GNU/LINUX ON LAPTOP FUJITSU/SIEMENS AMILO A7614-09GD aka A1400 or CY26

INTRO

First, this page : http://rzr.online.fr/linux.htm Shouldn't be considered as a reference one :
I just tried to note all my tricks down, may it helps even if it is a bit messy.
If you are looking for official information about Fujitsu-Siemens notebooks, please go to the company's homepage:
http://support.fujitsu-siemens.com/support/
http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com/partner/linux/contact.shtm - linux(a)fujitsu-siemens.com

If you have some infos to share or just talk about it use the mailing list :

Post : amilo(a)egroups.com (Posting in the list dont requiere membership)
Subscribe : mailto:amilo-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Browse : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/amilo/

Also there is Wiki up If you want to contribute http://rzr.online.fr/wiki.htm

For personnal stuff contact me at : http://RzR.online.FR/contact.htm

Since April 2003, I am trying to make everything works, the job isn't over, but this model is pretty usable.

Did I say that My computer name is 'nrv' = enerve (in french) = angry (in English), and that name fits so well.

Last but not least : I am looking for a job related to SW Engineering, Programming, Linux, Web, Computer Graphics etc , see http://rzr.online.fr/job.htm

QUESTIONS a TODO's

Sound : midi ? it seems to be disabled for me ( /dev/sequencer )
How comes that ext ps2 mouse or keyboard lock X ?
Modem : how to initilize it on linux ?
Power Management : how to optimise this ? how to toggle screen on standby ? cpufreq , etc ?
What other os are working on it (including windows beside preinstalled fujitsu edition of win XP home)
Graphics : did build the perfect kernel X combination for 3d (DRI), Acpi, eth and dvd ?
Kernel : what is that MCE error ? and Serial Warning ?

TODO : Your contribution is welcome @ http://rzr.online.fr/wiki.htm

Sound / play midi
Buses / unlock PS/2 external mouse
Kernel 2.6.0 needs mouse support
General / Isolate keyboard , mouse modules
Power M / cpufreqd, LID switch
Modem / How to init w/out windows ?
Video / Port glxgears to Win32 (then compare) , xinerama

NEWS

I just summarize latest tricks or/and changes on that website, refer to each section for more.

2003.12.26 : modem works: Recent driver slmodem-2.9.4 works also (once intialised with windows); kernel / 2.4.23 works fine (no dri tough) & 2.6.0 lock keyboard; Over 111 amilinuxo users in the group :-)
2003.11.21 : modem works: I tested it finally and it works after windows init using smlink; Intel 537EP Chipset Family Intel 537EP V.92 Modem Chipset Driver out (to be tested)
2003.11.07 : sound full duplex: Alsa driver snd-ali5451 is far better (I use gnomemeeting now, call me)
2003.11.03 : usb ok: module usbnet works @ 400 Kbps; Compiled Kernel 2.6.0-test9 (no mouse); Tested xig driver demo
2003.10.27 : winmodem is said to work: Modem driver (smlink based) works for Francesco Angelo Medagli @ http://www.medagli.it/linux/amilo.html
2003.10.16: DRI is working with Xfree86-4.3.99.14 and kernel 2.4 (patches); Kernel 2.6-test7 Out; Wiki up (Express yourself)
2003.10.02 : modem: todo: FSC provides some bios updates (installing Windows 2000 need this); Modem / new drivers tested unsuccessfully; Compiled 2.6-test6 : no network; ps2 mouse lock
2003.09.19 : kernel 2.6: Compiled 2.6-test5 : cdrom is not working anymore; tried to enable midi (unscucessfull); 3D / 400 fps with DRI
2003.09.11 : dri: Accelerated 3D (DRI) is working (ask me for binaries) (X and k needed to be recompiled); 2003.09.06 : dri, sound, modem, acpi, radeontool, cdrom, kernels, web; 3d driver is ready and tested on amilo; cdrom can blank R/W; some users reports
2003.08.28 : kernels, list, modem, keyboard: Built some kernels w/ acpi : 2.4.21 , 2.4.22 & 2.6.0-test4 : ok; Been Reported that : dri does not work with all devices; Amilo Mailing list is open : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/amilo/; Modem's serial port err : to be fixed; Page split again
2003.07.19 : 3D driver + keyboard: not tested but patch released at xfree86.org
2003.06.23 : graphics & audio update: TVout works ! & xv video accell
2003.06.18 : Radeon tricks + modem: radeon driver can be loaded using some tricks, and replaces Vesa; It seems that there is a new Driver : slmdm-2.7.10.tar.gz (will try it later); Read and compare my config files, page split
2003.04.18 : Installed Knoppix on HD: Not any user Intervention but 2D/3D Accel and modem wont work
2003.04.?? : Installed Debian Woddy , booted demolinuxcd

