Red Hat Linux on a Compaq Presario 2538cl Notebook

2003-10-29T14:55:00.000-05:00

This blog has been relocated to boshoff.za.net.

2003-10-09T09:26:00.000-04:00

I decided to give the kernel.org kernels a shot, instead of using Red Hat's kernels. Here's the log of how I set up the kernel.

Actually, I first tried only running the kernel with acpi patched in (no swsusp), but the kernel freezes during start-up at kudzu (Checking for new hardware...). I haven't played around with it a lot yet, I'll ask around first and see if I can get to run as smoothly as the RH kernel first.

This post will now supersede that of May 26th.

Download the latest stable (2.4) kernel and appropriate patches:
1. Kernel from kernel.org.
2. ACPI Patch matching kernel version from ACPI4Linux project page.
3. Software suspend patch from Software Suspend for Linux.
4. ~~New NTFS driver patch from the Linux NTFS Project.~~ It seems I'll have to wait on this driver. The software suspend patch does not support this driver yet. So, just go with the NTFS driver already present in the 2.4 kernel.
Unpack the kernel and apply the patches:
1. Kernel in /usr/src: bzip2 -dc ~/Software/linux-2.4.22.tar.bz2 | tar xvf -
  As RedHat likes to do, I created a symlink
  ln -s /usr/src/linux-2.4.22 /usr/src/linux-2.4
2. Apply ACPI patch from /usr/src/linux-2.4: bzip2 -dc ~/Software/acpi-20030918-2.4.22.diff.bz2 | patch -p1
3. Unpack the swsusp package, and then apply it from /usr/src/linux-2.4: bzip2 -dc ~/Software/swsusp-2.0-rc1-whole | patch -p1
4. ~~Apply the NTFS patch from /usr/src/linux-2.4: bzip2 -dc ~/Software/linux-2.4.22-ntfs-2.1.4c.patch.bz2 | patch -p1~~
make clean;make mrproper
Copy my last .config file, which you can see here. I'm still in the process of streamlining this kernel for my laptop, since I don't have tons of time or experience, I'm not sure yet which components are safe to leave out.
make xconfig, just save and exit.
make dep
Change the version information in /usr/src/linux-2.4/Makefile to reflect the new version. (I just add "custom" to the end.)
make bzImage
make modules; make modules_install
Copy the kernel (and corresponding config file to /boot):
cp /usr/src/linux-2.4/arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.22custom /usr/src/linux-2.4/.config /boot/config-2.4.22custom.
mkinitrd initrd-kernel-version.img kernel-version
Edit the GRUB configuration file and add the kernel entry, appending "resume /dev/hda6" to the kernel parameters. As the HOW-TO on the Software Suspend site suggests, I also added an entry with "resume /hda6 noresume", so you have the option of skipping the resume.

Now it's a matter of getting Software Suspend to work, I haven't tried yet. It will have to wait until I have some time!

2003-09-23T13:00:00.000-04:00

My to-do list currently stands at:

Enabling software suspend. I stumbled upon the Software Suspend site at Sourceforge. Will try to incorporate this. Wondering whether it will shorten boot time?
I'd like set up digital video editing on Linux. This would require compiling and installing some libraries and software. I'll document progress etc. here.
Think about re-arranging some of the info on this site. The blog is nice, but makes it rather hard to get to stuff.

2003-08-29T18:39:00.000-04:00

Okay, here's the comment about automatically saving a .emf file from grace.

After installing pstoedit, and making sure that it can succesfully convert .eps to .emf, add the following line to gracerc in ~/.grace:

DEFINE OFILTER "pstoedit -f emf - %s" PATTERN "*.emf"

Then when specifying the filename with a .emf extension under the "Print Setup" menu (and selecting the eps print device) it will filter it automatically through pstoedit. Still a little tedious, but quicker than doing it all manually.

2003-08-20T17:29:00.000-04:00

I'm interested in being able to save Grace graph files to wmf/emf. So I found a neat library, libEMF, which I think might be able to do this. Downloaded libEMF from the SourceForge site, together with the patch that is also on that site. Then also downloaded the neat package pstoedit.

