My brightness function keys always worked, but suddenly they stopped working as well as the “Reduce backlight brightness” option in Power Management Preferences

Every time I unplugged my power cord the monitor dimmed automatically. Now not even with the function keys I get my brightness down.

This happened in my HP Pavilion dv5-1020ep running Ubuntu 8.10 64 bits.

Here some additional info after searching in the Ubuntu forums and Google:

grep . -r /var/lib/acpi-support/*-*

/var/lib/acpi-support/bios-version:F.20
/var/lib/acpi-support/system-manufacturer:Hewlett-Packard
/var/lib/acpi-support/system-product-name:HP Pavilion dv5 Notebook PC
/var/lib/acpi-support/system-version:Rev 1

more /proc/acpi/video/DVGA/LCD/brightness

not supported

sudo echo -n 5 > /proc/acpi/video/DVGA/LCD/brightness

bash: /proc/acpi/video/DVGA/LCD/brightness: Permission denied

This happened either after a kernel or hal update…

I found a workaround, that allow the brightness to be changed. This isn’t the fix, if I unplug the power cord the brightness keeps it’s value. Still, the function keys do their job…

Just add acpi_osi=”Linux” to your grub menu:

sudo vi /boot/grub/menu.lst

title           Ubuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.27-11-generic
root            (hd0,2)
kernel          /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-11-generic root=UUID=cba317f7-1d97-4cf8-9ac8-a4a6aaf0ea81 ro quiet splash acpi_osi="Linux"
initrd          /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-11-generic
quiet

Update 1: There is a bug report about this problem.

Update 2 (16/01): Recent acpi and kernel updates just solved the problem

Further reading

• My Ubuntu Forum post

last updated: 16-01-2009

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Last week Ubuntu 8.10, aka The Intrepid Ibex, was released.

Time to updgrade First in my laptop.

I will be the using the 64 bit alternate cd to upgrade. This means that the upgrade will have a cd image as his source, and not the Internet. This way it’s much faster.

Before you start

• Check for updates using Update Manager
• Backup your data
• Check the Release Notes
• Download Ubuntu (I recommend using Torrents)
• Check the file hash (example: md5sum ubuntu-8.10-alternate-amd64.iso)
• Be sure to upgrade from Ubuntu 8.04.
• Use Gmount-iso to mount the iso file. This way cd could be mounted without having to burn a cd.

In the Terminal, go to the cd mount point (example: /media/cdrom) and type:

gksu "sh /cdrom/cdromupgrade"

And now we wait…

During the updgrade there may be some questions about replacing some configuration files. I replaced them all with the new versions.

After restarting and reactivating my Software Sources there were more updates to do. This is because Ubuntu deactivates other software sources and because I made the upgrade from the alternate cd.

Issues

• Non-Issue 1: It really seams faster
• Non-Issue 2: Install OpenOffice 3.0
• Issue 1: I was missing some software I wanted to get back.
  • gVim
  • gnuCash
  • Mail Notification
  • LAMP Server (check the link for details)
• Issue 2: Reactivate Software Sources (System > Administration > Software Sources) updating them to Intrepid.
• Issue 3: Add to re-install EnvyNG-Qt (sudo apt-get install envyng-qt) and enable the ATI driver.
• Issue 4: Scrolling in Firefox was extremely slow. I reinstalled the ATI driver and it’s fixed now.

sudo apt-get remove --purge fglrx*
sudo apt-get remove --purge xserver-xorg-video-ati xserver-xorg-video-radeon
sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-ati
sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorgsudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

last updated: 11-11-2008

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My old laptop’s battery is dying, and used that as an excuse to buy myself a new on

I had a HP Pavilion zt3240EA, and have been very happy with it. Nice machine. Still, age weights on every one.

I’m gonna be installing Ubuntu 8.04.1 LTS Desktop Edition, 64 bits version, on my new HP Pavilion dv5-1020ep.

Download and Burn a CD

• Go to Ubuntu Download Page and download Ubuntu.
• Check the downloaded file hash. The output must be the same as you see in the Ubuntu Hashes Page.

md5sum ubuntu-8.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso

• Burn a cd (you can use Brasero, for example, if you already use Ubuntu).

Running the live cd

• Boot from the cd.
• After booting it’s important to check the integrity of the cd. Burning cds also fails.

Hardware to check (during the live cd session)

• Graphics (only 1024×768, but check)
• Sound (check)
• Media buttons (check)
• Cable network (check)
• Wireless network (the proprietary Atheros wireless card was found, not tested)
• HP media command (not working)
• Integrated Webcam (check)

Hard Drive Partition Layout

/dev/sda
	/dev/sda1	ntfs	Vista			36002 MB
	/dev/sda2	ntfs	Vista Recover		 8450 MB
	/dev/sda3	ext3	/			10240 MB
	/dev/sda5	ext3	/home 			10240 MB
	/dev/sda6	ext3	/storage		94072 MB
	/dev/sda7	swap				 1028 MB

Post-install: Graphics Card

I installed EnvyNG using the Synaptic Package Manager (look for envyng-gtk) and just had to run it (Applications > System Tools > EnvyNG), after closing Synaptic (important), and choose to “Install the ATI driver (Automatic Hardware Detection)” option.

I now have a normal 1280×800 screen resolution and some desktop effects are already active.

There is an ATI Catalyst Control Center under Applications > Other, where you can tweak things up.

Problems to Solve: if I have Compiz on, there’s a terrible flickering when playing back movies.

Post-install: CPU Frequency Scaling

After installing Ubuntu I noticed that the frequency of both cores was always at 2 GHz (the cpu max frequency in my case).

Because this is a laptop I want the cpu to scale that frequencies as needed.

Useful tools:

sudo apt-get install cpufrequtils

You can check this behavior by:

• Adding the “CPU Frequency Scaling Monitor” to your Gnome Panel (add two, one for each core). Frequency should change while you work.
• Check the output of the following (here you can check the driver used – powernow-k8 – and the current scaling policy)

cpufreq-info

Reference: How to use CPU frequency scaling (cpufreq)

After some time of research here’s a very simple method (read the Reference for much more details):

• Add the following to your /etc/rc.local file ( sudo vi /etc/rc.local )

modprobe powernow-k8
sudo cpufreq-selector -g userspace
/etc/init.d/powernowd restart

exit 0

• Add the -n option to your /etc/default/powernowd file ( sudo vi /etc/default/powernowd )

OPTIONS="-q -n"

• Restart

Useful tips:

• Check available frequencies for your cpu (if you have more than one core also check cpu1, cpu2, etc.)

cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_available_frequencies

• Check current governor

cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor

• Check available governors

cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_available_governors

Problems to solve: restarting powernowd always change the governor to ondemand.

Post-install: Wireless Network card

A warning in the Notification Area showed that a Proprietary Driver is enabled (Atheros wireless card).

lspci | grep Atheros to check the driver name.

Followed this instructions from Ubuntu Forums, now I can use the wireless card, I found several networks, the signal is good, I connect with my password, but I can’t get an IP… This means no Internet.

Problems to solve: connect to the Internet with sucess.

Post-install: Laptop Optimizations

Here’s some useful tips if you’re running on a laptop:

• Change the ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE option to true ( sudo vi /etc/default/acpi-support )

ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE=true

• Install and run powertop. Follow the instructions on-screen (more info here).

sudo apt-get install powertop

sudo powertop

Post-install: Sound Card

Sound works fine, but the Master mute button doen’t mute the Front. This means that the columns still output sound.

To fix this go to System > Preferences > Sound and select the Front device in the list below.

Post-install: File System

Besides the / and /home partitions, only root have permissions to write in every other partitions. In my case /storage.

So, we have to add permissions to our user:

sudo chown -R youruser:youruser /storage
sudo chmod -R 755 /storage

Click here for more info.

Post-install: Updates

Update Manager warned me about 120 available updates. Just letting it go…

Post-install: Multimedia

References: Complete Streaming, Multimedia & Video How-to and Medibuntu

• Repositories

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/hardy.list \
 -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list
wget -q http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add \
 - && sudo apt-get update

• Flash

sudo apt-get purge flashplugin-nonfree && \
sudo mkdir /usr/lib/flashplugin-nonfree && \
sudo cp -f ~/Desktop/libflashplayer.so \
/usr/lib/flashplugin-nonfree/ && \
sudo nspluginwrapper -i \
/usr/lib/flashplugin-nonfree/libflashplayer.so && \
sudo ln -sf \
/usr/lib/nspluginwrapper/plugins/npwrapper.libflashplayer.so \
/etc/alternatives/firefox-flashplugin && \
sudo ln -sf /etc/alternatives/firefox-flashplugin \
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/plugins/flashplayer-alternative.so && \
sudo rm -f /usr/lib/firefox/plugins/npwrapper.libflashplayer.so

• Codecs and plugins (it will take quite some time)

sudo apt-get remove gnash gnash-common libflash-mozplugin \
libflashsupport mozilla-plugin-gnash swfdec-mozilla && \
sudo apt-get install alsa-oss faac faad flashplugin-nonfree \
gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad \
gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly \
gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse ia32-libs icedtea-gcjwebplugin \
liblame0 non-free-codecs openjdk-6-jre unrar

