spareinfo

Linux on a Fujitsu U810, P1620, T1010 - Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick

2010-10-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

Last week I upgraded to latest Ubuntu, Maverick 10.10.

Everything seems fine; Ireally suggest anyone of you with a u810 to upgraded asap.

- external monitor: works great

- suspend/resume: works great

- touchscreen: uhm ... the touch driver failed working. As pointed by nerd65536 and mifa (thanks for the fast fix), just with a small modification everything is working again.

So please find here the latest version of the driver !!

Also, following the suggestions from nerd65536, this version fixes the driver problem on suspend/restart, and README instructions are improved.

Linux on a U810 - ubuntu install latest kernel

2010-09-02T08:33:00.001-07:00

To solve some issues with external monitor, I was suggested by

https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=26833

to install latest kernel. So I did, here are the steps:

1) download *386, *all packages from
http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/

linux-headers-2.6.36-020636rc2_2.6.36-020636rc2.201008230905_all.deb
linux-headers-2.6.36-020636rc2-generic_2.6.36-020636rc2.201008230905_i386.deb
linux-image-2.6.36-020636rc2-generic_2.6.36-020636rc2.201008230905_i386.deb

2) install
$ sudo dpkg -i *.deb

=> done, not the new kernel appears in the grub menu !

3) note to main: to de-install:
If you would like to uninstall a mainline kernel anyway, first use:

* dpkg -l | grep "linux\-[a-z]*\-"

to find the exact name of the kernel packages you want to uninstall, and then do:

* sudo apt-get remove KERNEL_PACKAGES_TO_REMOVE

Remember that several packages belong to one kernel version: common headers, architecture specific headers and the architecture specific image.

Linux on a fujitsu U810 - Lucid setup

2010-07-28T10:27:00.000-07:00

As a reminder for anyone upgrading to lucid:

when I booted into X after upgrading to ubuntu lucid, I missed the minimize/maximize/close buttons at the top-right of every window; for some reason, they are not there.

In order to make these buttons reappear, proceed as follows: (info taken from
http://www.baptiste-wicht.com/2010/05/ubuntu-lucid-lynx-buttons-right/)

- start gconf-editor (type gconf-editor at the terminal)

- go to : apps > metacity > general. You’ll see here a key named button_layout with the default value of “close,minimize,maximize:”. To put the buttons like in
the other versions, you just have to edit this value to

:minimize,maximize,close

And then all your windows will have the normal button order at the right of the window title bar.

- if you want to include the window menu, you can change the value to :

menu:minimize,maximize,close

Linux on a Fujitsu U810, U820 - keyboard lights

2010-07-24T01:19:00.000-07:00

short story: it's working !! - keep reading

Some readers of this blog where still missing this feature, so I engaged the daunting task of finding some time and energy to solve this issue. After 5 hours of googling, reading documentation about acpi, linux kernel, reading c code for the linux kernel drivers, googling for ubuntu file repository source files, ... I found the solution, which is very easy:

=> keyboard lights can be easily controlled by accessing the sysfs <=

Since the sysfs is root-only, I have created a small c program, with automatic compile and install, that makes keyboard-lights accessible for any user.

Installation

1 download the fujitsu-kbdlights-0.1.0.tar.gz to any directory in your computer

2 decompress the package (it will create another directory, fujitsu-kbdlights-0.1.0/)
tar zxvf fujitsu-kbdlights-0.1.0.tar.gz

3 compile and install
cd fujitsu-kbdlights-0.1.0
make
sudo make install

4 and in a command shell, you can type

fujitsu_kbdlights on

fujitsu_kbdlights off

fujitsu_kbdlights toggle

fujitsu_kbdlights

5 if you want, you can bind any of the previous commands to a hot-key using any keyboard setup utility

Enjoy typing at night !!

Linux on a Fujitsu U810, P1620, T1010 - Touchscreen IX

2010-07-20T16:48:00.000-07:00

Following the request from several users, and a little bit late, I have adapted the driver to work on systems with kernel-compiled usbhid module.

The problem was that, in certain cases (fedora and other distributions) the usbhid module is compiled in the kernel, not compiled as a module. In these cases, the prior script that performs the correct binding of the device to the fujitsu_usb_touchscreen module was not working. Also, the previous script, even it was working, was not very polite and was not following correct computer initialization procedures.

You can find the new driver here.

To follow installation instructions, go read this previous post.

Fujitsu U810 - Ubuntu upgarde to 10.04, Lucid Lynx

2010-05-14T01:19:00.000-07:00

update 2010.09.02: I recently installed the kernel 2.6.36, and then,

- suspend/resume works as expected

- external monitor works great !!

- mouse pointer is ok

- boot is as long as expected

=> so, now I can recommend to upgrade to lucid, as long as you install this kernel release.

To install this kernel in ubuntu, read this post.

This last week-end I took fresh air and made the brave decision to upgrade my U810 to the latest ubuntu, lucid lynx, 10.04, released two weeks ago.

Long story short: don't do it yet.

Details:

- suspend / resume was working flawless in 9.04, and fast; with 10.04, something strange is happening, many times on opening the screen does not resume, and even resuming sliding the power button the machine resumes but external usb devices and monitor don't work, and I have to go through a several Ctr+Alt+F1 - Ctrl+Alt+F7 sequences to have usb devices working back

- external display behaves strange: I wrote 'nomodeset' option in the kernel load commenad line at grub, to have the external monitor working. But :

Working with the monitor tool in System -> Preferences is like a nightmare, sometimes it works, other doesn't, so I have to keep trying selecting the external monitor, then it gives some error, then I select it again, then it works , ....

Many times, when the screen-saver launches, the external monitor gets disabled (some other it doesn't), and I have to go to the Monitor tool nightmare

- the mouse pointer is broken; botom 30% is the usual arrow-bottom, but the 70% rest is the text-entry cursor; even it seems a small annoyance, its a big usability issue; many times I end up pressing options I didn't want to !

- booting seems to me much longer than with previous version ....

In ubuntu 9.04 everything was working very fine, very fast, not even a slight issue; with this version, the problems are too serious to recommend and upgrade, so just wait.

I'll be updating my system as new updates are available, and I'll post back when the issues described are solved.

BTW: the touchscreen driver compiled and works as usual !

Ubuntu Karmic - Update to Thunderbird 3

2009-12-18T04:32:00.000-08:00

Given the fact than, even thunderbird 3 is already released, but not included in standard ubuntu package repository, I went the ubuntuzilla route to have thunderbird upgraded to 3.

Here are the steps, that you can also find here:

command line, as normal user:

echo "deb http://switch.dl.sourceforge.net/project/ubuntuzilla/apt all main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list > /dev/null
sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com C1289A29

synaptics package manager

- update
- install ubuntuzilla

command line, as normal user

ubuntuzilla.py -a installupdater -p thunderbird
ubuntuzilla.py -a checkforupdategui -p thunderbird
ubuntuzilla.py -a install -p thunderbird

It took about 5 minutes all the process, then restarted thunderbird, and all is fine, and I'm happy!!

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - External Monitor in Karmic Koala

2009-12-18T03:06:00.000-08:00

After using the 'nomodeset' option explained here, I also found a new improvement:

in order to switch from external monitor to only use LCD, pressing FN+A works as expected, out-of-the-box!!

=> thus, it is not necessary to do the hack explained here anymore !!

Wow, every time this computer is faster and more powerful; I'm using it on a daily basis for work, so I was thinking about switching to a new laptop, but this u810 is getting faster and with more features !

I only miss integrated 3G ....

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - Upgrade to karmic koala - External Monitor Update

2009-12-16T02:00:00.000-08:00

Following the bug resolution here, I currently have the following setup to have the external monitor working as it was working in Ubuntu's previous version, jaunty:

In file /boot/grub/menu.lst, in the kernel line, I have added the nomodeset option:

title Ubuntu 9.10, kernel 2.6.31-17-generic
root (hd0,4)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-17-generic root=UUID=<deleted> ro quiet splash nomodeset
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-17-generic

And reboot.

I find the screen very nice and sharp, not any flickering even in small lines (I'm working with a 24'', 1900x1200), even better than in previous ubuntu. (Do I have to remember that using windows, maximum external resolution is 1600x768? ;-))

overall, I feel this new version much faster that previous, much more responsive, so I encourage all of you to upgrade asap, you won't be disappointed !!

update: I have even activated compiz, and the system still feels very responsive, so I keep it activated !

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - webcam II

2009-11-27T02:44:00.000-08:00

After debugging the camera upside-down issue, here are the final instructions to have the webcam working 100%:

1) install the r5u87x software to download the firmware to the webcam

from the package readme:

Ubuntu
$ sudo apt-get install libglib2.0-dev libusb-dev build-essential gcc automake mercurial
$ hg clone http://bitbucket.org/ahixon/r5u87x/
$ cd r5u87x
$ make; make rules
$ sudo make install
$ sudo r5u87x-loader --reload

r5u87x-loader will automatically be run on boot when it detects your webcam.

2) if your webcam doesn't work yet, reload the uvcvideo module:

as root:
rmmod uvcvideo
modprobe uvcvideo

and then the last lines of 'dmesg' should be:

[ 562.597838] uvcvideo: Found UVC 1.00 device (05ca:1841)
[ 562.610394] input: UVC Camera (05ca:1841) as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb1/1-5/1-5:1.0/input/input19
[ 562.610538] usbcore: registered new interface driver uvcvideo
[ 562.610546] USB Video Class driver (v0.1.0)

And it's done!!!

It works (I have tested it) with cheese, xawtv, skype (the image with skype is horizontally mirrored, but t works).

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - webcam

2009-11-24T02:34:00.000-08:00

update 2009.11.27: please go to this post for webcam setup, where easier instructions and links to latest versions of software is included !!

With the U810, the webcam has two annoyances:

- the webcam is windows based, to webcam's firmware is in the windows driver, and needs to be downloaded to the webcam before using it

- the webcam is mounted upside down, so in some cases you may see the image upside down; it's needed to make the driver to automatically flip back the image, unless the video application can do it

1) to have the webcam firmware load to the webcam, you have to have the "R5U87x Userspace Tools" available here: http://bitbucket.org/ahixon/r5u87x/src/

having that package installed and compiled, then, as root, first unload the webcam module and then run the command to load the firmware:

# rmmod uvcvideo

# ./loader
r5u87x firmware loader v0.2

Searching for device...
Found camera: 05ca:1841
Camera reports negative microcode state.
Sending microcode to camera...
Enabled microcode.
Camera reports microcode version 0x0103.

Successfully uploaded firmware to device 05ca:1841!

will load the correct firmware to the webcam.

This action must be done on every computer reboot; I haven't automated this step, but it should be fairly easy to do.

2) once the webcam is set, just loading the kernel module will find the webcam; as root just type:

# modprobe uvcvideo

running dmesg you can see that the webcam is now detected:

[81252.074453] uvcvideo: Found UVC 1.00 device (05ca:1841)
[81252.077719] input: UVC Camera (05ca:1841) as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb1/1-5/1-5:1.0/input/input25
[81252.077863] usbcore: registered new interface driver uvcvideo
[81252.077871] USB Video Class driver (v0.1.0)

and from this point on the webcam is available in video apps like cheese or skype.

In cheese, there is one video filter which you can activate to automatically flip back the image, so it's not upside down.

To have the image automatically upside down back, so it shows ok, last time I checked I needed to manually apply a patch to the uvcvideo module, since this module didn't have any option to activate this 'filter' automatically; I'll check again later ...

update: I have already contacted someone that may help having this upside down annoyance fixed, so keep tuned for more info !!

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - Upgrade to karmic koala

2009-11-16T04:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was brave enough to upgrade my reliable jaunty to an unpredictable karmic, so here are my results so far:

- touchscreen driver - works ok

I just reinstalled it just typing, with the latest version,

make clean
make
sudo make install

and it worked OK

- external monitor - I'm having some issues:

Update: also read this update

*) in order to have the monitor work, I have to plug it once ubuntu is started (was ok on jaunty)

*) my monitor is 1920x1200, the maximum I get is 1360x768 (was ok on jaunty)

I have just opened a bug in the video-intel group at xorg, https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=25115

- suspend/resume - works ok!

- fujitsu buttons driver (fjbtndrv) - works ok

- webcam - works ok!

Linux on a Fujitsu U810, U820, P1620, P1630, T1010, B8260 - Touchscreen X

2009-08-21T01:08:00.000-07:00

andrew, a reader of this blog, has posted a comment noting that this linux touchscreen driver also works on a fujitsu p1630, so p1630 owners, welcome to this blog!

Linux on a Fujitsu U810, P1620, T1010, B8260 - Touchscreen IX

2009-07-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

An anonymous user has sent a comment where s/he tells me that the fujistu_usb_touchscreen driver is also working for the Fujitsu B8260!

Thanks for the comment; I'll update the docs!

Linux on a Fujitsu U810, P1620, T1010 - Touchscreen VIII

2009-07-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

Following a request from a user, I have adapted the driver to work on a Fujitsu T1010.

The problem was that, for an unknown reason, when running the calibration script, inside the driver code -1 was considered bigger than 94. I think that behavior must be because of some integer sign issues either because the new kernel, either because who knows; the truth is that this comparison works fine in my system, but doesn't on the T1010.

So, if you find that the calibration script doesn't work properly, then update to this newer version and try again.

Thanks to draco, for reporting the driver works on a T1010, for reporting the bug and letting me remote connect to his computer to debug the driver.

uname -a was:
Linux xxx 2.6.28-13-generic #45-Ubuntu SMP Tue Jun 30 22:12:12 UTC 2009 x86_64 GNU/Linux

You can find the new driver here.

To follow installation instructions, go read this previous post.

Ubuntu automatic updates

2009-07-15T02:03:00.000-07:00

Since I moved to Ubuntu 9.04, jaunty jalopnik (or something like that, to lazy to check), I lost automatic updates.

Even I had all settings set so I wanted to check for updates daily, and be notified when new updates were available, it was not working; the system was not doing the automatic fetch of new updates, so I was doing manual updates.

But that finished yesterday, when I looked into the issue. To make it short: the problem is that the automatic updates procedure does not run on a daily basis, not that the notification icon that I liked very much on ubuntu 8.04 was not appearing.

To solve that, I noticed that in /etc/cron.daily there was a script called apt, which is the one to make the daily updates, so that was fine.

But the problem is that this file didn't have the proper execution permissions, so, as root, I typed in the console:

chmod ugo+x /etc/cron.daily/apt

Now I have daily updates back! Now the problem that I'm facing is that when new updates are available, update manager starts automatically showing the update manager screen, instead of just the notification icon. I think I read about this issue somewhere, and a gconf setting needs to be set to solve this problem. I'll update this post once I solve this last nuisance.

update: at http://www.watchingthenet.com/how-to-restore-automatic-update-notification-icon-in-ubuntu-9-04.html i found the solution to restore update manager notification icon: open geconf-editor (in a terminal type 'gconf-editor &') and unselect the key '/apps/update-notifier/auto_launch' See the screenshot below!

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - X Graphics Performance

2009-07-10T03:54:00.000-07:00

After upgrading to ubuntu 9.04, and setting up the latest intel video driver repository to be able to work with an external monitor, I was fiddling a little with some internal-external monitor.

Then, some days later, I notice I was experiencing X was extremely slow; when running glxgears, I was getting about 60fps, scrolling a web page on firefox was flickering, and I was a little on misery. I thought that was the price, so I've been like that for one month.

But yesterday it was enough!

I send the 'grep 'EE' /var/log/Xorg.0.log' command, and I saw the following error in the X log file:

intel(0): Cannot support DRI with frame buffer width > 2048

So after some googling, what I did was to look at the xorg.conf file. For some unknown reason to me, I had the following

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
SubSection "Display"
Virtual 5094 2048
EndSubSection
EndSection

So after restoring the Virtual values to 2048 2048, and restarting X, now graphics was much improved!!

Now glxgears gives me 530fps, a x10 increase in performance, and it really is much more responsive!!

I found some other suggestions in the net that didn't work:

- include Option "AccelMethod" "xaa" -> the computer hung
- include the command export INTEL_BATCH=1 to my .bashrc -> no effect

I have to investigate these other suggestion found:

Option “PageFlip” “true”
Option “TripleBuffer” “true”
Option “XvMC” “true”
Option “XvMCSurfaces” “7″

I'll update this post once I test this options.

Flashblock extension for Firefox

2009-06-10T07:44:00.000-07:00

Lately I'm experiencing high cpu usage when navigating the internets, specially due to the fact that flash is now everywhere: ads, videos, image scrolls, graphics, animations, ...

Flash has became an essential tool not only in bad-designed websites, I mean, even google uses it!!

Since Flash support in linux is very badly implemented, and my now-more-than-1-year-old u810 is not such a powerful computer, I decided to install the 'flashblock' extension.

With this plugin enabled, instead of flash automatically clogging my system, for each flash object a squared box appears with a play button inside, which when being pressed then plays the flash.

It works very well and avoids my computer look like hung when anvigating or opening multiple tabs in firefox.

P.D.- I'm still waiting for adobe to release a decent flash player for linux, when will that happen please?

Grab and Drag extension for Firefox

2009-05-27T07:49:00.000-07:00

A month ago I read about a firefox extension that would help screen panning for touchscreen users.

Since touchscreen in my u810 was not working, I had to first make the touchscreen work, thus I programmed the fujitsu_usb_driver.

So that, last week I installed this extension, which can be found here.

I've been using it during all this last week, and I can tell you that it works very well, it's reliable, and I find it very useful. So that, I recommend you to try it if you use a touchscreen tablet computer.

I find it so useful that I even use it when using an external mouse!

Don't hesitate to go to its website and take a look at the screenshoots.

P.D.- I have not any relationship with the developer(s) whatsoever, just talking as a normal user for this plugin...

Linux on a Fujitsu U810, P1620 - Touchscreen VII

2009-05-19T05:53:00.000-07:00

New update of the touchscreen driver package: the driver was not working ok when the screen was rotated.

I think that now, accuracy is good in all screen orientations.

Follow the instructions in this earlier post for download and installation.

Linux on a Fujitsu U810, P1620 - Touchscreen VI

2009-05-15T16:34:00.000-07:00

Update 2009.05.19: new version available here!!

Following the feedback from a user complaining about the module not compiling under linux kernel 2.6.30, I'm releasing this new version, 0.3.3, which includes the following improvements:

- compiles under 2.6.30
- installation does not override previous calibration values, if exist
- more robust /etc/rc.local, to make sure the module is loaded before usbhid

If you have it already working, you can forget about this update; this update is for people having trouble with installation or compilation, but does not provide any new functionality.

Linux on a Fujitsu U810, P1620 - Touchscreen V

2009-05-14T03:45:00.000-07:00

Update 2009.05.19: new version available here!!

Update 2009.05.16: updated the link to the package with the newer version. See this post for details.

As pointed by one user, when doing screen rotation pen accuracy was not good.

I have reviewed the code and come up with a new version, where I think coordinates calculation is OK now (I think the previous code was a leftover for when I had my screen not well calibrated ...)

So, download the new package and follow the instructions detailed in this previous post.

Please, report your feedback on this new version and calibration values !!

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - Skype

2009-05-13T03:07:00.000-07:00

For installing skype, here's what I did:

1. setup the medibuntu repository where skype package is located:
following these instructions, I did, for jaunty,

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/jaunty.list --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install medibuntu-keyring && sudo apt-get update

2. open synaptic package manager, and install skype (version 2.0.0.72 at the time of this writing)

3. for sound configuration, I opened the Volume Control right-clicking on the volume control icon, and I was playing with it.

Skype sound configuration is set as follows:

Skype works ok, but cpu usage is very high during a simple voice conversation.

I always use skype with a headphones/mic connected, never with the built-in mic or speaker, so I don't know yet whether or not the integrated mic works ok.

Linux on a Fujitsu U810, P1620 - Touchscreen IV

2009-05-12T19:07:00.000-07:00

Update 2010.10.18: new version available here!!

Update 2010.07.20: new version available here!!

Update 2009.07.15: new version available here!!

Update 2009.05.19: new version available here!!

Update 2009.05.14: there's a new version of the code in this post. I have also updated the link in this post.

Uhm.. good news for everyone listening ... (is there anyone?)

I finally managed to create a simple enough method for using and calibrating the touchscreen on a Fujitsu u810 (aka u1010), u820 (aka u2010) or p1620.

I think the steps are simple and easy.

To install, download this package (update: latest version here, ~~0.3.2~~, ~~0.3.3~~, ~~0.3.4~~, ~~0.3.5~~, 0.3.8), uncompress it into a temporary directory, and follow the instructions included in the README file, which I copy here:

Fujitsu usb touchscreen kernel module and utilities v0.3.8
by zmiq2 ,
updated for Ubuntu maverick (10.10) by nerd65536 , Mon, 18 Oct 2010 18:19:33 +0200,

The goal of this project is to produce a useful linux kernel and utilities to use the
fujitsu usb touchscreen included in tablet laptops like the U810 (aka u1010, u820),
the P1620 and the T1010.

This driver has been tested and proved working on a Fujitsu U810 - 32bit, on a
Fujitsu P1620 - 64bit and on a Fujitsu T1010 - IA64bit.

For other authorship information, see copyright.

INSTALLATION

Installation steps detailed here are based on ubuntu linux distributioni 10.10. It might
be different in your system, but they certainly are very easy to adapt to any other
distribution.

Drop me an email if you have trouble installing the package.

0 set your computer BIOS to use the touchscreen in 'tablet' mode
this is the mode also used by windows, and provides very sharp touchscreen accuracy

1 download the package file to any directory

$ mkdir fujitsu_touchscreen_driver
$ cd fujitsu_touchscreen_driver
$ wget http://

2 uncompress the package
$ tar zxvf fujitsu-usb-touchscreen-0.3.8.tar.gz
$ cd fujitsu-usb-touchscreen-0.3.8

3 install the software
$ make
$ sudo make install
(at this last step you'll be asked for your password to install certain software as root user)

4 setup a startup application for automatic touchscreen rotation
ubuntu hardy (8.04)
once logged into gnome, go to System -> Preferences -> Sessions, and go to the 'Startup Programs' tab, and Add to automatically start /usr/bin/fujitsu_touchscreen_rotate.py at login

ubuntu jaunty (9.04), ubuntu karmic (10.04), ubuntu maverick (10.10)
once logged into gnome, go to System -> Preferences -> Startup Applications. Click Add.
under "Command:", type: "/usr/bin/fujitsu_touchscreen_rotate.py". Click OK.
on your next login, the rotation service will be active.

And you are done!!!

NOTE: you'll need to repeat step 3 every time you upgrade your linux kernel to a new version.

TOUCHSCREEN CALIBRATION

If you feel that the touchscreen is not accurately calibrated, i.e. when tapping the screen,
the cursor appears in a different spot, run the provided calibration tool.

Calibration must be done when screen is in normal orientation; calibration done in this mode
will make the touchscreen work in all orientations; do not calibrate the screen while rotated!

Open a terminal and type:

$ fujitsu_touchscreen_calibration.py

The terminal will start the calibration software. With the laptop stylus, click
several times on each of the four corners of the viewable screen, not the corners of the
hardware screen. When you see that the line "last read" doesn't change after clicking
on the corners, just press S to save the settings and quit.

While in the calibration tool, you can press R to reset current calibration procedure,
or press Q to quit without applying any changes.

After calibration you can see your calibration values by running the following command in
a terminal window:

$ dmesg | grep fujitsu_usb_touchscreen | grep loaded

Please report your computer model and calibration values at spareinfo.blogspot.com to
share with other users.

OTHER SETUP - SCREEN ROTATION

In order to have the touchscreen automatically rotate when rotating the screen, I
suggest you also install the fjbtndrv driver package from the ppa.launchpad.net. With
this package, when pressing the rotate-screen hardware button in the screen bezel in a
U810, the display will rotate and the touchscreen will act accordingly.

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:khnz/ppa
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install fjbtndrv

OTHER SETUP - RIGHT CLICK ON LONG PRESS

In order to have a long-press act as a right-click, configure gnome assistive
technologies to do so:

1 Enable Assistive Technologies
ubuntu hardy (8.04)
in gnome, go to System -> Preferences -> Assistive Technologies and select the
'Enable assistive technologies' check

ubuntu jaunty (9.04) through ubuntu maverick (10.10)
in gnome, go to System -> Preferences -> Assistive Technologies and select the
'Mouse Accesibility' option to get into the details

2 Enable right click
ubuntu hardy (8.04), ubuntu jaunty (9.04) through ubuntu maverick (10.10)
in gnome, go to System -> Preferences -> Mouse, then go to Accessibility tab, and
select the 'Trigger secondary click by holding down the primary button' option

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - Gnome Phone Manager Issues

2009-05-11T08:19:00.000-07:00

Recently I set gnome-phone-manager to automatically start after logging into gnome.

It seems to me this utility (to be able to send / receive sms from the computer using a bluetooth enabled phone) is not ready for production as:

- when started, if the phone was not ready, after activating bluetooth in the phone it would not connect. I had to stop the application and restart it again, with the phone ready, to be able to connect the computer with the phone.

even this 'reconnect' functionality is built-in, it clearly doesn't work as it should

- it was interfering in gnome-power-manager, thus my 'suspend when lid is closed' setting and the gnome brightness applet were not working as gnome-power-manager was crashing. i thought that to be realted with the wifi driver, but I was wrong.

So, my decision now is to stop using gnome-phone-manager and look for an alternative to easily be able to text-message with the computer using my bluetooth enabled phone and u810!

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - External Monitor III

2009-05-07T00:57:00.000-07:00

Good news !!

As of today, I have found the way to have the external monitor work out-of-the-box.

After posting a bug report to the ubuntu team complaining for not updating the xorg-xserver-driver-intel package with fixes submitted for more than 1 month, developers said that an updated driver can be found in another repository!!

After configuring the new repository, my ubuntu installed the new driver which makes external-monitor work out-of-the-box!!

Here are the steps I followed to install packages from the ppa X Updates repository:

1. setup the sources
how to: https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/add-applications/C/extra-repositories-adding.html
source added: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates/ubuntu jaunty main

detailed instructions:
System -> Administration -> Software Sources
[tab] Third-Party Software -> Add
enter deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates/ubuntu jaunty main

[tab] Authentication -> Import Key File
download the file here, save it, and select it when pressing the Import Key File button

Then close the application window; ubuntu it will then automatically reload all package updates; if it doesn't, don't worry, follow to next step.

2. install updated driver

detailed instructions:
System -> Administration -> Update manager
(if necessary, press the 'Check' button to refresh what packages need to be upgraded.

I was asked to 'Run a partial upgrade', which of course I accepted.

3. reboot

And external monitor worked without any tweaks!

Now I can have the external monitor without having to recompiled and so so on every kernel upgrade, great!

Some info: my xorg.conf file, just in case anyone needs it:

# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# Note that some configuration settings that could be done previously
# in this file, now are automatically configured by the server and settings
# here are ignored.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"

SubSection "Display"
Virtual 2048 2048
EndSubSection
EndSection

Linux on a Fujitsu P1620 - Touchscreen

2009-04-29T02:18:00.000-07:00

update 2009.05.12: see this newer post: Linux on a Fujitsu U810, P1620 - Touchscreen IV

After having a reader asking me for the u810 touchscreen driver for his Fujitsu P1620, yesterday we made some tests and, good news!!

The driver works, even it needs some calibration parameters adjustments.

It works on a Fujitsu P1620 with ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty) 64bits !!

We'll do some more testing but I hope to post a new version of the driver that will work for both P1620 and the U810, so stay tuned to have your screen 100% functional!!

