joachim-reichel.de

Debian Etch on a Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook E8110

Note that I do not any longer own this machine, so I cannot answer specific questions.

Hardware

This is the output of lspci:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller AHCI (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8055 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 12)
05:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (rev 02)
08:03.0 CardBus bridge: O2 Micro, Inc. OZ711MP1/MS1 MemoryCardBus Controller (rev 21)
08:03.1 CardBus bridge: O2 Micro, Inc. OZ711MP1/MS1 MemoryCardBus Controller (rev 21)
08:03.2 Class 0805: O2 Micro, Inc. Unknown device 7120 (rev 01)
08:03.3 Bridge: O2 Micro, Inc. Unknown device 7130 (rev 01)
08:03.4 FireWire (IEEE 1394): O2 Micro, Inc. Unknown device 00f7 (rev 02)

Preliminaries

If you want to use the preinstalled Windows, you should first start Windows and complete the installation, since this process alters the partition table. Afterwards, the disk is partitioned as a single, large partition. You can use the partition manager built into the Debian installer to shrink this partition and to create new ones.

Base installation

Debian Etch was not yet released when I installed the notebook. I used the Etch Beta 2 build of the Etch installer. (This version comes with a 2.6.15 kernel which does not support the ethernet card, hence some tricks are needed.) Later I upgraded to the 2.6.18 kernel that comes with Etch. It works without problems. Currently I'm running a 2.6.23 kernel.

X server

I exchanged vesa by i810 in /etc/X11/xorg.conf. My notebook has a 1400x1050 display, but the X server refuses to enable that mode with the error message Not using mode "1400x1050" (no mode of this name) in /var/log/Xorg.0.log. This can be fixed by installing the 915resolution package (adjust /etc/defaults/915resolution).

For some reason, a previous kernel did not load the mousedev module. Hence, the X server did not start which eventually lead to a complete lock of my notebook. Therefore, I added mousedev to /etc/modules.

Hardware clock

If the hwclock command fails with select() to /dev/rtc to wait for clock timed out, add the --directisa option. This option should also be added to HWCLOCKPARS in /etc/init.d/hwcklock.sh and /etc/init.d/hwcklockfirst.sh.

Wireless LAN

I use the Debian packages firmware-ipw3945, ipw3945d and ipw3945-modules-2.6.18-4-686. You should also install ipw3945-source if you want to compile your own kernel.

Suspend & Hibernate

Finally I managed to get suspend working. I am using linux-image-2.6.23-1-686 2.6.23-1~experimental.1~snapshot.9723, hibernate 1.97-1, uswsusp 0.3~cvs20060928-7 and acpi-support 0.103-1. I added USuspendRamForce yes to /etc/hibernate/ram.conf. After resume, I have to press Fn+F7 to adjust the display brightness.

Note that hibernate and acpi-support are from Lenny. The kernel is from http://kernel-archive.buildserver.net/debian-kernel, since I had no success with the 2.6.22 kernel in Lenny (the display is very dark after resume and the Fn+F7 trick does not work).

I did not yet manage to get hibernate working. The system simply freezes while writing the image. I am very thankful for hints how to get hibernate working.

Knoppix

I successfully used Knoppix 5.2 for various rescue purposes. Knoppix 5.0.1 works also, but it does not support the ethernet card. Actually, you have to disable the ethernet manually to prevent your console from being flooded with sky2 eth0: phy read timeout messages. Boot with knoppix 2 (no GUI) or a similar command. As soon as the prompt appears, enter rmmod sky2.

Not yet tested

  • Bluetooth
  • Firewire
  • PCMCIA slot

Files

Other reports

Other reports concerning Linux on a Lifebook E8110 can be found here: