Progress continues. I’ve yet to configure Samba or a new window manager, but I’ve continued to bring it along.
More info after the jump.
I can confirm that the acpi_osi=Linux and acpi_backlight=vendor are needed. The former enables the volume hotkeys and the latter gives a little better range on backlight brightness. Using acpi_listen the key events can be seen. Regarding the hotkeys, I had to also modify /etc/default/eeepc-acpi-scripts and supply values for the FnF_MUTE, FnF_VOLUMEUP and FnF_VOLUMEDOWN settings. Also, the sleep, touchpad toggle and screen on/off hotkeys also work. I haven’t verified the VGA toggle. As of now, the zoom and task manager hotkeys don’t do anything. Finally, the wireless toggle hangs the machine due to something that rfkill does. I have to reboot the machine and go into the BIOS to re-enable the wireless device.
As far as software goes, I’ve setup ssmtp for sending email. I’ve also installed flashplayer and that’s working fine. I’ve checked out some 720p videos and they seem to perform OK. I’ve found info on how to turn the Nvidia card on and off along with the Intel video card, so I’ll probably spend a little time on that at some point. That’ll improve battery life and cut down on the heat coming from this thing. It definitely outputs some BTU’s. I can’t really comment on battery life at this point, other than to say it’s better than my eee900. But that’s not saying much.
The only other hardware item I don’t have running yet is the mic. That’s something to do with alsa so at some point I may try building a new module.
The overall impression is a good one. It’s much faster than my previous machine, so the dual core statisfies there. The larger screen is more noticable than I thought. Even the Wife commented that the screen is big improvement over my previous netbook. The touchpad is very sensitive, so I’m still getting used to that. The keyboard is another big improvement- the extra space makes typing much more comfortable.
Highly recommended to anyone interested.