• Audio and Video Streaming

sudo apt-get remove kaffeine-mozilla mozilla-helix-player \
mozilla-mplayer mozilla-plugin-vlc totem-mozilla xine-plugin && \
sudo apt-get install gnome-mplayer gecko-mediaplayer

• Playing Encrypted DVDs

sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2 libdvdread3 libdvdnav4 build-essential debhelper fakeroot \
 regionset

• Changing your DVD Region Code (be sure there’s a DVD in the drive)
  

sudo regionset

Check the reference link, because it as many other things you’ll want.

Post-install: Preferences and Look and Feel

Here’s some things I changed right away:

• 4 workspaces
• Automatic login (System > Administration > Login Window, Security tab)
• Add Network Manager and Battery Charge Monitor to the Panel
• Background
• NTP Time Server
• Weather on Clock Preferences

Post-install: NFS file sharing

To configure two Ubuntu machines to share files using NFS, check here.

Post-install: SAMBA Server

Go to Applications > Add/Remove and install Samba.

Go to System > Administration > Samba to add shares and define samba users.

Also check this post.

Post-install: LAMP Server

To install Apache, MySQL and PHP, check here.

Post-install: extra software

List of extra installation software installed:

• Firefox Foxmarks add-on (can’t live without it)
• GnomeDo
• VLC
• Conky
• Synergy
• GVim
• lm-sensors
• Network Selector
• VirtualBox
• Gaupol Subtitle Editor
• More Firefox add-ons (BugMeNot, Forecastfox, Twitkit, Portuguese Dictionary)
• Firefox IMDB search-engine
• Gnucash
• Google Earth (it will download a .bin installation file, run it in the Terminal)
• aspell-pt-pt
• Mail Notification

Further reading

• HowTo [EN]: Ubuntu Linux on HP Pavilion series dv2000, dv6000, dv9000

last updated: 18-09-2008

______________________________________________________________________________________

UPDATE 13/06: playing encrypted DVDs and changing your DVD Region Code (check Post-install: Multimedia).

Tomorrow (01/05) is an holiday in Portugal and today it was a nice day to start installing Ubuntu in my Desktop

The first reference for my eXPerience is my own post where I address several important points to check before installing and to achieve.

Running the live cd

So, the first thing was downloading Ubuntu 32 bits, checking the downloaded file hash (look for more info here) and burning the cd.

After booting from the cd is important to check the integrity of the cd. Burning cds also fails.

Hardware to check (during the live cd session)

• Sound (check)
• Cable network (check) — been writing in the blog in the live cd session
• Graphics (not so good)

I have a 800×600 screen resolution in my 19” monitor, and the image isn’t centered…
I installed EnvyNG using the Synaptic Package Manager (look for envyng-gtk) and just had to run it (Applications > System Tools > EnvyNG), after closing Synaptic (important), choose to “Install he NVIDIA driver (Automatic Hardware Detection)” option.
Note: before installing EnvyNG, in Synaptic, go to Settings > Repositories and in the “Ubuntu Software” tab choose every option. Also, in the “Third-Party Software” tab choose the first option.

Because I was in a live cd session I didn’t restart to see the effect, but everything looks fine in the log so…

Starting the installation now

Ubuntu install Hard Drive Partition Layout

/dev/sdc
	/dev/sdc1	ntfs			21476 MB (20 GB)
	/dev/sdc2	ext3	/		15360 MB (20 GB)
	/dev/sdc5	ext3	/home		15360 MB (15 GB)
	/dev/sdc6	swap			2048 MB (2 GB)
	/dev/sdc7	ext3	/storage/pool	27719 MB (27 GB)

Post-install: graphics card

After the Ubuntu installation, I restart the computer and choose to boot from Ubuntu in the Grub menu.
I still don’t have the graphic card installed, but the image is centered now.

I installed EnvyNG (like in the live cd session) and restarted.

While restarting a NVIDIA splash screen will be displayed, proofing a successful installation.
I now have a normal 1280×1024 screen resolution and some desktop effects are already active.

Also check the System > Administration > NVIDIA X Server Settings. Pretty awesome. Even my monitor is correctly recognized.

Post-install: wireless network card

A warning in the Notification Area told I had a Proprietary Driver to install. I just had to check Enable and the wireless card was installed.

Ridiculous simple…

To Do: try the wireless network…

Post-install: file system

Besides the / and /home partitions, only root have permissions to write in every other partitions. In my case /storage/pool.

