Installing Slackware on Gateway Solo 9300

Last updated: 27th April 2006

General Hardware Specifications of Solo 9300:

Hardware Components	Status under Linux	Notes
Pentium III Processor, 450 MHz	Works	No special procedure required during installation.
14.1 TFT LCD Display	Works; max res 1024 x 768, 16.7mill colours	No special procedure required during installation.
ATI 3D Rage Mobility P/M 4 MB Video	Works; not accelerated though. See Notes.	Given Up for Now
128MB, SDRAM, 2SO-DIMMs (32MB onboard + 64 and 128 modules?)	Works	No special procedure required during installation
6 GB Toshiba MK6014MAP Hard Drive	Works	No special procedure required during installation
Modular Floppy Drive	Not Tested	No special procedure required during installation
No Integrated Network Card	N/A	N/A
3Com Mini PCI type 3B Internal V.90 56K Modem	Doesn't Work	No driver yet available
24X DVD ROM DV-25E (TEAC?)	Works	No special procedure required during installation
No Built-In Wireless	N/A	N/A
75 WHr Lithium-Ion Battery	Sort of Works (It's fairly dead but that's not Slackware's fault)	No special procedure required during installation
ESS Maestro 2E Sound Card (ESS1978S)	Works	Make sure you're using (ALSA) driver snd_es1968

This laptop is operating under Kernel version 2.6.16.5

Basic Installation of Slackware:

Why Slackware?
I tried Fedora (and Knoppix) also. Fedora is perhaps easier to get working but it runs too slowly for such a resource-challenged machine. Besides, Slackware rocks.
Obtaining Slackware. Get Slack. I used 10.2 from a local mirror.
Installation.
I don't remember what I chose sorry; I think it's fairly straightforward and I didn't choose anything fancy! I have 192 MB allocated to swap, at start of disk and I'm using the ReiserFS filesystem.

Post-Install modifications/tweaks.

I downloaded the 2.6.15.5 kernel so I could get features like better X and ACPI support; 2.4.31 comes with 10.2 and there's a 2.6 kernel on the Slackware 10.2 media.

Configured NTP by adding Australian servers to /etc/ntp.conf

Tried to get accelerated video support working; compiled another X.org, Mesa, libdrm, tried gatos drivers etc. There are meant to be ATI drivers now in X.org, as well as the gatos drivers that support this card. Still can't get glxinfo to return Direct Rendering: Yes and glxgears only gives around 20FPS.

Downloaded newer versions of Firefox (Slackware comes with 1.0.6), Java, Flash plugin for Firefox, MPlayer/FFMPEG/any required DVD libraries.

Setting up additional features for Slackware

Using External Monitor and/or TV: For external monitor support, add to /etc/X11/xorg.conf the crt_display option as follows:
```
Section "Device"
    Identifier  "ATI Rage"
    Driver      "ati"
    BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
    Option      "crt_display" "On"
    Option      "accel"
EndSection
```
You can then do Fn-F3 to toggle between LCD, External, LCD & External. TV Out (aka Theatre Out): also use Fn-F3 and it works.

Unresolved issues

Touchpad is an EZ Pad touchpad which seems to often click links by itself as you move past them. Might be a result of
```
Xorg.0.log:(==) ATI(0): Silken mouse enabled
```
Multimedia buttons
The volume, mute, email, web browser, help etc buttons don't work. I haven't tried to make them work. The controls on front (lock, rewind, play, stop, forward) may work with CDs; I haven't tested them either.
Suspend
Haven't looked at this yet; may need to use something like Suspend2
Fast IR
Requires NSC_FIR enabled in kernel (Networking -> IrDA (infrared) subsystem support -> Infrared-port device drivers -> NSC PC87108/PC87338).
irda-utils may help with getting this going (eg. findchip -v). Also need to do things like: setserial /dev/ttyS0 uart none to disable UART.

Configuration Files

/etc/X11/xorg.conf


# works with X Window System Version 6.8.99.901 (6.9.0 RC 1) (Minimal DRI build from X.org tree)

Section "Files"
    RgbPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
    FontPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/local/"
    FontPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
    FontPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
    FontPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
    FontPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
    FontPath    "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/TTF/"
    FontPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/CID/"
    FontPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
    FontPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
    FontPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"
EndSection

Section "Module"
    Load	"dbe"
    Load	"dri"
    SubSection	"extmod"
	Option	"omit xfree86-dga"
    EndSubSection
    Load	"type1"
    Load	"freetype"
    Load        "speedo"
    Load        "glx"
EndSection


Section "ServerFlags"
    Option	"blank time"	"10"	# 10 minutes
    Option	"standby time"	"20"
    Option	"suspend time"	"30"
    Option	"off time"	"60"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier	"Keyboard1"
    Driver	"keyboard"
    Option	"AutoRepeat"	"500 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier	"Mouse1"
    Driver	"mouse"
    Option	"Protocol"	"Auto"
    Option	"Device"	"/dev/mouse"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier	"Generic Monitor"
     HorizSync  31-50
     VertRefresh 50-100
    ModeLine "1024x768" 25.175 1024 1048 1208 1264 768 776 784 817
    ModeLine "1024x768i" 45 1024 1048 1208 1264 768 776 784 817 Interlace
EndSection


