Installation report for Acer TravelMate 8100

[mikewimmer]

Gary Coady Wrote: 
> 

> 

> You should enable ATAPI support in libata for the DVD drive to be
> seen.

> You can get it with git/cogito at

> rsync://rsync.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/jgarzik/libata-dev#atapi-enable

> 

> But - eh - that's a lot of work when you can just edit

> include/linux/libata.h. In this file, search for

> #undef ATA_ENABLE_ATAPI

> and replace it with

> #define ATA_ENABLE_ATAPI

> 

> I haven't actually tested DVD burning (due to laziness getting down to
> a

> local shop to buy some blanks), but it's detected properly anyway.

> 

> In general, SATA is a work in progress at the moment, and the more

> recent the kernel, the better. I'm currently hoping for ATAPI to be

> enabled by default for the 2.6.13 kernel (it won't get into 2.6.12
> now)

> - so that makes me wonder which kernel is planned for breezy...

> 



Thanks a lot, DVD drive is finally found! I don't have any DVD blanks
here at home either, so testing DVD burning also has to wait ... ;-) 



I will report back here if it works or not ...



Gary Coady Wrote: 
> 

> Does this DSDT patch fix the "jumping lines" problem with X, as I've

> seen it described? I currently use my own DSDT patch, and I've had to

> stay with 3c17 for the moment because of this problem.

> 



I can't tell because I've always been using 3C22 and the standard xorg


radeon driver. The ATI fglrx drivers wouldn't compile against 2.6.12
kernels without hacking anyways. 

But from the posts of Andreas Koch it seems that these problems are
gone in the 8.14.13 release on the cost of patching the driver. Maybe
I'll try this later, too.



Except for 3D acceleration, is there any advantage from the ATI
drivers? What would be most interesting for me is if Powerplay (dynamic
clock scaling) is implemented? 



I have found that the fan of the laptop is far more often on when using
linux than when using Windows ... (OK, unfair comparison  ;-) ) 

Even when using powernowd and enabling DynamcClockScaling in the radeon
driver, the fan is more often on than off. Without DynamicClockScaling
it wouldn't turn off a all. I'm suspecting that the X700 chip is
generating a lot of heat that prevents the fan from turning off because
in Windows it was crucial to set ATI powerplay to the lowest setting to
get an absolutely noiseless laptop for surfing and typing!

In Linux the temperature stays quite a long time at 47C - 46C and the
fan would only turn off at 45C. So even a little bit of additional
power saving might make this laptop even more quiet ...

Has anybody some experiences how to get this laptop more quiet under
Linux?



-Mike Wimmer


-- 
mikewimmer