Dell Inspiron 6000

[VinzC]

Sejam: do you use WEP with your laptop?

I haven't succeeded in having my laptop connect automatically to my secured WLAN with WEP at boot (see my post). It returns it can't configure wireless. If I run iwconfig eth1 essid MyAP key <My Key> && dhcpcd -h solo -D eth1 it connects successfully to the WLAN.

Could you post your /etc/conf.d/net and /etc/conf.d/wireless files?

[VinzC]

Sejam: do you use WEP with your laptop?

I haven't succeeded in having my laptop connect automatically to my secured WLAN with WEP at boot (see my post). It returns it can't configure wireless. If I run iwconfig eth1 essid MyAP key <My Key> && dhcpcd -h solo -D eth1 it connects successfully to the WLAN.

Could you post your /etc/conf.d/net and /etc/conf.d/wireless files?

I've found the solution. See my post.

[Sejam]

Sejam: do you use WEP with your laptop?

I haven't succeeded in having my laptop connect automatically to my secured WLAN with WEP at boot (see my post). It returns it can't configure wireless. If I run iwconfig eth1 essid MyAP key <My Key> && dhcpcd -h solo -D eth1 it connects successfully to the WLAN.

Could you post your /etc/conf.d/net and /etc/conf.d/wireless files?

I onl use wep (both 64 bit and 128 bit encryption depending on the network I'm on). Wireless was really the easiest thing that I got working on this laptop by just installing the ipw2200 package (which takes care of everything else) and then doing the wireless-tools package. Of course you need to make sure you load the modules which after installing the ipw2200 it even gives you the echo commands. I'm not running unstable branch anymore, so I don't have the scripts that connect on boot even though it's something I really miss. Are you making sure that the ipw2200 modules (including the encyrption ones) are loading before the wireless boot script tries to configure them?

On a seperate subject, does anybody's keyboard tend to go NUTS with repeated keys every once and a while. I'll push a key quickly and all of the sudden it will write about 20 times even though the key isn't sticking.

[VinzC]

Are you making sure that the ipw2200 modules (including the encyrption ones) are loading before the wireless boot script tries to configure them?

Yes, I am. Note loading WEP encryption module is not mandatory since calling iwconfig with the key and essid parameters is enough for the module to load.

What I'm facing now is that sometimes the wireless doesn't connect to the network on boot. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't and I have to run /etc/init.d/net.eth1 restart. Besides there is no more init message about net.eth1 anymore (i.e. * Bringing eth1 up... [ok], aso). I only see these when I bring the interface up/down manually. I don't see any error message in the logs though.

Does wireless auto-start everytime without failing on your laptop? What version of udev do you use (I have version 0.54 but it doesn't change anything compared with 0.49)?

On a seperate subject, does anybody's keyboard tend to go NUTS with repeated keys every once and a while. I'll push a key quickly and all of the sudden it will write about 20 times even though the key isn't sticking.

No it doesn't happen on my side.

[tawtao]

I am going to install gentoo on inspiron 6000 with dual boot. Using fdisk, I saw /dev/sda1 and /dev/sda3.

What is the contain of /dev/sda3 (default installed by dell)?
Should I keep /dev/sda1 which is dell utility?

Tom

[VinzC]

... and should I keep /dev/sda1 which is dell utility?

I am going to install gentoo on inspiron 6000 with dual boot.

You can if you want. All you have to do is make sure there is a partition which Winbloze can exploit as its boot partition. It's about 500 KB, less than 1 MB. It should then be either sda1 or sda2. I'm always using a physical partition for Linux swap and root, while I use en extended partition to store the rest.

But in your case there is not much to do. I suggest:
sda1 Dell utility (provided you want to keep it; it's useful when you need to call Dell support)
sda2 Windows boot (short)
sda3 Linux boot (32 MB, as in Gentoo Manual)
sda4 extended partition covering the rest of the disk
sda5 Windows
sda6-... Gentoo

This is the best choice IMHO since Windows imposes the biggest retrictions (remind the 1024 sector limit, 8.4 GB barrier). It is advised to install Windows first. But you're free to drive your operating systems' boot using Grub. I prefer that. It's only a matter of choice.