SPECS : FUJITSU/SIEMENS AMILO A7614 A-1400 , CY26

Screen: 15' lcd TFT XGA 1024x768x32 @ 60Hz
CPU: AMD Athlon XP Mobile 1400+ (256Kb L2 Cache) K7
Board: 266MHz FSB ; Bios Phoenix NoteBIOS 4.0 Rel. 6.1
Mem: 256 Mb DDR (shared with GPU)
GPU: ATI RADEON IGP 320M = 32Mb TVout 5/128Mb , CRT=2048x1536x32 cpu=ATI U1 (C6), dac@350Mhz
Disks: hdd IDE toshiba 20Gb + DVD/CD/CDRW + fdd3.5
Audio: AC97 16bit stereo + 2 frontal speakers + embed mini mic
Modem: onBoard V90 56K + RJ11 plug
Lan : 10/100 Mbps , + RJ45 plug
Mouse : Alps Electric Pointing device
Keyboard : French Mapping (azerty) , soft & silent w/ 2 extra keys (web+mail)
I/O : 2 pcmcia ,3 usb , ps/2 , ieee 1394 (firewire) , 1 serial (com) , 1 parallel (lpt/epp), mem
Design : Metal Gray/Blue for 3.2 Kg
Power Supply : Sector ASTEC SA80-3105 : 100/240V
Battery : Li-On 10.8V 3.8Ah (3hours Max / 500 cycles)

Software (windows only) : (Public Price 620 EUR, Oem price ~= 355 EUR)

MS Windows XP home (fr) V2002 (1000 EUR is the regular price, but that one is OEM)
MS Works Suite 2002 DVD (includes MSWord, Money, Encarta, autoroute, picture it etc)
Adobe photoshop el fr, Nero Burning Rom, windvd,
tiscali etc

Official Specs are at : http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com//rl/products/notebooks/consumer/amilo/amiloA.html
http://www.fujitsu-siemens.fr/Telechargement/GP/Portables/gamme%20oct02/Amilo%20A%207614-09GD.pdf
(Item was sold in france during spring 2003 around 1400 EUR)

All Amilo A Serie are based on the same configuration and very similar to Compaq Pressario 2000 series http://lisonbee.freeshell.org/linux/laptop/presario_2100.html

STATUS : WHAT IS (NOT YET) WORKING ?

All devices are detailed here

Linux boot/install : 90%: Knoppix did install normally; Other distro may disable MCE; ... more
Modem : 80% , works after initialization under Windows: I didn't managed to make it wake up under Linux, But those details may help.
Anyway I tried an External modem (Olitec oli'net 56K / V90), it worked fine.
Graphics / X : 80% (FB,vesa) or Radeon dri agp drm (if patched): This card is working under vesa mode or radeon driver, and 3D is now supported; Here some help for 3d dri etc
APM/ ACPI: Thats the tricky part, I know that using a disfonctionnal PM can burn you CPU.; but installing acpi cause no troubles at all.; Cpu scaling reduce heating
Usb, pcmcia, firewire etc: not tested, Reported to work
Sound : 80%: mic works, mixer shufled, but not midi
Lan : 99%: no troubles ... so far
Disk TOSHIBA MK2018GAS, ATA DISK drive : 90%,: seems ok , tweak dma etc
CDR/RW/DVD : 80%: Under scsi emulation, can blank CD
Keyboard : 80%: sometimes it freeze kde
Mouse : 90% (need to test gpm): The touchpad is using Gerenic Mouse Driver and assigned to /dev/ps2.
But I did not figured out how to use it with kernel-2.6-test2 (?) ,
'modprobe psmouse' worked with kernel-2.6.0-test4

INSTALLING LINUX

I tryed Demolinux, debian woody and finnally Knoppix (April 2003) , also I have been testing other Linux distributions
But If you don't want any trouble just install knoppix on your harddrive (it worked for me).

I keep been updating the system and compiling new kernels.
... Installing Linux & Building kernels

HARDWARE LIST

# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device cab0 (rev 13)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc U1/A3 AGP Bridge [IGP 320M] (rev 01)
00:02.0 USB Controller: ALi Corporation USB 1.1 Controller (rev 03)
00:03.0 Modem: ALi Corporation Intel 537 [M5457 AC-Link Modem]
00:04.0 IDE interface: ALi Corporation M5229 IDE (rev c4)
00:06.0 Bridge: ALi Corporation M7101 PMU
00:07.0 ISA bridge: ALi Corporation M1533 PCI to ISA Bridge [Aladdin IV]
00:08.0 Multimedia audio controller: ALi Corporation M5451 PCI AC-Link Controller Audio Device (rev 02)
00:09.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
00:0a.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): VIA Technologies, Inc. IEEE 1394 Host Controller (rev 46)
00:0b.0 CardBus bridge: ENE Technology Inc CB1420 Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
00:0b.1 CardBus bridge: ENE Technology Inc CB1420 Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
00:0f.0 USB Controller: ALi Corporation USB 1.1 Controller (rev 03)
01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility U1