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - Suspend / Resume update

2009-04-29T02:06:00.000-07:00

Update 2009-05-11: see this newer post as the solution to this issue (it seems that gnome-phone-manager was crashing gnome-power-manager, weird, right?)

With the latest Jaunty update, I noticed that when closing the lid the computer was not going into suspend.

I went to System -> Preferences -> Power Management, and my surprise was that there I couldn't find any 'when laptop lid is closed' option, nor 'on battery power' tab.

I finally found the solution to have all those options back:

1 go to System -> Preferences -> Power Management, select in General tab the 'Always display an icon' option

2 click on the icon in the panel, and then those options came back!!

There I selected again that, on close lid, have the computer go to suspend.

I don't know why the latest update just deleted my power settings.

Update: the day after, after resuming the laptop, going to System -> Preferences -> Power Management showed again the missing options. Weird, isn't it?

Why there weren't there the day before? Did my actions really solved the issue or there was something else?

Who knows, but suspend / resume is back to normal and working great!!

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - Touchscreen III

2009-04-20T09:09:00.000-07:00

Update 2009.05.12: see this newer post:
Linux on a Fujitsu U810, P1620 - Touchscreen IV

This is a replacement of my previous entries on how to get the touchscreen working; please forget about previous posts (I and II), which works better and it's easier to install and maintain.

In order to have the touchscreen working, here's the final solution where:

the point precision is very sharp
works with standard Xorg drivers
works after suspending / resume cycle without trouble
works after rotating the screen
works even with an external monitor connected, so the touchscreen is remapped to fit the whole screen area
works very nicely for clicking as well as for ink-painting/writing with ink software like xournal !!!

The solution include these steps:

configure bios to tablet mode
install a kernel module: u810_tablet
copy two files to make the u810_tablet module load correctly at boot and when X loads
install one python script and one small c program to have the touchscreen work correctly after rotation

1. configure bios to tablet mode

go into bios and select touchscreen to work in tablet mode

2 install a kernel module: u810_tablet

Latest version: 0.2.4 (2009.04.20)

Download the source code for the u810_tablet kernel module, or just download the already compiled one (for ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28).

To compile the module:

- make sure you have the linux development environment installed; I would suggest to install the packages using synaptics package manager, and select linux-headers, gcc

- uncompress the downloaded file, cd to the newly created directory and just type
# make

and as root,
# make install

To just install the already compiled module (if you compiled the module, you don't need to follow this step):

as root, copy the module file (u180_tablet.ko) to /lib/modules/`uname -r`/extra/
# cp u810_tablet.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/extra/

as root, run depmod command
# depmod -a

3 copy or edit two files to make the u810_tablet module load correctly at boot and when X loads

In order to have the module load correctly at boot, as root edit the file /etc/rc.local and insert the following lines at any place (you can download rc.local here):


# Correct u810_tablet module load - start
# Author:    zmiq2 
# Info:      spareinfo.blogspot.com

MODPATH=/sbin
RMMOD=$MODPATH/rmmod
MODPROBE=$MODPATH/modprobe

. /lib/lsb/init-functions

log_action_begin_msg "Starting u810_tablet module load"
log_progress_msg "  u810_tablet module load:unload usbhid"
$RMMOD usbhid
log_progress_msg "  u810_tablet module load:load u810_tablet"
$MODPROBE u810_tablet
log_progress_msg "  u810_tablet module load:reload usbhid"
$MODPROBE usbhid
log_action_begin_msg "Finished u810_tablet module load"
log_end_msg 0
# Correct u810_tablet module load - end

In order to have the windowing system recognize the module, copy this file as /etc/hal/fdi/policy/u810_tablet.fdi.

4 install one python script and one small c program to have the touchscreen work correctly after rotation

Download u810_rotate_helper and u810_rotate.py.

as root,

- copy both files to /usr/bin

- make u810_rotate_helper suid:
# chmod +s /usr/bin/u810_rotate_helper

Source code for u810_rotate_helper is here. You can easily compile it yourself just running the command
gcc u810_rotate_helper.c -o u810_rotate_helper.

Activate u810_rotate.py to start when you log into gnome

Once logged into gnome, go to System -> Preferences -> Starup Applications and add /usr/bin/u810_rotate.py to start when you log in

Reboot and enjoy the touchscreen !!

I can recommend xournal, gournal as hand-writing note taking applications (no handwriting recognition though).

You'll need to repeat step 2 every time there's a new kernel version (like if you change from 2.6.28 to 2.6.29) but not if you just stick to the same ubuntu release (where usually kernel version after upgrade goes from 2.6.28-8 to 2.6.28-11).

Pending tasks

- autorotate integrated mouse-pointer coordinates when screen is rotated. That should be easy....

- configure evdev to handle long-press as right-mouse click

If you installed a previous version detailed in a previous post

- restore your initramfs:
make sure u180_tablet is not in /etc/initramfs-tools/modules file; if it was before, remove it and as root run the command # update-initramfs -u 'all'

- restore your acpi-support file
make sure u810_tablet is not included in in the MODULES variable in /etc/default/acpi-support file

Developer notes

- currently if using rotation using xinput facilities with evdev module does not work properly, even there's a bug fix already tested that suggests that it should work, so rotation is made by the driver

- u810_tablet module parameters
orientation=normal:0|right:1|inverted:2|left:3
maxx,maxy,minx,miny (when normal)
printpos=0|1, to print via /var/log/kern.log x/y coordinates, for debugging

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - Touchscreen II

2009-04-15T10:31:00.000-07:00

2009.04.20 update: disregard this entry and go to read the better Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - Touchscreen III

The rest of this entry is obsolete.

This is a follow up of this previous entry, so make sure you read both!

1 Source code for u810_tablet kernel module

You can find here the source code for the u810_tablet kernel module. I'm willing to update it with any suggestions or improvements anyone may suggest.

Latest version: 0.2.3 (2009.04.15)

To compile the module:

- make sure you have the linux development environment installed; I would suggest to install the packages using synaptics package manager, and select linux-headers, gcc

- uncompress the downloaded file, cd to the newly created directory and just type
# make

and as root,
# make install

To load the new module, just unload the old one and load the new one:
as root:
# rmmod u810_tablet
# modprobe u810_tablet

To have the module load correctly on boot, follow step 3 described in this previous post

Read Developer Notes at the end of this post for some module parameters documentation

2 regarding step 4 of this previous entry, i have found that:

- using the evdev module, xournal works very well but the module doesn't work as expected, since last clicked coordinates remain in memory, so when you lift the pen and press in another area, the computer thinks you selected the whole area

- using the evtouch module, the touchscreen also works very well, but for an unkown reason xournal does not work; I haven't tried any other inking software

I'm currently investigating this issue because in both causes there are annoying effects.

- in order to have the u810_tablet work with xorg-evdev module, use this file as /etc/hal/fdi/policy/u810_tablet.fdi

- in order to have the u810_tablet work with xorg-evtouch module, use this file as /etc/hal/fdi/policy/u810_tablet.fdi

It is interesting to play with "System -> Preferences -> Mouse -> Accessibility Tab -> Trigger secondary click by holding down the primary button" option when working with evdev module, to make a long press act as right-click.

