Slackware Linux 11 on the Toshiba A105 - S4284 |
| Copyright © 2006-2007 by Zack Smith All rights reserved. 1. System ProfileMy A105-S4284 has the following hardware:
2. InstallationThis information is provided as-is. Proceed at your own risk.
Before abandoning WindowsIf you plan on using Linux exclusively, be sure that before you do, you copy all of the Windows TrueType fonts to a disk for use with Linux. They're in c:\windows\fonts. Firefox looks much better when you have those Windows fonts installed.3. Drivers3.1. VideoWithout any modifications, VESA video works using the Intel framebuffer driver in 1024x768 mode if you request that LILO sets that mode at startup.3.1.1. X WindowsThe 945GM graphics chip works in 1024x768 in VESA mode.To get widescreen 1280x800 video under X windows, you need to use the utility 915resolution.
Note the following problem: When you exit X in 1280x800, the text in text mode is garbled. 3.1.2. FramebufferYou can start up in VESA 1024x768 mode. I don't think it's possible to start up in 1280x800, because 915resolution indicates that there is no BIOS video mode for that resolution. The only way to start up in 1280x800 would be to update LILO to include 915resolution functionality.3.1.3. New discoveryI have discovered that under Windows in the Dos Box, the VESA driver reports that modes 0x162 and 0x168 provide 1280x800 at 32 bits. I never tested whether this mode also worked under Linux. The following is the full list printed by a utility that I wrote. I have no idea as to whether these modes truly exist in the VESA BIOS or whether they are invented by Windows XP.Found VESA version 3.0 Mode 0x101 is 640 by 480, 8 bits Mode 0x103 is 800 by 600, 8 bits Mode 0x105 is 1024 by 768, 8 bits Mode 0x111 is 640 by 480, 16 bits Mode 0x112 is 640 by 480, 32 bits Mode 0x114 is 800 by 600, 16 bits Mode 0x115 is 800 by 600, 32 bits Mode 0x117 is 1024 by 768, 16 bits Mode 0x118 is 1024 by 768, 32 bits Mode 0x160 is 1280 by 800, 8 bits Mode 0x161 is 1280 by 800, 16 bits Mode 0x162 is 1280 by 800, 32 bits Mode 0x166 is 1280 by 800, 8 bits Mode 0x167 is 1280 by 800, 16 bits Mode 0x168 is 1280 by 800, 32 bits Mode 0x1ff is 640 by 480, 8 bits 3.2. SoundThe Intel 82801G High-Def audio chip is supported by the 2.6.19.2 kernel, which I compiled. You can use the config file below.3.3. ACPISeems to work, but I have not seen it slow down the CPU.3.4. USBFour ports total. They work.3.5. FireWireThe FireWire driver that is supplied with the 2.4 kernel appears to be causing a kernel crash. This is why you need to start up with the "noieee1394" option.3.6. Printing via lp0There is no parallel port.3.7. External flash driveThese work fine and are faster than the SATA drive due to the problem with the SATA driver.3.8. PCMCIAAppears to be supported, I didn't test it.3.9 NetworkingThe Intel Ethernet NIC appeared to be recognized by the provided kernel.
WirelessThis very nearly gets wireless working:
3.10. Internal DVD writerI upgraded my A105 laptop with the Pioneer DVR-K06R dual-layer slot-loading DVD writer. Installation is very simple and I recommend upgrading to this drive if you can get one. The drive that came with the computer was OK, not great.4. Performance4.1. VideoVESA performance is quite decent. My benchmark program bandwidth says:Framebuffer memory sequential read millions/sec = 5.93086 Framebuffer memory sequential write millions/sec = 21.9919 4.2. Hard driveThe stock drive is a SATA 100 MB drive that is a Toshiba MK1032GSX.With the provided kernel and 'hdparm' it was impossible to enable DMA, in fact trying to gave an error. Here are the hdparm benchmarks: hdparm -t (buffered disk read) 1.83 MB/sec hdparm -T (cached disk read) 2560 MB/secCompare this to accessing a 4X flash card that is connected via USB2 with a USB2 adapter: hdparm -t (buffered disk read) 4.95 MB/sec hdparm -T (cached disk read) 2043.34 MB/sec You should add -h to the poweroff command in /etc/rc.d/rc.6 to ensure a quiet hard drive powerdown. SD flash slotThis laptop comes with a built-in SD card reader, which is not a trivial enhancement because it should be a 32-bit interface and hopefully will prove to be quite fast. However I haven't tested it yet.4.3. ProcessorThe Intel Core Duo T2050 has two processors and is really quite sufficient for most purposes, if you have a kernel that supports both.The BYTE magazine Dhrystone benchmark, available at anime.net/~goemon, gives a result of 160 under Linux. When I ran it under Windows with Cygwin, I got a value of 189. 4.4. Memory BandwidthTo ascertain memory performance, I wrote a utility called "bandwidth", which is here. I got these values:L2 cache sequential read millions/sec = 906.877 L2 cache sequential write millions/sec = 798.915 Main memory sequential read millions/sec = 748.983 Main memory sequential write millions/sec = 327.68 Framebuffer resolution: 1024x768, 16bpp Framebuffer memory sequential read millions/sec = 5.93086 Framebuffer memory sequential write millions/sec = 21.9919 Notice that although the RAM type is rated to offer a 4200 MB/second transfer rate for main memory, the benchmark achieved only 748.9*4 = 2996 MB/second when reading, even though it was reading sequentially which should result in very good prefetch efficiency. 4.5. Internal DVD writerI haven't written any DVDs under Linux.5. KernelI compiled the 2.6.19.2 kernel from kernel.org and it works fine. The config file (/usr/src/linux/.config) that I created for it is here.6. Mailing Listlinux.toshiba-dme.co.jpLinks
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