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HP Omnibook XE3 GF and Debian GNU/Linux

Introduction
Document History
Hardware
Abstract
Resources
Partitioning the Harddrive
Installing Debian Woody with Linux 2.4.18, 2.4.2[01], 2.6.0-test[45]
Ubuntu Linux
The Bootloader
Framebuffer and LILO
CD-RW
XFree86
Omnibook Kernel Module
Serial Port USB dongle
keyboard++
Multiple streams with "esd"
Software Suspend
Hardware Upgrades
HP's support
Miscellaneous

Introduction

This page describes my experiences with the HP Omnibook XE3 GF (F3888H) notebook, from a Debian Woody / Linux user's point of view.
Update: I meanwhile updated to Debian Sarge, as the XFree86-version 4.2.1 available there has native accelerated support for the I830M graphics chipset.

Document History

• 05-01-26:
  Added a section on Ubuntu Linux.
• 04-12-30:
  Added a section on the serial port USB dongle based on a mail I received.
• 04-09-19:
  Added a link to the resources section.
• 04-01-29:
  Added a link to HP's "howto change the harddrive" in section Hardware Upgrades.
• 03-12-08:
  Added section Multiple streams with "esd".
• 03-12-04:
  New XF86Config-4 to support DRI even with 24 bpp.
• 03-11-25:
  Added section Upgrading the RAM.
• 03-11-24:
  Add-on about Toshiba and harddisk diagnostic tools.
• 03-11-22:
  Added section Hardware Upgrades: Replacing the Harddrive.
• 03-11-11:
  Added a kernel patch for 2.4.23-pre to solve the ACPI power off problem.
• 03-10-24:
  Added a link to an omnibook-patch ported for 2.6. (03-11-12: Added comment.)
• 03-09-13:
  Added new kernel-config for 2.4.21. (DMA now works again.)
• 03-09-09:
  Added new kernel-config for 2.6.0-test5. (DMA now works again.)
  Added resources.
• 03-09-03:
  Added some information on music's *oink*'s when using the harddrive extensively.
• 03-08-30:
  Added some information on how to get the Synaptics Touchpad working with Linux 2.6.
• 03-08-26:
  Added a new kernel-config for Linux 2.6.0-test4.
  Added a link to lwn.net in the software suspend section.
• 03-07-21:
  Added a link to the "nt-tv-out" project which might support I830M's TV-out.
• 03-03-31:
  Added section "keyboard++" which describes how to get the Onetouch keys working.
• 03-03-15:
  Added some more info on the Omnibook Kernel Module.
• 03-02-20:
  Added a link to an official Intel graphics driver.
  Added resources.
  Changed a resource (MobiliX := TuxMobil).
• 03-02-11:
  Added a link to a FAQ/driver-homepage for the ESS-modem.
• 03-02-10:
  Added the "Bootloader" section.
  Changed everything to Upper/lower case for better readability.
  Added two resources-links.
  Minor changes of words without changing content.
• 03-01-22:
  Added a section on the "Omnibook Kernel Module".
  Added a new kernel-config for Linux 2.4.20.
  Added another experience with HP's support.
  Added this "Document Versions" section.
  Added a table of contents.
  Minor changes of words without adding content.
• Previous:
  Initial release with some updates here and there.

Hardware

CPU:	Mobile P3 1GHz
RAM:	256 MB RAM (see Hardware Upgrades)
Disk:	20 GB IBM Travelstar IC25N020ATDA04-0 (see Hardware Upgrades)
Display:	15" XGA TFT
Video:	Intel i830M
Sound:	ESS Technology ES1988 Allegro-1
Modem:	ESS Technology ES2838/2839 SuperLink Modem
DVD/CD-RW:	Toshiba DVD-ROM SD-R2102