Developer notes

u810_tablet module info

- parameters
orientation=normal:0|right:1|inverted:2|left:3
maxx,maxy,minx,miny (when normal)
printpos=0|1, to print via /var/log/kern.log x/y coordinates, for debugging

$ ls -l /sys/module/u810_tablet/parameters/
total 0
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4096 2009-04-15 20:02 orientation
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4096 2009-04-15 20:02 printpos
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4096 2009-04-15 20:02 touch_maxx
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4096 2009-04-15 20:02 touch_maxy
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4096 2009-04-15 20:02 touch_minx
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4096 2009-04-15 20:02 touch_miny

To change touchscreen orientation
# echo "1" > orientation

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - External Monitor II

2009-04-15T09:45:00.000-07:00

update - 2009.05.07 - please disregard this post and go to the newer and better solution at Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - External Monitor III

This post is a follow up of my previous posts here and here.

As of today, 2009.04.15, ubuntu jaunty 9.04 xorg intel video driver package still does not include the patch that makes external monitor working. I hope next release will include it, since today's latest ubuntu version takes up to 2009.02.28's changes, while our desired patch was included in 2009.03.05 !!

In order to have the external monitor working now, without worries, follow these steps:

1 download this debian package (see note below for details on how I made the package)

2 install the package

as root, execute
# dpkg -i xserver-xorg-video-intel_2.6.1-1ubuntu1zmiq1_i386.deb

(you may see some messages regarding you are downgrading the package's current version, but it doesn't matter as this is a temporary solution)

3 make sure your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file is like


Section "Device"
 Identifier    "Configured Video Device"
 Option "SDVOBOutput"    "VGA-1"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
 Identifier    "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
 Identifier    "Default Screen"
 Monitor       "Configured Monitor"
 Device        "Configured Video Device"

 SubSection "Display"
         Virtual 2048 2048
 EndSubSection
EndSection

(note the line Option "SDVOBOutput" "VGA-1")

4 reboot

Done!!

Since the FN+A keyboard shortcut does not work to switch the external monitor on / off, see this tip to have fast switching between external monitor on/off just pressing the brigthness-up button.

note: you must run step 2 every time you upgrade the video-intel driver module using ubuntu's update manager, since it will install an old unpatched version; you may also unselect the xorg-xserver-video-intel driver package from the packages list, so it doesn't overwrite your hand-installed package

Developer notes

The package posted above does not include any harmful stuff, but of course I'm not responsible of anything, it is provided as it is, blah blah blah...

I created the package downloading the ubuntu xorg intel driver available on 2009.01.23 (xserver-xorg-video-intel_2.6.1-1ubuntu1), and I applied the already available patch at that time.

I tried to do the same today, based on the latest 2.6.3 version and applying the current patch (which is different to the patch I applied to 2.6.1), but I haven't succeed and I don't want to spend more time fiddling since I hope soon ubuntu driver will have the patch included.

The patch available today is not the same as the one I used, but the one I used works anyway!

The steps I followed are:

1. get all code from repositories, as well as latest intel driver code, which already includes the patch

apt-get source xserver-xorg-video-intel
apt-get build-dep xserver-xorg-video-intel
apt-get install devscripts

2. apply the patch
cd xserver-xorg-video-intel-VERSION
(I cannot remember the exact command, something like patch < ....)

3. build the package
dch -l zmiq "Xorg-intel patched for external monitor on u810"
dpkg-buildpackage -b
dh_builddeb

4. install the created package
now you should have a file named like

xserver-xorg-video-intel_2.6.1-1ubuntu1zmiq1_i386.deb

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - Tablet mode

2009-04-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

Once you have the touchscreen installed as described here, specially in steps 5 and 6, you have the computer setup for tablet mode.

By tablet mode I understand that:

- you have the screen rotated, so the keyboard is not accessible

- you mainly work with the stylus. Finger touch also works, but nail-touching

In this mode I still need to find:

- on-screen-keyboard (options: gok, onboard, ...)

- how to make scrollbars and buttons a little wider, so they are easier to touch

- how to rearrange panel to fit all icons when screen is rotated

So, does the unit works in tablet mode? yes (rotated screen works, touchscreen works)

Is it easy to work in tablet mode? It depends on what you do; web surfing or using a note taking application is fine !

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - Eye TV Usb stick

2009-04-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

Ubuntu doesn't include the required modules to have that stick working.

This is a hybrid usb stick: analog & digital receiver, but by now I only got it working as an analog receiver.

1 get the firmware that needs to be downloaded to the stick

# In order to use, you need to:
# 1) Download the windows driver with something like:
# wget http://www.steventoth.net/linux/xc5000/HVR-12x0-14x0-17x0_1_25_25271_WHQL.zip
# 2) Extract the file hcw85bda.sys from the zip into the current dir:
# unzip -j HVR-12x0-14x0-17x0_1_25_25271_WHQL.zip Driver85/hcw85bda.sys
# 3) run the script:
# ./extract_xc3028.pl
# 4) copy the generated file:
# cp xc3028-v27.fw /lib/firmware

Get extract_xc3028.pl here.

2 compile the required modules

sudo apt-get install build-essential mercurial gcc linux-headers-`uname -r`
hg clone http://mcentral.de/hg/~mrec/v4l-dvb-experimental/
cd v4l-dvb-experimental
make && sudo make install
sudo echo "em28xx" >> /etc/modules
sudo echo "em2880-dvb" >> /etc/modules

=> insert usb stick now; new module should be loaded (look at dmesg)

3 find created devices

$ cat /proc/asound/cards
0 [Intel ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel
HDA Intel at 0xf0340000 irq 17
1 [Em28xx Audio ]: Empia Em28xx AudEm28xx Audio - Em28xx Audio
Empia Em28xx Audio

=> audio=hw.1

4 Analog TV - run mplayer (xawt or other should also work)

mplayer -tv driver=v4l2:device=/dev/video0:norm=PAL:chanlist=europe-west:alsa:adevice=hw.1:forceaudio:immediatemode=0:amode=0 tv://

Devel notes

- command to record just audio

sudo arecord -D hw:2 -f dat prova.wav

- firmware download that doesn't work:

http://caligari.treboada.net/ubuntu_tdt

wget http://konstantin.filtschew.de/v4l-firmware/firmware_v4.tgz
sudo tar xzvf firmware_v4.tgz -C /lib/firmware

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - Suspend/Resume

2009-04-07T12:20:00.000-07:00

Update (2009.04.21): Suspend / Resume works out-of-the-box; you don't need to make any modifications to any acpi nor pm files, just configure with gnome graphical power management application what needs to be done on laptop lid close.

