Debian 'Testing' mini-HOWTO: PART 1- (Lots of config info)
'lo all:
RH 8.0 and Debian testing both have worked great on my 5620... And I
use the heck out of the thing.
There seem to be a bunch of 'leet users here, and though I can't
claim to be an expert, I've banged my head at a bunch of issues
setting up my laptop, and thought some of you would find some of
this useful.
Someone asked for a howto/manual earlier. This is definately NOT
complete info, and may me more depth than many of you might want!
That said, here goes.
Some things I've found with time (hope there's no limit to post size
:-) :
---
The modem is a Lucent chipset modem, It SHOULD work with the LT
winmodem drivers from:
http://www.physcip.uni-stuttgart.de/heby/ltmodem/
... The modem is recognized, and the modules compile and install, but
I have yet to get the driver to see dialtone. This hasn't been a
priority for me (I've got broadband at home and work), but If anyone
HAS gotten this to work, please let me know...
---
The network card is a Realtek RTL8139CL, and uses the '8139too' driver.
---
Suspend/standby/resume are troublesome... You can occasionally get
standby to work, but I have never beeen able to resume from a full
suspend.
To go to standby:
o Drop out of your X session by doing a
<control>-<alt>-<F1>
o then type: apm -S
To resume:
o Hit your Fn-F7 key (sometimes several times...) and wait. You may
eventually get your command prompt back.
o Use <control>-<alt>-<F5> to get back to your suspended X session.
---
Sound config:
Most distros use the OSS sound drivers, which are pretty limited,
especially if you plan on doing any music composition or MIDI work.
For this, the ALSA drivers work great, but can be a bear to get
working. You will need to compile the alsa stuff into your kernel (I
believe RH and Mandrake already do...).
For Debian, you can do your kernel compile the Debian way by:
o apt-get install kernel-source-<version>
... I also use the preempt, lowlatency and deblogo patches. To see all
your patch options, do:
> apt-cache search kernel-patch
> apt-get install <patches>
o apt-get install alsa-modules-<version> alsa-base alsa-headers
alsa-source alsa-utils... (etc.)
o cd /usr/src/
o tar xjvf kernel-sources-xxxx.tar.bz
To clean out added patches:
o make-kpkg --added_patches debianlogo,lowlatency,preempt,uml,systrace
clean
To cleanup a hpelessly mucked-up install:
o rm -rf kernel-source-2.4.20 && tar xjvf kernel-source-2.4.20.tar.bz2
&& cp .config kernel-source-2.4.20/.&& cd kernel-source-2.4.20/
To create the .deb's:
o make-kpkg --config menuconfig --added-patches
debianlogo,lowlatency,preempt configure
(remember to save the .config file: )
o cp .config /usr/src/.
o make-kpkg clean
o make-kpkg --append_to_version -preempt-lowlatency-deblogo
--added_patches debianlogo,lowlatency,preempt clean modules_clean
binary modules_image
To install the packages:
o cd /usr/src
o dpkg -i
kernel-doc-2.4.20-preempt-lowlatency-deblogo_10.00.Custom_all.deb
kernel-headers-2.4.20-preempt-lowlatency-deblogo_10.00.Custom_i386.deb
kernel-image-2.4.20-preempt-lowlatency-deblogo_10.00.Custom_i386.deb
kernel-source-2.4.20-preempt-lowlatency-deblogo_10.00.Custom_all.deb
modules/alsa-modules-2.4.20-preempt-lowlatency-deblogo_0.9.0rc7-2_i386.deb
For better info, you can look here:
http://myrddin.org/howto/debian-kernel-recompile.html
---
Once you have everything installed, you can use this as your alsa
config:
/etc/modutils/alsa (can also be /etc/alsa/xxx, depending on the distro):
# ALSA portion
alias char-major-116 snd
alias snd-card-0 snd-intel8x0
# module options should go here
options snd-cmipci id="first" enable_midi="1"
options snd snd_major=116 snd_cards_limit=2 \
snd_device_mode=0660 snd_device_gid=29 snd_device_uid=0
# OSS/Free portion
alias char-major-14 soundcore
alias sound-slot-0 snd-card-0
# card #1
alias sound-service-0-0 snd-mixer-oss
alias sound-service-0-1 snd-seq-oss
alias sound-service-0-3 snd-pcm-oss
alias sound-service-0-8 snd-seq-oss
alias sound-service-0-12 snd-pcm-oss
alias sound-slot-0 snd-card-0
alias sound-slot-1 snd-card-1
alias sound-slot-2 snd-card-2
alias sound-slot-3 snd-card-3
---
I'm attaching my XF86config-4 file too... It's a neat one:
I use a 20" external monitor at work, which I have xinerama'd to
extend my desktop. I also use a Logitech FX trackball, and this
config allows you to use the 4th (red) button to scroll. I
occasionally use a usb mouse, and that's in there too...
This config uses the normal 'startx' for standalone use, and 'startx
-- -layout work' to start with my trackball and external monitor.
---
For configuring network equipment, I use a USB to serial adapter. Just
make sure that you get one that is listed as working at:
http://www.qbik.ch/usb/devices/
You will also need to make sure that usb abd usb-serial is enabled
in your kernel.
The model I use is the ATEN (pretty generic). Just remember that
when you setup minicom for your serial communications, you point to
the /dev/usb/ttyUSB0 device instead of /dev/modem.
The only issue I have yet to work through is the settings in
XF86Config-4 for the bloody touchpad. I'll probably be asking others
here about that!
---
Debian is a GREAT distribution, but it can be a little bit of a bear
to get installed and configured. There are lots of guides out there
for doing a Debian install, and the Debian manuals are some of the
best I've seen.
As a shortcut,I chose to use Knoppix as a base for my Debian install,
rather than the Debian CD... Check out:
http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html
and
http://www.linuxworld.com/site-stori...1104.barr.html
I've also tweeked some things beyond the Knoppix install, added
added KDE 3.1.1 and mplayer, as well as some other more current
packages. Some of these require that you add the Debian package
sources to your /etc/apt/sources.list repository... Here is mine:
>cat /etc/apt/sources.list
#######################################################################
## SUPERCEEDING PACKAGES #
##########################
#
# KDE 3
deb
http://download.kde.org/stable/3.1/Debian stable main
#######################################################################
## STABLE PACKAGES #
#######################
#
# the main Debian packages. Uncomment the deb-src line if you
# want 'apt-get source' to work with most packages.
deb
http://lyre.mit.edu/debian/ stable main contrib non-free
deb-src
http://lyre.mit.edu/debian/ stable main contrib non-free
# the non-US Debian packages. Uncomment the deb-src line if you
# want 'apt-get source' to work with non-US packages.
deb
http://debian.teleglobe.net/non-US/ stable/non-US main contrib non-free
deb-src
http://debian.teleglobe.net/non-US/ stable/non-US main contrib non-free
#######################################################################
## TESTING PACKAGES #
#######################
# want 'apt-get source' to work with most packages.
deb
http://debian.lcs.mit.edu/debian/ testing main contrib non-free
deb-src
http://debian.lcs.mit.edu/debian/ testing main contrib non-free
# the non-US Debian packages. Uncomment the deb-src line if you
# want 'apt-get source' to work with non-US packages.
deb
http://debian.teleglobe.net/non-US/ testing/non-US main contrib non-free
deb-src
http://debian.teleglobe.net/non-US/ testing/non-US main contrib non-free
#######################################################################
## UNSTABLE PACKAGES #
#######################
#
# the main Debian packages. Uncomment the deb-src line if you
# want 'apt-get source' to work with most packages.
deb
http://208.185.25.38/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free
deb-src
http://208.185.25.38/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free
# the non-US Debian packages. Uncomment the deb-src line if you
# want 'apt-get source' to work with non-US packages.
deb
http://mirror.cict.fr/debian-non-US/ unstable/non-US main contrib non-free
deb-src
http://mirror.cict.fr/debian-non-US/ unstable/non-US main contrib non-free
#######################################################################
## APPLICATION DISTRIBUTIONS #
###############################
#
# Experimental
deb
http://debian.uni-essen.de/debian ../project/experimental main contrib non-free
deb-src
http://debian.uni-essen.de/debian ../project/experimental main contrib non-free
# Mozilla
deb
http://non-us.debian.org/~kitame/mozilla ./
deb-src
http://non-us.debian.org/~kitame/mozilla ./
# GNOME 2.0
# deb
http://www.gnome.de/debian/ ./
# kdevelop
deb
http://people.debian.org/~njordan kde3.0-woody/
# cdbakeoven
# deb
http://coyote.asoc.euitt.upm.es/mud/debian/ ./
# XFree 4.2
deb
http://people.debian.org/~branden sid/i386/
deb-src
http://people.debian.org/~branden sid/source/
# Java
deb
ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/languages/java/linux/debian woody main non-free
# deb
http://people.debian.org/~sgybas/jdk13
# LyX & others
deb
ftp://ntama.uni-mainz.de/pub/debian unofficial/
deb-src
ftp://ntama.uni-mainz.de/pub/debian unofficial/
#Mplayer
deb
http://marillat.free.fr/ testing main
deb-src
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/debian/ unstable main
---
As you can see, I have stuff from several different Debian branches,
but mostly from 'testing' and 'unstable'. However, the KDE install,
even though described by KDE as 'stable' is MORE up to date than the
'unstable' branch. This can make for a mess if you don't do some more
tweeking... LOTS of apt-get conflicts. To fix this, you need to add
some weightings to your /etc/apt/preferences file. Here is mine:
> cat /etc/apt/preferences
#This file sets the various weightings for the
# different source and tracks. As configured, it keeps the stable
# version of the kde build (from the kde site) over any in
# debian-testing or debian-unstable
#
Package: *
Pin: origin download.kde.org
Pin-Priority: 999
Package: *
Pin: release o=Debian,a=testing
Pin-Priority: 900
Package: *
Pin: release o=Debian,a=unstable
Pin-Priority: 300
Package: *
Pin: release o=Debian
Pin-Priority: -1
---------------------------------------------
... Looks like my XF86config-4 file won't fit into this post... I'll separate this into the next post...
