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Debian Install on an Asus eee 901
Original Partitions
- First disk (4GB) /dev/sda
cfdisk 2.12r Disk Drive: /dev/sda Size: 4034838528 bytes, 4034 MB Heads: 255 Sectors per Track: 63 Cylinders: 490 Name Flags Part Type FS Type [Label] Size (MB) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ sda1 Primary Linux ext2 [SYSTEM] 3290.12 sda2 Primary Linux ext3 [USER] 723.83 sda3 Primary W95 FAT32 (LBA [BIOS ] 8.23 sda4 Primary EFI (FAT-12/16/32) 8.23
- Second disk (16GB) /dev/sdb
Disk Drive: /dev/sdb Size: 16139354112 bytes, 16.1 GB Heads: 255 Sectors per Track: 63 Cylinders: 1962 Name Flags Part Type FS Type [Label] -------------------------------------------------------------------- sdb1 Primary Linux ext3 [HOME]
Initial Install
- Download the custom install from here: http://eeepc.debian.net/debian/images/debian-eeepc.img
- Find SD card that is 16 megs or bigger and copy the image to the SD card as such:
dd if=debian-eeepc.img of=/dev/<SD DEVICE> sync
NOTE: Make sure the SD card is NOT mounted, also make sure you use the device itself and NOT a partition (/dev/sda NOT /dev/sda1).
- Make sure the BIOS is set to boot from the removable media, which is the default on my 901.
- Insert the SD card with the Debian install image and power up the eee.
- You have to use a LAN connection as the WiFi doesn't, currently, work during the installer for the RT2860sta chipset, which is what my 901 uses. Don't worry, we can get it working after the install though.
- For the partition, I did the following:
- sda (4 GB):
- sda1: 4013.95 MB, mounted to /, format, ext2, label:SYSTEM
- sda2: 8.23 MB, do not use, fat32, Label: BIOS
- sda3: 8.23 MB, do not use, fat32
- sdb (16 GB):
- sdb1: 16.1 GB, mounted to /home/, format, ext2, label:HOME
- sda (4 GB):
NOTE: I chose to use ext2 on both the OS and my home directory as this is a SSD (Solid State Drive) and the system is not the fastest in the world. Ext2 will be faster and not require as much writes, etc.
- Other than the partition and using a LAN, the rest of it is a normal Debian install.
- Once the base system is installed, login and install the wireless-tools package as such:
su apt-get install wireless-tools
- Modify the interfaces file to enable wifi as such:
# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system # and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5). # The loopback network interface auto lo iface lo inet loopback # The primary network interface allow-hotplug eth0 iface eth0 inet dhcp # The wireless network interface auto ra0 iface ra0 inet dhcp
SSH / Rsync
- I installed the following packages:
apt-get install rsync ssh
- Configured sshd to deny remote root login
vim /etc/ssh/sshd_config
- Find and change "PermitRootLogin yes" to "PermitRootLogin no", as such:
PermitRootLogin no
VNC / Remote Control
Turned on vino / remote control - This allows for a connect when a session logged in (aka shadowing)
- Select Desktop->Preference->Remote Desktop
- Check "Allow other users to view your desktop"
- Check "Allow other users to control your desktop"
- Uncheck "Ask you for confirmation"
- Check "Require the user to enter this password:"
Web Cam
- To get the webcam working install the following:
apt-get install luvcview mplayer
Optimizations
- Add noatime to primary partition and set tmp to use tmpfs:
vim /etc/fstab
Change:
/dev/sda1 / ext2 errors=remount-ro 0 1
To:
/dev/sda1 / ext2 noatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
Add:
tmpfs /tmp tmpfs defaults 0 0
- sdb1 should already have noatime on it, if not then add it.
- Set /var/run and /var/lock to use tmpfs:
vim /etc/default/rcS
Change:
RAMRUN=no RAMLOCK=no
To:
RAMRUN=yes RAMLOCK=yes
Tips and Tricks
To get battery info and state:
cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0/info cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0/state acpi
Useful Packages
I needed the following packages for various reasons:
- RDP Client and a GUI front end to connect to work:
apt-get install rdesktop tsclient
- VNC Client for remote connections:
apt-get install xvnc4viewer
- A pretty command line process viewer:
apt-get install htop
- Great tool to detect power drains and to measure current power usage:
apt-get install powertop
- A messenger client to keep in touch with coworkers:
apt-get install amsn
- A Gnome applet to allow you to see if the CAPS is on or not via a icon in the panel:
apt-get install lock-keys-applet
- Spell checker for Evolution
apt-get install aspell-en
Adobe Flash
I try to keep a clean system, but I draw the line at lost functionality and, sadly, swf doesn't handle everything. Flash is, unfortunately, required for certain websites I visit. Here's how I installed it:
- Close all opened browsers before the following steps:
cd /tmp wget http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/install_flash_player_10_linux.tar.gz tar zxvf install_flash_player_10_linux.tar.gz cp libflashplayer.so /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/
Open your browser and test with youtube.com and hulu.com.