# pcitweak -l
PCI: Probing config type using method 1
PCI: Config type is 1
PCI: PCI scan (all values are in hex)
PCI: 00:00:0: chip 1002,cab0 card 0000,0000 rev 13 class 06,00,00 hdr 00
PCI: 00:01:0: chip 1002,700f card 0000,0000 rev 01 class 06,04,00 hdr 01
PCI: 00:02:0: chip 10b9,5237 card 10b9,5237 rev 03 class 0c,03,10 hdr 00
PCI: 00:03:0: chip 10b9,5457 card 1734,100a rev 00 class 07,03,00 hdr 00
PCI: 00:04:0: chip 10b9,5229 card 10b9,5229 rev c4 class 01,01,fa hdr 00
PCI: 00:06:0: chip 10b9,7101 card 10b9,7101 rev 00 class 06,80,00 hdr 00
PCI: 00:07:0: chip 10b9,1533 card 10b9,1533 rev 00 class 06,01,00 hdr 00
PCI: 00:08:0: chip 10b9,5451 card 1734,100a rev 02 class 04,01,00 hdr 00
PCI: 00:09:0: chip 10ec,8139 card 1734,100a rev 10 class 02,00,00 hdr 00
PCI: 00:0a:0: chip 1106,3044 card 1106,3044 rev 46 class 0c,00,10 hdr 00
PCI: 00:0b:0: chip 1524,1420 card 4000,0000 rev 01 class 06,07,00 hdr 82
PCI: 00:0b:1: chip 1524,1420 card 4800,0000 rev 01 class 06,07,00 hdr 82
PCI: 00:0f:0: chip 10b9,5237 card 10b9,5237 rev 03 class 0c,03,10 hdr 00
PCI: 01:05:0: chip 1002,4336 card 1734,100a rev 00 class 03,00,00 hdr 00
PCI: End of PCI scan

LOG/CONFIG FILES

Conf & Log files Archive There is a small script 'sysinfo.sh' in it if you can run it on your system, and email me the archive log, It will be really helpfull.

dmesg
lspci -vxn -vv
scanpci -v
cat /proc/pci
cat /proc/cpuinfo
cat /proc/meminfo
xdpyinfo
glxinfo
fdisk
hdparm -g /dev/hda
lsmod
...
ls /proc
ls /etc/X11/
less /var/syslog

I registered it as 206241 @ http://counter.li.org

# ~rzr/bin/machine-update
--------------------------------------------------------
This is what will be sent to the Linux Counter if you
run the program with the -m switch. Now, NOTHING IS SENT
--------------------------------------------------------
From: root
To: machine-registration@counter.li.org
Subject: machine-update for nrv

//MACHINE
accounts: 11
bogomips: 2372.4
cpu_family: 6
cpu_mhz: 1192.404
cpu_model: 8
cpu_model_name: mobile AMD Athlon (tm) 1400+
cpu_uname: i686
cpu_vendor: AuthenticAMD
disk: 18765
kernel: 2.4.20-xfs
memory: 222.9375
method: machine-update version 0.17
name: nrv
processors: 1
uniqueid: 401081737
uptime: 3:14
users: 1
//END

WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD ?

...Okay here goes the little story, In french Legislation it is *ILLEGAL* to force selling of 2 separate product that belong to 2 different class (like Hardware and Software).
So some lucky ones got some refunds for refusing to BUY those UNWANTED EXTRA software (mostly Krimo$oft ones but not only).
So why them and not me ? That's what I told to the seller...
So here are the facts :

Browsed the Web 2 hours and printed all the info on legacy etc (see links)
Asked for a 25% discount
Talked 20 mins about that license dilemma (I already have at least 1 OS)
Seller refused to sell me a computer without OS
Seller refused to write me that down on a paper (template letter)
Seller gives me a discount (200 EUR), just because ... I don't know
Seller said that if I want to argue I shall do with the manufacturer not him.
I have a computer + all the software, and going to ask for a refund to the manufacturer (as soon as I get that computer working fine on my favorite operating system)

