HARDWARE Samsung Q35

From Gentoo Linux Wiki

[edit] Preface

I was configuring a Samsung Q35 these days for running Gentoo on it and want so share my experiences here. The hardware itself is very nice. Two cores running at 1.6 GHz, 1 GB RAM and a good 12.1 Inch Widescreen. This all at a weight of about 2 kilogram. The performance of the two cores while compiling packages under Gentoo was astonishing. Especially as it does neither get hot nor loud. Besides, many of the Laptop-features like brightness control work from the hardware side, such that you don't have to bother about them.

[edit] Quick Overview

The following results I could achieve using gentoo-sources-2.6.17-r4.

[edit] Detailed installation instructions

[edit] LinuxStats

The most important parts of my configuration can be looked up at linux-stats.org

[edit] Kernel

See my kernel config file. It is for gentoo-sources-2.6.17-r8 and should provide a good point to start from.

[edit] Framebuffer

Select the following options in the kernel

Device Drivers --->
   Graphics support --->
      <*> Support for framebuffer devices
      <*> VESA VGA graphics support
         VESA driver type (vesafb-tng) --->
      (1280x800@60) VESA default mode

And use the following command line in your grub.conf

title  Gentoo - current kernel
root   (hd0,5)
kernel /kernel_current video=vesafb:ywrap,1280x800-32@60 root=/dev/hda7

This conf-file is NOT for splash.

Question: what would be necessary to set the fb splash in the beginning of the boot process? Using vesafb-tng and an initrd containing images with 1280x800 won't show the picture on bootup, VGA = 866 is not recognized as working VGA Mode by lilo.

[edit] Xorg / 945GM graphics card

See this HowTo.

[edit] Sound card (hda-intel)

The soundcard is straight forward for newer kernels (>=2.6.22):

<*> Sound card support
    Advanced Linux Sound Architecture  --->
        <*> Advanced Linux Sound Architecture
               PCI-Devices --->
                     <*> Intel HD Audio

However, a good resource for soundcard issues is link Gentoo-Alsa-guide.

Note: you have to unmute the devices you want to use. If you want to unmute a microphone, start alsamixer and hit Tab which brings you to the capture device controlers.

[edit] Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG WLAN

You have to use the ipw3945 driver from portage. How to do this is covered here:

• HARDWARE ipw3945
• Gentoo wireless LAN howto

UPDATE: You don't need any more to emerge the driver from portage, as the kernel 2.6.24 is released You should choose it in the kernel configuration.

[edit] Suspend to Ram

Not tested, but try out the sys-kernel/suspend2-sources for advanced suspension capabilities.

[edit] ACPI

as said above, power button and sleep button events work, while lid-close-event doesnt (nevertheless the LCD is switched off from the hardware side). The battery works pretty well and you can use my script to query the battery state; just move it to /bin/ or whereever you want and it will be fine:

#!/bin/bash
if  [[-n `/bin/grep yes /proc/acpi/battery/BAT1/state `]] 
        then
        echo "remaining capacity: $(( `/bin/grep remaining /proc/acpi/battery/BAT1/state | /bin/sed -e 's/^.*:\ *//' -e 's/...$//'`/48 ))%"
        echo "estimated duration: $(( (`/bin/grep remaining /proc/acpi/battery/BAT1/state | /bin/sed -e 's/^.*:\ *//' -e 's/...$//'` * 60) / `/bin/grep rate /proc/acpi/battery/BAT1/state | /bin/sed -e 's/^.*:\ *//' -e 's/..$//'` )) min"
else
        echo "battery not present";
fi

Don't forget to make it executable:

chown root:root /bin/battery_state
chmod 755 /bin/battery_state

[edit] CPU frequency scaling

works out of the box, only activate the relevant modules in the kernel

Power management options (ACPI, APM)  --->
   CPU Frequency scaling  --->
      [*] CPU Frequency scaling
         Default CPUFreq governor (performance)  --->
      <*>   'powersave' governor
      <*>   'userspace' governor for userspace frequency scaling
      < >   'ondemand' cpufreq policy governor
      <*>   'conservative' cpufreq governor
      <*>   Intel Enhanced SpeedStep

If you want your box to power up with performance governor but after boot continue in conservative mode, do the following:

echo "cpufreq-selector -g conservative" >> /etc/conf.d/local.start

[edit] Links