In Grub you can hide sda1, sda3 and all your Linux partitions so that Windows doesn't mess with them. I also suggest using a separate partition for /var as it contains variable data (logs, service data, aso). To prevent the root partition from struggling, put /var on a separate filespace. The same applies to /home. Remember /var needs at least 3 Gigs if you plan to compile KDE and OOO.

One last thing: use a journaling FS for /boot on your laptop. It helps

HTH.

[tawtao]

The same applies to /home. Remember /var needs at least 3 Gigs if you plan to compile KDE and OOO.

One last thing: use a journaling FS for /boot on your laptop. It helps

HTH.

Thanks for your advices. I certainly agree with you that I should separate /var /home from root.
I usually change PORTAGE_TMPDIR to "/home/tmp", therefore I can reuse the space after finish compiling gentoo packages.

Just curiosity, do you separate /usr as well? If so, how big the / partition you are going to use?

I am thinking about separate /usr /var /tmp and /home from root, and I am going to create a link from /opt --> /usr/local. This way, any thing to go /opt, it go to /usr/local. Then, we might only need 300MB for the / partition.

Tom

[VinzC]

Just curiosity, do you separate /usr as well? If so, how big the / partition you are going to use?

No I didn't this time. I did the first time I installed Gentoo. I noticed later I didn't need that many partitions. On my gaming machine however I used a distinct /opt. Unreal Tournament takes up much space (it's crazy), especially if you have all three versions

I am thinking about separate /usr /var /tmp and /home from root, and I am going to create a link from /opt --> /usr/local. This way, any thing to go /opt, it go to /usr/local. Then, we might only need 300MB for the / partition.

I left /usr and /opt on the root partition on my server. It has KDE as the biggest package. I plan to install OOO. Currently it's 12 Gigs and 45% full. I also thought about splitting /tmp and all variable spaces. However splitting all these variable spaces would result in too much wasted space.

/var is used temporarily at compile time. Ok, it can take up much space but most of the time it's empty. So is it with /tmp. You might then want /tmp and /var on the same filesystem and make /tmp point to /var/tmp.

I didn't try symlinking /opt to /usr/local. I don't know what impact it would have. But if I had to split one of them I'd prefer /opt then linking /usr/local to /opt.

[tawtao]

I didn't try symlinking /opt to /usr/local. I don't know what impact it would have. But if I had to split one of them I'd prefer /opt then linking /usr/local to /opt.

I symlink /opt to /usr/local on my old laptop for years, and I have not noticed any size effect. But your idea was great! ... By the way, I decided to delete "dell utility" partition so that I can put a swap partition on a primary one.

[VinzC]

I symlink /opt to /usr/local on my old laptop for years, and I have not noticed any size effect. But your idea was great! ... By the way, I decided to delete "dell utility" partition so that I can put a swap partition on a primary one.

Glad I could be of any help. Don't hesitate to post here at will. I've still two little issues I'd like to deal with.

First wireless seems to live its own... Sometimes it connects automatically, sometimes it doesn't. I noticed this behaviour for both WEP and unencrypted networks. If you have it behave better, tell us. I'm using iwconfig module not wpa_supplicant (don't know if I could here). I sometimes get error messages like "Firmware error detected. Restarting."

Second issue is about Xorg. It seems possible to use XOrg's i810 driver (version 6.8.2). If you can manage to use it, please advise us. I'd like to tease my colleagues about that . All I could get was an error message like "No matching device section was found for BusID PCI:0:2:0" or "No matching device section was found for BusID PCI:0:2:1". I can add a section in xorg.conf for each PCI bus ID but I've not been able to have X start and my X knowledge is limited. So good luck .

Have fun.

