Array.org EeePC Ubuntu Repository
Custom Linux Kernel - Hardy Heron

This site is home to a repository of unofficial Ubuntu Hardy Heron (v8.04) kernel packages that have been optimized for the Asus EeePC, ported and maintained by me, Adam McDaniel. Installing this repository to your EeePC will allow you to keep your EeePC up-to-date with some of the latest code from various third parties. Along with routine upstream updates, additional benefits include faster boot times (20-23 seconds), and pre-compiled eeepc & madwifi modules.

Having troubles with compiling wireless code or getting the hotkeys to work?
Stop downloading and recompiling third-party drivers just because Ubuntu released a generic kernel update!

Please note, I developed this solution using my personal EeePC 900, however, others have reported that it does work on the EeePC 2G, 4G, 8G, 900A, 901, 1000 and 1000H. If you can report any level of success or failure, please log it to the EeeUser forum.

Thanks,

Adam McDaniel
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada

What's New? (RSS Feed) (News Archive)

Sun Sep 7 14:34:19 MDT 2008

Site Update

New page: Repository Activity
Given the release of 2.6.24-21-eeepc, and the sudden (and expected) jump in download activity on the repository, I've created a new page to summarize the latest stats: Repository Activity.

Logs are loaded into the database at 2:30am MDT.

This page will usually be updated nightly at about 3am MDT.

Charts will always describe the last full day of activity.

 
Thu Sep 4 17:46:56 MDT 2008

Kernel Upgrade Released

2.6.24-21-eeepc is released!
linux-eeepc (2.6.24.21.23)
linux-image-eeepc (2.6.24.21.23)
linux-image-2.6.24-21-eeepc (2.6.24-21.39eeepc1)
linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-21-eeepc (2.6.24-21.30eeepc4)
linux-headers-eeepc (2.6.24.21.23)
linux-headers-eeepc (2.6.24-21.39eeepc1)
linux-headers-2.6.24-21-eeepc (2.6.24-21.39eeepc1)

Well, it took a little longer than expected, but 2.6.24-21-eeepc is finally released!

So, why did this take so long?

Over the last few weeks I've been busy with several non-Linux and non-EeePC commitments. I also wanted to test and validate this kernel, as thoroughly as possible. Not everything is here that I would have liked, (as some hacks are still required) but things are certainly a bit closer, especially for the newer EeePC 900A, 901, 1000, and 1000H devices.

First off, I must say "Thank You" to Franco Lee and Ed Martinson. Both of whom lent me their personal 700 and 901 devices to help with development and testing. Without their contribution, I certainly wouldn't be as comfortable releasing this new version as I am today :)

And finally, an even bigger "THANK YOU" to everyone who's supported this project through the PayPal "Beer Fund". I plan on notifying everyone who's contributed via email, asking for permission to add your name to a new "Sponsors" page. To date, 27 people have contributed CAD$411. That's about 74 pints of Guinness! :D :D :D

So, what's new in 2.6.24-21-eeepc?

This version was released as a beta weeks ago as a special download for EeePCs 901 and later. It was required because of changes to the wired/wireless drivers meant madwifi and atl2 modules would not work.

If you're currently using an EeePC 900 or earlier, there actually aren't that many changes for you. Other than,

  • Hacks #1, #2 and #3 are largely unnecessary
  • The eee overclocking module has been upgraded to v0.3 (now called asus_eee)
  • Simplified USB_PERSIST code that's "always-on"

For a complete list of features available in 2.6.24-21-eeepc, please see the Technical Features page.

What are the long-term goals?

Ultimately, I'd like to have all of the hacks going away. Either replaced with a separate config package (which is currently in development) or handled by the kernel.

It is very likely that Ubuntu Intrepid v8.10 will be released before that point, in which case I plan on re-assessing exactly what is in Intrepid and what is not, and releasing a specific set of packages, if necessary.

Enjoy!

 
Sun Aug 31 19:48:40 MDT 2008

Site Update

Latest server stats
I was mucking with mysql, perl and apache's logs over the weekend, I've found some fairly interesting stats.

As of July 2nd 2008, the total number of...

Unique IPs that have downloaded the public key:7503
Unique IPs that have linked to the repository:24280
Unique IPs that have linked to linux-eeepc package:7310
Unique IPs that have downloaded 2.6.24-19-eeepc:1589
Unique IPs that have downloaded 2.6.24-20-eeepc:6458
Unique IPs that have downloaded 2.6.24-21-eeepc:2827
Requests serviced by the repository:400,320
Packages downloaded from the repository:76,881
Bytes downloaded form the repository:310,498,367,408

Yes, that's 310 Gigs! Neat!