Abstract

• X works using framebuffer support and 16bit color depth.
  (XFree86 4.2 already supports the I830M in accelerated mode, but there are no official Debian Woody packages ready for it yet - and probabely never will be for Woody itself.)
  Update - 02-11-13: Debian Sarge (the current testing-branch) now has XFree86 4.2.1 packages. With them it is possible to use the graphics chip in an accelerated mode.
• Network works using EtherExpressPro/100 driver from 2.4.18.
• Sound works using Maestro3 driver from 2.4.18. line out works perfectly.
• USB works.
• CD-RW works using normal ide-scsi emulation and Debian's cdrecord.
• VGA-Out works out of the box, although i can't switch with "FN+F5" after booting the kernel (it's either notebook-TFT, VGA-Out or both -- to be chosen before loading the Linux kernel).
• I haven't tried yet:
  • APM or ACPI
  • TV Out
    The "TV-Out for NVidia cards" project might support the I830M-TV-out of the HP Omnibook XE3 GF (according to a posting on the Omnibook Mailing-List).
  • Parallel port
  • Serial port USB-dongle (see Serial port USB dongle below)
  • Mic
  • Modem
    There are drivers, but I haven't checked them out yet:
    • MINI-FAQ about the ESS modem driver - many thanks to Jean-Denis Fouks for this link.
    • Modem ESS Technology ES2838/2839

• Would I recommend it?

  • Basically yes.

  PRO:

  • So far, most things work fine.
  • It's a lot of notebook (15", DVD/CD-RW) for a rather low price (EUR 1.900,-). (date: March 2002, Austria)
  • It's good on battery power (about 3 and a half hours).

  CONTRA:

  • It's not really a "light" version concerning the weight.
  • The screen has a quite visible TFT-effect not showing the colors equally on the whole screen. The viewing angle is (very) important.
    You'll get used to it, but I think there are better screens out there.
    Update: Most people taking a look at the notebook think the screen is "ok" to "really good". Maybe I tend to be a little picky here. ;)
  • No infrared-port (haven't checked when buying as I thought this is default equipment for notebooks).

Resources

• Omnibook users mailing-list
• "Omnibook kernel module" among other things

• Linux on Laptops
• TuxMobil (former MobiliX) - UniX on Mobile Systems: HOWTOs,Software
  Debian GNU/Linux Laptop Distribution - Proposal
• Xtops.DE - Laptops+PDAs pre-installed with UniX

• HP Howto

• HP: All Available Hardware
• HP: All Available Software
• HP Service Manuals for XE3 and other notebooks.

• HP OmniBook XE3 compatible battery.
  (Note: I did not try this product nor do I know anything about it. It is not an orginial HP-part! This simply is the cheapest battery-offer I found within the EU.)

Partitioning the harddrive

• Keep the Hibernation-partition (/dev/hda1), it holds the HP Diag Tools!
• Do whatever you want with the Win-XP-partition (/dev/hda2), e.g. delete it and create a new small partition which could hold a M$-Windows-product, or delete it totally... of course it should be smaller than "taking everything" ;).

Installing Debian Woody with Linux 2.4.18, 2.4.20, 2.6.0-test[45]

• After preparing the disk making some of the space usable (free) for Linux, using the Debian-installer's cfdisk I created the following two partitions: /dev/hda5 as 512MB-swap-partition and /dev/hda6 a 5GB-EXT2-partition leaving me lots of gigs for my data later on.

• Install the base system with a custom-built kernel.

  Unfortunately, with the kernel-2.2.20-based Debian CD I used I could not get the NIC to work. (Update: I installed from a Debian-3.0-pre-release snapshot. The final-release version of Woody ships with both a 2.2 and a 2.4 kernel based boot system. My problems with the NIC drivers of kernel 2.2.20 thus might already be dealt with when booting and installing with Linux 2.4 ...)
  I got kernel-2.4.18.tar.gz (don't use .tar.bz2 unless you have several cd's, as for some reason I don't understand the bzip2-package is not on the first Debian-cd :(, but then again this could/should have changed too with the officially released "Debian 3.0r0" aka "Woody" images) via a seperate cd and compiled it using this config. It is definitely not perfect as I didn't have much experience with neither kernel 2.4 nor notebooks at the time of this writing, but I tried some settings. Generally spoken all of the really important hardware (except for the modem which I didn't try to configure yet) works now.

  Update -- 03-01-22:
  I meanwhile use Linux 2.4.20, compiled with this config.

  Update -- 03-08-26:
  Here's my kernel-config for 2.6.0-test4. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out yet how to get the touchpad working in X (though the kernel seems to find it at boot-time!?). Using an external USB-mouse works just fine and will have to suffice for the moment.
  ACPI still doesn't seem to correctly "use" the battery, and unfortunately the Omnibook Kernel Module hasn't been ported to 2.6 yet. Thus, battery support doesn't work yet and the Onetouch keys (see below) don't work anymore. (03-11-12: The kernel module has been ported, see below.)
  Nevertheless, the preemptive kernel function seems to work great: I had some troubles with 2.4.21 lately with the anacron'd "find" job a few minutes after booting the machine - it rendered the machine not-responding/useless. I think this might be due to the bad performance of notebook-harddrives. Anyway, 2.6.0-test4 performs much better here (only had one short "oink" in playing OGG-files, while having find running, unpacking the kernel-source and have Mozilla Firebird open about 20 Tabs at the same time).
  (BTW: This initial 2.6.0-test4 kernel-config is still based on OSS, as I just haven't had the time to switch over to ALSA yet.)

  Update -- 03-08-30:
  Thanks to Patrick Ruckstuhl for his mail on the Synaptics touchpad. It should be possible to get it working with 2.6 using the Synaptics TouchPad driver for XFree86. This driver includes additional functionality, check out the homepage. (I didn't get it running just yet, but I didn't try that hard ...)
  If you just want to have a plain "dumb" touchpad with 2.6 again as you had with 2.4: add "psmouse_noext" as a kernel-parameter at boot-time.
  04-02-02: Here's another Synaptics-Touchpad-HOWTO.

  Update -- 03-09-03:
  *hmpf*. It seems praising the test4-kernel for its abilities to prevent *oink*'s when playing music was too early. As soon as the notebooks harddrive has lot's of things to do (cron's extensive "find", write 100 MB, etc.), music *oink*'s a lot really :(.
  Nevertheless, late 2.4 kernels seem to suffer similarly... *double-hmpf*

  Update -- 03-09-05:
  *argl*. I've just realized that I can't activate DMA for the harddrive. That's probably the reason for allthe *oink*'s. I assume I simply missed an option in above's kernel-config for 2.6.0-test4 ...

  Update -- 03-09-09:
  2.6.0-test5 is available. I compiled my kernel using this kernel-config-2.6.0-test5 which above all includes CONFIG_BLK_DEV_PIIX=y. DMA now works again, so it was either a bug in 2.6.0-test4, or the PIIX-code works with this notebook's "IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801CAM IDE U100" too. I hope that's the final goodbye to all the *oink*'s... ;)
  ACPI still can't read the battery status (though it can read all the other information on the battery such as technical specs etc.), *hmpf*. /proc/acpi/button/lid/LID/state holds the correct state "closed" or "open". /proc/acpi/event shows the "sleep" button being pressed.

  Update -- 03-09-13:
  I finally figured out that even my Linux 2.4 configuration missed DMA-support (which probably was the reason for all those *oink*'s).
  Including option Intel PIIXn chipsets support solved the problem - DMA now works again. :)
  Here's the corresponding kernel-config-2.4.21.

  Update -- 03-11-11:
  Starting with 2.4.22 and at least up to 2.4.23-rc1, the ACPI code does not power off the notebook at the end of the shutdown process anymore. To solve this, use this little ACPI patch - it works fine here with 2.4.23-rc1.
  Many thanks to Adam Kessel who posted it on the OmniBook mailing list!

  Update -- 03-11-20:
  Kernel 2.4.23-rc2 (and most probably later too) powers off the notebook properly out of the box.

