Dell Inspiron 6000

[Sejam]

Been working with my new Dell Inspiron 6000 which has the new intel chipset 915 (sonoma). Here's some of the things I did to get it working. I figure this might be helpful since more and more people seem to be getting these and they're not exactly fully supported completely yet.

For the most part, I followed the handbook very closely. The exception is when it came to the kernel, I used gentoo-dev-sources ebuild gentoo-dev-sources-2.6.11-r2.ebuild. You should make sure to use at least a 2.6.11 kernel as it's when support was added for the 915 chipset. I posted both my .config and xorg.conf which the links can be found at the bottom of the post.

I used a stage3 for a pentium 3 to start off with. Right before I started to install system software though, I added the following lines to /etc/portage/package.keywords so that I would be using gcc-3.4.3 which has better support for pentium-m.

Code: Select all

sys-devel/gcc ~x86
sys-libs/libstdc++-v3 ~x86
sys-libs/glibc ~x86
sys-devel/gcc-config ~x86

Before I compiled and switched to gcc-3.4.3, my cflag was -march=pentium3 and after switching to gcc-3.4.3 i changed that to -march=pentium-m. Did a emerge gcc, then used gcc-config to switch to using 3.4.3. Of course doing this can cause problems with other packages in portage. If you chose just to stick with gcc-3.3.5 i would recommend using -march=pentium3 and not -march=pentium-m or -march=pentium4.

Monitor/Graphics
Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller
I have the 15.4 inch UltraSharp WSXGA+ LCD Pane. This willl make a difference in setting up the modelines and resultion in the xorg.conf file. This has to be the most dissappointing part as of yet. Since there is no support for the 915GM in xorg 6.8.2 yet (possibly patch in the future) we will have to wait until 6.8.3 or install a cvs version of xorg which contains the drivers. It does work with vesa drivers (not so good though). This is also where using the 2.6.11 kernel is needed since the kernel does have drivers for it. I'm still messing around the the xorg.conf working on tweaking everything, but for the most part everything works great. I have posted my xorg.conf for people that want to see what I've done (and possibly share some additional tweaks they've done).
xorg.conf

Disks
Intel Corporation 82801FBM (ICH6M) SATA Controller
This section caught me off guard at first since I didn't know that the hard drives were now using SATA interfaces in the laptop. The biggest notible difference is that the hard drive device is now at /dev/sda instead of what most people are used to as /dev/hda. The cdrom is at /dev/hdc (or /dev/cdrom or /dev/cdroms/cdrom0). In the kernel, I had to make sure that I enabled the driver for this which was:
CONFIG_SCSI_SATA=y
CONFIG_SCSI_ATA_PIIX=y
CONFIG_SCSI_QLA2XXX=y

SD Slot
I have not got this to work yet. Anybody that has some ideas on how to get this to work, it would be a great help to people. I have these set in the kernel though:
CONFIG_MMC=y
CONFIG_MMC_BLOCK=y
CONFIG_MMC_WBSD=m

Wired Network Adapter
Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX
Just make sure in the kernel you have:
CONFIG_B44=y
Works fine then.

Wireless Network Adapter
Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 2915ABG MiniPCI Adapter
I chose to use the ipw2200 drivers for this card. At this time it is said that adhoc mode does not work which is not a problem for a majority of people since they usually use access points anyways. My card works perfectly with these drivers though. You need to make sure that you enable the following in the kernel to use these drivers though:
CONFIG_CRYPTO_ARC4=y
CONFIG_CRYPTO_MICHAEL_MIC=y
After that, just emerge net-wireless/ipw2200 and then follow the directions that it gives after installing if you want to automatically load the modules. I've tried this with B and G networks with different configurations, but haven't tested it with an A network, but don't see any problems when I do eventually come across one.

Audio
Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) AC'97 Audio Controller
I use also and I just had this in my config and it worked perfectly:
CONFIG_SND_AC97_CODEC=y
CONFIG_SND_INTEL8X0=y

USB/Firewire
Works perfectly find using any availabe standard documentation. Nothing special.

Touchpad
AlpsPS/2 ALPS TouchPad on isa0060/serio1

To get better control over the touchpad I installed the drive for Synaptics touchpads which also works with the ALPs.

Code: Select all

emerge x11-misc/synaptics

Then added the following in the xorg.conf:

Code: Select all

Section "InputDevice"
        Identifier  "Mouse0"
        Option      "Device"       "/dev/psaux"
        Driver      "synaptics"
        Option      "Protocol"           "auto-dev"
        Option      "MaxTapTime"         "0"
        Option      "AccelFactor"        "0.015"
        Option      "MinSpeed"           "0.3"
        Option      "MaxSpeed"           "0.75"
        Option      "EdgeMotionMinSpeed" "200"
        Option      "EdgeMotionMaxSpeed" "200"
        Option      "UpDownScrolling"    "1"
        Option      "LeftRightScrolling" "1"
EndSection

kernel config file
xorg.conf

[Deathwing00]

Moved from Installing Gentoo.