Applied the patch to the libEMF directory: cat libEMF-1.0.fixes-2002-09-30.diff | patch -p1
./configure;make;make install
In the pstoedit directory, also do ./configure;make;make install
At least now I'm able to convert eps to emf with pstoedit -f wmf file.eps file.emf which produces vector graphs for ease of use in Windows Apps.

Will comment later on how to possibly automatically include this in Grace using some kind of filter.

2003-07-22T20:10:00.000-04:00

Downloaded and installed the new kernel today. Recompiled according to my previous post.

Also installed Intel Fortran Compiler today. Since there is an incompatibility between ifc and the new glibc libraries used by RH9, I followed some suggestions that I found in an Intel forum. It basically comes down to

Downloaded glibc-2.2.93-5.i686.rpm from the RH8.0 distribution at a Red Hat FTP mirror.
Extracted the old libraries from the rpm with the commands:
rpm2cpio glibc-2.2.93-5.i686.rpm | cpio -idv ./lib/i686/libc-2.2.93.so ./lib/i686/libc.so.6 ./lib/libc-2.2.93.so ./lib/libc.so.6 ./lib/libcrypt-2.2.93.so ./lib/libcrypt.so.1
rpm2cpio glibc-2.2.93-5.i686.rpm | cpio -idv ./lib/i686/libpthread-0.10.so ./lib/i686/libpthread.so.0 ./lib/libpthread-0.10.so ./lib/libpthread.so.0
Copied the newly created lib directory to the Intel install directory:
mkdir /usr/local/intel/old_libs; cp -r ./lib/* /usr/local/intel/old_libs/
Edited /usr/local/intel/compiler70/ia32/bin/ifc.cfg to contain:
-L/usr/local/intel/old_libs -lc-2.2.93

2003-07-12T20:43:00.000-04:00

Found drivers today for the video card! The performance is no doubt a lot better than with the VESA driver. It seems to provide 2D acceleration, which makes a big difference in your interaction with Gnome! Sylvestre Ledru has a site in which he documented installation of Linux on his Presario 2500. He also has a link to the driver, with installation instructions. If his site is down for some reason. Here's my copy of it. Basically, you just untar and run ./install. Also, edit /etc/X11/XF86Config to contain the following:

Section "Device" Identifier "ATI" Driver "radeon" VendorName "ATI Radeon" BoardName "Mobility U1" VideoRam 65536 EndSection

And remember to point the "Screen" section to this device.

2003-07-09T20:40:00.000-04:00

Mmm, noticed today that I can't mount the WinXP NTFS filesystems. So went to the RedHat NTFS Project Page and downloaded the rpm. However, since I've recompiled the kernel, the module they have available won't work right away. You need to recompile the kernel if you'd like this to work. Since this is not crucial to me, I'll wait until the next kernel release when I have to recompile anyways.

2003-06-18T15:00:00.000-04:00

Tried today to do some power optimization. I've noticed that when leaving the laptop in Linux for some, after opening it it feels pretty warm, suggesting that even though the system is idle, a lot of power has been consumed. I guess the major one is the hard drive. So I downloaded hdparm and compiled it with make, make install. You can set all kinds of parameters, I just chose to spin down the hard drive after 5 minutes of inactivity. That should cut out the heat problem.

Also did some streamlining at start-up. I chkconfig'ed off the following deamons and services that I don't need:

apmd: Have acpid instead.
atd: This is the "at" deamon, which allows execution of commands at a later time. Not necessary.
crond: Don't have anything in cron, and can't imagine needing it on a machine that's not constantly on.
sendmail: Don't need to send mail from the system...

As far as my todo list is concerned, I now stand at:

~~Get the ACPI-patched kernel compiled to have battery status displayed in Gnome.~~
~~Get the winmodem to work.~~
~~Try to resolve the hang issues whenever firewire comes into the picture in Linux.~~ (Latest kernel resolved that)
~~Resolve pcmcia issues.~~ (Latest kernel resolved hang issues as well - haven't tested it yet though, don't have a pcmcia card).
Get the one-touch buttons to work, such as the Internet, e-mail etc. shortcut buttons.

2003-06-10T21:35:00.000-04:00

Quick report - the touchpad functioned normally after the reboot. Also, kudzu sucessfully starts up now. Have not tested the linmodem on the new kernel yet, but there shouldn't be any problems there.

2003-06-04T18:20:00.000-04:00

Installed the latest Red Hat kernel today. Followed the steps I laid out in the post on May 26th to apply the acpi patch. Also had to reinstall the linmodem drivers:

rpm -e hsflinmodem-5.03.27lnxtbeta03042700-1
rpm -i hsflinmodem-5.03.27lnxtbeta03042700-1.i386.rpm
/usr/sbin/hsfconfig

Haven't checked whether the modem functions, but one thing that I have noticed, is that I can now open the hardware browser! I suspect that the firewire issue has been resolved in this kernel. Doing a /etc/init.d/kudzu start results in a successful new hardware check. This is very promising of course, except that after running it, the touchpad started to act a little loony. Hopefully this will not persist over a reboot.

2003-06-03T16:30:00.000-04:00

Installed the acpid utility, which looks for power events and issue commands that you specify. You can get this utility at the acpid event daemon website. Right now, I only have one event, which basically shuts down the computer when you press the power button. I'd like more creative options here, but haven't really thought of any. Let me know if you come up with something useful.

I have a file called power in /etc/acpid/events that contains:

event=button[ /]power action=shutdown -t 15 -h now "%e"

2003-05-31T22:22:00.000-04:00

Modem working now. Downloaded and installed the drivers provided on linuxant.com, installed it and followed the steps of the installation. Then added a new network connection using the new modem, and voila! That was pretty easy.

The drivers I used was the rpm package hsflinmodem-5.03.27lnxtbeta03042700-1.i386.rpm , downloaded from the Linuxant website.

TODO:

~~Get the ACPI-patched kernel compiled to have battery status displayed in Gnome.~~
~~Get the winmodem to work.~~
Try to resolve the hang issues whenever firewire comes into the picture in Linux.
Get the one-touch buttons to work, such as the Internet, e-mail etc. shortcut buttons.
Resolve pcmcia issues.

2003-05-27T16:56:00.000-04:00

Checked today - the LCD brightness buttons work with the new acpi patched kernel. This is about all I need.

TODO:

~~Get the ACPI-patched kernel compiled to have battery status displayed in Gnome.~~
Get the winmodem to work.
Try to resolve the hang issues whenever firewire comes into the picture in Linux.
Get the one-touch buttons to work, such as the Internet, e-mail etc. shortcut buttons.
Resolve pcmcia issues.

2003-05-26T19:17:00.000-04:00

Compiled ACPI Patched kernel today. Basically, the easiest way to do this is to follow the Linux Kernel HOWTO instructions:

Used Red Hat Network to download the newest kernel and kernel sources.
Downloaded the appropriate 2.4.20 ACPI patch from the ACPI4Linux Project page at Sourceforge.
Applied the patch in the kernel source directories gzip -dc ~/acpi-20021212-2.4.20.diff.gz | patch -p1 from wihin /usr/src/linux-2.4. At one point it complained about a diff already being applied, I did not apply this one (hit ENTER twice to accept defaults).
make clean
make mrproper
Copied the last kernel config file from /boot: cp /boot/config-2.4.20.13-9 .config
make xconfig. I then enabled ACPI from the General Setup menu and disabled APM. I also noticed that an incorrect CPU was specified, so I corrected that in the CPU Type menu.
make dep
Edited /usr/src/linux-2.4/Makefile and changed the version information to reflect a new version.
make bzImage
make modules
make modules_install gave an error the first time I ran it, complaining about a bat_gericom containing unresolved symbols. Gericom is a brand of laptop, and the module bat_gericom referenced some APM libraries, which were of course not compiled, since I configured the kernel with ACPI only. To fix this, I edited the Makefile in /usr/src/linux-2.4/drivers/char/ and commented out the line referring to Gericom: obj-$(CONFIG_BATTERY_GERICOM) += bat_gericom.o.
Copied the kernel (in and corresponding config file to /boot: cp /usr/src/linux-2.4/arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.20-18.9acpi, cp /usr/src/linux-2.4/.config /boot/config-2.4.20-18.9acpi
mkinitrd initrd-kernel-version.img kernel-version (see the howto) and finally edited GRUB configuration file, /boot/grub/grub.conf to load the new kernel.

