Acer AO 756-877 netbook - moderate compatibility issues

[Albireo]

Hello,

I have recently got a new Acer Aspire One 756-877 netbook and did a hard disk installation of BT5r2 32-bit and later upgraded to r3.

CPU: Intel Celeron 877, 1.4ghz
RAM: 4g
Graphics: Intel HD (256MB shared)
HD: 350GB
Wifi: Atheros AR5BW222
Touchpad: etps/2 elantech with integrated left-right buttons

BT works OK in general, however there are a few issues which don't work correctly.

1. Graphics
Graphics are really slow. You can work decently if you disable desktop effects.

2. Thouchpad
The touchpad is the real problem: It has integrated buttons and BT doesn't recognize it correctly. I installed the
Synaptics TouchPad driver for X.Org server (driver version 1.2.2-1ubuntu4) with the KpackageKit and I am able to do a right click only if I tap instantly on the touchpad with 2 fingers. As you understand this is not at all practical.

3. Wifi
Airmon-ng says that the chipset is Atheros AR9462 and the driver loaded is ath9k.
Packet injection works OK.
However, I noticed that signal reception is not good at all. In my home network, if a move outside the house the signal is -70/-78db and connection drops in a few minutes, while with Win7 reception is very very good and never drops.

4. Screen
On other issue, which can be fairly important is that it is not possible to adjust screen brightness (either from the fn buttons, nor from the system settings). As you understand this is not good for battery consumption when being unplugged.

This is what I have found up to now. Everything else seems to work OK.

Could someone help with any of the above issues?

Please tell me if you need any further information.

Thank you in advance!

P.S. This post was intended for the Non-working hardware section. Can the mod move it? Sorryyyy...

[ndrwgn]

The hardware on this device is too new; right click on the clickpad barley works in Quantal beta, and the graphics driver needs updating which I'm not sure you can do easily in lucid. I'm having all of the same issues, even though I'm still trying to work through them. 2 and 3 finger tapping work for middle and right click, so its not too horrible. I think the real issue is the graphics card. No desktop effects for you!
Anyways, with 779 views, I imagine that we're not the only ones having problems. Here's an arbitrary lspci for anyone who has similar hardware:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller (rev 09)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 04)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev c4)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev c4)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev c4)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series Chipset Family LPC Controller (rev 04)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 04)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 04)
03:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
04:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetLink BCM57785 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe (rev 10)
04:00.1 SD Host controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM57765 Memory Card Reader (rev 10)

[ndrwgn]

Ok, for anyone who cares, I've resolved most issues with this machine.
The video drivers need to be compatible with sandy bridge, which requires two PPAs:

apt-add-repository ppa:glasen/intel-driver
apt-add-repository ppa:f-hackenberger/x220-intel-mesa
apt-get update
apt-get dist-upgrade -y

After that, the i915 driver needs to be started at boot:

echo 'i915' >> /etc/modules

While you're at it, add coretemp (so you can monitor hardware temperatures if you want)

echo 'coretemp' >> /etc/modules

Then, the fn brightness keys need some kernel parameters passed in grub:

nano /etc/defaults/grub
and add these options:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="text splash vga=791 acpi_backlight=vendor"

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="acpi_osi=Linux"

update-grub ; fix-splash


and of course, the obligatory fixing of the wireless on atheros cards so you can connect to wep:

1. wget http://www.orbit-lab.org/kernel/comp....5.1-1.tar.bz2
2. tar jvxf compat-wireless-3.5.1-1.tar.bz2
3. cd compat-wireless-3.5.1-1
4. scripts/driver-select ath9k
5. make
6. make install
7. either reboot, or;
make unload ; modprobe ath9k

The only thing I couldn't get was the right click on the clickpad. this was just fixed in Quantal, and requires a newer version of xorg. Single click works no matter where you click it, and you can set middle and right clicks as two and three finger taps, after installing the kde touchpad module:
apt-get install kcm-touchpad
Mac people do it all the time so I'm living with it for now....

[Albireo]

Right clicking and tapping should not be a problem. To be honest, I got used to it and I admit its more convenient to do a right click with just a tap of 2 fingers!

The real issue is screen brightness and energy consumption.

I'll try your fixes and let you know.

Thanks a lot!





Well, I managed to try the fixes on the spot and all I can say is that they work like a charm.

Desktop effects are on, working graphical environment is fast and screen brightness can be finally adjusted with the fn button and the power management profiles as well.

Thank you very much ndrwgn! I appreciate your help a lot.

[ndrwgn]

I'm still working on the clickpad because it drives me nuts that it doesn't work right...

[Toids]

Thank you very much for these fixes! I was thinking I would have to just keep running with no desktop effects.
I got this all working on my Acer Aspire One AO756-2628

The graphics lag in the beginning was annoying but I got used to it. And now happy days return with working desktop effects lol.

I agree the track pad issue is annoying and confused me at first how in the world to right-click, such a simple thing but hard task.

I am still getting used to the track pad and messing up while dragging things around.

[Viesca]

Hello,

I'm thinking on getting this netbook. Any luck solving the trackpad issue yet? Also, does injection work with this chipset?

Thanks!

[ndrwgn]

Hello,

I'm thinking on getting this netbook. Any luck solving the trackpad issue yet? Also, does injection work with this chipset?

Thanks!

Negs on the trackpad, but yes injection works. I've thought aboout upgrading the kernel but haven't gotten around to trying it yet.

[Viesca]

Hey guys,

I finally decided to get this Acer AO 756 netbook and I got it running BT 5. I just finished implementing the fixes posted in this thread and everything works great expect for one annoying problem: the screen is now shifted right and I can't fix it. Here's a screenshot to better explain the issue:

Screenshot.jpg

I suppose this is caused by some sort of misconfiguration of xterm, but I have no idea where to start to fix this. Any ideas?

Thanks!

[ndrwgn]

Based on that screen shot, I can't tell what you mean, except the panel icons? that's a gnome bug, you just have to move them manually.