Experiences with Asus UL30

[mediamind]

I haven't experienced any mic issues with my UL30VT - sounds like yours may indeed be broken.

[Cierreics]

Hi all, I was very busy this week...

2.6.34-5 kernel is out, The Flying Penguin already wrote how to install it


I have some new tips, one of them is very important!

*******

sudo apt-get install ethtool

This will install a tool we need.

*******

sudo gedit /etc/rc.local

modify my previous settings to this:

rfkill block bluetooth
ethtool -s eth0 wol d
iwconfig wlan0 power timeout 500ms
echo 1 > /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save
echo 0 > /proc/sys/vm/swappiness
echo 60000 > /proc/sys/vm/dirty_expire_centisecs
echo 60000 > /proc/sys/vm/dirty_writeback_centisecs
echo 60 > /proc/sys/vm/dirty_background_ratio
echo 95 > /proc/sys/vm/dirty_ratio
echo 50 > /proc/sys/vm/vfs_cache_pressure

save and close.

I've added wake on lan disable setting, cache vm setting, and REMOVED cpu scaling governor settings (this is important!!).

*******

This is important!!

sudo gedit /etc/init.d/ondemand

paste this:

#! /bin/sh
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides:          ondemand
# Required-Start:    $remote_fs $all
# Required-Stop:
# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop:
# Short-Description: Set the CPU Frequency Scaling governor to "ondemand"
### END INIT INFO


PATH=/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin

. /lib/init/vars.sh
. /lib/lsb/init-functions

case "$1" in
    start)
    	start-stop-daemon --start --background --exec /etc/init.d/ondemand background
        ;;
    background)
	sleep 60 # probably enough time for desktop login

	for CPUFREQ in /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_governor
	do
		[ -f $CPUFREQ ] || continue
		echo -n ondemand > $CPUFREQ
	done
	;;
    restart|reload|force-reload)
        echo "Error: argument '$1' not supported" >&2
        exit 3
        ;;
    stop)
        ;;
    *)
        echo "Usage: $0 start|stop" >&2
        exit 3
        ;;
esac

This will correct the init script for cpu governor, default one is bugged!!
You can reduce the time value at line 22, default is "sleep 60".
I have an SSD and my boot time is very fast, so I use "sleep 20", you can try this:
add CPU frequency applet to your panel, reboot, login as fast as you can and look when your CPU governor switch from "performance" to "ondemand"; you can reduce the "sleep" time to a value that make governor switch appen some seconds after login, maybe "sleep 30" or "sleep 40" for a mechanical hard disk.

*******

sudo gedit /etc/fstab

add "commit=100" option to ext partitions, look at this fstab:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    nodev,noexec,nosuid 0       0
# / was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=f450fc7b-f218-4c0c-bb63-5afa69608ab4 /               ext4    commit=100,errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /home was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=6de7b138-6ef1-4f4a-bea0-74268a4b302c /home           ext4    commit=100,defaults        0       2
# swap was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=25e066d9-6950-49ac-b078-5547ca161bfb none            swap    sw              0       0

#tmp su ram
tmpfs /tmp tmpfs defaults,noatime,mode=1777 0 0

save and close.

The commit option will reduce filesystem kernel accesses.

*******

sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

look at line 10, change to this:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="rootflags=commit=100"

save and close, then:

sudo update-grub

This will reduce filesystem kernel accesses.



If you have an SSD, here's some modifications to my previous tips:

sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

look at line 10, change to this:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="elevator=noop rootflags=commit=100"

save and close, then:

sudo update-grub

*******

sudo gedit /etc/fstab

add "noatime" option to ext partitions, look at my fstab:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    nodev,noexec,nosuid 0       0
# / was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=f450fc7b-f218-4c0c-bb63-5afa69608ab4 /               ext4    noatime,commit=100,errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /home was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=6de7b138-6ef1-4f4a-bea0-74268a4b302c /home           ext4    noatime,commit=100,defaults        0       2
# swap was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=25e066d9-6950-49ac-b078-5547ca161bfb none            swap    sw              0       0

#tmp su ram
tmpfs /tmp tmpfs defaults,noatime,mode=1777 0 0

save and close.

[Cierreics]

I by accident touches the mouse pad while typing on the keypad, which changes focus or moves the typing cursor.

How do I change at what pressure level the mouse pad activates in ubuntu 10.4?

Is there any ways to do advanced setup of the mouse pad as I can under Windows?

Follow my touchpad guide in this post.

It will enable elantech driver, wich will auto-disable touchpad when typing!!

[Cierreics]

Now, I have my own question. It seems after the last kernel upgrade my power usages has spiked. I have the brightness turned almost half way down and I'm using 15 watts of power. Does this new kernel undo the power saving scripts you posted Cierreics?

That's strange, with 2.6.34-5 kernel I'm on ~6.5 watts on idle...

Try my new settings for cpu scaling governor, and it's better if you check and reapply all settings, I've updated #110 post.

[nico-ar]

with the new kernel 2.6.34, can you switch the gpu? or disable the nvidia gpu? how?
thanks

[mediamind]

with the new kernel 2.6.34, can you switch the gpu? or disable the nvidia gpu? how?

Not easily. I'm running the Nvidia driver/card on my UL30VT (Lucid 64-bit) and here's one clunky way I've found to switch to the Intel card:

1. Reboot
2. Enter BIOS (press F2) and switch the IDE Configuration/SATA Operation Mode back to "Enhanced" from "Compatible." Press F10 to save and exit.
3. The system will attempt to boot. When the "Ubuntu is running in low-graphics mode dialog window appears, select "OK" and then select "Run Ubuntu in low-graphics mode for just one session."

Everything seems to work (720p on YouTube, suspend and resume from suspend, etc) using this method. The one downside is that both graphics cards are active which obviously impacts battery life. You can confirm this with:

lspci |grep VGA

Clearly this is not a practical approach to switching between cards. I personally would love to be able to run the Nvidia driver using "Enhanced" mode - the slower boot and resume from suspend times are a bit of drag under "Compatible" mode.

[Cierreics]

Hi all, you will find 2.6.35 kernel on Guiodic repo, I've tried it but it's not stable yet, I get a system freeze everytime I try to watch fullscreen flash videos with firefox...I'm back to 2.6.34-5 kernel.

[mediamind]

Hi all, you will find 2.6.35 kernel on Guiodic repo, I've tried it but it's not stable yet, I get a system freeze everytime I try to watch fullscreen flash videos with firefox...I'm back to 2.6.34-5 kernel.

I'm running 2.6.35.999 from the Ubuntu Mainline Archive on my UL30VT (Lucid 64-bit) with the Nvidia card activated and haven't experienced any freezes yet...full screen flash videos on firefox seem to work fine.

[mediamind]

Btw, in case anyone else has experienced the gnome-power-manager going into hibernate rather than suspend on idle (when on battery power) I thought I would share an easy workaround. As I just mentioned, I have a UL30VT running Lucid 64-bit (2.6.35.999) with the Nvidia card activated.

1. Open the Configuration Editor by opening a terminal (or pressing Alt+F2) and typing:

gconf-editor

2. Navigate to apps > gnome-power-manager > actions sleep_type_battery

3. Click on "hibernate" and replace the text with "suspend"

Fyi, there is already a bug report filed on Launchpad - thanks to James Adney for the workaround.

[Cierreics]

I'm running 2.6.35.999 from the Ubuntu Mainline Archive on my UL30VT (Lucid 64-bit) with the Nvidia card activated and haven't experienced any freezes yet...full screen flash videos on firefox seem to work fine.

I've installed 64bit alpha flash player, do you use regular one?