Script

#
# Restart WiFi interface after suspension
#

case "$1" in
        resume|thaw)
                /sbin/ifconfig wifi0 down
                /sbin/ifconfig wifi0 up
        ;;
        *)
        ;;
esac

exit $?