Decent sensitivity for mouse with Ubuntu

Having acceleration/sensitivity set to their slowest/lowest settings in System Settings, for a lot of mouse devices such as the otherwise so excellent Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000, the sensitivity/moving speed is still far too high.

Here is how to fix that (from Ubuntu 12.04):

First, you will need your mouse ProductName and ID:
$ xinput list

...
 Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000 id=14 [slave  pointer  (2)]
...


Test a new sensitivity level (14=device id, 1.7=level - higher level lowers sensitivity):

$ xinput set-prop 14 "Device Accel Constant Deceleration" 1.7


Create a new xorg file for the new setting:
$ sudo gedit /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-mymouse.conf
Containing the following:

Section "InputClass"
   Identifier      "Microsoft Mouse 5000" # Whatever you want
   MatchProduct    "Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000" # Product name from xinput list
   Option          "ConstantDeceleration" "1.7" # The same value as xinput
EndSection

Setting now sticks after reboot.

Getting the Logitech diNovo Edge Keyboard to work with Ubuntu 12.04

Modify the 97-bluetooth-hid2hci.rules file:

sudo gedit /lib/udev/rules.d/97-bluetooth-hid2hci.rules

 Look for the folowing lines:

 # Logitech devices
KERNEL=="hiddev*", ATTRS{idVendor}=="046d", ATTRS{idProduct}=="c70[345abce]|c71[34bc]", \ RUN+="hid2hci --method=logitech-hid --devpath=%p"

Simply change from hiddev to hidraw like:

 # Logitech devices
KERNEL=="hidraw*", ATTRS{idVendor}=="046d", ATTRS{idProduct}=="c70[345abce]|c71[34bc]", \ RUN+="hid2hci --method=logitech-hid --devpath=%p"

Restart Ubuntu (sudo reboot now). Short-press connect button on both keyboard and dongle. Done.

Same fix also works for Ubuntu 11.10, only use the file 62-bluez-hid2hci.rules file instead:

sudo gedit /lib/udev/rules.d/62-bluez-hid2hci.rules

Quick power off button on Ubuntu

Here is how I permanently make the power switch/button simply shut down Ubuntu from 12.04 (no more questions asked) as root:

echo "event=button/power (PWR.||PBTN)" > /etc/acpi/events/power; echo "action=/sbin/poweroff" >> /etc/acpi/events/power; /etc/init.d/acpid restart;

König USB 300 Mbps WLAN Dongle for Ubuntu / Linux

It just works

Having tried and returned (and possibly breaking) a number of dongles i finally found one working out of the box with Ubuntu 12.04.

CMP-WNUSB40

It's really small and simple and connecting it just makes all surrounding networks visible in a flash. Had it running for a couple of hours and done numerous speed tests on bredbandskollen.se measuring some 55 Mbps (on a 100 Mbps line). Same result on a second computer (Ubuntu 11.10).

The KÖNIG (KONIG) Electronic USB 300 Mbps WLAN Dongle / Ultra compact adapter can be found in Teknikmagasinet (Gallerian, Stockholm) for 199 SKR and CDON for 219 SKR.

Sony Vaio X and Ubuntu 12.04 Precise

So, here is how to install Ubuntu 12.04 on a Sony Vaio X (my model: VPCX11S1E).

With minor adjustments, the intel GMA500 video card is now working out of the box.

I don't use the built-in WWAN 3G modem but if you do you should probably keep some driver files from the Windows partition! See this post.

Working:

• LAN + WLAN
• Trackpad with edge scrolling/scroll area (no/disabled multi touch/two-finger scrolling)
• Audio/built-in speakers/microphone and camera (mic really bad though) and volume control
• Graphics with brightness (after fix below)
• USB/Bluetooth
• Suspend (works sometimes, I don't really use/test the suspend feature)

Not working/tested:

• External VGA
• Graphics boots up with faulty resolution sometimes (including during installation). Just reboot to fix.
• WWAN 3G modem

Steps:

1. Create Ubuntu install USB (info).

2. On the USB, add the following boot options to syslinux.cfg:
quiet splash console=tty1 acpi_backlight=vendor acpi_osi=Linux acer_wmi.blacklist=yes mem=1920mb