Section "Device"
    Identifier	"Generic VGA"
    Driver	"vga"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier	"ATI Rage"
    Driver      "ati"
    BusID	"PCI:1:0:0"
    Option	"crt_display" "On"
    Option	"accel"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier	"Screen 1"
    Device	"ATI Rage"
    Monitor	"Generic Monitor"
    DefaultDepth 16

    SubSection "Display"
        Depth		16
        Modes		"1024x768"
    EndSubsection

    SubSection "Display"
        Depth		8
        Modes		"1024x768"
    EndSubsection
EndSection


Section "Screen"
    Identifier		"Screen 2"
    Device		"Generic VGA"
    Monitor		"Generic Monitor"
    Option		"accel"
    DefaultDepth	16

    SubSection "Display"
	Depth		16
	Modes		"1024x768"
    EndSubSection

    SubSection "Display"
	Depth		24
	Modes		"800x600" "1024x768"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier		"Screen 2"
    Device		"ATI Rage"
    Monitor		"Generic Monitor"
    DefaultDepth	16

    SubSection "Display"
	Depth		8
	Modes		"1024x768" "1280x1024"
	Option		"rgb bits" "8"
	Visual		"StaticColor"
    EndSubSection

    SubSection "Display"
        Depth           16
        Modes           "1024x768"
        Option          "rgb bits" "16"
        Visual          "StaticColor"
    EndSubSection
 
    SubSection "Display"
    	Depth		24
	Modes		"800x600" "1024x768"
	Option		"rgb bits" "24"
	Visual 		"StaticColor"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier	"another layout"
    Screen	"Screen 1"
    InputDevice	"Mouse1" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier	"simple layout"
    Screen	"Screen 1"
    InputDevice	"Mouse1" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

More Specific Information.

lspci -v:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Gateway 2000: Unknown device 9300
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64
	Memory at f8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=64M]
	Capabilities: [a0] AGP version 1.0

00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge (rev 03) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
	Flags: bus master, 66Mhz, medium devsel, latency 128
	Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=64
	I/O behind bridge: 00009000-00009fff
	Memory behind bridge: f4100000-f5ffffff
	Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 18000000-180fffff

00:07.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:07.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01) (prog-if 80 [Master])
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64
	I/O ports at 1000 [size=16]

00:07.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 5
	I/O ports at 1020 [size=32]

00:07.3 Bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 03)
	Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 9

00:08.0 Multimedia audio controller: ESS Technology ES1978 Maestro 2E (rev 10)
	Subsystem: Gateway 2000: Unknown device 9300
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 5
	I/O ports at 1400 [size=256]
	Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2

00:0a.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1450 (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Gateway 2000: Unknown device 9300
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 168, IRQ 9
	Memory at 18100000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=05, sec-latency=176
	Memory window 0: 10000000-11fff000 (prefetchable)
	Memory window 1: 12000000-13fff000
	I/O window 0: 00001800-000018ff
	I/O window 1: 00001c00-00001cff
	16-bit legacy interface ports at 0001

00:0a.1 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1450 (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Gateway 2000: Unknown device 9300
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 168, IRQ 9
	Memory at 18101000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	Bus: primary=00, secondary=06, subordinate=09, sec-latency=176
	Memory window 0: 14000000-15fff000 (prefetchable)
	Memory window 1: 16000000-17fff000
	I/O window 0: 00002000-000020ff
	I/O window 1: 00002400-000024ff
	16-bit legacy interface ports at 0001

00:0b.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB12LV23 IEEE-1394 Controller (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
	Subsystem: Gateway 2000: Unknown device 9300
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 9
	Memory at f4004000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2K]
	Memory at f4000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
	Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 1

00:0c.0 Communication controller: 3Com Corporation MINI PCI type 3B Data Fax Modem
	Subsystem: 3Com Corporation: Unknown device 6037
	Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 255
	Memory at f4004800 (32-bit, prefetchable) [disabled] [size=64]
	Memory at f4010000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [disabled] [size=64K]
	Memory at f4008000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [disabled] [size=32K]
	Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Rage Mobility P/M AGP 2x (rev 64) (prog-if 00 [VGA])
	Subsystem: Gateway 2000: Unknown device 9300
	Flags: bus master, stepping, medium devsel, latency 66, IRQ 9
	Memory at f5000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
	I/O ports at 9000 [size=256]
	Memory at f4100000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	Expansion ROM at 18000000 [disabled] [size=128K]
	Capabilities: [50] AGP version 1.0
	Capabilities: [5c] Power Management version 1

02:00.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3cCFE575CT CardBus [Cyclone] (rev 10)
	Subsystem: 3Com Corporation FE575C-3Com 10/100 LAN CardBus-Fast Ethernet
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 9
	I/O ports at 1800 [size=128]
	Memory at 12000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128]
	Memory at 12000080 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128]
	Expansion ROM at 10000000 [disabled] [size=128K]
	Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 1

(Yes I'm using a 3Com PCMCIA network card in it, using yenta_socket module for PCMCIA).

Contact Information

Feel free to send suggestions/criticisms etc etc. My e-mail address is adam.jenR3MOVEMEkins@med.monash.edu.au
.

Links:

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