Installing Ubuntu 9.04 on ASUS F80S
August 20, 2009, revised December 31, 2010 in SoftwareLast updated: August 20, 2009
Resume
Ubuntu runs great on this laptop. The one big fat up-in-your-eye minus is the Radeon HD 3470 - ATI drivers suck. Stick with NVidia if you want 3D to work without any hacking. Better (=working) Radeon R600 opensource drivers are expected fall'09.
This laptop was used under Kernel version 2.6.28-15 (the normal Ubuntu build) and 2.6.30-5.
General Hardware Specifications of ASUS F80S
There are several modifications of F80S, they differ in processor type (a flavor of Core 2 Duo) and presence of Bluetooth. Mine had no BT, so that's not tested.| Hardware Components | Status under Linux | Notes |
| Pentium 4 Dual-Core 2GHz | Works | |
| SiS SIS 671DX + 968 chipset | Works | |
| ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470, 256MB VRAM | Works | Works well on official ATI driver (Catalyst/'fglrx'), though as of v9.8 there's still buggy compositing during games. Opensource 'radeon' driver does not support 3D acceleration, so no compiz and no 3D games. Compoziting and video works flawlessly, though: I use metacity with '-c'. Never used the HDMI output. |
| 2048MB DDR2 667 MHz SDRAM, 2 x SODIMM | Works | |
| Atheros AR242x Wi-Fi 802.11abg card | Works | After some kernel hacking I had to use MADwifi to make it work. |
| SiS 191 Gigabit Ethernet adapter | Works | |
| Internal 56k Modem | Not tested | I had no chance to test the modem on any real connection. It's not being detected by scanModem, though: that's not a good sign. |
| Sound Card (Azalia audio controller) | Works | |
| 160GB SATA hard drive | Works | |
| DVD Super Multi Double Layer optical drive | Works | |
| 8 in 1 card reader: SD, MMC, MS, MS-Pro, mini SD w/ adapter, MS-Duo, MS-Pro Duo via adapter | Works | |
| 1.3MP webcam | Works | Skype-tested |
| 14.1" WXGA Color-Shine (Glare-type) display | Works | |
| 6 cells 4400 mAh battery | Works | |
| LED indicators | Work | |
| Keyboard functional keys | Work |
Basic Installation of Ubuntu 9.04
- Why Ubuntu: I like Ubuntu for its wide spread and abundance of repositories. Everything else in this world could be reconfigured to your needs.
- Obtaining: Ubuntu is available for free download from ubuntu.com.
- Installing: pop in the livecd, boot, install. Nothing special, really.
- Post-Install modifications/tweaks: don't forget proprietary ATI Catalyst.
Setting up additional features
- Getting Suspend-to-Disk to operate correctly - still trying
- Getting the touchpad to operate as more than a PS/2 mouse - google 'synaptic linux', it's no big deal
Unresolved issues
- Pulseaudio is fouled up in Ubuntu 9.04. Use with caution
lspci -v output
00:00.0 Host bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 671MX
00:00.0 Host bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 671MX
Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 1847
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64
Kernel modules: sis-agp
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] PCI-to-PCI bridge
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 0000d000-0000dfff
Memory behind bridge: fde00000-fdefffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 00000000d0000000-00000000dfffffff
Capabilities:
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:02.0 ISA bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS968 [MuTIOL Media IO] (rev 01)
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0
00:02.5 IDE interface: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 5513 [IDE] (rev 01) (prog-if 80 [Master])
Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 1847
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 128
I/O ports at 01f0 [size=8]
I/O ports at 03f4 [size=1]
I/O ports at 0170 [size=8]
I/O ports at 0374 [size=1]
I/O ports at fff0 [size=16]
Capabilities:
Kernel driver in use: pata_sis
00:03.0 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller (rev 0f) (prog-if 10)
Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 1847
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 20
Memory at fddff000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
00:03.1 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller (rev 0f) (prog-if 10)
Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 1847
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 21
Memory at fddfe000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
00:03.3 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 2.0 Controller (prog-if 20)
Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 1847
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 22
Memory at fddfd000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Capabilities:
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:04.0 Ethernet controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 191 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (rev 02)
Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 1815
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 19
Memory at fddfcc00 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128]
I/O ports at cc00 [size=128]
Capabilities:
Kernel driver in use: sis190
Kernel modules: sis190
00:05.0 IDE interface: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SATA Controller / IDE mode (rev 03) (prog-if 8f [Master SecP SecO PriP PriO])
Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 1847
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 17
I/O ports at c800 [size=8]
I/O ports at c400 [size=4]
I/O ports at c000 [size=8]
I/O ports at bc00 [size=4]
I/O ports at b800 [size=16]
I/O ports at b400 [size=128]
Capabilities:
Kernel driver in use: sata_sis
00:06.0 PCI bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] PCI-to-PCI bridge
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=02, sec-latency=0
Memory behind bridge: fdf00000-fdffffff
Capabilities:
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:07.0 PCI bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] PCI-to-PCI bridge
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=03, subordinate=06, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 0000e000-0000efff
Memory behind bridge: fe000000-febfffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 00000000fa000000-00000000fcffffff
Capabilities:
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:0f.0 Audio device: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] Azalia Audio Controller
Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 19c3
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 18
Memory at fddf4000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Capabilities:
Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Mobility Radeon HD 3400 Series
Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 19e2
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
Memory at d0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
I/O ports at d800 [size=256]
Memory at fdef0000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
Expansion ROM at fdec0000 [disabled] [size=128K]
Capabilities:
01:00.1 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc RV620 Audio device [Radeon HD 34xx Series]
Subsystem: ATI Technologies Inc RV620 Audio device [Radeon HD 34xx Series]
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
Memory at fdeec000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Capabilities:
Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
Subsystem: Device 1a3b:1026
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
Memory at fdff0000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
Capabilities:
Kernel driver in use: ath_pci
Kernel modules: ath_pci, ath5k
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] PCI-to-PCI bridge
00:02.0 ISA bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS968 [MuTIOL Media IO] (rev 01)
00:02.5 IDE interface: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 5513 [IDE] (rev 01)
00:03.0 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller (rev 0f)
00:03.1 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller (rev 0f)
00:03.3 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 2.0 Controller
00:04.0 Ethernet controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 191 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (rev 02)
00:05.0 IDE interface: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SATA Controller / IDE mode (rev 03)
00:06.0 PCI bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] PCI-to-PCI bridge
00:07.0 PCI bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] PCI-to-PCI bridge
00:0f.0 Audio device: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] Azalia Audio Controller
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Mobility Radeon HD 3400 Series
01:00.1 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc RV620 Audio device [Radeon HD 34xx Series]
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
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This review was made for Linux on Laptops.
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