  The key options are (at least for the 2.4-based kernels):

  • Use "EtherExpressPro/100" from section "Ethernet (10 or 100Mbit)" as driver for the NIC.
    Update - 02-11-29:
    The new kernel 2.4.20 includes a second driver (e100) for this chip which is the Intel driver. No need to search endlessly for the this one anymore. (The previous linux-driver (eepro100) by Mr. Becker is still available... Remember: it's all about choice :).)
  • In order to get the soundcard (ESS Technology ES1988 Allegro-1) working, be sure to say YES to experimental kernel options and choose "Maestro3" in menuconfig's "Sound" section.
  • See the Framebuffer HOWTO for which kernel-settings to use for your framebuffer devices. (Also see LinuxWiki.de's FrameBuffer description.)
  • For DMA-support, include "Intel PIIXn chipsets" in section "ATA/IDE/MFM/RLL support".

  If you want to use menuconfig, you'll either need more than the first Woody cd or the download and install the package libncurses5-dev.

• Finally, compile the kernel and its modules and install them as usual.
  

Ubuntu Linux

Ubuntu Linux is a really great Debian-based Linux distribution. I've decided to give it a try as soon I had heard about it -- and have been working with it since!

The installation on the HP Omnibook XE3 GF was as easy as can be, and as far as I remember, everything has worked out of the box -- even querying the ACPI system for the battery status ;) ...
(The only thing I haven't tried yet is the omnibook kernel module (which should enable the hot-keys). And I'm currently using the default boot manager GRUB, which I haven't tried to get to work with the Hibernation-partition yet...)

The only notebook-related thing that should really be enhanced is that, as soon as the notebook runs on battery power, the harddrive is spun down too early, which results in constant power-down & power-up sequences ... (This most probably has to do with the "powernowd" that is run by default under Ubuntu ...)
And of course there's always the suspend-to-disk-issue ...

Here's my Ubuntu related page....

The Bootloader

• Debian's standard bootloader is LILO: stick with it!
• I once tried to switch to GRUB for actually no real reason, but I didn't manage to successfully boot into HP's Diagnostic Tools (placed in the Hibernation partition /dev/hda1).
  As LILO does what it should do and everything works perfectly with it, there's no reason to switch to anything else.

Framebuffer and LILO

• In order to get a cool shell using all of the 15" screen, use the framebuffer device previously compiled into the kernel.

  In order for this to work, add

  vga=0x317

  to the global LILO-section. This gives you 1024x768 at 16 Bit (64k) colors.
  See /usr/src/linux/Documentation/fb/vesafb.txt for details on other possible modes.

  Also remember, that specifying the colors in HEX-mode only works within the lilo.conf. If you want to use a different one and add the value by yourself at the LILO-prompt, you'll have to transform the value to DEC-mode - which would result in vga=791.

CD-RW

• Works fine. :)

• I compiled the kernel with IDE-SCSI-support (which can be found in the section ATA/IDE/MFM/RLL).

  Remember to also include SCSI-support for this to work - I included the following:
  [y] SCSI support
  [y] SCSI disk support (probabely not needed)
  [y] SCSI CD-ROM support
  [y] SCSI generic support

• In lilo.conf, add

  append=" hdc=ide-scsi"

  to the corresponding section.

• You'll have to access the CD drive via SCSI now, so replace the link "/dev/cdrom -> hdc" with "/dev/cdrom -> sr0".

XFree86

First of all: Here is my current XF86Config-4. <03-12-04>

• Update - 02-11-13:
  Debian Sarge (the current testing-branch) now has XFree86-4.2.1-packages. It is now possible to use the graphics chip in an "accelerated" mode, as well as to use DPMS to save power (which is especially interesting in combination with the omnibook-kernel-module mentioned above and described below as the screen really "shuts down" and consumes no power anymore).

  Update - 02-11-29:
  The new Linux kernel 2.4.20 includes DRI-support for "Intel 830M" :). (Just to be sure: DRI/DRM-stuff can be found in the "Character devices" section.)

  Update - 03-01-22:
  I just realized I didn't write it down before: Colour-Depth is now possible to use up to 24 bit due to the improved graphics driver in XFree86-4.2.1.