So, we have to add permissions to our user:

sudo chown -R youruser:youruser /storage/pool
sudo chmod -R 755 /storage/pool

Click here for more info.

Post-install: Multimedia

References: Complete Streaming, Multimedia & Video How-to and Medibuntu

• Repositories

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/hardy.list \
 -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list
wget -q http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add \
 - && sudo apt-get update

• Flash

sudo apt-get purge flashplugin-nonfree gnash gnash-common && sudo apt-get install \
 flashplugin-nonfree

• Codecs and plugins (it will take quite some time)

sudo apt-get remove icedtea-gcjwebplugin openjdk-6-jre && sudo apt-get install alsa-oss \
 compizconfig-settings-manager faad gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad \
 gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly \
 gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse gstreamer0.10-pitfdll libflashsupport liblame0 \
 sun-java6-fonts sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin unrar w32codecs

• Playing Encrypted DVDs

sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2 libdvdread3 libdvdnav4 build-essential debhelper fakeroot \
 regionset

• Changing your DVD Region Code (be sure there’s a DVD in the drive)
  

sudo regionset

Check the reference link, because it as many other things you’ll want.

Post-install: System > Preferences

List of changed Preferences:

• Advanced Desktop Effects Settings (Compiz Settings Manager)
• Keyboard (Layout > Layout Options)

Post-install: LAMP Server

To install Apache, MySQL and PHP, check here.

Post-install: Windows Legacy

To install VirtualBox to run Windows, check here.

Post-install: NFS file sharing

To configure two Ubuntu machines to share files using NFS, check here.

Post-install: Syncing Windows Mobile 5/6 with Synce

To sync your phone with Ubuntu, check here.

Post-install: extra software

List of extra installation software installed:

• GVim
• Firefox Foxmarks add-on (can’t live without it)
• More Firefox add-ons (BugMeNot, Forecastfox)
• Firefox IMDB search-engine
• VLC
• Gmount-iso
• Gmail Notifier
• Gnucash
• Amarok
• Istanbul Desktop Session Recorder
• Sysinfo
• Conky
• Gaupol Subtitle Editor
• VirtualBox
• Acrobat Reader (choose the .deb installer and double click after the download)
• Google Earth (it will download a .bin installation file, run it in the Terminal)
• gPHPEdit
• Screem HTML/XML Editor
• Bluefish Editor
• Gnome Partition Editor (gParted)
• aspell-pt-pt
• Simple Backup
• mdf2iso (sudo apt-get install mdf2iso)
• nrg2iso (sudo apt-get install nrg2iso)
• gFTP

last updated: 13-06-2008
original post: 01-05-2008

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

I’m preparing to install Ubuntu 8.04 “Hardy Heron” in my desktop machine.

Before starting

• Try, using the Ubuntu live-cd, at least graphics, sound and cable network access (done)
  
• Backup important data (done)
• Decide the partition layout for all my hard drives (example) (done)
• Rethink my home network (IPs, Windows workgroup names…)
• Decide between Ubuntu 32 bits and Ubuntu 64 bits for my AMD Athlon 64BIT X2 DUAL-CORE 4200+ SKAM2 2.20 GB
  • I’ve decided to go with Ubuntu 32 bits (done)
  • Check if both cores are beeing used (done)

I will be dual-booting (for now) with Windows XP, and in order to release myself from Windows completely, here’s a “to achieve” list.
This list doesn’t have a significant order of importance.

To achieve (check the installation eXPerience here)

• Internet access using my home network (cable) (achieved)
  
• Internet access using my home network (wireless)
• Read and write support from Linux to my Windows partitions (just in case) (achieved)
• Read and write support from Windows to my Linux partitions (just in case)
• Divx and Xvid playback with subtitle files support (achieved)
• Full browser experience (Java, flash…) (achieved)
• Microsoft Office 100% support (achieved using a virtual machine)
  • it isn’t enough .doc support
  • as an example, the Excel formats, graphs, etc. should be exactly the same
  • it could be done using a virtual machine
• Windows XP in a virtual machine (objective – legacy support) (achieved)
  
• Streaming media content (xvid, divx) to my Xbox 360
  • the the content must be converted to the right format in real time
  • it must add subtitles to the media (for instance .srt separated files)
  • in Windows I use TVersity
• Print to PDF (achieved)
• Have a subtitle editor (achieved)
  • a needed feature is to fix the subtitles in order to keep a fixed number of characters for column
  • in Windows I use Subtitle Workshop
• Software to mount cd image files (like .iso) (achieved)
  
