OpenSUSE 11.0 GNU/Linux on ACER Aspire 9814 WKMi and other 9800 laptop series
Please note that this page won't be updated anymore, because opneSUSE failed to meet my expectation. It has been replaced by Kubuntu KDE4 8.10 Intrepid Ibex, 64-bit and still beta. I haven't written a dedicated page yet, but you might want to take a look at my previous Kubuntu GNU/Linux on ACER Aspire 9814 WKMi (32-bit) webpage.
General description
ACER Aspire 9800 series are laptops featuring a 20" widescreen LCD display. 9810 series are the newest ones at the time of the writing of this webpage (update: 9920 series have been released, but they're only an update to 9810 series - newest technological refinements are useless at the moment). ACER 9814 WKMi is a full-featured, multimedia laptop, that's actually more a desktop computer you can occasionally carry from one place to another, rather than a real, nomad laptop. It comes with a TV tuner (that doesn't work on linux yet), built-in webcam and microphone, WiFi, bluetooth, and basically everything you can expect from a high-end laptop.
The 20" widescreen display is simply amazing, i.e clear, bright, and accurate. Maximum resolution is sufficient for daily use, though it could have been a little higher.
Performances are quite good, thanks to a Intel Core 2 Duo dual-core processor, 2 Gb of RAM, and decent NVIDIA graphic card. Some versions (9814WKMI_TCGF2024, like mine) come with 2 120 GB SATA hard drives, which make the computer a real desktop replacement.
Quality is correct, though some parts seem to be a bit fragile: this machine weights 7.8 kg, and care should be taken when it's moved (it's about 3 times as heavy as a "normal" laptop !). Fortunately, one can now find 20" laptop bags.
Best things of all, it's not so expensive: it is usually sold below 2'000 € (as of late 2006).
Installation
This laptop came with Badvista campaign Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) pre-installed (I believe newest ones now come with Windows Vista).
At first I tried Kubuntu 32-bit (I was a bit reluctant to 64-bit by then), and it has been a good experience: hardware support was good and improving over the new Kubuntu releases. In the need for cleaning a big messy computer, I backed up my date, wiped out all the disks, configured fake RAID array (thanks to an upgraded BIOS), and proceed to installation using openSUSE KDE 4 64-bit edition liveCD.
Installation was straightforward (except partitionning because of my fakeRAID array - but I eventually got over it quite easily). I used to be 32-bit and KDE3 on Kubuntu. I'm now 64-bit and KDE on openSUSE. Quite a leap if you ask me. For the best, and for the worse… Well, after two weeks I can say it's for the worse…
Many things actually bugged me. Here's a few ones:
- buggy YaST: openSUSE control center is an amazing tool, I don't know about a single other distro that provides such user interface to configure the system. Too bad, it's buggy. It's supposed to improved productivity, it actually is a burden. Some bug I have have been known for a while, yet they're not corrected yet. Concept is good. Implementation is bad ;
- software repositories: much software isn't available from the repos, even in unofficial ones. Even though managing software is apparently easy, it actually is a mess when it comes to choose which version of KDE you'd like to use. Dependance problems are way too frequents. Zypper is a good tool, though. It usually succeeds where YaST fails. But overall it's too messy, confusing and not good enough for day to day use ;
- root account: years after years, I became a "sudo" user. And I like the Ubuntu way to manage a system, with no root account. Some may say it's a security flaw. I don't know myself, as I'm not an IT person, only a computer enthusiast. But in my opinion, it is wrong to display a root account in the login window, and that's what openSUSE does. It uses autologin by default. That's a non-sence ;
- too much hardware isn't supported properly by default. It means fixing, tuning and tweaking are required. I expected something way better for a high-class distribution like openSUSE. Many others actually do support things out of the box. openSUSE to too much hassle and wasted time ;
- multimedia support: I'm aware there are some licensing issues with proprietary codecs. I know these usually need to be installed manually (or at least, they need to be installed afterwards). In openSUSE you have to find the proper repository, install them, and then realize that many things doesn't work, need manual tweaking, etc. Come on, this is XXIst century… there may be licensing issues, there are tools to make user experience better, too. openSUSE is so conservative when it comes to licenses that you end up with a system than cannot even play MP3 in a few click. That's a shame.