Gnome Changes
Optimizations for the EEE screen size / layout
- Select System->Preferences->Appearance
- On the Theme tab, select Clearlooks
- On the Background tab, select the solid color background
- Change the color to RGB of 75,150,255
- On the Fonts tab, change the fonts to:
- Application font: Sans 7
- Document font: Sans 8
- Desktop font: Sans 8
- Window title font: Sans Bold 8
- Fixed width font: Monospace 7
- On the Interface tab, ensure "Show icons in menus" is selected
- Change "Toolbar button labels" to "Icons only"
Panel changes:
- Select Applications->System Tools->Configuration Editor
- Change the following settings:
- /apps/panel/toplevels/bottom_panel_screen0/auto_hide = <Checked>
- /apps/panel/toplevels/bottom_panel_screen0/auto_hide_size = 0
- /apps/panel/toplevels/bottom_panel_screen0/enable_animations = <Unchecked>
- /apps/panel/toplevels/bottom_panel_screen0/unhide_delay = 0
- /apps/panel/toplevels/top_panel_screen0/auto_hide = <Checked>
- /apps/panel/toplevels/top_panel_screen0/auto_hide_size = 0
- /apps/panel/toplevels/top_panel_screen0/enable_animations = <Unchecked>
- /apps/panel/toplevels/top_panel_screen0/unhide_delay = 0
On Screen Display
The function keys (wifi, dim, vol, etc) don't provide any instant feedback, I like using osd to provide the feedback and apparently someone else likes osd as well since all the scripts are configured to use it. To enable osd do the following:
Install:
apt-get install gnome-osd
Configure:
vim /etc/default/eeepc-acpi-scripts
Change:
ENABLE_OSD='no'
To:
ENABLE_OSD='yes'
Change:
ENABLE_OSD_BRIGHTNESS='no'
To:
ENABLE_OSD_BRIGHTNESS='yes'
Mounting a Remote Network Drive
In order to provide extra space to the eee, I opted to use sshfs to my NAS and remote servers. Here's how I did it:
Install:
apt-get install sshfs
Mount:
mkdir /media/derro sshfs -o allow_other ohayden@derro: /media/derro/
Unmount:
fusermount -u /media/derro
Macro for OpenOffice.org Calc
I copy / paste a lot of text from my online banking account details into my tracking spreadsheet and I wrote the following macro to help format the text as I like it (without the formatting, colors, and extra tabs).
Sub PasteUnformattedText
Dim systemClipboard : systemClipboard = createUnoService("com.sun.star.datatransfer.clipboard.SystemClipboard")
Dim converter : converter = createUnoService("com.sun.star.script.Converter")
Dim clipboardContents : clipboardContents = systemClipboard.getContents()
Dim transferDataFlavors : transferDataFlavors = clipboardContents.getTransferDataFlavors()
Dim flavorIndex% : flavorIndex = -1
Dim convertedString$
Dim x%
' Check for the text/plain flavor
For x = LBound(transferDataFlavors) To UBound(transferDataFlavors)
If transferDataFlavors(x).MimeType = "text/plain;charset=utf-16" Then
flavorIndex = x
Exit For
End If
Next
' If we found the flavor we want, then...
If (flavorIndex >= 0) Then
Dim lines
Dim pasteText
Dim document
Dim dispatcher
Dim args(0) as new com.sun.star.beans.PropertyValue
' Grab the clipboard data
convertedString = converter.convertToSimpleType(clipboardContents.getTransferData(transferDataFlavors(flavorIndex)), com.sun.star.uno.TypeClass.STRING)
' Split the clipboard data into an array base on tabs
lines = Split(convertedString, Chr(9))
' Convert tabs to spaces
pasteText = ""
For x = LBound (lines) to UBound (lines)
pasteText = pasteText + " " + lines(x)
Next
pasteText = Trim(pasteText)
' Get the current spreadsheet document
document = ThisComponent.CurrentController.Frame
' Use the dispatch helper to paste the text to the spreadsheet
dispatcher = createUnoService("com.sun.star.frame.DispatchHelper")
args(0).Name = "StringName"
args(0).Value = pasteText
dispatcher.executeDispatch(document, ".uno:EnterString", "", 0, args())
End If
End Sub
Squeeze
- To get the NetworkManager to work I needed the following (also remove any reference in /etc/network/interfaces for the wireless card, which should be wlan0):
aptitude install firmware-ralink wireless-tools network-manager-gnome