• Recording software (CD and DVD support) (achieved)
• Google Earth and Google Notifier (achieved)
• Full iPod Touch support (it could be done using a virtual machine)
• Full Calendar and Contacts sync support for Qtek 9100 (it could be done using a virtual machine) (achieved)
• Apache, PHP and MySQL solution for my home database solution, currently working in Windows (achieved)
• Remote Desktop Connection to other machines, including Windows (it could be done using a virtual machine)
• Home network (at least shared folders) (achieved)
  

Other nice stuff I’d like>

• BIOS upgrades (it could be done using a virtual machine)
• System monitor (hard drive free space, cpu, memory, network and temperature)

last updated: 21-05-2008

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

And I’m set. I’m now officially running Ubuntu 8.04 LTS.

The recommended (and easier) way to upgrade from Ubuntu 7.10 is to use Update Manager. But the servers are clotted (April 25th)…
I tried it two times and it just isn’t possible at this moment (yes, I want Hardy).

So I downloaded the alternate version of Ubuntu (check bellow the “Start Download” button).
This version isn’t a live cd, and it can be used to upgrade Ubuntu.

I installed (Applications > Add/Remove) Gmount-iso. This way I could use the iso file without having to burn a cd.

To make sure cd image isn’t corrupted:

• In the Terminal

md5sum ubuntu-8.04-alternate-i386.iso

• You should get the correct hash for the iso you’re checking

166991d61e7c79a452b604f0d25d07f9 *ubuntu-8.04-alternate-i386.iso

• Check the hash values here.

After an hour I got the alternate version of Ubuntu 8.04, mounted the iso file using Gmount-iso and, in the Terminal:

gksu "sh /cdrom/cdromupgrade"

And off we go. Upgrading to 8.04.

After some time the upgrade was complete and I rebooted the machine. Check bellow the aftermath:

• Several packages were marked to removal at the beginning of the upgrade. My Ubuntu 7.10 installation came from Ubuntu Ultimate Edition. I think that’s one of the reasons. I gave it a little look and kept going. If something is missing I will install it later.
• The installer asked 3 ou 4 times about replacing configuration files, like smb.conf. It allowed to see the differences between the current file and the new one, and I could choose to keep or replace the files. I backed up the ones I wanted and replaced them all.
• Restarted.
• After the restart the Update Manager wanted to do a partial upgrade. It seems the alternate cd didn’t cover all packages. More packages where marked for removal.
• After the successful partial upgrade, I’m did another one.
• I then restarted again.
• I ran the Update Manager manually and check for updated and there aren’t none. I was finished. It was a long run.

Issues

• Issue 1: I was missing some software I wanted to get back. Just went do Applications > Add/Remove and that was it.
  • gVim (installed)
  • vlc player (installed)
  • VirtualBox kernel driver (to install)
  • LAMP Server (installed – check the link for details)
• Issue 2: All my preferences seems to be ok, except the mouse pointer speed (System > Preferences > Mouse). (solved)
  
• Issue 3: in Places > Network I see my Workgroup, but no computers (in this case a Windows machine). Still the Windows machine is accessing Linux shared folders (that I had to share again). (to solve)
  • If I use directly the IP I have no problems, but even in Places > Connect to Server I’m having no luck.
  • To pass this “problem” I created a Launcher (Location) in the Desktop to the machine (smb://100.000.0.0/).
• Issue 4: The version of Firefox that came with Ubuntu is the 3.0 beta 5. Unfortunately some of my favorite add-ons aren’t supported (just yet), so I’m gonna have to install Firefox 2.0 (to do).
• Issue 5: The time server (ntp) I had defined was gone. I had it again. (solved)

ntp02.oal.ul.pt

• Issue 6: I had some custom code in grub. I have to check it out tomorrow. (to check)
• Issue 7: Check if VirtualBox is running. (to check)

last updated: 25-04-200

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

First thing to decide is how will I partition my hard drive.

/dev/sda
	/dev/sda1	ext3	/	10240 MB
	/dev/sda5	ext3	/home 	10240 MB
	/dev/sda6	ext3	/data 	58547 MB
	/dev/sda7	swap		1028 MB

I used some useful resources to decide:

• Ubuntu Forums Partition Basics
• Explanation of the Ubuntu / Linux file structure

last updated: 20-03-2008

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

I chose Ubuntu Ultime Edition, based on Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibson because it added a lot of useful software and configuration out of the box.
Having tried it on my laptop I saw everything I needed to get me started, from hardware to software, was already there. So I backup all my data and started my eXPerience.

PS: I had Windows XP Professional Edition installed…

last updated: 20-03-2008

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