On the other hand, there are some good points in openSUSE: it's fast, good-looking, apparently powerful, packages are usually up-to-date or you can find some frequently updated repos… openSUSE brings a lot to some of the major open-source projet (Linux, KDE), but in my opinion, it's nowhere near Ubuntu. I have the feeling Ubuntu is following the right path. I also have the feeling that openSUSE has some potential, which is yet to be used in a more efficient way : plenty of good ideas and concepts, but a lack of coherence and quality control that make the whole thing nice in appearance, but unfinished whe it comes to daily use and simple routine tasks. openSUSE needs more love, care and polish.
openSUSE is a big disappointment to me: I needed something that just works, without having to spend hours trying (and something failing) to fix a small issue (hardware, usability, etc.). Maybe I could try some other major distros like Mandriva and Fedora. I went back to Kubuntu, by downloading the latest beta (8.10 Intrepid Ibex). Apparently, only Ubuntu alternate installation CD supports RAID, which means openSUSE is better than Ubuntu when it comes to RAID installation. On the other hand, I found a nice and relatively easy to tutorial to get Kubuntu installed on fakeRAID (using liveCD), and in about 1.5 hour I got a fully working system, even stuff I haven't been able to fix in openSUSE. Stability-wise Kubuntu is not as good as openSUSE, but, hey, that's beta software!
I don't blame openSUSE nor its community for anything, I'll check back every now and then to see how it improves…
Hardware specifications of ACER Aspire 9814 WKMi
Hardware Components | Status under Linux | Notes |
---|---|---|
INTEL Centrino 64-bit Core 2 Duo T5600 CPU (1.83 GHz, 667 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 cache) | Works | No special procedure required during installation. |
20.1" WSXGA+ CrystalBrite widescreen LCD Display (16/10, 300 nit/16 ms response time, 1680x1050@60 Hz max) | Works as expected only after manual configuration | openSUSE failed to detect my maximum resolution out of the box. I was stocked to a mere 1024x768. This has been easily corrected throught Yast's display configuration module, though. |
NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 PCI Express (256 MB DDR2 dedicated VRAM) | Problems with latest proprietary drivers | nv drivers (2D only) work fine. Latest nvidia drivers generate random visual artefacts with OpenGL (which should be used for good performance with desktop visual effects), freezes or even small lockups. They are barely usable at the moment. Currently under investigation (installation of older drivers ?). I suspect this is NVIDIA problem, not openSUSE nor KDE. I hope NVIDIA will fix that soon… |
2GB DDR2 RAM (supports dual-channel) | Works | No special procedure required during installation. |
2x120GB Sata 150 Samsung HM120JI HDD (5400 rpm) | Works | FakeRAID (Intel Matrix) was used : 30 Gb stripped for system and swap, 90 Gb mirrored for data. openSUSE installer supports this feature, although I had to check and modify the default configuration to reflect my needs (because I am so stupid I was not able to set up my partition scheme from scratch). |
Modular Floppy Drive | N/A | No floppy drive. A good USB stick is much better anyway. |
Integrated PCI-Express Gigabit Network Card | Works | No special procedure required during installation. Everything seems functional. KNetworkManager is an application of choice to manage your network interfaces. KNetworkManager GUI is simplified in openSUSE. I wish it was the vanilla GUI, which IMHO is better. No big deal. |
INTEL PRO/Wireless 3945ABG | Not tested | It should work, though, as it seems to be properly detected. |
Internal 56k Modem | Not tested | N/A |
MATSHITA DVD-RAM UJ-85JS (2MB buffer, 24X max for CDs, 8X max for DVD-R/DVD+R, 4x max for dual-layer DVD, slot-in | Works | No special procedure required during installation. No thouroughly tested, though. Troubles with KDE4's K3B. |
INTEL/REALTEK High Definition Audio (INTEL ICH7 HDA) | Works with manual configuration | Alsa driver is installed, but no sound could be heard after installation. This is a recurrent problem on Linux distribution that use latest ALSA drivers… One has to specify the correct driver to use (6stack-dig) and play with alsamixer in order to get proper results. In order to specify the correct driver, as root edit /etc/modprobe.d/sound and add the following:
options snd-hda-intel model=6stack-digThen restart the sound server: sudo /etc/init.d/sound restartThen play with your alsamixer to set volumes and unmute sound channels: alsamixerDon't use Yast's sound configuration module!! It's buggy and it will either screw your sound configuration or reinitialize it! Passing the correct options won't work properly anyways. It looks like this is a known bug. You've been warned!! |
AVERMEDIA H/W Hybrid M115 TV Card (digital/analog) | Not tested yet | N/A |
ACER / LOGITECH CMOS 1.3 megapixel integrated Orbicam webcam | Works, buggy | The camera is correctly detected by software such as camorama. Doesn't work in Kopete, though. I guess there's a trick to be found… It looks like there is some confusion between webcam and TV card… The GSPCA driver used to get this webcam working does not offer complete support of Orbicam : as a result, features are limited (no resizing nor color adjustments for instance). This is a limitation affecting all Linux distribution out there. |
Bluetooth 2.0 | Not tested | N/A |
ACER Bluetooth phone | Not tested | N/A |
Multimedia keyboard buttons | Extra keys do not work out of the box | Usual keyboard keys do work. Special keys (extra keys, hotkeys, multimedia keys, call them whatever you want…) do not work at all. Currently under investigation. although I personally think it's a shame ! UPDATE: all I achieved so far, is to get working volume keys. Create a ~/.Xmodmap file and add : keycode 129 = XF86AudioMedia keycode 144 = XF86AudioPrev keycode 153 = XF86AudioNext keycode 160 = XF86AudioMute keycode 161 = XF86Calculator keycode 162 = XF86AudioPause keycode 164 = XF86AudioStop keycode 174 = XF86AudioLowerVolume keycode 176 = XF86AudioRaiseVolume keycode 223 = XF86Standbythen run: xmodmap ~/.XmodmapSome of the extra keys (read: only volume ones) should now be recognized. They have to be configured as keyboard shortcuts. This may be done using KDE control panel. |
TEXAS INSTRUMENT 5-in-1 memory card reader (supports SD, MMC, MS, MS PRO, xD memory cards) | Works (tested with SD cards only) | no special procedure required during installation. |
Infrared remote control | Not tested yet | N/A |
SYNAPTICS touchpad | Works | no special procedure required during installation. |
USB 2.0 ports (x4) | Work | No special procedure required during installation. USB keys and mice work at once. |
IEEE 1494 Firewire | Not tested | N/A. I don't own such peripherals. |
Parallel port (LPT) | Not tested yet | N/A |
VGA output | Should works | Not tested but I don't know why it shouldn't work… |
DV-I-D output | Should works | Not tested but I don't know why it shouldn't work… |
TV output | Not tested | N/A. I don't have TV at home. |
PCMCIA slot | Not tested | I only use it to charge ACER Bluetooth phone. |
Suspend to disk/RAM | Not thoroughly tested | Suspend to disk works fine with nv video drivers. |
8-cell lithium-ion battery with ACER QuicCharge (1 hour to charge battery at 80%) | Works | Bbeware as newest computers seems to embed buggy BIOSes, which screw batteries after a while, even if they're barely used (it looks like even a fully charged battery can still be charging). Mine has been fucked up after one year, even though I almost never used it. This has nothing to do with Linux, the issue is hardware-based. ACER abuse their customers : on the 20th of May 2008, I got an email from their tech/commercial support suggesting me to buy new batteries (119 € each !!).. To me, this sounds like a proof of their guiltiness : batteries are slowly damaged so that they can sell us some more. I must say I'm disgusted… |
Size: 475 (L) x 352 (W) x 61.8 (H) mm Weight: 7.8 kg |
N/A | Quite big and heavy, but hey, you've got a big screen and plenty of hardware. Don't expect to get something light and small. |
Other ports: S-video/ TV-out (NTSC/PAL) , TV tuner aerial | Not tested, should work | No tested yet but I see no reason why these wouldn't work. Editing /etc/X11/xorg.conf could be needed but I guess nvidia-settings should just take care about that.. |
This laptop used to operate under Kernel version 2.6.25.