To configure suspend/resume on lid close/open, log into gnome and then go to
System -> Preferences -> power management

on ac power - when laptop lid is closed - suspend
on battery power - when laptop lid is closed - suspend

Old notes

On ubuntu 8.04, I needed the following setup (not needed on 9.04):

include acpi_sleep=s3_bios on kernel boot options

and have the following setup:

/etc/default/acpi-support
# Should we attempt to warm-boot the video hardware on resume?
#not for U810: POST_VIDEO=true
MODULES="ath_pci ath_rate_sample ath_hal"

/usr/lib/pm-utils/defaults
SUSPEND_MODULES="ath_pci ath_rate_sample ath_hal uvcvideo videodev v4l1_compat v4l2_common"

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - Lan

2009-04-07T12:14:00.000-07:00

On ubuntu 8.04, lan was not working.

The following kernel load options made the lan work and survive suspend/resume:

pnpacpi=off pnpbios=off

Not needed for Ubuntu 9.04

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - X restart problem

2009-04-07T12:06:00.000-07:00

Some times, when resuming, X restarts. The log says:

[81153.512179] [drm:i915_get_vblank_counter] *ERROR* trying to get vblank count for disabled pipe 1
acpid: client has disconnected
gdm[24396]: WARNING: gdm_slave_xioerror_handler: Fatal X error - Restarting :0
acpid: client connected from 8006[0:0]
kernel: [81167.781564] [drm:i915_getparam] *ERROR* Unknown parameter 6
kernel: [81169.720875] [drm:i915_getparam] *ERROR* Unknown parameter 6

need to investigate ...

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - Touchscreen

2009-04-07T09:44:00.000-07:00

2009.04.20 update: disregard this entry and go to read the better Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - Touchscreen III

The rest of this entry is obsolete !!

Having the touchscreen working is what involved more work.

Fast steps to have touchscreen working:

1. bios setup

go into bios and select touchscreen a tablet mode

In tablet mode the touchscreen works well both in windows and linux

I know most other sources tell to select touchscreen mode; but my method works great with tablet mode, as well as touch sensitivity is very sharp in all screen areas

2. download the u810_tablet kernel module and install it

Detailed information about the u810_tablet kernel module can be found here (TBD).

- get the module here

as root:

- copy the module to /lib/modules/`uname -r`/extra/
# cp u810_tablet.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/extra/

- run depmod command
# depmod -a

- make sure u810_tablet handles acpi properly, to have ssuspend/resume working

edit the file /etc/default/acpi-support

to include the following

# Add modules to this list to have them removed before suspend and reloaded
# on resume. An example would be MODULES="em8300 yenta_socket"
#
# Note that network cards and USB controllers will automatically be unloaded
# unless they're listed in MODULES_WHITELIST
MODULES="u810_tablet"

3. make sure u810_tablet module is loaded before any other module, specially before usbhid

as root:

- edit file /etc/initramfs-tools/modules to look like:

# List of modules that you want to include in your initramfs.
#
# Syntax: module_name [args ...]
#
# You must run update-initramfs(8) to effect this change.
#
# Examples:
#
# raid1
# sd_mod
u810_tablet

- update your initram file to have the u810_tablet module load the very first one

# update-initramfs -u 'all'

=> note: I'm trying to find another way to have u810_tablet module loading before usbhid module; playing with modprobe.conf files didn't work as expected, but I need to do more testing

=> you need to do this every time you upgrade your kernel either with ubuntu's update manager tools or manually

4 configure X to read data from u810_tablet module

Notes about the method described to have the touchscreen working:

- I have noticed that in tablet mode, calibration is not needed; default parameters included in the following files should work as expected

- many methods in the web make us of evtouch x driver; this method works with evdev x driver, so forget anything you may have read before for setting up the touchscreen

- this method makes use of the automatic hardware discovery funcionality included in latest ubuntu, so the xorg.conf file doesn't need to have anything configured. Everything is setup on-the-fly

as root:

create the following file
/etc/hal/fdi/policy/u810_tablet.fdi

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<deviceinfo version="0.2">
<device>
<match key="info.product" contains="Fujitsu Component USB Touch Panel">
<merge key="input.x11_driver" type="string">evdev</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.MinX" type="string">130</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.MinY" type="string">250</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.MaxX" type="string">3820</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.MaxY" type="string">3920</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.MoveLimit" type="string">0</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.ReportingMode" type="string">Raw</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.SendCoreEvents" type="string">True</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.TapTimer" type="string">90</merge>
</match>
</device>
</deviceinfo>

download the file here

5 install two small programs to auto-rotate touch coordinates when screen is rotated

- download u810_rotate_helper and u810_rotate.py

as root,

- copy both files to /usr/bin

- make u810_rotate_helper suid:

# chmod +s /usr/bin/u810_rotate_helper

6 activate u810_rotate.py to start when you log into gnome

Once logged into gnome, go to System -> Preferences -> Starup Applications and add /usr/bin/u810_rotate.py to start when you log in

7 reboot

Reboot and enjoy the touchscreen !!

I can recommend xournal, gournal as hand-writing note taking applications (no handwriting recognition though)

8 pending tasks

- autorotate integrated mouse-pointer coordinates when screen is rotated. That should be easy....

- configure evdev to handle long-press as right-mouse click

- work out another method to have u810_tablet module properly loaded without messing with initramfs

need to confirm this:
"I can confirm blacklisting usbhid worked for me. I simply made a blacklist entry for usbhid an
d then in /etc/modules I loaded bcm5974 and then usbhid.

That way usbhid still gets loaded, but after bcm5974"

- make sure u810_tablet can handle suspend/resume without including in in the MODULES variable

- post source code: I need to make small cleaning as well as include copyright stuff. Just give me a couple of days ...

- any other?

debugging tools

- once the u810_tablet module is loaded, you should see the device created in
/dev/input/by-id; if the device doesn't appear here after loading the module, don't go any further and solve it

- to verify coordinates:

xinput --list
xinput test 3 and verify coordinates match max/min x/y

- to verify hal has identified the device

lshal -u /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_430_530_noserial_if0_logicaldev_input

hal-find-by-capability --capability input | xargs -I{} hal-device {}

some helpers and tools

xinput list

some old notes

when using a non-working module

xinput --list-props "EVTouch TouchScreen"
xinput get-button-map "EVTouch TouchScreen"
xinput query-state "EVTouch TouchScreen"
xinput test "EVTouch TouchScreen" => doesn't receive coordinates well

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - Special keys

2009-04-07T09:39:00.000-07:00

To have special buttons located around the screen working, just install the fjbtndrv driver package from the ppa.launchpad.net repository.

With this module installed, functionality is:

- press the rotate button to rotate screen to left, inverted, right and back to normal
- press the scrolling up/down buttons to scroll current window

This module will give you three components:

- fsc_btns kernel driver
- fscd daemon
- fscrotd daemon

Notes abous fscrotd
This application detects when you put the computer in tablet mode, and then rotates the screen accordingly.

My recommendation is not to use the fscrotd daemon, as it doesn't work very nicely. Instead, just rotate the screen and after press the rotate screen button to make screen rotation happen.

To deactivate fscrotd daemon, once logged into gnome, go to System -> Preferences -> Starup Applications and de-select fscrotd to avoid being launched when logging in.

