HARDWARE Inspiron 8500
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HOWTO Do A Complete Setup With the Dell Inspiron 8500 Laptop
To make this as simple as possible, everything will be explained at the top with all of the configuration files at the end.
Contents |
[edit] The Rundown
- The portage files are the minimum options that should be used related to the I8500 laptop and for an optimum system
- After doing the research, the hdparm settings listed below have been found to be the optimum ones to get the maximum performance out of your HD and DVD/CD drive
- sys-power/cpudyn has been found to work quite nicely to manage cpu frequency stepping
- sound works just fine with some slight adjustments to /etc/modules.d/alsa
- Although acpid does work for a few items, there are a few bugs related to the nvidia drivers that need to be fixed so there is a section devoted to that
- For setting up the Broadcom BCM4309 chipset, see the Broadcom 43xx article.
[edit] Setup
| Code: Run the following commands to emerge the necessary packages |
emerge app-admin/localepurge app-admin/metalog app-admin/sudo app-laptop/i8kutils app-misc/screen emerge app-portage/gentoolkit app-portage/gentoolkit-dev dev-util/ccache media-sound/alsa-tools media-sound/alsa-utils emerge net-analyzer/nmap net-misc/netkit-fingerd net-misc/ntp net-wireless/ndiswrapper net-wireless/wireless-tools emerge sys-power/cpudyn sys-apps/coldplug sys-apps/eject sys-apps/fcron sys-apps/hotplug sys-apps/ifplugd sys-apps/pciutils sys-apps/slocate emerge sys-fs/reiserfsprogs sys-fs/udev sys-kernel/gentoo-sources sys-power/acpid sys-power/cpudyn sys-power/hibernate-script x11-misc/lineakd emerge artwiz-fonts corefonts cronyx-fonts freefonts intlfonts sharefonts terminus-font ttf-bitstream-vera unifont vc-fonts |
| Code: Also run this if you have an Nvidia graphics Card |
emerge media-video/nvidia-kernel media-video/nvidia-glx opengl-update nvidia |
| Code: If you have an ATI graphics card, run these commands instead |
# emerge ati-drivers opengl-update ati |
[edit] acpid
acpid is a program that captures all button events (power, lid, etc) and runs a
corolating event
i will be adding more to this in a bit
[edit] /etc/acpid/events
these will be example event scripts
[edit] /etc/acpi/events/default
To get the lid switch working.
ADD:
event=button[ /]lid.*
action=sh /etc/acpi/lid.sh
[edit] /etc/acpi/lid.sh
This script shuts off the screen when the lid-switch is pressed.And turns it on when it is lifted.
#!/bin/sh grep -r close /proc/acpi/button/lid/LID/state if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then /usr/bin/xset dpms force off else /usr/bin/xset dpms force on fi
Don't forget to make the script executable:
# chmod +x /etc/acpi/lid.sh
This is working with my own Dell Inspiron 8500. And it has an NVIDIA card. (might be different on different machines with locations and such)
[edit] /etc/acpid/actions
actions scripts (next bit is for me)
#!/bin/bash sync /usr/bin/xset dpms force off echo 1 > /proc/acpi/sleep hwclock --hctosys /usr/bin/xset dpms force on
This will make it so when you push the power button to wake the computer, the screen will come back on. I had to include the full path, because /usr/bin is not in roots path. I am currently studying how to make the screen and sleep both "auto awake" when the lid is lifted
[edit] kernel configs
Side note: from what I've rersearched, the modules are setup correctly for suspend to disk, usb has to be modular for swasp2 to function properly, proper bluetooth and irda options are selected, and the nvidia agpgart stuff is selected properly
The following will become a list for configuration files for the corrisponding kernel numbers Inspiron_8500_gentoo_sources-2.6.11-r6 config file
[edit] sound
ALSA sound works just fine with the kernel config file found above and the alsa modules file found below
some related tips:
- Use the PCM for volume control instead of the master, whenever possible
- Set the master and headphone volume tabs to 74% to avoid distortion
[edit] X.org video setup
please follow the directions stated at HOWTO_Xorg_and_Fonts except editing the xorg.conf file as the one below includes those changes.
for extra eyecandy read TIP_Xorg_X11_and_Transparency, and the configuration settings are already in the xorg.conf files below.
[edit] Nvidia
if you are using an Nvidia card, you need to emerge nvidia-kernel and nvidia-glx, along with running opengl-update nvidia the xorg.conf file is in the Configuration Files section
[edit] ATI
(I do not own an ATI card so I'm not sure what needs to be done here. These links may be of use to you)
[edit] to finish everything off
| Code: run as root to complete everything |
rc-update add ntp-client default rc-update add hdparm default rc-update add acpid default rc-update add cpudyn default rc-update add metalog default rc-update add fcron default rc-update add numlock default rc-update add alsasound default rc-update add hotplug default rc-update add coldplug default rc-update add ifplugd default rc-update add pcmcia default modules-update updatedb |
[edit] Booting from a USB Flash Drive
To boot off of a USB flash drive USB Emulation must be Enabled in the BIOS.
See also: LiveUSB
[edit] to be done
add suspend to ram/disk (look under the discussion tab for more info)
nvidia tv tuner (look under the discussion tab for more info)
ati information
acpid scripts
more on wireless
howto get the modem running
[edit] known problems
- when you put the laptop on the dock, you can't take it off and put it back on, it will freeze
- for some odd and quite annoying reason emergling glibc with nptl causes the computer to overheat and shutdown, only known ways to get around this are to:
- not use nptl useflag
- add nptlonly useflag
- use a distcc cluster (prefered)
- with the nvidia driver and gentoo-sources 2.6.11 the lid button causes the computer to freeze (bug id 84571)
[edit] useful references
- ndiswrapper howto (i will be adding all correct and latest stuff here)
- HOWTO_Auto_mount_filesystems_(AUTOFS) if you would like to automount filesystems, please check this
[edit] The Configuration Files
| File: /etc/make.conf |
#fomit-frame-pointer is already activated when using -O2
#-mmx -msse -msse2 are activated with -march=pentium4
CFLAGS="-O2 -march=pentium4 -mtune=pentium4 -pipe -fforce-addr -falign-functions=4 -mfpmath=sse -momit-leaf-frame-pointer -ftracer"
CHOST="i686-pc-linux-gnu"
CXXFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -fvisibility-inlines-hidden"
#change if you have ATI
VIDEO_CARDS="nvidia"
ALSA_CARDS="intel8x0"
PORTDIR_OVERLAY=/usr/local/portage
CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc/portage"
# if you want your man pages, remove the no* in FEATURES
FEATURES="noman nodoc noinfo ccache"
AUTOCLEAN="yes"
CCACHE_SIZE="2G"
MAKEOPTS="-j2"
ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="x86"
#these are pertinant to the I8500 or highly recommended, and moznoxft is for the fonts
#take out nvidia if you use ATI
USE="X acpi alsa -apm dv nptl moznoxft xinerama socks5 icc unicode mmap sse sse2 mmx nvidia 3dnow ieee1394 usb"
|
| File: /etc/portage/package.keywords |
sys-apps/baselayout ~x86 sys-apps/sysvinit ~x86 app-shells/bash ~x86 sys-libs/readline ~x86 sys-apps/sandbox ~x86 media-libs/libtheora ~x86 net-wireless/ndiswrapper ~x86 media-video/nvidia-kernel ~x86 media-video/nvidia-glx ~x86 x11-base/opengl-update ~x86 media-video/nvidia-settings ~x86 net-wireless/waproamd ~x86 net-wireless/wpa_supplicant ~x86 sys-apps/portage ~x86 sys-devel/gcc ~x86 sys-devel/gcc-config ~x86 sys-libs/glibc ~x86 sys-libs/libstdc++-v3 ~x86 net-wireless/ndiswrapper ~x86 sys-kernel/gentoo-sources ~x86 |
| File: /etc/portage/package.use |
sys-apps/pcmcia-cs -apm pnp trusted x11-base/xorg-x11 -dlloader dmx xprint sys-devel/gcc objc gcj sys-libs/glibc userlocales erandom |
| File: /etc/conf.d/hdparm |
disc0_args="-m16 -c1 -d1 -u1" cdrom0_args="-d1" |
| File: /etc/conf.d/cpudyn |
# Cpudyn configure options # # Internal between idle ratio tests in 1/10 sec increments # INTERVAL=1 # # CPU idle work ratio to speed up # CPU_UP=0.5 # # CPU idle work ratio to speed down # CPU_DOWN=0.9 # # when using cputhrottling, what state to switch when speeding down # THROTTLING_LOW=7 # # Count also niced process in CPU usage. Default is no. # #NICE=yes # # Timeout to put the disk in standby mode if there was no # io during that period (in seconds) # TIMEOUT=1200 # # Specified disks to spindown (comma separated devices) # DISKS=/dev/hda ################################################ # Special Startup Options # (you shouldn't need to change these) ################################################ # cpufreq sources for 2.4 kernels CPUFREQ_24="/proc/cpufreq" # cpufreq sources for 2.5/2.6 kernels CPUFREQ_25="/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq /sysfs/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq" # pure acpi cpufreq CPUFREQ_ACPI="/proc/acpi/processor/CPU0/throttling" |
| File: /etc/conf.d/ntp-client |
NTPCLIENT_CMD="ntpdate" NTPCLIENT_OPTS="-Q -b -u 'pool.ntp.org" NTPCLIENT_TIMEOUT=5 |
| File: /etc/modules.d/alsa |
# Alsa 0.9.X kernel modules' configuration file. # ALSA portion alias char-major-116 snd # OSS/Free portion alias char-major-14 soundcore ## ## IMPORTANT: ## You need to customise this section for your specific sound card(s) ## and then run `update-modules' command. ## Read alsa-driver's INSTALL file in /usr/share/doc for more info. ## ## ALSA portion alias snd-card-0 snd-intel8x0 ## OSS/Free portion ## alias sound-slot-0 snd-card-0 # OSS/Free portion - card #1 alias sound-service-0-1 snd-seq-oss alias sound-service-0-3 snd-pcm-oss alias sound-service-0-8 snd-seq-oss alias sound-service-0-12 snd-pcm-oss alias /dev/dsp snd-pcm-oss alias /dev/midi snd-seq-oss options snd cards_limit=1 |
| File: /etc/X11/xorg.conf |
# *********************************************************************
# Files section. This allows default font and rgb paths to be set
# not to self, this section should be good to go
# ********************************************************************
Section "Files"
RgbPath "/usr/lib/X11/rgb"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/CID"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/Speedo"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/TTF"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/corefonts"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/encodings"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/freefont"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/local"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/terminus"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ttf-bitstream-vera"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ukr"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/unifont"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/util"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/artwiz"