[VinzC]

What did you boot your laptop with to install Gentoo? Knoppix?

I booted with Gentoo Live CD 2004.3 but it didn't see my HD. All I had was a /dev/hdc, which is my CD/DVD drive.

[Sejam]

What did you boot your laptop with to install Gentoo? Knoppix?

I booted with Gentoo Live CD 2004.3 but it didn't see my HD. All I had was a /dev/hdc, which is my CD/DVD drive.

I used the same Live CD. As I had mentioned, the HD is a SATA drive, so the drive show up on my computer as /dev/sda. When you use grub though, it will still be hd0.

[VinzC]

I used the same Live CD. As I had mentioned, the HD is a SATA drive, so the drive show up on my computer as /dev/sda. When you use grub though, it will still be hd0.

Good. Note it's too late now for I have used Knoppix. But I'm currently installing. I also noticed disks are accessible from /dev/sda<n>. I'm waiting to compile the kernel. I'll probably tell you tomorrow what happened .

[VinzC]

Hmmm... I'm amazed: it's the first time I compile a kernel and reboot successfully without having to fix the errors I made (generally fstab or kernel modules autoload) . Thank you very much for your hints, that helped me.

I didn't use your config file but I did get a working kernel. I've added coldplug and now I can use wireless features. I'm using them right now to compile links. Next I'll be installing splash utils and vesatng to get a wider resolution. I think my next task will be to get X and the 1680x1050 resolution work.

As for the card reader, did you check lspci? I've got an unknown device from Ricoh, which I suppose is the card reader.

Code: Select all

lspci
...
0000:03:01.2 Class 0805: Ricoh Co Ltd: unknown device 0822 (rev 17)
...

Probably this is what you have too.

[AvantLegion]

Sejam: Are you using X, KDE, Gnome?

I have an Inspiron 6000, like yours except with the Radeon x300 Mobility, and both KDE and GNOME freeze upon attempting to load (though X works just fine). I'm wondering if they're not liking the -march=pentium-m (I followed your guide to get GCC 3.4.3 and gcc-config to use it before building everything)

[Sejam]

Sejam: Are you using X, KDE, Gnome?

I'm currently using KDE. I haven't hade any freezes using it either. Of course it does run pretty slow at the current time because I'm using vesa drivers until xorg 6.8.3 comes out. I am using xorg 6.8.2-r1 at the time from ports though. Did you use my xorg configuration, because yours will be different because of teh different video card. The same goes for the kernel config will be a little different in respect for you won't be using the same video driver.

[Sejam]

As for the card reader, did you check lspci? I've got an unknown device from Ricoh, which I suppose is the card reader.

I had noticed that there was that unknown device and felt it was probably the media reader. I haven't figured out how to get it working yet, but I haven't really looked into it too hard yet. Here is my full lspci listing just for general information though.

Code: Select all

0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/PM/GMS/910GML Express Processor to DRAM Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev d3)
0000:00:1e.2 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1e.3 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801FBM (ICH6M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801FBM (ICH6M) SATA Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
0000:03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX (rev 02)
0000:03:01.0 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev b3)
0000:03:01.1 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C552 IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 08)
0000:03:01.2 Class 0805: Ricoh Co Ltd: Unknown device 0822 (rev 17)
0000:03:03.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 2915ABG MiniPCI Adapter (rev 05)

Next I'll be installing splash utils and vesatng to get a wider resolution. I think my next task will be to get X and the 1680x1050 resolution work.

Can you let me know if it worked out for you, and if it did, the steps you took to get it working. That would definitely be a great help for some people then.

[VinzC]

Next I'll be installing splash utils and vesatng to get a wider resolution. I think my next task will be to get X and the 1680x1050 resolution work.

Can you let me know if it worked out for you, and if it did, the steps you took to get it working. That would definitely be a great help for some people then.

As for now I've just installed splashutils. It works right out of the box. I've followed the Wiki, as usual. Just one Oopsie, however: I installed splashutils *before* I compiled the kernel. But it did work. I've tried 1280x1024 until now.

In fact this is the same, IMHO, as if I had compiled the kernel with splash support, installed splash utils and recompiled the kernel (in cases I added kernel modules). I used splash theme Emergence, the best to me. I built the kernel the manual way (not with genkernel).

Now I'm working on X. I've put your XOrg.conf but X blanks the screen and there's no input . I can switch between sessions but the screen is blank. The PC is not locked, it's just the screen (or video controller) that is seeking somewhere it shouldn't . It's just as if I were typing blindly.

