For a while now I have been considering buying a netbook, for the wife’s parents (who could do with a device to use to look at photos, read email, browse the internet, and one or two other activities).
Two weeks ago, I decided to buy an Acer Aspire One 110 (the linux version with 8GB SSD and 512MB ram), which Incredible Connection is selling for R3000 (not that you will find it on their website).
There have been other reports of Mandriva cooker on this hardware (one thread started by J. A. Magallon a few months back), but things are looking more positive now. Also, it seems like quite a number of people are running Mandriva on their AAO-110’s, from 2008.0 up to cooker/2009.1.
Installation via PXE
I didn’t have a USB flash disk with enough capacity to install from available, butsince we have PXE setup at work, and since I noticed the AAO has PXE support, I first tried booting the Mandriva 2009.0 installation via PXE, but the screen looked corrupted as soon as the kernel booted (this may be due to issues with the network card driver in 2.6.27 kernels – a non-network install would probably have worked fine). Since we have a local cooker mirror, I decided to try post-RC1 cooker, and that booted fine.
By default, these machines seem to come with a 6.5GB partition for everything, and a swap partition for the rest:
Mandriva 2009.1 RC1 installer - AAO default disk layout
I don’t have a screenshot showing the root filesystem, but I decided to use LVM for all but /boot (~100MB), and created a 3GB ext4 for /, 3GB for /home (ext3), about 580MB swap, and about 800MB unallocated:
Mandriva 2009.1 RC1 installer -AAO after partitioning
A new minor feature in 2009.1 is the choice of LXDE as a desktop (while others were available from individual package selection), previsouly only KDE and GNOME were shown at the package group selection step). Although I thought KDE would be the better option for the user in this case, selecting KDE at this point took me over the available space, so I decided to install just with LXDE:
Mandriva 2009.1 RC1 - package group selection
Installation took quite a while (over an hour), and after installation completed, I installed KDE (via ‘urpmi task-kde4′).
What works?
Out the box, the following hardware worked:
- Display worked at the native resolution, and the boot splash theme filled the whole screen
- Wired NIC worked without problems, including during OS installation (r8169 driver)
- Wireless card worked fine (though I only used it on my home wifi network) with the ath5k driver.
- Webcam worked out-the-box (with skype as well) with no tricks required
- SD card reader (you seem to have to boot at least once with a card inserted for the hardware to be enumerated right). I didn’t have success with an XD card in the multi-format card reader, but it isn’t important for this use case
- Suspend to ram seems to work quite reliably, suspend to disk doesn’t resume though.
What does not work out-the-box?
I had problems with the microphone initially, and this was probably solved by adding the following to /etc/modprobe.conf:
options snd-hda-intel model=acer-aspire
Some issues may also have been resolved by the BIOS update (which I will cover in another post).
Boot Time
Boot time seems to be the hot topic these days (especially with netbooks), so I did two runs with bootchart, both with speedboot enabled, one booting (with the help of autologin) into LXDE, one into KDE.
In the KDE case, it seems X starts up at about 14s, startkde starts at 21s (but, it may have been delayed by readahead), kbuildsycoca and the mandriva splash screen do quite a bit, before plasma starts at 39s. It seems like we have a usable desktop somewhere around 60s, a long time before booting is finished (shorewall start starts at 65s, and finishes at about 80s).
Boot chart for 2009.1 RC1 with KDE autologin
The LXDE case is considerably better, with a desktop that seems to be useable appearing at about 35s. However, there was some delay in starting an application (lxterminal), which although the icon was probably clicked just after 35s, only appeared at about 55s.
Boot chart for 2009.1 RC1 with LXDE autologin
I took a video of the LXDE case, which I will try and add soon …
Conclusion
For a R3000 device (about twice the price of a 7″ LCD photo frame device), the new grandparents have a 9″ photo frame device, with much greater capacity (~4GB available), which can have internet access and run many more usable applications. The majority of the hardware worked out-the-box, with only a bit of tweaking required to get a functional video-conferencing setup … although we still need to arrange some internet access for them.
Although the Aspire One’s SSD is notoriously slow, booting into KDE is not overly tedious, and LXDE provides a usuable quicker desktop. Since speedboot work isn’t complete, and some speedups only work right on the 2nd boot, I am sure we will see faster boot times with 2009.1 final.