Very shortly (Monday or Tuesday) I'll release 2.6.24-21-eeepc as the standard kernel on this repository. The number of downloads for this kernel is going to jump over the next week or so (probably to about 8000 or so) as people migrate to the latest kernel :P

 
Thu Aug 21 00:57:53 MDT 2008

Site Update

Redesigned pages: Features and Hacks
The Features and Hacks (formerly labelled Post-installation) pages have been redesigned to be a little simpler and straight forward. With the addition of support for the 901/1000/1000h devices, certain features and hacks only apply to specific devices.

Both pages are designed to be a little more dynamic, now with the ability to generate device-specific results depending on what you select.

Unfortunately, some of the hacks are still incomplete. I should be able to collect this information within the next week or so.

 
Tue Aug 12 19:56:53 MDT 2008

Package Upgrade

100% EeePC 901/1000/1000h support... 2.6.24-21-eeepc has gone gold!
linux-image-2.6.24-21-eeepc (2.6.24-21.39eeepc1)
linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-21-eeepc (2.6.24-21.30eeepc3)

It took a little longer than expected, a few unexpected issues popped up in the last few days with the sound-card, but, 2.6.24-21-eeepc has finally gone gold!

The last remaining issue, the headphone jack output (or lack there-of), was finally resolved this morning. Officially, the following features are now provided by this kernel to support EeePC 901/1000/1000h devices:

  • Wired ethernet support (via atl1e module from Asus)
  • Wireless ethernet support (via rt2860sta module from Ralink)
  • Complete WEP and WPA wireless encryption support (via unreleased Ralink patch)
  • Complete sound card support (via unreleased AlsaProject code)
  • ACPI with Bluetooth support (via patched eeepc-acpi module)
  • SMP enabled (for hyperthreading your Intel Atom CPU)
  • Simplified Persistent USB support (via an "always-on" patch)

This kernel maintains backwards compatibility for all EeePC 900 and earlier devices. Within the next week or so, barring any major bug reports or problems, this kernel will be released as the standard repository kernel.

If you want to try it out today; all you need to do is link to the repository then run the command:

sudo apt-get install linux-image-2.6.24-21-eeepc

Enjoy!

 
Sun Aug 3 16:11:21 MDT 2008

Site Update

EeePC 901/1000/1000H support coming soon!
It's been a few weeks since I've updated the news, so I figured now is a good time.

Work is in progress to provide 100% support for the EeePC 901/1000/1000H devices. As of today, if you install the 2.6.24-20-eeepc kernel you may noticed that you have no ethernet or wireless support, no bluetooth hotkey control (Fn-F2), and a broken internal microphone.

Once complete, the following new modules will be available:

  • atl1e.ko: Wired LAN module ... (previously only available direct from ASUS's LinuxDrivers.zip
  • rt2860sta.ko: Wireless LAN module ... (previously only available from ralinktech.com.tw
  • snd-hda-intel.ko: Sound card module, ALC629 models ... (from code not yet formally released by the AlsaProject
  • eeepc-acpi.ko: EeePC Hotkey module, bluetooth support ... (from a patch released by daltona on eeeuser.com)

If you'd like to track the progress of this work, or to try out some of the experimental modules, subscribe to the thread:
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=38030

 
Thu Jul 24 15:11:37 MDT 2008

Kernel Upgrade Released

2.6.24-20-eeepc is now available!
linux-eeepc (2.6.24.20.22)
linux-image-eeepc (2.6.24.20.22)
linux-headers-eeepc (2.6.24.20.22)

The kind folks at the Ubuntu Kernel Team are preparing to release their 2.6.24-20-generic kernel as the standard Hardy Heron kernel. Considering that they view this kernel as being stable, I thought that I'd follow their lead and release 2.6.24-20-eeepc as this repository's standard kernel.

What does this mean for you?

It means that if you're not already running 2.6.24-20-eeepc, it will be downloaded and installed for you on the next system update, and you will be prompted to reboot.

What's different in 2.6.24-20-eeepc?

According to the features page, 2.6.24-20-eeepc contains:

  • Everything from 2.6.24-19-eeepc
  • Restored extra kernel modules that were missing from 2.6.24-19-eeepc (I.e., DVD support, squashfs, usb+wifi support, etc.)
  • USB_PERSIST support via timauton's patch. (See post-install steps.)
  • Upgraded madwifi wireless modules (madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6 branch, svn r3745)
  • Upgraded uvcvideo module (svn r233)
  • Updated Elantech touchpad driver port to become user-selectable.

What if I have problems upgrading?

Please log your concerns into the eeeusers.com Forum, under the 2.6.24-20-eeepc Kernel Upgrade Announcment Thread.

 
News Archive

This page was last modified on Sunday, 07-Sep-2008 14:20:15 MDT


...to the "Beer Fund" :)