Ubuntu Wiki

• Contact: ["BradPitcher"]

• Make: Asus
• Brand: A6
• Model: A6B00U (A6U)

• Website: http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=497&l1=5&l2=24&l3=134

Current Issues

The webcam doesn't work. Further details here: ["../AsusA6BG16E-RWDL"].

The memory card reader doesn't work: Ricoh

The disable touchpad button doesn't work.

The wireless On/Off function key doesn't work.

The wireless LED doesn't work by default. Please see ["../AsusA6BG16E-RWDL"] for details on how to enable it.

The built-in microphone doesn't work.

The firewire port doesn't work in Dapper only.

The graphics card is sis, but it gets detected as vesa.

The PCMCIA port doesn't work in Breezy only.

External monitors flicker, especially when typing quickly. According to Thomas Winischhofer at www.winischhofer.net: {{{ A few words about the SiS 760 (all versions)

The SiS760 is a chipset for the AMD64 and AMD Sempron platform. These CPUs have a memory controller built-in, ie in systems based on these CPUs, there is no dedicated memory controller present.

As with all integrated SiS chipsets, the SiS 760 supports shared video memory, ie. memory that is shared between the system and the graphics (this technique is called "UMA"). However, the 76x also supports dedicated video RAM (so-called "local framebuffer memory" = "LFB") which connects directly to the graphics chip and is accessible for the CPU via the bus. Shared memory and local memory can be combined ("hybrid mode").

Shared memory is slower, because the graphics chip has to access it via the system memory bus, while it can access local framebuffer RAM directly. Most if not all modern graphics cards therefore use local video memory.

While shared memory was quite usable on all previous integrated chips (630/730, 65x, 661, 74x), there is a serious problem with it on the SiS760 - caused by the aforementioned fact that the CPU contains the system memory controller. This leads to severe memory bandwidth limitations if only shared system memory is used and no local framebuffer memory is present.

Therefore, the 760 - if used with shared memory only - is not really usable in dual head configurations; even in single-head operation, some features are limited. This especially affects video overlay support (Xv): Although the SiS760 supports two video overlays, these are in most cases not usable: Heavy flicker in the video and the graphics may occure as a result of exceeding the available memory bandwidth. The X driver takes some counter-measures on such systems (even advanced ones in the Premium Version), but it can't avoid the problems entirely. On systems with both shared and local video memory, the drivers will only use the local memory part. You may likewise disable the shared memory in the BIOS.

My advice: Don't buy a machine with a SiS760 unless this machine has dedicated local video memory. And please don't complain about "driver bugs" if you see "flashing lines" on the screen; these are the typical effects of a bandwidth problem and unavoidable - even the Windows driver can't do better. In such cases, reduce the resolution and/or refresh rate and/or color depth, or use one output (CRT1 or CRT2) only. Sorry, can't help it. There is no driver bug involved. }}}

Hardware details

Notes

[1] Breezy:

The screen is a little off during installation, which makes it a bit difficult to get through (you can't see the buttons in some dialogs). This problem is also manifested during each boot, but the login screen is fine and everything looks fine after that. After installation, this problem can be solved (as described in ["../AsusA6500U"]) by adding the boot parameter "vga=771". Just edit your /boot/grub/menu.lst file and add that parameter to the end of each kernel line. Thanks, ["IstvanKapcsandi"]. Also, the resolution settings don't get detected during installation. You must check "1280x800" manually, or you will need to add it to xorg.conf later.

Dapper:

"1280x800" needs to be manually checked during installation for Dapper also. The installation believes that the graphics card is vesa which boots, but you have to edit xorg.conf to use sis instead if you want the screen to look nice.

[2] This doesn't work by default. However, it will work if you edit /etc/default/acpi-support and turn #ACPI_SLEEP=true into ACPI_SLEEP=true (as described in ["../AsusA6BG16E-RWDL"]). Thanks, ["ThomasBasset"]

[3] The Intel Pro 2200BG wireless card isn't detected correctly during Dapper installation, however after logging in the first time, it does work. If your wireless card doesn't work at all, then you may be using an A6500U, which requires some manual configuration for wireless to work. For details: ["../AsusA6500U"]

[4] Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II

[5] Ricoh

[6] As described in the manual, this button is supposed to cycle through different power schemes. By default it turns off the LCD.

[7] This button is supposed to disable/enable the touchpad. It doesn't do anything. It doesn't even register anything in xev.

[8] By default the CD Player button opens the cd tray and the other buttons do nothing. However, these can easily be configured to do whatever you want using the keyboard shortcuts dialog in System->Preferences.

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