Reboot and it's Ok. There I am.

Just one note: how did you get the table with video modes?

[VinzC]

You said that video was the most disappointing part? Well, you were lying: it's an absolute disaster

All I can get is a stupid "No devices detected" when I run startx.
Here's Xorg.0.log trailer:

Code: Select all

...
(II) Primary device is: PCI 00:02:0
(--) Assigning device section with no busID to primary device
(WW) I810: No matching Device section for instance (BusID PCI:0:2:1) found
(EE) No devices detected

Fatal server error:
no screens found

Did you succeed in having X start at all?

[Sejam]

You said that video was the most disappointing part? Well, you were lying: it's an absolute disaster Evil or Very Mad

All I can get is a stupid "No devices detected" when I run startx.
Here's Xorg.0.log trailer:
Code:
...
(II) Primary device is: PCI 00:02:0
(--) Assigning device section with no busID to primary device
(WW) I810: No matching Device section for instance (BusID PCI:0:2:1) found
(EE) No devices detected

Fatal server error:
no screens found


Did you succeed in having X start at all?

I have gotten X to work, I've had to use the vesa drivers to get it work with xorg-6.8.2-r1. It might work with the xorg-6.8.0 (stable portage branch) but I haven't tried it. Here's some parts that are in my xorg.conf that might help.

Code: Select all

Section "Modes"
        Identifier "16:10"
        ModeLine "1280x800"  83.5  1280 1344 1480 1680  800 801 804 828
        ModeLine "1680x1050"  214.51  1680 1800 1984 2288  1050 1051 1054 1103
        ModeLine "768x576"     50.00  768  832  846 1000   576  590  595  630
        ModeLine "768x576"     63.07  768  800  960 1024   576  578  590  616
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier   "Monitor0"
        VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
        ModelName    "Monitor Model"
        UseModes     "16:10"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        Identifier  "Card0"
        Driver      "vesa"
        VendorName  "Intel Corp."
        BoardName   "Unknown Board"
        BusID       "PCI:0:2:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
        Identifier "Screen0"
        Device     "Card0"
        Monitor    "Monitor0"
        DefaultDepth 16
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport   0 0
                Depth     16
                Modes "1680x1050"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport   0 0
                Depth     24
                Modes "1680x1050"
        EndSubSection
EndSection

If you really want it to work with the correct drivers, you will need to either wait for 6.8.3 to be released or you need to install xorg from cvs. I'm currently impatient so I'm working on creating a xorg-cvs port for myself, but I'm in middle of finals so it's not going to fast.

[Sejam]

Next I'll be installing splash utils and vesatng to get a wider resolution. I think my next task will be to get X and the 1680x1050 resolution work.

Can you let me know if it worked out for you, and if it did, the steps you took to get it working. That would definitely be a great help for some people then.

As for now I've just installed splashutils. It works right out of the box. I've followed the Wiki, as usual. Just one Oopsie, however: I installed splashutils *before* I compiled the kernel. But it did work. I've tried 1280x1024 until now.

In fact this is the same, IMHO, as if I had compiled the kernel with splash support, installed splash utils and recompiled the kernel (in cases I added kernel modules). I used splash theme Emergence, the best to me. I built the kernel the manual way (not with genkernel).

Now I'm working on X. I've put your XOrg.conf but X blanks the screen and there's no input . I can switch between sessions but the screen is blank. The PC is not locked, it's just the screen (or video controller) that is seeking somewhere it shouldn't . It's just as if I were typing blindly.

Reboot and it's Ok. There I am.

Just one note: how did you get the table with video modes?

I got the table with video modes from doing a google search. It was so long ago that I totally forgot how I found it. To make matters worse, in case yours was one of the higher resolutions, I had removed it manually cause I knew I didn't need it. Sorry about that. I have an updated xorg.conf that I'm using, but there really is no difference except for the touchpad using a different driver.

[stormer]

To generate vesa modeline you cant just try gtf, which is part of xorg.

Code: Select all

gtf 1680 1050 173

Which mean , get the xorg modline for 1680x1050 at 173 KHz. I don't know why 173, but il works better. I found this by running fbset when using vesatg set to 1680x1050.

[VinzC]

Sejam,

I've read the i810 driver could be used instead. I've also seen you had selected it in your xorg.conf. Did you succeed in doing so?

In fact I've tried once more your xorg config file but now I get the error message I've described. Yet I've compiled the kernel with i915 and i810 DRM support. I also enabled intel frame buffer and vesa support (since I'm using boot splash screen, which is working without a hitch). I've defined i810 and i915 as modules for I want to load them without recompiling the kernel.

Looking at your kernel configuration file, it's almost the same as mine. I'll check that today evening when I come home.