  Update -- 03-02-20:
  Intel seems to ship Linux graphics drivers. I haven't tried them yet, and I don't know yet what's the real difference to the XFree86-4.2.1 drivers. Nevertheless: it supports "Intel® 830M graphics-controller-based system running Red Hat 8.0 using a 'Workstation' installation" and needs XFree86 >= 4.2.0 and Kernel >= 2.4.11 to be compiled and used successfully.

  Update - 03-12-04:
  I've realized I've been working without DRI for already a very looong time now. Anyway, here's how to fix it:
  With basically no options but "Identifier" and "Driver" in XF86Config-4's section "Device" and a color depth of 24 bpp, you will find /var/log/XFree86.0.log reporting

  (==) I810(0): Will alloc AGP framebuffer: 8192 kByte

  and later

  (II) I810(0): [dri] Not enough memory to contain front, back, and depth buffers.
  (II) I810(0): [dri] You need at least 10240K of VideoRam for this configuration.
  (II) I810(0): [dri] Disabling DRI.

  The i830 graphics chipset shares its memory with normal RAM. To increase the allocated memory to the needed size, add the option "VideoRam 10240" to the section "Device" and restart X. Check X's log file for the new AGP framebuffer size and DRI being loaded successfully:

  (II) I810(0): [DRI] installation complete
  (II) I810(0): direct rendering: Enabled

• I basically just installed tasksel's X-option, as far as I recall.

  Unfortunately I had some mess when configuring it.
  This was basically due to the fact that I tried it with 24bit color depth, but only 16bit seem to be supported. This seems to be due to the framebuffer only support in XFree86-4.1. IMHO it doesn't matter anyway with TFT-screens...
  Using 16 bit from the beginning, everything should be a straight "walk through".

• I generally used debconf to configure everything. Here's what I did:

    XF86Config-4 handled by Debconf
    X server driver:  vesa (not i810)    [03-01-22: remember, for X-4.2.1, "i810" would be the right choice]
    User kernel framebuffer device interface:  YES
    [...]
    Keyboard: pc104 -- de -- nodeadkey -- [no options]
    Mouse: /dev/psaux -- PS/2
    Monitor _is_ LCD: Medium -- 1024x768 @ 60Hz
    1024, 800, 640 -- 24 bit
  

  Starting X resulted in "no screens found". Using "16" (bit) as default depth in /etc/X11/XF86Config-4, it should work fine.

• I reconfigured it some time on the way to get it working. (Remember the "mess" :) ...)

  dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86
    handled by debconf
    vesa    [03-01-22: remember, for X-4.2.1, "i810" would be the right choice]
    enter identifier
    video card's bus identifier: [left it blank]
    use kernel fb device interface: YES
    amount of memory: <_blank>
    keyoard: xfree86 -- pc104 -- de -- nodeadkeys -- [no additional keyboard options]
    mouse: /dev/psaux -- PS/2 -- emulate 3 buttons: YES -- enable scroll: YES
    monitor: enter identifier (monitor) -- LCD -- medium -- 1024x768 @ 60 Hz -- (1024, 800, 640) -- 16 bit
    all modules but "xtt"
    2x "write? YES"
  

• X crashing?
  

  Update - 02-11-13:
  With the new X-packages (4.2.1 from Debian Sarge), it is possible to use DPMS now.

  In order to avoid the problem of X crashing after a deterministic amount of time or KDE not being able to load normally, comment the following line

        # Option "DPMS"
  

  In section "Monitor" of /etc/init.d/XF86Config-4. You'll be able to have your machine running in X as long as you want without having to interact with it all the time ;), you can use screensavers, xlock the machine, etc.
  Thanks to Stefan for this hint!

Omnibook Kernel Module

• The Omnibook Kernel Module
  Many thanks to Soos Peter et al for creating such a wonderful piece of software! :)

• Download and extract it, read at least .../omnibook-200x-xx-xx/doc/(README|INSTALL).
  Installation is basically just compiling the source resulting in a kernel module which you just have to "install" and load.
  If you use a "Debian-way self-compiled kernel", in order to correctly compile the omnibook-module, simply add the kernel's EXTRAVERSION string (see appendix of the output from uname -r, this would be "-03" with "2.4.20-03") to /usr/src/linux/Makefile, 4th line, variable EXTRAVERSION. Afterwards run make and make install.

• I have the module loaded each time I boot by executing a script holding the following line:

    /sbin/modprobe omnibook apmemu=1
  

  The module (as of version 2003-01-09) most importantly for me turns off the screen as soon as it is blanked (remember the DPMS-setting of X-4.2.1 mentioned above) and - due to the command-line parameter - creates the file /proc/apm and hereby emulates APM-functionality. This is really a great feature as it makes it possible to have common tools such as gkrellm use the standard APM-interface to show you the current battery-charge.
  (Remember to exclude APM from the kernel when compiling one yourself!)

• Since 02-12-22 it is possible to turn the LCD backlight off and on using the simple commands "echo off > /proc/omnibook/lcd" and "echo on > /proc/omnibook/lcd".

• Here's a port of the Omnibook kernel module (and more) for Linux 2.6: http://www.consultmatt.co.uk/downloads/patches/kernel/2.6/.
  Many thanks to Felix Becker for this hint!

  According to the omnibook kernel module changelog, as of version 2003-11-10 and later it supports the 2.6 kernel series now.
  Though I haven't tried it yet: Many THANKS again! :)

Serial Port USB Dongle

I received the following mail from Sasa Stevanovic (here's the website of Sasa Stevanovic) explaining how to use the serial port USB dongle:

[...] I noticed you didn't mention serial port USB dongle;
it does work and works great.  The one that shipped with my laptop had a
HP label, (model number?) MT608-2, (serial number?) 214287.  It had
Windows driver but the diskette had "FTDI" on it; this donlge is supported
with ftdi_sio driver.  The kernel may not include this module so
compilation may be necesarry (USB Support/USB Serial Converter Support/USB
FTDI Single Port Serial Driver (EXPERIMENTAL)), with first selecting
"Prompt for development and/or incomplete code/drivers" in "Code maturity
level options".  After loading the module ftdi_sio, the serial port is
/dev/ttyUSB0.  Verified it works with 2.4.18 kernel.

Many thanks again for this information! :)

keyboard++

If you want to use the four additional "Onetouch" keys (except the sleep-key which doesn't work for me as I can't determine a keycode for it), you can install linEAK:

1. Omnibook Kernel Module:
Get it working and check that the onetouch keys are enabled ("cat /proc/omnibook/onetouch").

2. Install lineakd:
apt-get install lineakd

3. Edit /etc/lineakkb.def by adding the following section:

#### HP Omnibook XE3 (4 keys) ####
[HPXE3]
  brandname = "Hewlett-Packard"
  modelname = "Omnibook XE3-GF (4 keys)
  [KEYS]
   mail           = 236
   www            = 178
   arrow          = 244
   help           = 243
  [END KEYS]
[END HPXE3]
# end HP Omnibook XE3-GF

4. Create ~/.lineak/lineakd.conf:

# LinEAK - Linux support for Easy Access and Internet Keyboards
#  Copyright (c) 2001,2002 Mark Smulders < Mark@PIRnet.nl >
#  http://lineak.sourceforge.net
#
# lineakd configuration file
#
# example key configuration:
#       play    = "xmms --play-pause"
#       eject   = EAK_EJECT
#
# available special actions:
#       EAK_EJECT
#       EAK_VOLUP
#       EAK_VOLDOWN
#       EAK_MUTE
#       EAK_SLEEP
#

# LinEAK Configuration for Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro USB
# (generated by lineakconfig)

# Global settings
KeyboardType            = HPXE3
CdromDevice             = /dev/cdrom
MixerDevice             = /dev/mixer

# Specific keys of your keyboard
mail                    = "/opt/sylpheed/bin/sylpheed"
www                     = "/opt/mozilla_start-this_max"
arrow                   = "multi-gnome-terminal --use-factory --start-factory-server"
help                    = "EAK_MUTE"

# end lineakd.conf

5. Start lineakd:
Open an xterm and start "lineakd". Your keys should work now and do what you configured them for in your lineakd.conf.
Finally, add "lineakd" to your Gnome-startup-sequence to have it being loaded each time you enter your desktop-environment.