You can monitor that this driver is working looking at dbus events:
dbus-monitor --system

Devel notes

- http://fjbtndrv.wiki.sourceforge.net/usage

- fscd: buttons activation:
/:
//:
quad: screen rotate

fn:
up: scrolling up
down: scrolling down

fsc_btns: hal integration - tablet mode:
* $ uid=`hal-find-by-property --key "button.type" --string "tablet_mode"`
* $ hal-get-property --udi $uid --key button.state.value

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - Patch Intel Xorg driver

2009-04-07T08:45:00.000-07:00

I hope this step will not be necessary in the near future, I hope within a month of this post.

See this newer post before continuing reading.

In order to patch the intel driver to have external monitor correctly working, theses are the steps to follow:

1. get all code from repositories, as well as latest intel driver code, which already includes the patch

apt-get source xserver-xorg-video-intel
apt-get build-dep xserver-xorg-video-intel
apt-get install devscripts

2. build the package

cd xserver-xorg-video-intel-VERSION
dch -l zmiq "Xorg-intel patched for external monitor on u810"
dpkg-buildpackage -b
dh_builddeb

3. install the created package
now you should have a file named like

xserver-xorg-video-intel_2.6.1-1ubuntu1zmiq1_i386.deb

in your directory; that's the package you need to install.

As root, run:
dpkg -i xserver-xorg-video-intel_2.6.1-1ubuntu1zmiq1_i386.deb

4. reboot

5. misc

- make sure the new module is installed at /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/ (look for the date/time of intel_drv.so file)

- you must run steps 3 and 4 every time you upgrade the video-intel driver module using ubuntu's update manager, since it will install an old unpatched version; you may also unselect the xorg-xserver-video-intel driver package from the packages list, so it doesn't overwrite your made package

- at some point I had the effect that doing a single click on a mouse it made double click most of the times, so the effect was that instead of selecting items I was opening applications and documents. It seems it was a bug in ubuntu 8.04, which was solved by issuing the command, as root:

# dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - External Monitor

2009-04-07T08:42:00.000-07:00

external monitor

External resolution goes up to 1920x1600, which is better than the external resolution achieved under windows using the original fujitsu video driver.

As of 2009.03.31, video driver intel (xserver-xorg-video-intel) provided by ubuntu jaunty release does not include a patch that makes external monitor to function as expected. This problem was not present on ubuntu 8.04, so you might prefer to stay with 8.04 until ubuntu includes that fix.

update - 2009.05.06: please see this other post, since there's a way to obtain the package with the patch included!

The bug is: https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=17823

and the patch is already submitted:

2009-03-05

SDVO: handle multifunction encoder (try 2)

Zhenyu Wang

-65/+160

If you want to have external monitor working you must apply the patch by yourself; otherwise, wait until ubuntu maintainers include the patch in the official release.

~~See this other post about notes how to apply the patch yourself.~~

Update (2009.04.15): See this other post about how to install a patched driver or install the patch yourself.

I'm monitoring when the patch is included, and I'll update this page accordingly; analyzing current patch speed, I expect this patch to be included by 2009.04.20.

external monitor switch hack

Since the Fn+A button doesn't work as expected to activate external monitor, I suggest to take advantage of the brightness-up button (Fn+D) to have the computer switch between the LCD and the external monitor.

In order to do so, as root edit the file /etc/acpi/video_brightnessup.sh to look as follows:

/etc/acpi/video_brightnessup.sh

#!/bin/sh

test -f /usr/share/acpi-support/key-constants || exit 0

. /usr/share/acpi-support/key-constants
acpi_fakekey $KEY_BRIGHTNESSUP

logger "auto screen selection"
X_USER=$(w -h -s | grep ":[0-9]\W" | head -1 | awk '{print $1}')
export DISPLAY=:0.0
export XAUTHORITY=/home/$X_USER/.Xauthority
if [ -e /tmp/xrandr.auto ]
then
logger "activating lvds"
rm -rf /tmp/xrandr.auto
/usr/bin/xrandr --output VGA-1 --off >> /tmp/xrandr.auto.log 2>&1
/usr/bin/xrandr
sleep 1
/usr/bin/xrandr --output LVDS --auto >> /tmp/xrandr.auto.log 2>&1
else
logger "activating external"
touch /tmp/xrandr.auto
/usr/bin/xrandr --output LVDS --off >> /tmp/xrandr.auto.log 2>&1
/usr/bin/xrandr
sleep 1
/usr/bin/xrandr --output VGA-1 --auto >> /tmp/xrandr.auto.log 2>&1
fi

With this hack, external monitor switch always works either the external monitor is connected or not. If you want to bring screen brightness up without switching the screen, just use the brightness control provided by ubuntu.

other hints

- if you cannot get past 1024x1024 resolution on the external display, with the updated driver, verify that int he /etc/X11/xorg.conf file there's a line like

SubSection "Display"
Virtual 2048 2048
EndSubSection

- this is my /etc/X11/xorg.cong

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Option "SDVOBOutput" "VGA-1"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"

SubSection "Display"
Virtual 2048 2048
EndSubSection
EndSection

- commands to add a mode for a display

mode definition
xrandr --newmode "1920x1200@60" parameters

mode assignment
xrandr --output VGA-1 --addmode "1920x1200@60"

mode activation
xrandr --output VGA-1 --mode "1920x1200@60"

=> things to watch

- watch when ubuntu has the proper patch applied to xserver-xorg-video-intel (expected: sometime in 2009.04)

- watch when ubuntu properly detects the FN+A key to activate/deactivate external monitor (need to test as new ubuntu releases happen)

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - Installation

2009-04-07T08:37:00.000-07:00

I first installed Ubuntu 8.04 from a cheap usb cd which I bought from ebay. Installation was fine, just using all default settings and so; I didn't have to do anything to have Ubuntu working properly!

I have original disk (40GB) dual boot with original windows vista, 50% for each. Surprisingly, even I have almost nothing installed in the windows partition, it is already full! I'll have to take a look at that sometime....

Later upgraded with Ubuntu update manager tools to Jaunty; no problems in this upgrade.

Installing linux on a Fujitsu U810 - General status

2009-04-07T08:25:00.000-07:00

Current status: as of 2009.11.27

component

	status
linux distribution		ubuntu karmic 10.04 updated to latest
installation	ok	out-of-the-box - details
laptop screen	ok	out-of-the-box
keyboard	ok	out-of-the-box
special keys	ok	need special driver - details
touchscreen	ok	need special driver and files - details
external monitor	ok	out-of-the-box - details
lan	ok	out-of-the-box
wifi	ok	out-of-the-box
bluetooth	ok	out-of-the-box
compact flash	ok	out-of-the-box
sd slot	ok	out-of-the-box
tablet mode	ok	need some tweaks - details
external 3G modem	ok	out-of-the-box
keyboard light	?	needs some tweaks - details
finger reader	?	not tested
suspend/resume	ok	out-of-the-box
integrated webcam	ok	needs some tweaks - details
integrated speaker	ok	out-of-the-box
headphones jack	ok	out-of-the-box
elgato eyetv usb	ok	analog tv by now - details