Installing 64 bit Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) on Acer 5740

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Update for Ubuntu 10.04

I've upgraded to Ubuntu 10.04. I was unable to do an upgrade through Update Manager (which complained that I had non-ubuntu supplied packages - true), so I backed up all my data and did a reinstall. The graphics work fine with this version as installed, and my only hardware problem is now with the trackpad, which normally (but not always) fails to work after login. I generally use an external mouse, but this is a pain when I'm on the train. I'll be looking for a fix for this over the next few days and will post when I find one.

Update: to fix the trackpad issue, as root (sudo su -) I ran the following command and rebooted: 

echo options psmouse proto=exps > /etc/modprobe.d/psmouse.modprobe

Ubuntu 9.10

I recently bought an Acer Aspire 5740, which (of course) came pre-installed with MS Windows. This is no use to me as I couldn't do without Linux, so I planned to install Ubuntu desktop on it. All the hardware appears to be compatible except the display adaptor (a built in Intel Arundale controller (Rev 12). It took me a few hours to get this working. It basically consists of installing a newer set of kernel and x-org packages than are installed by default. No doubt things will catch up soon, but meanwhile these notes may be useful.

  • Insert 64 bit install CD, change the BIOS to boot from CD first, reboot. When prompted to choose what to do, press F4 and choose "Safe graphics mode", choose first menu option "Try Ubuntu ..."
  • Install Ubuntu from the live CD when booted
  • At next boot, interrupt the grub menu by pressing down arrow repeatly at power on. Then press e to edit the top line, delete "quiet nosplash" and replace with "vga=771". Boot with ctrl+x, you should be able to log in and get a session
  • When booted update all packages by opening a terminal and executing the following commands: 
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
  • Reboot again. This time you should not need to modify the load options at boot, but will only get 1024x768 display which looks odd. If you get the proper resolution then the packages in the main update channels must have been updated, so you can stop now (although you may wish to disable compiz).
  • When booted, find your kernel version with 
uname -a
  • If the version is less than 2.6.32, update it with packages from http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/ - I downloaded:
    • linux-headers-2.6.32-020632_2.6.32-020632_all.deb
    • linux-headers-2.6.32-020632-generic_2.6.32-020632_amd64.deb
    • linux-image-2.6.32_2.6.32-020632_all.deb

Update: the kernel version I use now 2.6.33-020633, from the same source

  • Open a terminal, navigate to where they were saved to (Downloads in the home folder by default) and install with: 
sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-2.6.32-020632_2.6.32-020632_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-2.6.32-020632-generic_2.6.32-020632_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i linux-image-2.6.32_2.6.32-020632_all.deb
  • Add the following lines to the software sources ( in System\Administration\Software Sources): 
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/xorg-edgers/ppa/ubuntu karmic main 
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/xorg-edgers/ppa/ubuntu karmic main
  • Update packages again with: 
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
  • Edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf to change vesa to intel - you'll need to sudo to edit the file, using something like: 
sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
  • then disabled compiz with 
gconftool-2 --set /desktop/gnome/session/required_components/windowmanager --type string metacity
  • Reboot - you should now get now get a proper display with a 1366x768 resolution
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