99. Add-Ons:
In order to detect the onetouch-keys' keycodes, run xev, move your mouse-cursor into the new window and press the keys one by one.
If the onetouch keys were disabled, you can enable them by executing "echo 1 > /proc/omnibook/onetouch".
A description for your normal stand-alone PC can be found here.
Be careful: Whatever commands you configure your add-on keys to run will be executed even if you locked your screen! So mind to not use these buttons with any kind of security or privacy related stuff!

Multiple streams with "esd"

The sound chip ("ESS Technology ES1988 Allegro-1" according to lspci) or the Linux driver or both only support one source of sound at a given time.

If you want to be able to play several things at once (e.g. play music and hear your instant messanger's notification sound), you can e.g. use "esd - The Enlightened Sound Daemon". This seems to be GNOME2's preferred sound daemon and is quite well integrated into the GNOME2-configuration, so use the config-tools to activate ESD at startup.

To get your applications use esd, set it as the output device:

• xmms: Preference -- Output Plugin -- eSound Output Plugin.
• ogg123: Use the command-line option "-d esd".
• mpg321: Seems to know what's going on without any changes necessary.
• cplay: "cplay" is only a frontend for various audio players. You can use Debian's sample configuration /usr/share/doc/cplay/examples/cplayrc and save it as ~/.cplayrc. Adding the mini change from above to the ogg123 command, cplay should perfectly fine use "esd". (Here's my ~/.cplayrc.)
• mplayer: Use the command-line option "-ao esd".

Software Suspend

I haven't tried it yet, sorry, but I'm placing a link here so I don't forget and will try in the (near) future. :)

• Swsusp homepage, actually linking to another place.
• lwn.net talks a little bit 'bout Linux 2.5's Suspend-System. Similarly, it talks about swsusp-1.0 in LWN August 7, 2003.

Update - 06-08-18: While "Hibernation" for some reason does not work, Ubuntu 6.06 LTS's "Suspend to Disk" works perfectly fine now... :)

Hardware Upgrades

Replacing the Harddrive

I've successfully replaced the original harddrive IBM Travelstar IC25N020ATDA04-0 (20 GB, 4200 rpm, 2 MB cache) with a Toshiba MK-6022GAX (60 GB, 5400 rpm, 16 MB cache).
The reason for doing this was that the old HDD simply became too small and too slow - and I can tell, the new drive is really fast compared to the old one. :-)

If you wanna do something like this on your own too: Here's HP's description on how to install/upgrade the harddrive. If the link is broken, mail me and I'll send you a copy of it.
But mind: While - besides this 60 GB installation - I also know of a successfull installation of a 40 GB HDD in another HP Omnibook XE3-GF, this notebook officially only supports up to 30 GB harddrives!
(Mind furthermore: The howto is for the XE3-GC actually, but I couldn't find anything that wouldn't match the GF.)

Miscellaneous:

• Both the BIOS (revision GF.M1.11) and Linux (Knoppix 3.2) detect the harddrive correctly having 60 GB available.
• After installing the new harddrive, I booted from the Rescue-CD and had the Hibernation-Partition only installed. (Remember, that's the very first and very small partition on the harddrive holding the Diagnostic Tools.)
• To "transfer" the Linux installation from the old drive to the new one, I did the following:
  • Boot from CD (Knoppix).
  • Run "/etc/init.d/portmap start" and "/etc/init.d/nfs-common start". Mount an NFS-share with enough free space on a remote machine.
  • Mount the local Linux partition (in my case /mnt/hda6/) and change into this directory.
  • Run "find . -xdev | cpio -pm /mnt/nfs-share/". (Mind: This changes the date of directories to the current time. Files keep their timestamp.)
  • Install the new harddrive. Install the Diagnostic Tools. Partition the harddrive, reboot (into Knoppix). "mke2fs -j the-new-partition", reboot (into Knoppix).
  • Mount the local Linux partition (in my case /mnt/hda6/ again).
  • Run "/etc/init.d/portmap start" and "/etc/init.d/nfs-common start". Mount the NFS-share and change into this directory.
  • Run "find . -xdev | cpio -pm /mnt/hda6/".
  • Adapt /mnt/hda6/etc/fstab and lilo.conf, run LILO and reboot into your new/old Linux installation.
    LILO will probably complain about not being able to create /boot/boot.0300, or similar. That's a backup file of the current bootsector. You can easily discard it by adding backup=/dev/null or sth. like that to your /mnt/hda6/etc/lilo.conf ... or simply add "-s /dev/null" to the command line.
    Oh, and BTW: I usually run "lilo -C /mnt/hda6/etc/lilo.conf -t" in such cases, and if it returns without an error drop the "-t" and have LILO really install itself.
• Linux once complained about a "Bad sector". I don't know how serious such error messages have to be taken and how good Linux is at determining the correct cause for ATA-errors...
  Trying to find out what's up, I'd searched over an hour on the net and the Toshiba-webpages for a diagnosis tool - only to find out (after contacting support directly via telephone): <Shame-on-Toshiba> there is none! </Shame-on-Toshiba>
  The support hotline also told me that Toshiba has lot's of customer reports about successfull usage of IBM's/HGST's Drive Fitness Test (DFT).
  This tool (which has served me well with IBM harddrives on oh too many occasions already) reported everything to be ok with my new Toshiba drive. I'll keep an eye on this one, though ...
• It seems the new harddrive (and probably a little bit the additional RAM too, see below) need considerably more power: Instead of about 3 hours 15, the notebook now only runs about 2 hours 15 on battery anymore.

Upgrading the RAM

I used a 256 MB RAM SO-DIMM PC133 144pin Kingston CL3 memory, placed it into the free slot at the bottom of the notebook - and there it was: 512 MB RAM, with an installation as easy as can be.

HP Support

• Abstract: HP's support is great.

• I've discovered the sound-chip had a malfunction in the way that when using the notebook with headphones plugged into line-out, after about 15 minutes the speakers turn on additionally to the headphones.

  I contacted HP support (in Austria it's the telephone number 0810 - 00 60 80). They were very kind and told me it's a known bug, they can repair this if I give it to them. It took HP only 4 working days until I got the notebook back, it seems it had been mended in Manchester (UK).
  everything works fine now.
  Watch out!: My harddrive was totally erased by the support team installing a default Windows XP HE image!

• When I got the notebook back from the above mentioned repair, as a result of changing the whole mainboard, the <>-key did not work anymore.
  HP support told me that's because of "US-keyboard" was activated on the keyboard-controller. Within a few minutes they sent me the tool "kbd_sel.exe" (as I didn't have the default install of Win XP HE anymore where I would have found the programme too). Here is a german description of how to use the programme (taken from HP support's mail) to set the UK keyboard layout again and have a working <>-key.

• Update - 03-01-22: Unfortunately, I meanwhile spilled have a cup of coffee over the right hand side to rear of the notebook (where the NIC is connected). This finally resulted in the battery not being charged anymore and not being used as soon as the AC-cable was disconnected (the notebook just crashed instead of using the still charged battery).
  HP again repaired the notebook quite fast... great service again!
  But: HP is not cheap: as HP charges kind of a "flatrate" for every error possible (except for the really expensive change of display, it seems, but that's not something necessarily true, to my knowledge), the invoice said to pay over € 500,-.
  Well, as I said, not cheap, but good.

Miscellaneous

This Heise-article lists some HP notebooks that the company offers full Linux support for. HP therefore uses a specifically adapted Ubuntu Linux version.

Intel Announces the PowerTOP Utility for Linux: "What's eating the battery life of my Linux laptop? ..."

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© Markus Amersdorfer
last modified: Tuesday, 23-Feb-2010 15:42:12 UTC