lspci -v
Why the heck is lspci hidden?? Only root can launch this command, not normal users (except using sudo and the complete path…). This is one of the stupid things I don't understand in openSUSE… Is lspci a critical command? to my knowledge, it's harmless…
$ sudo /sbin/lspci -v 00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS, 943/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03) Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] 9814 WKMI Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0 Capabilities: [e0] Vendor Specific Information Kernel modules: intel-agp 00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS, 943/940GML and 945GT Express PCI Express Root Port (rev 03) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode]) Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0 Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0 I/O behind bridge: 00002000-00002fff Memory behind bridge: d0000000-d1ffffff Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 00000000b0000000-00000000bfffffff Capabilities: [88] Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 006c Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2 Capabilities: [90] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit- Queue=0/0 Enable- Capabilities: [a0] Express Root Port (Slot+), MSI 00 Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel Capabilities: [140] Root Complex Link Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver Kernel modules: shpchp 00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02) Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] 9814 WKMI Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 22 Memory at d2300000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K] Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2 Capabilities: [60] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable- Capabilities: [70] Express Root Complex Integrated Endpoint, MSI 00 Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel Capabilities: [130] Root Complex Link Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel 00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode]) Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0 Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=02, sec-latency=0 I/O behind bridge: 00003000-00003fff Memory behind bridge: cc000000-cdffffff Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 00000000c4000000-00000000c5ffffff Capabilities: [40] Express Root Port (Slot+), MSI 00 Capabilities: [80] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit- Queue=0/0 Enable- Capabilities: [90] Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 006c Capabilities: [a0] Power Management version 2 Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel Capabilities: [180] Root Complex Link Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver Kernel modules: shpchp 00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode]) Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0 Bus: primary=00, secondary=03, subordinate=04, sec-latency=0 I/O behind bridge: 00004000-00004fff Memory behind bridge: c8000000-c9ffffff Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 00000000c0000000-00000000c1ffffff Capabilities: [40] Express Root Port (Slot+), MSI 00 Capabilities: [80] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit- Queue=0/0 Enable- Capabilities: [90] Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 006c Capabilities: [a0] Power Management version 2 Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel Capabilities: [180] Root Complex Link Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver Kernel modules: shpchp 00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode]) Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0 Bus: primary=00, secondary=05, subordinate=06, sec-latency=0 I/O behind bridge: 00005000-00005fff Memory behind bridge: ca000000-cbffffff Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 00000000c2000000-00000000c3ffffff Capabilities: [40] Express Root Port (Slot+), MSI 00 Capabilities: [80] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit- Queue=0/0 Enable- Capabilities: [90] Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 006c Capabilities: [a0] Power Management version 2 Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel Capabilities: [180] Root Complex Link Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver Kernel modules: shpchp 00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode]) Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0 Bus: primary=00, secondary=07, subordinate=08, sec-latency=0 I/O behind bridge: 00006000-00006fff Memory behind bridge: ce000000-cfffffff Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 00000000c6000000-00000000c7ffffff Capabilities: [40] Express Root Port (Slot+), MSI 00 Capabilities: [80] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit- Queue=0/0 Enable- Capabilities: [90] Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 006c Capabilities: [a0] Power Management version 2 Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel Capabilities: [180] Root Complex Link Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver Kernel modules: shpchp 00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [UHCI]) Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] 9814 WKMI Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 23 I/O ports at 1800 [size=32] Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd Kernel modules: uhci-hcd 00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [UHCI]) Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] 9814 WKMI Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 19 I/O ports at 1820 [size=32] Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd Kernel modules: uhci-hcd 00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [UHCI]) Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] 9814 WKMI Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 18 I/O ports at 1840 [size=32] Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd Kernel modules: uhci-hcd 00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [UHCI]) Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] 9814 WKMI Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16 I/O ports at 1860 [size=32] Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd Kernel modules: uhci-hcd 00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02) (prog-if 20 [EHCI]) Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] 9814 WKMI Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 23 Memory at d2304000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K] Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2 Capabilities: [58] Debug port: BAR=1 offset=00a0 Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd Kernel modules: ehci-hcd 00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2) (prog-if 01 [Subtractive decode]) Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0 Bus: primary=00, secondary=09, subordinate=0d, sec-latency=32 I/O behind bridge: 00007000-00007fff Memory behind bridge: d2000000-d20fffff Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 0000000088000000-000000008bffffff Capabilities: [50] Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 006c 00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GHM (ICH7-M DH) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02) Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] 9814 WKMI Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0 Capabilities: [e0] Vendor Specific Information Kernel modules: iTCO_wdt, intel-rng 00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 02) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP]) Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 006c Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 18 I/O ports at 01f0 [size=8] I/O ports at 03f4 [size=1] I/O ports at 0170 [size=8] I/O ports at 0374 [size=1] I/O ports at 1880 [size=16] Kernel driver in use: ata_piix Kernel modules: piix, ide-pci-generic, pata_acpi, ata_piix, ata_generic 00:1f.2 RAID bus controller: Intel Corporation 82801GHM (ICH7-M DH) SATA RAID Controller (rev 02) Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 006c Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 4346 I/O ports at 18c8 [size=8] I/O ports at 18ac [size=4] I/O ports at 18c0 [size=8] I/O ports at 18a8 [size=4] I/O ports at 18b0 [size=16] Memory at d2304400 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K] Capabilities: [80] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit- Queue=0/0 Enable+ Capabilities: [70] Power Management version 2 Kernel driver in use: ahci Kernel modules: ahci 00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02) Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] 9814 WKMI Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 19 I/O ports at 18e0 [size=32] Kernel driver in use: i801_smbus Kernel modules: i2c-i801 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation G70 [GeForce Go 7600] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller]) Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Acer 9814 WKMI Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16 Memory at d1000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M] Memory at b0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M] Memory at d0000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M] I/O ports at 2000 [size=128] Capabilities: [60] Power Management version 2 Capabilities: [68] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable- Capabilities: [78] Express Endpoint, MSI 00 Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel Capabilities: [128] Power Budgeting Kernel driver in use: nvidia Kernel modules: nvidia, nvidiafb 02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8055 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 12) Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 006c Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 4345 Memory at cc000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K] I/O ports at 3000 [size=256] [virtual] Expansion ROM at c4000000 [disabled] [size=128K] Capabilities: [48] Power Management version 3 Capabilities: [50] Vital Product Data Capabilities: [5c] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable+ Capabilities: [e0] Express Legacy Endpoint, MSI 00 Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting Kernel driver in use: sky2 Kernel modules: sky2 07:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (rev 02) Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 1001 Flags: fast devsel, IRQ 19 Memory at ce000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K] Capabilities: [c8] Power Management version 2 Capabilities: [d0] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable- Capabilities: [e0] Express Legacy Endpoint, MSI 00 Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting Capabilities: [140] Device Serial Number d0-f6-40-ff-ff-de-18-00 Kernel driver in use: iwl3945 Kernel modules: iwl3945 09:04.0 Multimedia controller: Philips Semiconductors SAA7133/SAA7135 Video Broadcast Decoder (rev d1) Subsystem: Avermedia Technologies Inc Device a836 Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 16 Memory at d2005000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2K] Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2 Kernel driver in use: saa7134 Kernel modules: saa7134 09:06.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCIxx12 Cardbus Controller Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 006c Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 168, IRQ 21 Memory at d2007000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K] Bus: primary=09, secondary=0a, subordinate=0d, sec-latency=176 Memory window 0: 88000000-8bfff000 (prefetchable) Memory window 1: 8c000000-8ffff000 I/O window 0: 00007000-000070ff I/O window 1: 00007400-000074ff 16-bit legacy interface ports at 0001 Kernel driver in use: yenta_cardbus Kernel modules: yenta_socket 09:06.1 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments PCIxx12 OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller (prog-if 10 [OHCI]) Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 006c Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 20 Memory at d2005800 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2K] Memory at d2000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K] Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2 Kernel driver in use: ohci1394 Kernel modules: ohci1394 09:06.2 Mass storage controller: Texas Instruments 5-in-1 Multimedia Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO/xD) Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 006c Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 21 Memory at d2004000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K] Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2 Kernel driver in use: tifm_7xx1 Kernel modules: tifm_7xx1 09:06.3 SD Host controller: Texas Instruments PCIxx12 SDA Standard Compliant SD Host Controller (prog-if 01) Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 006c Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 21 Memory at d2006000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256] Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2 Kernel driver in use: sdhci Kernel modules: sdhci
lsmod
$ lsmod Module Size Used by af_packet 42624 2 ip6t_LOG 23940 7 xt_tcpudp 20480 2 xt_pkttype 18944 3 ipt_LOG 23428 8 xt_limit 20356 15 ip6t_REJECT 22272 3 nf_conntrack_ipv6 36424 4 ipt_REJECT 21120 3 xt_state 19712 8 iptable_mangle 20608 0 iptable_nat 24976 0 nf_nat 39576 1 iptable_nat iptable_filter 20736 1 ip6table_mangle 20480 0 nf_conntrack_netbios_ns 19968 0 nf_conntrack_ipv4 29576 7 iptable_nat,nf_nat nf_conntrack 91536 6 nf_conntrack_ipv6,xt_state,iptable_nat,nf_nat,nf_conntrack_netbios_ns,nf_conntrack_ipv4 ip_tables 39056 3 iptable_mangle,iptable_nat,iptable_filter cpufreq_conservative 26248 0 cpufreq_userspace 23556 0 cpufreq_powersave 18816 0 acpi_cpufreq 27536 0 ip6table_filter 20608 1 ip6_tables 40720 3 ip6t_LOG,ip6table_mangle,ip6table_filter x_tables 43144 11 ip6t_LOG,xt_tcpudp,xt_pkttype,ipt_LOG,xt_limit,ip6t_REJECT,ipt_REJECT,xt_state,iptable_nat,ip_tables,ip6_tables ipv6 331544 19 ip6t_REJECT,nf_conntrack_ipv6,ip6table_mangle snd_pcm_oss 68992 0 microcode 32808 0 snd_mixer_oss 35584 1 snd_pcm_oss snd_seq 83600 0 snd_seq_device 26516 1 snd_seq binfmt_misc 30220 1 fuse 72384 1 loop 37508 0 sr_mod 35764 