[Sejam]

Sejam,

I've read the i810 driver could be used instead. I've also seen you had selected it in your xorg.conf. Did you succeed in doing so?

In fact I've tried once more your xorg config file but now I get the error message I've described. Yet I've compiled the kernel with i915 and i810 DRM support. I also enabled intel frame buffer and vesa support (since I'm using boot splash screen, which is working without a hitch). I've defined i810 and i915 as modules for I want to load them without recompiling the kernel.

Looking at your kernel configuration file, it's almost the same as mine. I'll check that today evening when I come home.

Using 6.8.2-r1 I couldn't get the i810 driver to work, had to comment it out and use vesa. I got bored yesterday, so I installed the xorg cvs at which point I was able to use the i810 (which is what loads teh i915 driver). The cvs recognized the card correctly and used the correct drive, but it wouldn't load DRI. I'll have fun with that this weekend probably.

[Parabola]

Have you gotten any sleep states to work?

[Parabola]

One note I'd like to add.

Compile in the i8k (aka Dell Laptop Support) as a module and insert it in the appropriate /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.? file so it loads at boot. If you also use i8kmon, do not let it control the fan speeds; the i6000's BIOS does a much better job at this than i8kmon could. Now that I stopped using i8kmon to control the fans i've seen less fan fluctuation and lower temps under both idle and heavy load (compiles) situations.

[VinzC]

Have you gotten any sleep states to work?

Is it the "thing" that monitors when the lid is closed/opened? (Huston) I have a problem when I reopen the lid: the screen is off and there is no way but reboot the machine.

[VinzC]

To generate vesa modeline you cant just try gtf, which is part of xorg.

Code: Select all

gtf 1680 1050 173

Which mean , get the xorg modline for 1680x1050 at 173 KHz. I don't know why 173, but il works better. I found this by running fbset when using vesatg set to 1680x1050.

Do you mean we can set splash screen to 1680x1050 that way? It would be great.

[Sejam]

One note I'd like to add.

Compile in the i8k (aka Dell Laptop Support) as a module and insert it in the appropriate /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.? file so it loads at boot. If you also use i8kmon, do not let it control the fan speeds; the i6000's BIOS does a much better job at this than i8kmon could. Now that I stopped using i8kmon to control the fans i've seen less fan fluctuation and lower temps under both idle and heavy load (compiles) situations.

If you're not using i8k for controlling the fans, then why are you using it? The only reason I used it in the past on my old laptop was to control the fans.

[Parabola]

One note I'd like to add.

Compile in the i8k (aka Dell Laptop Support) as a module and insert it in the appropriate /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.? file so it loads at boot. If you also use i8kmon, do not let it control the fan speeds; the i6000's BIOS does a much better job at this than i8kmon could. Now that I stopped using i8kmon to control the fans i've seen less fan fluctuation and lower temps under both idle and heavy load (compiles) situations.

If you're not using i8k for controlling the fans, then why are you using it? The only reason I used it in the past on my old laptop was to control the fans.

You need to use i8k (the kernel module) or your fans will perpetually stay on high. It's i8kmon daemon that controls the fan speeds manually. I'm not using i8kmon at all; I removed it from the runlevel. But I'm not sure if others use it for anything else.

[stormer]

To generate vesa modeline you cant just try gtf, which is part of xorg.

Code: Select all

gtf 1680 1050 173

Which mean , get the xorg modline for 1680x1050 at 173 KHz. I don't know why 173, but il works better. I found this by running fbset when using vesatg set to 1680x1050.

Do you mean we can set splash screen to 1680x1050 that way? It would be great.

Yes, it works with vesafbtg, but I found it too small. Right now I'm removed fb since I'm using snapshot DRI with XFree86 4.5.0, and this dri dirve flush vesafb mtrr table

[Sejam]

I tried to get the DRI working correctly by using the snapshop, but it has a little symbol error which I can find on google.

Code: Select all

kobject_register failed for drm (-17)
 [<c01f0fab>] kobject_register+0x5b/0x70
 [<c012f781>] mod_sysfs_setup+0x51/0xc0
 [<c0130b12>] load_module+0x962/0xa70
 [<c0130c88>] sys_init_module+0x68/0x240
 [<c010318f>] syscall_call+0x7/0xb
i915: Unknown symbol drm_get_dev
i915: Unknown symbol drm_cleanup_pci

I've tried to recompile the kernel, and tried to reinstall the dri module too. No luck. The drm.ko is there and so is i915.ko. Still the same thing. Should I be using the 2.6.10 kernel or just use a kernel where there is no drm or i915 module installed.

[stormer]

This will work ono kernel 2.6.11 and higher only. 2.6.10 don't have PCI express support