I now have battery status reported in the Gnome panel (by adding the gnome applet Battery Status Monitor), and Linux can turn off the laptop when you shut down the system. I've not played around with any of the other buttons yet (power and LCD brightness, volume etc.), but will do this is due time. For now it works fine.

2003-05-24T19:17:00.000-04:00

Okay, after playing around a little with the Quickrestore CD's, I noticed that it uses PowerQuest software to do the image restore. I then attempted to edit the scriptfile that does the factory restore such that it would restore the image onto a 40Gb partition instead of the factory 60Gb. The script file I used is as follows:

SELECT DRIVE 1 DELETE ALL SELECT FREESPACE FIRST SELECT IMAGE 1 RESIZE IMAGE 40000 RESTORE SELECT PARTITION 1 SET ACTIVE

Then used the following restore command after booting with the Quickrestore CD's and Ctrl-C to get a DOS prompt. Note Q:\ is the CD-ROM drive and B:\ floppy drive, onto which I saved the above-mentioned script.

Q:\tools\pqimgmb.exe /cmd=b:\qrestore.scr /img=q:\restore\factory.pqi /nrb /esf=q:\tools\%string%

This is the command used in one of the MS-DOS batch files used to invoke the restore.

I thought that everything would go according to plan, and other than a "Lost clusters xxx-xxx" message (!), all seemed well. Upon restart however, though WinXP appeared to work fine, it was still installed on a 60Gb partition!

So... since I'm running out of time, I did a complete quick-restore, this time going through with the standard procedure. The restore went smoothly this time. I then resorted to buying partition resizing software (7tools's Partition Manager, which I believe is basically Paragon Partition Manager at a little cheaper price for $30), resized the WinXP partition and reinstalled Red Hat 9.0 in the remaining free space.

Red Hat Linux install was smooth as well, and so I have a functioning dual-boot notebook now.

Since I have a set-up that can facilitate in getting a thesis written now, I will probably let it be for a while.

My Linux to-do list, in order of importance:

Get the ACPI-patched kernel compiled to have battery status displayed in Gnome.
Get the winmodem to work.
Try to resolve the hang issues whenever firewire comes into the picture in Linux.
Get the extra functionality keyboard buttons to work in Linux - this involves the monitor brightness adjustment (can this be done at all? - please e-mail me!) as well as Internet, e-mail etc. shortcut buttons.
Resolve pcmcia issues.

2003-05-22T10:27:00.000-04:00

I'm planning a complete, cleaner re-install, to enable a dual-boot setup with WinXP. I'd like to use the restore CD's that came with the computer to recover all software into a smaller partition on the hard drive, then use the remaining free space to install Linux.

This approach largely stems from my desire not to purchase partition resizing software that I'll use only ONCE.

2003-05-21T17:20:00.000-04:00

I just came up with an apt hostname, which I thought I'd share: teleo

Definition from Thayer and Smith. "Greek Lexicon entry for Teleo". "The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon":

to bring to a close, to finish, to end
1. passed, finished
to perform, execute, complete, fulfil, (so that the thing done corresponds to what has been said, the order, command etc.)
1. with special reference to the subject matter, to carry out the contents of a command
2. with reference also to the form, to do just as commanded, and generally involving the notion of time, to perform the last act which completes a process, to accomplish, fulfil
to pay
1. of tribute

"When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit." John 19:30

"And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me." 2 Corinthians 12:9

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;" 2 Timothy 4:7

2003-05-21T09:30:00.000-04:00

To take care of the pcmcia problem, I've chkconfig'ed pcmcia off for now.

2003-05-21T00:04:00.000-04:00

Resolved the X resolution issue.

The laptop has a Radeon IGP 340M chip, with no drivers available for XFree86. Well, to be more accurate, there are some commercial drivers available from Xi Graphics.