[Sejam]

I've gotten my DVD/CD-RW working as hdc using the generic IDE drivers, but I am not able to use DMA with the drive. I believe that the cdrom drive is hooked up to the SATA IDE controller though and that might be the problem. When I disable to the generic IDE drivers and try to get the SATA drivers to work (like they do with the hard drive), the cdrom doesn't show up. I do see the following in dmesg which makes me believe it does see it though:

Code: Select all

ata1: SATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0x1F0 ctl 0x3F6 bmdma 0xBFA0 irq 14
ata1: dev 0 cfg 49:2b00 82:346b 83:5b29 84:4003 85:3469 86:1a09 87:4003 88:203f
ata1: dev 0 ATA, max UDMA/100, 78140160 sectors:
ata1: dev 0 configured for UDMA/100
scsi0 : ata_piix
  Vendor: ATA       Model: FUJITSU MHT2040A  Rev: 006C
  Type:   Direct-Access                      ANSI SCSI revision: 05
ata2: SATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0x170 ctl 0x376 bmdma 0xBFA8 irq 15
ata2: dev 0 cfg 49:0f00 82:0000 83:0000 84:0000 85:0000 86:0000 87:0000 88:0407
ata2: dev 0 ATAPI, max UDMA/33
ata2: dev 0 configured for UDMA/33
scsi1 : ata_piix
SCSI device sda: 78140160 512-byte hdwr sectors (40008 MB)
SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
SCSI device sda: 78140160 512-byte hdwr sectors (40008 MB)
SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
 /dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target0/lun0: p1 p2 p3 p4
Attached scsi disk sda at scsi0, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
Attached scsi generic sg0 at scsi0, channel 0, id 0, lun 0,  type 0

So wouldn't looking at this make one believe that it seen the cdrom drive as the ata2 and mapped it to scsi1 while the hard drive was ata1 and mapped to scsi0 which then was identified as sda. This is the IDE controller used:

Code: Select all

0000:00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801FBM (ICH6M) SATA Controller (rev 03)

Now after enabling the generic IDE support I get this then in dmesg:

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Uniform Multi-Platform E-IDE driver Revision: 7.00alpha2
ide: Assuming 33MHz system bus speed for PIO modes; override with idebus=xx
ide0: I/O resource 0x1F0-0x1F7 not free.
ide0: ports already in use, skipping probe
Probing IDE interface ide1...
hdc: SAMSUNG CDRW/DVD SN-324S, ATAPI CD/DVD-ROM drive
Probing IDE interface ide2...
Probing IDE interface ide3...
Probing IDE interface ide4...
Probing IDE interface ide5...
ide1 at 0x170-0x177,0x376 on irq 15
hdc: ATAPI 24X DVD-ROM CD-R/RW drive, 2048kB Cache
Uniform CD-ROM driver Revision: 3.20
libata version 1.10 loaded.
ata_piix version 1.03
ACPI: PCI interrupt 0000:00:1f.2[B] -> GSI 7 (level, low) -> IRQ 7
ata: 0x170 IDE port busy
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:1f.2 to 64
ata1: SATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0x1F0 ctl 0x3F6 bmdma 0xBFA0 irq 14
ata1: dev 0 cfg 49:2b00 82:346b 83:5b29 84:4003 85:3469 86:1a09 87:4003 88:203f
ata1: dev 0 ATA, max UDMA/100, 78140160 sectors:
ata1: dev 0 configured for UDMA/100
scsi0 : ata_piix
  Vendor: ATA       Model: FUJITSU MHT2040A  Rev: 006C
  Type:   Direct-Access                      ANSI SCSI revision: 05
SCSI device sda: 78140160 512-byte hdwr sectors (40008 MB)
SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
SCSI device sda: 78140160 512-byte hdwr sectors (40008 MB)
SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back
 /dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target0/lun0: p1 p2 p3 p4
Attached scsi disk sda at scsi0, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
Attached scsi generic sg0 at scsi0, channel 0, id 0, lun 0,  type 0

We can see that the cdrom was identified on ide1 correctly, and also that the scsi1 section is now missing. If I try to enable DMA for the cdrom drive, I get this error though.

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# hdparm -d1 /dev/hdc

/dev/hdc:
 setting using_dma to 1 (on)
 HDIO_SET_DMA failed: Operation not permitted
 using_dma    =  0 (off)

Any ideas would be great. I can use the cdrom using the generic IDE drivers, but DMA cannot be used as it will return an error which I really need DMA support on my DVD/CD-RW drive.

[VinzC]

Don't know if it helps but in Windows XP the CD/DVD controller runs in PIO mode though I have set "DMA if applicable". It looks like the controller cannot use DMA or does not support DMA with the CDROM drive.

[VinzC]

Hi again.

