Comments on: Linux on Asus UL30A-X5

By: mikeys

mikeys — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 00:00:10 +0000

Here is my .config. http://pastebin.com/PcXPHnTF

@Penguinpunk: The screen is not anti-glare, its glossy.

By: tayfun

tayfun — Sat, 29 May 2010 13:25:11 +0000

I’ve recently bought this laptop and installed the new Ubuntu 10.04 version. It works like a charm. I didn’t have any webcam or WiFi problems like others have said here.

By: zicmama

zicmama — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:52:49 +0000

About webcm flip problem, here is a solution:
http://radu.cotescu.com/2009/11/05/flipped-images-ubuntu-webcam/

By: Pinguinpunk

Pinguinpunk — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 06:16:13 +0000

I am interested in this notebook, too. However, I am wondering about the display. Asus clames “Anti Glare”, but on photos of a different review it looks like your ordinary mirroring display every notebook has these days.

And, would you mind posting your .config?

By: Riskable

Riskable — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:59:17 +0000

Just an FYI: The ath9k driver isn’t really stable yet. That’s why you’re having wifi issues. You’ll get a lot more stability out of the driver if you force it to use 802.11abg and forget about 802.11n until they fix the problems.

@HS: 1mb/sec is what iwconfig will report when the ath9k driver has achieved an 802.11n connection. I don’t know why that is but if you query the driver directly in /sys (I forget the exact path) it will report a proper 802.11n speed (I usually see 130Mbps).

There’s a lot of active development going on with the ath9k driver right now so I suspect the problems with 802.11n will be solved in due time. Just be patient and stick with 802.11abg (no 802.11n) until they’re worked out.

For reference, the wifi hardware that utilizes ath9k is actually pretty sweet. The drivers just need some work (and they *are* working on it–trust me).

-Riskable
“I have a license to kill -9″

By: eclyptox

eclyptox — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:28:24 +0000

That kernel is not bad. I think it has improved my cpu. But the signal strength is very similar. The thing I would like to fix is the touchpad. Do anybody know a solution? The brightness can be fixed with a script in the ubuntu wiki.

By: HS

HS — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 17:36:18 +0000

jcdoll,

Thanks. 2.6.32 installed like a charm.

It may have improved the wifi signal strength a bit, but I’m afraid it’s still not up to snuff. Most troubling is that nm-tool reports 54 Mb/s even when connected to an N router. When I dual boot, Windows 7 reports 150 Mb/s when connected to the same router.

Another troubling comparison is running nm-tool on the UL30A-X5 and also on an old Dell Latitutde D610 sitting next to it. The Asus picks up 14 wifi access points while the Dell picks up 25 access points.

Finally, I don’t know if this is significant or not but nm-tool on the Asus often reports “Capabilities: Speed: 1 Mb/s” even though the current (N) connection shows good Strength, say, 84. On the Dell I’ve never seen anything lower than 24 Mb/s when connected to the same router, showing also a (typical) strength of 84.

By: jcdoll

jcdoll — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 20:31:14 +0000

@HS

Instructions for installing 2.6.32 here:

http://www.ramoonus.nl/2009/12/03/linux-kernel-2-6-32-installation-guide-for-ubuntu-linux/

Fixed my wireless problems with a UL30a

By: pmvalente

pmvalente — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:09:51 +0000

Same problem, webcam upside down, ubuntu karmic 64 bits, very fast.

By: eclyptox

eclyptox — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 09:05:52 +0000

Mine is 1000, Gigabit ethernet. Yes, the webcam is inverted in cheese too. And the touchpad is not recognised so i cannot disable it while typing. Sound is great, battery I haven’t tested at all, but is more than my old laptop. And with ubuntu karmic 64 is pretty fast.