Here's my /etc/X11/XF86Config:

# XFree86 4 configuration created by redhat-config-xfree86 Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "Default Layout" Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0 InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer" InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard" InputDevice "DevInputMice" "AlwaysCore" EndSection Section "Files" # RgbPath is the location of the RGB database. Note, this is the name of the # file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db"). There is normally # no need to change the default. # Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together) # By default, Red Hat 6.0 and later now use a font server independent of # the X server to render fonts. RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb" FontPath "unix/:7100" EndSection Section "Module" Load "dbe" Load "extmod" Load "fbdevhw" Load "glx" Load "record" Load "freetype" Load "type1" EndSection Section "InputDevice" # Specify which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1)) # Option "Xleds" "1 2 3" # To disable the XKEYBOARD extension, uncomment XkbDisable. # Option "XkbDisable" # To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the # lines below (which are the defaults). For example, for a non-U.S. # keyboard, you will probably want to use: # Option "XkbModel" "pc102" # If you have a US Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use: # Option "XkbModel" "microsoft" # # Then to change the language, change the Layout setting. # For example, a german layout can be obtained with: # Option "XkbLayout" "de" # or: # Option "XkbLayout" "de" # Option "XkbVariant" "nodeadkeys" # # If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and # control keys, use: # Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:swapcaps" # Or if you just want both to be control, use: # Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:nocaps" # Identifier "Keyboard0" Driver "keyboard" Option "XkbRules" "xfree86" Option "XkbModel" "pc105" Option "XkbLayout" "us" EndSection Section "InputDevice" Identifier "Mouse0" Driver "mouse" Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2" Option "Device" "/dev/psaux" Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no" EndSection Section "InputDevice" # If the normal CorePointer mouse is not a USB mouse then # this input device can be used in AlwaysCore mode to let you # also use USB mice at the same time. Identifier "DevInputMice" Driver "mouse" Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2" Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice" Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no" EndSection Section "Monitor" Identifier "Monitor0" VendorName "Monitor Vendor" ModelName "Generic Laptop Display Panel 1400x1050" HorizSync 31.5 - 90.0 VertRefresh 59.0 - 75.0 Option "dpms" EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "Videocard0" Driver "vesa" VendorName "Videocard vendor" BoardName "VESA driver (generic)" EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "Screen0" Device "Videocard0" Monitor "Monitor0" DefaultDepth 24 SubSection "Display" Depth 16 Modes "800x600" "640x480" EndSubSection SubSection "Display" Depth 24 Modes "1400x1050" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" EndSubSection EndSection Section "DRI" Group 0 Mode 0666 EndSection

To do:

Get the winmodem to work under Linux

Resolve annoying pcmcia issue upon shutdown

2003-05-20T20:30:00.000-04:00

This will be a log of my attempts to install and tweak Red Hat Linux on a Compaq Presario 2538cl notebook. I'm at the verge of writing my PhD thesis, and would very much like to do it in LaTeX, which is why I've chosen to go this route.

Quick bio of the Notebook:

P4 2.6GHz
1GB RAM
60 GB HDD
15" SXGA TFT (1400x1050)
ATI Radeon IGP 340M

I'll need to get more details later on about the above specs, but for now, this will do.

Red Hat 9.0 Installation will not run as automatically, since it hangs at the point where the firewire driver is loaded. Consequently, to start the installation:

At the Linux Boot screen, type 'linux nofirewire'
Installed with everything that made sense - kept the VESA generic driver for the video card and generic monitor.
Boot from CD and specify linux 'rescue nofirewire'
In rescue mode, after the installed image is mounted, typed the following in the shell:
ln -s /mnt/sysimage/etc/rc.d/* /etc
ln -s /mnt/sysimage/etc/init.d /etc
ln -s /mnt/sysimage/etc/rc.d* /etc
chkconfig kudzu off
Reboot, now I was able to have the machine boot and log in.

Unresolved issues:

The video resolution is 800x600, not good since the native resolution of the monitor is 1400x1050. Have to look into which driver to specify.
When shutting down the computer, it hangs on "Stopping pcmcia: unloading Kernel Card Services."