0 cdrom 53416 1 sr_mod piix 25480 0 [permanent] ide_pci_generic 21892 0 [permanent] ide_core 160048 2 piix,ide_pci_generic pata_acpi 25472 0 arc4 19072 2 saa7134 175452 0 ecb 20992 2 snd_hda_intel 497580 5 v4l2_common 29824 1 saa7134 videobuf_dma_sg 32644 1 saa7134 pcmcia 61336 0 videobuf_core 38532 2 saa7134,videobuf_dma_sg snd_pcm 115208 3 snd_pcm_oss,snd_hda_intel ata_piix 43396 0 ir_kbd_i2c 28048 1 saa7134 iwl3945 116196 0 ppdev 26504 0 gspca 704144 0 sdhci 35980 0 ohci1394 50868 0 snd_timer 45072 3 snd_seq,snd_pcm rtc_cmos 28728 0 rtc_core 41012 1 rtc_cmos yenta_socket 45836 1 ir_common 57476 2 saa7134,ir_kbd_i2c ata_generic 26244 0 acer_wmi 30536 0 irda 164676 0 iTCO_wdt 30800 0 rtc_lib 20224 1 rtc_core led_class 22920 1 acer_wmi snd_page_alloc 28688 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm parport_pc 59592 0 parport 60448 2 ppdev,parport_pc tifm_7xx1 25472 0 nvidia 8165472 46 mmc_core 74304 1 sdhci tveeprom 34704 1 saa7134 i2c_i801 27804 0 ieee1394 122216 1 ohci1394 compat_ioctl32 25984 2 saa7134,gspca sg 56912 0 serio_raw 24708 0 firmware_class 27776 3 microcode,pcmcia,iwl3945 crc_ccitt 19072 1 irda joydev 30848 0 iTCO_vendor_support 21124 1 iTCO_wdt rsrc_nonstatic 29824 1 yenta_socket videodev 52096 3 saa7134,gspca,compat_ioctl32 snd_hwdep 28424 1 snd_hda_intel tifm_core 28856 1 tifm_7xx1 container 22528 0 v4l1_compat 29444 1 videodev video 43156 0 snd 96248 16 snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd_hwdep pcmcia_core 61604 3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,rsrc_nonstatic output 21248 1 video ac 24328 0 wmi 26048 1 acer_wmi i2c_core 45344 6 saa7134,v4l2_common,ir_kbd_i2c,nvidia,tveeprom,i2c_i801 button 27040 0 battery 33672 0 intel_agp 48240 0 soundcore 26000 1 snd mac80211 220568 1 iwl3945 sky2 69892 0 cfg80211 39568 1 mac80211 dm_mirror 38272 1 dm_log 28932 2 dm_mirror usbhid 65488 0 hid 59296 1 usbhid ff_memless 23176 1 usbhid sd_mod 47280 2 ahci 51080 4 libata 195232 4 pata_acpi,ata_piix,ata_generic,ahci scsi_mod 195032 4 sr_mod,sg,sd_mod,libata ehci_hcd 56204 0 uhci_hcd 43936 0 dock 29344 1 libata usbcore 188376 5 gspca,usbhid,ehci_hcd,uhci_hcd dm_snapshot 36552 0 dm_mod 88600 21 dm_mirror,dm_log,dm_snapshot edd 28176 0 ext3 170896 3 mbcache 27396 1 ext3 jbd 82368 1 ext3 fan 23944 0 thermal 44448 0 processor 72920 4 acpi_cpufreq,thermal
/etc/X11/xorg.conf
Section "Files" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc:unscaled" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/local" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/Type1" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/URW" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/Speedo" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/PEX" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/cyrillic" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/misc:unscaled" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/75dpi:unscaled" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/100dpi:unscaled" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/Type1" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin7/75dpi:unscaled" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/baekmuk:unscaled" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/japanese:unscaled" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/kwintv" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/truetype" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/uni:unscaled" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/CID" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/misc:unscaled" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/75dpi:unscaled" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/100dpi:unscaled" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/misc:unscaled" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/75dpi:unscaled" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/100dpi:unscaled" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/Type1" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc/sgi:unscaled" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/xtest" FontPath "/opt/kde3/share/fonts" InputDevices "/dev/gpmdata" InputDevices "/dev/input/mice" EndSection Section "ServerFlags" Option "AllowMouseOpenFail" "on" Option "ZapWarning" "on" EndSection Section "Module" Load "dbe" Load "type1" Load "freetype" Load "extmod" Load "glx" EndSection Section "InputDevice" Driver "kbd" Identifier "Keyboard[0]" Option "Protocol" "Standard" Option "XkbLayout" "fr" Option "XkbModel" "pc105" Option "XkbOptions" "caps:shiftlock" Option "XkbRules" "xfree86" Option "XkbVariant" "oss" EndSection Section "InputDevice" Driver "mouse" Identifier "Mouse[1]" Option "Buttons" "12" Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice" Option "Name" "Logitech USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse" Option "Protocol" "explorerps/2" Option "Vendor" "Sysp" Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" EndSection Section "InputDevice" Driver "synaptics" Identifier "Mouse[3]" Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice" Option "Emulate3Buttons" "on" Option "Name" "Touchpad" Option "SHMConfig" "on" Option "Vendor" "Synaptics" Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" EndSection Section "Monitor" Option "CalcAlgorithm" "XServerPool" DisplaySize 305 230 HorizSync 30-66 Identifier "Monitor[0]" ModelName "1680X1050@60HZ" Option "DPMS" Option "PreferredMode" "1680x1050" VendorName "--> LCD" VertRefresh 50-61 UseModes "Modes[0]" EndSection Section "Modes" Identifier "Modes[0]" EndSection Section "Screen" DefaultDepth 24 SubSection "Display" Depth 15 Modes "1680x1050" "1600x1024" "1600x1000" "1400x1050" "1280x1024" "1440x900" "1280x960" "1366x768" "1280x800" "1152x864" "1280x768" "1280x720" "1024x768" "1280x600" "1024x600" "800x600" "768x576" "640x480" EndSubSection SubSection "Display" Depth 16 Modes "1680x1050" "1600x1024" "1600x1000" "1400x1050" "1280x1024" "1440x900" "1280x960" "1366x768" "1280x800" "1152x864" "1280x768" "1280x720" "1024x768" "1280x600" "1024x600" "800x600" "768x576" "640x480" EndSubSection SubSection "Display" Depth 24 Modes "1680x1050" "1600x1024" "1600x1000" "1400x1050" "1280x1024" "1440x900" "1280x960" "1366x768" "1280x800" "1152x864" "1280x768" "1280x720" "1024x768" "1280x600" "1024x600" "800x600" "768x576" "640x480" EndSubSection SubSection "Display" Depth 8 Modes "1680x1050" "1600x1024" "1600x1000" "1400x1050" "1280x1024" "1440x900" "1280x960" "1366x768" "1280x800" "1152x864" "1280x768" "1280x720" "1024x768" "1280x600" "1024x600" "800x600" "768x576" "640x480" EndSubSection Device "Device[0]" Identifier "Screen[0]" Monitor "Monitor[0]" EndSection Section "Device" BoardName "GeForce Go 7600" BusID "1:0:0" Driver "nvidia" Identifier "Device[0]" VendorName "NVIDIA" Option "NoLogo" "true" EndSection Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "Layout[all]" InputDevice "Keyboard[0]" "CoreKeyboard" InputDevice "Mouse[1]" "CorePointer" InputDevice "Mouse[3]" "SendCoreEvents" Option "Clone" "off" Option "Xinerama" "off" Screen "Screen[0]" EndSection Section "DRI" Group "video" Mode 0660 EndSection Section "Extensions" Option "Composite" "on" EndSection
Carrying this "laptop"
This laptop is a huge one. Its 20" screen makes it quite heavy (7.8 kg), and ACER doesn't sell any suitable bags for this computer. Fortunately, you can find a computer bag for laptops up to 20". Please search the internet for "Dicota Multigiant", and you should be able to find it at reasonable price (I bought mine for about 45 €).
Taking care of this laptop
It is much easier to carry this laptop using a bag such as the one I mention above. But care should be taken if you want it to last long. I let the plastic film on the lid, so that it's slightly protected from bad manœuvres.
First of all, beware the buggy BIOS which will slowly destroy your battery. I suspect any 9800 owner don't use this laptop for nomad purpose, but believe me it's a bad surprise to realize that your battery although it's barely used.
Cleaning the machine
Body
Dust is an issue affecting every computer. Clean your computer every now and the using a dry, soft cloth.
Monitor
Take care of your flat screen : I recommend using a soft microfiber cloth, moistured with demineralized water. It just does wonders and is harmless.
Inner dust
CPU fan beneath the computer gets dusty, because of ambient air being sucked in. After one year I realized my CPU temperatures could rise up to 88°C (I use BOINC, which means my CPU is usually under full load). I used my vacuum cleaner to suck (probably most, but not all) the dust out, through the grid. It lowered CPU temps by 20°C and made my machine silent again.
General advices
Generally speaking, keep your machine not too dirty, but don't become one of those Mr Proper maniacs : by over-cleaning your computer you'll do more harm than good. I usually kindly sweep the screen every 1 to 2 months or so.
Artwork
You may want to take a look at my personal contents on kde-look.org. You will especially find a Kubuntu KDM theme that may be use with other stuff (wallpaper, splashscreen, etc.) to get a consistent KDE 3.5.x visual look. Please remember that I'm no artist. My personal stuff is available under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license, other works are adapted from existing third party works (with artists' authorization) and usually published under GPL license.
Contact
Should you have any comments, suggestions, questions, ... regarding this webpage, please use this form to send me an email. Your feedback is welcome !


Links on this page
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