Appendix: Technical hardware details
lspcidrake output:
unknown : JMicron Technologies, Inc.|xD Host Controller [SYSTEM_OTHER]
jmb38x_ms : JMicron Technologies, Inc.|MS Host Controller [SYSTEM_OTHER]
sdhci_pci : JMicron Technologies, Inc.|Standard SD Host Controller [SYSTEM_SDHCI]
sdhci_pci : JMicron Technologies, Inc.|SD/MMC Host Controller [SYSTEM_OTHER]
ath5k : Atheros Communications Inc.|AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter [NETWORK_ETHERNET]
r8169 : Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.|RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller [NETWORK_ETHERNET]
unknown : JMicron Technologies, Inc.|xD Host Controller [SYSTEM_OTHER]
jmb38x_ms : JMicron Technologies, Inc.|MS Host Controller [SYSTEM_OTHER]
sdhci_pci : JMicron Technologies, Inc.|Standard SD Host Controller [SYSTEM_SDHCI]
sdhci_pci : JMicron Technologies, Inc.|SD/MMC Host Controller [SYSTEM_OTHER]
i2c_i801 : Intel Corporation|82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller [SERIAL_SMBUS]
ata_piix : Intel Corporation|82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) SATA IDE Controller [STORAGE_IDE]
iTCO_wdt : Intel Corporation|82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge [BRIDGE_ISA]
unknown : Intel Corporation|82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [BRIDGE_PCI]
ehci_hcd : Intel Corporation|82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller [SERIAL_USB]
uhci_hcd : Intel Corporation|82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4[SERIAL_USB]
uhci_hcd : Intel Corporation|82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3[SERIAL_USB]
uhci_hcd : Intel Corporation|82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2[SERIAL_USB]
uhci_hcd : Intel Corporation|82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1[SERIAL_USB]
shpchp : Intel Corporation|82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 4 [BRIDGE_PCI]
shpchp : Intel Corporation|82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 [BRIDGE_PCI]
shpchp : Intel Corporation|82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 [BRIDGE_PCI]
shpchp : Intel Corporation|82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 [BRIDGE_PCI]
snd_hda_intel : Intel Corporation|82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller
unknown : Intel Corporation|Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller [DISPLAY_OTHER]
Card:Intel 810 and later: Intel Corporation|Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller [DISPLAY_VGA]
intel_agp : Intel Corporation|Mobile 945GME Express Memory Controller Hub[BRIDGE_HOST]
hub : Linux 2.6.29-desktop-0.rc8.3.1mnb ehci_hcd|EHCI Host Controller [Hub|Unused|Full speed (or root) hub]
uvcvideo : Sonix Technology Co., Ltd.|USB 2.0 Camera [Video|Video Control]
hub : Linux 2.6.29-desktop-0.rc8.3.1mnb uhci_hcd|UHCI Host Controller [Hub|Unused|Full speed (or root) hub]
hub : Linux 2.6.29-desktop-0.rc8.3.1mnb uhci_hcd|UHCI Host Controller [Hub|Unused|Full speed (or root) hub]
hub : Linux 2.6.29-desktop-0.rc8.3.1mnb uhci_hcd|UHCI Host Controller [Hub|Unused|Full speed (or root) hub]
hub : Linux 2.6.29-desktop-0.rc8.3.1mnb uhci_hcd|UHCI Host Controller [Hub|Unused|Full speed (or root) hub]
lspci output:
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 02)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) SATA IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 System peripheral: JMicron Technologies, Inc. SD/MMC Host Controller
01:00.2 SD Host controller: JMicron Technologies, Inc. Standard SD Host Controller
01:00.3 System peripheral: JMicron Technologies, Inc. MS Host Controller
01:00.4 System peripheral: JMicron Technologies, Inc. xD Host Controller
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller (rev 02)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
04:00.0 System peripheral: JMicron Technologies, Inc. SD/MMC Host Controller
04:00.2 SD Host controller: JMicron Technologies, Inc. Standard SD Host Controller
04:00.3 System peripheral: JMicron Technologies, Inc. MS Host Controller
04:00.4 System peripheral: JMicron Technologies, Inc. xD Host Controller
/etc/modprobe.conf
alias eth0 r8169
alias sound-slot-0 snd_hda_intel
options snd-hda-intel model=acer-aspire
options snd-ac97-codec power_save=1
install scsi_hostadapter /sbin/modprobe ata_piix; /sbin/modprobe ahci; /bin/true
install usb-interface /sbin/modprobe ehci_hcd; /sbin/modprobe uhci_hcd; /bin/true
alias wlan0 ath5k
alias pci:v0000168Cd0000001Csv0000105Bsd0000E008bc02sc00i00 ath5k
/etc/modprobe.preload
nvram
intel_agp
evdev
sdhci
sdhci_pci
mmc_block