# The module search path. The default path is shown here.
# ModulePath "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules"
EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# Module section -- this is an optional section which is used to specify
# which run-time loadable modules to load when the X server starts up.
# **********************************************************************
Section "Module"
Load "glx"
Load "record"
Load "extmod"
Load "dbe"
# Load "dri"
Load "xtrap"
Load "freetype"
Load "type1"
EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# Server flags section. This contains various server-wide Options.
# **********************************************************************
Section "ServerFlags"
#in minutes
Option "blank time" "2"
Option "standby time" "3"
Option "suspend time" "5"
# Option "off time" "60"
EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# Keyboards - need to fix this...
# **********************************************************************
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "builtin"
Driver "kbd"
Option "AutoRepeat" "500 30"
Option "XkbModel" "inspiron"
Option "XkbLayout" "en_US"
EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# Mice (one section takes care of all)
# **********************************************************************
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "allmice"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "on"
EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# Graphics device section
# still editing to support TV out
# **********************************************************************
Section "Device"
Identifier "GeForce4 4200 Go"
Driver "nvidia"
VideoRam 65536
Option "AGPMode" "4"
Option "AGPFastWrite" "True"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Option "NvAGP" "1"
Option "NoLogo" "true"
Option "RenderAccel" "true"
Option "CursorShadow" "yes"
Option "FlatPanelProperties" "Scaling = aspect-scaled"
Option "NoPowerConnectorCheck" "true"
Option "dpms"
Option "UseEdidFreqs" "yes"
Option "intern_disp"
Option "extern_disp"
Option "AllowGLXWithComposite" "true"
# Option "TwinView" "true"
# Option "TwinViewOrientation" "Clone"
# Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "30-50"
# Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "60"
# Option "MetaModes" "1024x1024, 1024x1024; 800x600, 800x600; 640x480, 640x480"
# 1680x1050, NULL
# Option "TVStandard" "NTSC-M"
# Option "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO"
# Option "ConnectedMonitor" "TV"
EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# Monitors
# **********************************************************************
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "WXGALaptop"
ModelName "Dell Inspiron 8500 WXGA Panel"
HorizSync 15-100.0
VertRefresh 15.0-120.0
# 60Hz
Modeline "640x480" 25.175 640 664 760 800 480 491 493 525
Modeline "800x600" 40.12 800 848 968 1056 600 601 605 628
Modeline "1024x768" 85 1024 1056 1152 1360 768 784 787 823
Modeline "1680x1050" 147.14 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087
# 75Hz
Modeline "1680x1050" 188.07 1680 1800 1984 2288 1050 1051 1054 1096
# 85Hz
Modeline "1680x1050" 214.51 1680 1800 1984 2288 1050 1051 1054 1103
# 100Hz
Modeline "1680x1050" 256.20 1680 1808 1992 2304 1050 1051 1054 1112
#check this out
Option "DPMS" "true"
Option "NoDDC" "true"
EndSection
#Section "Monitor"
# Identifier "TVout"
# HorizSync 30-50
# VertRefresh 60
#EndSection
# ********************************************************************
# Screens
# ********************************************************************
Section "Screen"
Identifier "builtin"
Device "GeForce4 4200 Go"
Monitor "WXGALaptop"
DefaultDepth 24
Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1680x1050" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
#ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1680x1050" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
#ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1680x1050" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
#ViewPort 0 0
EndSubSection
EndSection
#Section "Screen"
# Identifier "TV"
# Device "GeForce4 4200 Go"
# Monitor "TVout"
# Option "TVStandard" "NTSC-M"
# Option "ConnectedMonitor" "TV"
# SubSection "Display"
# Modes "800x600" "640x480"
# Depth 8
# EndSubSection
#can be SVIDEO or COMPOSITE
# Option "TVOutFormat" ""
#EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# ServerLayouts
# **********************************************************************
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "builtin"
InputDevice "builtin" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "allmice" "CorePointer"
EndSection
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