3. Install Ubuntu from USB and reboot (to a black screen).

4. Fix the black screen by dropping to console (Crtl-Alt-F1) and log in.
sudo nano /etc/default/grub
# Change GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash console=tty1 acpi_backlight=vendor acpi_osi=Linux acer_wmi.blacklist=yes mem=1920mb"
# Change GRUB_GFXMODE=1366x768x32
# Add GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=1366x768x32
sudo update-grub
sudo nano /etc/grub.d/01_915resolution# Add echo insmod 915resolution
# Add echo 915resolution 58 1366 768 32
sudo chmod a+x /etc/grub.d/01_915resolution
sudo reboot

5. Fix suspend:
sudo nano /etc/pm/config.d/gma500
# Add ADD_PARAMETERS='-quirk-vbemode-restore'

Getting the NETGEAR N300 Wireless USB Adapter WNA3100 to work with Crunchbang/Debian

This guide installed the driver, enabled network browsing, attaching to SSID and surfing/apt-getting for a while. The entire network dies when accessing http://bredbandskollen.se so I'm returning the adapter.

Update: Recommending this adapter instead: Konig 300

Anyway here it is:

setxkbmap se # swedish keyboard
sudo apt-get install ndiswrapper-common ndiswrapper-utils-1.9 ndisgtk --fix-missing
mkdir disk1
sudo mount -o ro /dev/sda1 disk1; cp "disk1/Program Files/NETGEAR...Win2000XP/"* tmp # (make sure get all windows driver files - in this example the files were installed on another partition on the same computer - or look for  bcmwlhigh5.zip (or bcmwlhigh6.zip for 64bit) online)
sudo apt-get install firmware-brcm80211 # (??? to what effect?)
sudo modprobe ndiswrapper # (FATAL: Module ndiswrapper not found)

# http://wiki.debian.org/acx#
Firmware
sudo mkdir /usr/local/lib/firmware
for i in "" c16 c17 r16 r17 ; do sudo wget -P /usr/local/lib/firmware http://acx100.erley.org/fw/
acx111_1.2.1.34/tiacx111$i ; done
sudo su - # (switch to root)
   apt-get install module-assistant wireless-tools
   m-a a-i acx100
   exit # end root

sudo modprobe ndiswrapper # (allright!!!)
sudo ndisgtk # (point to ini-file in tmp)

#AND WERE DONE

sudo modprobe acx # (still: FATAL: Module acx not found.)

Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Beta 2 on Sony Vaio X

The latest Ubuntu versions have all been a mess to work with my Vaio X. The problems are mainly in desktop performance where the interface clearly deteriorated with the introduction of Unity. The best way to get Ubuntu to work well is probably to move back to 10.04 (or thereabouts) but I'm going to give Ubuntu one last chance with 12.04. Rumor says that the GMA500 (graphics chip) is now supported from start.

1. Downloaded the beta ISO image: ubuntu-12.04-beta2-desktop-i386.iso
2. Made the USB boot from ISO using usb-creator-gtk
3. Started from USB with "Try Ubuntu" option
4. Installed Skype

Results:

Ok, the "Try/Install" Ubuntu screen worked but it was really messed up and split horizontally with only the top half part working.

It took a couple of attempts to get the screen resolution right (no changes - just that many times the screen boots in only 1024x768 mode).

Also the screen is flickering slightly and I filed some 3-5 bug reports (popup kept informing abt. several background crashes). (bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/972294)

All this allowed me to try most of the gadgets. Working:

• Display
• Audio (with keyboard volume control/mute / Fn+F2,F3,F4)
• Webcam (with Skype)
• Trackpad (with edge scrolling)
• Bluetooth (with Skype)
• Youtube video/audio (full screen working but rather laggy/chippy)

Not working (tested):

• Keyboard display light controls / Fn+F5,F6 (adjusts ok but has no effect on display)
• Multitouch trackpad (never got that to work with Ubuntu before either)
• External display/VGA (nothing happens when connecting a monitor, keyboard switch / Fn+F7)

CPU/fan noice is irritating (saddest part of the Vaio X) but I must say that it's behaving and the fan shuts off completely from time to time. Running nothing but a Youtube clip spinns it up though.