I'm experiencing a strange behaviour with wireless LAN.

1. When I power up my laptop the wireless activates the network card and connects immediately. I can see that because I don't get the 'solo.unknown_domain' message at the logon prompt but 'solo.mydomain.local'.

2. If I reboot the computer (don't power off, just reboot), the wireless takes a little longer to activate. I get the 'solo.unknown_domain' for a couple of seconds more (don't log on, press Enter; the message updates automatically). Then it connects.

3. If I reboot a second time, then I have to log on and restart the wireless with /etc/init.d/net.eth1 restart.

Just as if it needed to rest a little before next sollicitation... Is it because I'm using module iwconfig instead of wpa_supplicant? BTW can I use wpa_supplicant at all?

Wth?

[Sejam]

Don't know if it helps but in Windows XP the CD/DVD controller runs in PIO mode though I have set "DMA if applicable". It looks like the controller cannot use DMA or does not support DMA with the CDROM drive.

I think the controller does support DMA because if I trie to use the SATA with the cdrom (which identifies the drive but doesn't create a dev point for it), it shows that it found a device that is configured for UDMA/33.

ata2: SATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0x170 ctl 0x376 bmdma 0xBFA8 irq 15
ata2: dev 0 cfg 49:0f00 82:0000 83:0000 84:0000 85:0000 86:0000 87:0000 88:0407
ata2: dev 0 ATAPI, max UDMA/33
ata2: dev 0 configured for UDMA/33
scsi1 : ata_piix

[VinzC]

I think the controller does support DMA because if I trie to use the SATA with the cdrom (which identifies the drive but doesn't create a dev point for it), it shows that it found a device that is configured for UDMA/33.

ata2: SATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0x170 ctl 0x376 bmdma 0xBFA8 irq 15
ata2: dev 0 cfg 49:0f00 82:0000 83:0000 84:0000 85:0000 86:0000 87:0000 88:0407
ata2: dev 0 ATAPI, max UDMA/33
ata2: dev 0 configured for UDMA/33
scsi1 : ata_piix

You are right. Booting with a Knoppix CD shows at some point during boot Setting DMA on CD-ROM or something. It also says /dev/scd instead of /dev/hdc. Might illustrate it tries to force CD-ROM detection as SCSI device.

[Sejam]

I think the controller does support DMA because if I trie to use the SATA with the cdrom (which identifies the drive but doesn't create a dev point for it), it shows that it found a device that is configured for UDMA/33.

ata2: SATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0x170 ctl 0x376 bmdma 0xBFA8 irq 15
ata2: dev 0 cfg 49:0f00 82:0000 83:0000 84:0000 85:0000 86:0000 87:0000 88:0407
ata2: dev 0 ATAPI, max UDMA/33
ata2: dev 0 configured for UDMA/33
scsi1 : ata_piix

You are right. Booting with a Knoppix CD shows at some point during boot Setting DMA on CD-ROM or something. It also says /dev/scd instead of /dev/hdc. Might illustrate it tries to force CD-ROM detection as SCSI device.

Any idea how Knoppix is doing it different to identify it with scsi?

[SergOS]

I found only this solution at this moment.
I don't know why,but Suse kernel don't have problems with cdrom and DMA at Intel 82801fbm SATA controller.
Gentoo kernel developers,pls look inside of this kernel an make a patch for gentoo-sources!!!

[VinzC]

You know what Window$ is, don't you... A bunch of sh***t. Now I've had to reinstall it completely know what? the controller that controls the CD-ROM is running DMA mode 2! Understand who can...

[The Funky Pkunk]

I found only this solution at this moment.
I don't know why,but Suse kernel don't have problems with cdrom and DMA at Intel 82801fbm SATA controller.
Gentoo kernel developers,pls look inside of this kernel an make a patch for gentoo-sources!!!

What kernel config do you use with that kernel? I've been trying to patch the Gentoo kernel and vanilla-sources using some of the patches used in the SuSe kernel-of-the-day, however, I just cannot get it working. That patchset is gargantuan - it makes me appreciate the gentoo-sources patches. Either I'm applying the wrong (combination of) patches, using the wrong config, or both.