OK some of us still want to use Windows, I don't blame you, But why *buying* all those software that come along : (win xp can burn CD without Nero, OpenOffice is suitable for creating compatible documents etc)
Here is my conclusion, M$ supremacy wont change unless people don't think the M$ way , I explain : People change their computer as soon as a new version of windows it out, so having windows on a fresh new computer is a "gain" of time, so manufacturers buy amount of licence to MS (degresive prices) and sellers can only sell what suppliers have. So everyone is happy, unless (eticks) geeks but those are a few (Remember Fight Club's hero's job).
http://www.windowsrefund.net/
http://www.linuxfrench.net/oem
http://www.linux-center.org/detaxe/
http://www.aful.org/mailman/listinfo/detaxe
http://www.linuxfrench.net/oem/ring/ring.php
http://www.clcv.org/
http://www.pps.jussieu.fr/~dicosmo/HoldUp/
http://perso.club-internet.fr/cjossel1/

Then I contacted fujitsu for some additional info on linux support, Next day I got an email :

To: linux(a)fujitsu-siemens.com
Date: Wednesday 23 April 2003 02:33 PM

unfortunately we do not support Linux on our consumer notebooks
 [...]
If we see business increasing we will change our support policy accordingly.

So you can contact them like I did.

I won't say that Fuj1tsu, At1, Ac3r Lab 1nc or M1cr0$0ft were too cooperative with the open source community.
Instead, please support "open" manufacturers, such as http://www.openbrick.org

MISC & LINKS

Amilo A: The Whole Amilo A serie (A-x7xx A-7xxx ) is based on same hardware (screen and proc may differ) I don't understand the name convention so I classed them by CPU speed.; Amilo mailing list : (I post this page updates) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/amilo/; 1400+ / Amilo A 7614-09GD or CY26 http://rzr.online.fr/linux.htm , http://www.medagli.it/linux/amilo.html , http://koti.mbnet.fi/~keiky/misc/linux/amilo/ (A7100 1400+); 1800+ / Amilo A 7800 , A6600 http://www.luckys-page.de/amiloa7800.html; Amilo A 7100 http://www.stefanlanger.de/linux/amilo.html (German/ English); 2400+ / Amilo A 2400 (.de) http://www.qsl.net/df6fr/linux.htm - http://www.qsl.net/df6fr/elinux.htm , Amilo A 7600 @T , Amilo A 7624-04 (2400 MHz Cpu 412Mb Mem) http://ns1.01net.fr/article/208018.html; Amilo A 7600 http://www.venturin.net/damiano/amiloa7600.htm; Amilo A 7600 (XP 2000+); Amilo 6600/7600/7800/8600 , A6614-09D (20GB) , A6600 (2000+ , 14') , A7620-08 (2000+ 15' 40Gb 256Mb) , A7625-10 (2500+ 15' 50Gb 256) , A7625
Linux Laptop: http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/; http://www.tuxmobil.org/mylaptops.html; http://www.linux-directory.com/links/pages/Laptops/; HOWTO http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Laptop-HOWTO.html
http://groups.google.com/groups?group=comp.os.linux.portable; http://dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Operating_Systems/Linux/Hardware_Support/Laptops/Fujitsu/; http://dir.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Software/Operating_Systems/UNIX/Linux/Notebooks/; http://lists.debian.org/debian-laptop/; Laptops forum http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/forumdisplay.php?forumid=25; IRC live chat : irc://irc.freenode.net/laptop
Other Fujitsu: Forum : http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com/ubb-scripts/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum=Notebooks&number=2&DaysPrune=45&LastLogin=
http://www.fsc-pc.de/KnowHow/
http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com/userfamily/; Not a lot in common with the Amilo D Serie or M8800 : http://www.ratnaweera.net/amilo; http://www.boronk.de/LINUX/amilo.html; Serie : EL (Cel2Ghz) ; M7300-08GD; Mailing list http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fujitsusiemenscomputer
Hardware repository & Linux Distro:: PCI Ids http://www.yourvote.com/pci/
http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/hardware.php3; http://hardwaredb.suse.de/; http://www.suse.de/de/business/certifications/certified_hardware/fsc/index.html; http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html; http://lists.debian.org/debian-laptop
Misc: Free Driver Petition http://www.PetitionOnLine.com/zxcv7nm/petition.html; http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/linuxdrive2/; Explains some LEGAL tricks on MS Windows cds ( After you've executed this script, you'll find a new directory "CDIMAGE" on drive c:\ which contains the complete Wind*wsME-Installation-CD ) http://www.heise.de/ct/ftp/01/12/230/default.shtml
Special Thanks:: http://www.culte.org
, http://gulliver.eu.org
, tiptop@fr = http://rossel.free.fr/
asudrat@fr , mika@fi , all others amilo-ers

http://RzR.online.FR

Last modified: Wed Jul 27 20:31:42 CEST 2005