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

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

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, U820 - keyboard lights

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

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.

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - External Monitor in Karmic Koala

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - X Graphics Performance

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

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?

Linux on a Fujitsu U810, P1620 - Touchscreen VII

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

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

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

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

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

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!