BTW, on my i6k the kernel (linux-2.6.11-gentoo-r4) autodetects the lcd screen, so I don't have to used modelines to get wsxga resolutions.

[The Funky Pkunk]

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

Why the QLogic host adapter drivers? I haven't seen QLogic (or anything resembling it) in any lspci/dmesg output at all, and while configs and patches have been applied rather quickly lately in my search for a combination that will avail the lack of DMA on my dvd-rw drive, I seem to recall taking them out of the kernel and everything still running smooth and dandy (dvd-rw drive aside).

Edit: I removed them from the gentoo-r5 release and everything is working fine.

[The Funky Pkunk]

A little more on our DMA troubles here: http://www.mail-archive.com/linux-ide@v ... 00834.html

Now, as far as I can undersand ICH6M is an AHCI-compliant chipset; However, when using AHCI I get this in dmesg:

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libata version 1.10 loaded.
ahci version 1.00
ACPI: PCI interrupt 0000:00:1f.2[B] -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 193
ahci: probe of 0000:00:1f.2 failed with error -12
ata_piix version 1.03
ACPI: PCI interrupt 0000:00:1f.2[B] -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 193
ata: 0x170 IDE port busy

...so that didn't work too well. Blergh.

[VinzC]

There is a BIOS upgrade (A05) for Dell i6000. I have applied it. It seems it fixed the wireless problem, i.e. rebooting many times has wireless progressively lose its ability to autoconnect. It also seems the screen resumes properly after suspend. I have only tried it for two days. I still have to test it for a longer period. I thought it might interrest people here.

[Sejam]

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

Why the QLogic host adapter drivers? I haven't seen QLogic (or anything resembling it) in any lspci/dmesg output at all, and while configs and patches have been applied rather quickly lately in my search for a combination that will avail the lack of DMA on my dvd-rw drive, I seem to recall taking them out of the kernel and everything still running smooth and dandy (dvd-rw drive aside).

Edit: I removed them from the gentoo-r5 release and everything is working fine.

That was the first version of the config I made. You're right in that it can be removed. Really need to update the information since I've been through so many revisions and changes of most configuration files. Never did get the cdrom to work as a scsi drive yet.

[The Funky Pkunk]

It's a bit of a bummer that you can't set idle-time and power management to the disk using hdparm (due to hdparm not being particularly interested in talking to SATA drives). I don't know what kind of settings it's got, but I kinda susepct they're not going to be optimal for laptops.

Also, I've got a fan that's always spinning, in the "top" left corner. If I feel the need to cool down my hand I can just put it outside the exhaust vent, because that air isn't even slightly warm. What's the deal with fan noise here? Do you lot have fans that aren't spinning down? I thought the i6k BIOS was managing fans, or is it not supposed to? Or, as it all boils down to: Do I call Dell or do I have to fix this myself. I can't believe I'm supposed to listen to cold air being pushed around.

Also, the i8k kernel driver isn't loading on my i6k:

Code: Select all

i8k: not running on a Dell system
i8k: vendor=Dell Inc., model=Inspiron 6000, version=A04
i8k: unable to get SMM Dell signature
i8k: unable to get SMM BIOS version

[VinzC]

Also, I've got a fan that's always spinning, in the "top" left corner. If I feel the need to cool down my hand I can just put it outside the exhaust vent, because that air isn't even slightly warm. What's the deal with fan noise here? Do you lot have fans that aren't spinning down? I thought the i6k BIOS was managing fans, or is it not supposed to? Or, as it all boils down to: Do I call Dell or do I have to fix this myself. I can't believe I'm supposed to listen to cold air being pushed around.

I don't take Winbloze as a reference anymore but in both cases (i.e. Gentoo and Win) the fan on the rear left is always on. The air is cold indeed and it never stops. I don't know if Dell was lazy on this one and "forgot" about turning the fan off.

IMHO a fan that is always spinning - even cold air - is better than a fan that starts only when the air is hot. I prefer this. Of course it makes a little noise (I can hardly hear it but my ears might not be 100% efficient anymore ). Note the fan is still spinning even after I installed Dell utilities (which control the fan too).

Just my 2c to say I can live with it.

EDIT: I think the BIOS is not supposed (designed) to turn it off but the choice is left to the application.