Netbooks News, Hacks and HowTo’s

The HP Mini 1000 is the 2nd netbook from HP which replaces the VIA processor from the previous 2133 and uses Intel Atom. It has SSD storage of 8GB/16GB, and 60GB HDD options. RAM is reduced to 512MB compared to previous 1GB. Lots of differences from the 2133 brother.

Some are now surprised because it seems that HP missed to announce that HP Mini 1000 comes with built in 3G module. And you won’t worry about installing external 3G PCIe card anymore. The only problem is that the 3G module is disabled initially, and software/driver is not by default included in the package. But it’s also not a problem anymore how to enable it. dplxy has some pretty good details on how he enabled the 3G feature on his HP Mini 1000. Head on and check it out.

via liliputing

Ubuntu 8.10 has been released recently, and if you feel you want to install it on your netbook already, Tombuntu has got you a very detailed instructions of how to install Ubuntu 8.10. In his case, an Eee PC 901, But it should basically work on other model as well.

The instruction includes:

• Creating a Live USB to SD/Flash Drive
• Installing Ubuntu
• Upgrading Linux Kernel customized for the Eee PC
• Get the bluetooth and webcam working

This is not a strange scenario for netbooks to have non-working devices after installing Ubuntu, but there are always workarounds available if you just try to search for it.

via liliputing

Since I now have a Live Ubuntu Eee on my 8GB SDHC, I headed and installed Windows XP on Eee 701 that I own. I was able to grab a USB to IDE cable from Brando and installing the XP with an external DVD drive was a breeze. After installing all required drivers and the ACPI, everything works except the FN+F5 key which is used to toggle/extend the display to another monitor or a projector. I had no internet connection while I troubleshoot but I was still lucky to figure out how to fix it. Trials and Errors was effective that time.

I initially installed the Intel Graphics Driver that comes along with the Asus Eee PC restore CD, but it only supports up to 800×600 resolution with no scaling. So the whole Desktop doesn’t fit very well on the small monitor, thus, scrolling is required to go end-to-end on the screen. FN+F5 works prefectly during with this driver. Then I updated the driver with Intel Embedded Graphics Driver that supports scaling and the problem occurred.

Problem:

igfxext.exe not running. FN+F5 will be disabled.

It took me a while before I finally figured out a technique and I hope this might help you too in case you run the same problem.

1. Install the original driver back. The FN+F5 will work again, but the resolution is quite big for the screen (not scaled).
2. Run the “Setup.exe” of the IEGD driver but select Uninstall Driver instead of directly overwriting the existing one.
3. Restart Windows XP
4. When XP boots up again, it will prompt you for Graphics Driver. This time, follow the installation wizard but point the driver to use the IEGD.
5. Graphics driver will be successfully installed with scaled resolution, and the FN+F5 still works.

Another problem that might happen to you but so unlikely is that the Eee PC Tray Utility won’t allow you to select a different resolution. Just make sure that your monitor uses the Plug n Play driver and not the ones with specific resolution. e.g Dafault(800×480).

One Day Computing is literally composed of 3 words, describing a whole day (8 hrs) of mobility using your netbook. And by mobility it means that you should be able to move from one place to another, without plugging a charger or turning off your netbook. One Day Computing largely depends on battery life, but there are even more factors that helps the battery lasts a whole day.

Has the One Day Computing been achieved already by Netbook manufacturers?

When Asus announced their 901 and 1000 series of Eee PC, one of the things they improved is the battery life, which lasts up to 7.8 hours. And it’s one of the factors apart from larger disk estate that attracts many buyers. Previous versions had 4-cell battery, which obviously lasts shorter. Previous versions also uses Intel Celeron processors while the new versions uses Intel Atom, which eats power way thriftier than Celerons.

The secret behind this does not rely completely on the battery capacity. Every 6-cell battery might store and produce same amount of power, but if used in different ways, results differ as well. In theory, larger battery capacity + lesser consumption = longer life. Any factor changed in the formula might affect the result.

Take for instance the 901 Linux and 901 XP versions. They sports the same 6-cell battery but somehow, the XP version lasts longer than Linux. Is it because Windows XP has better power management than Linux? Or is it because the 12GB SSD consumes less power than 20GB? But this still doesn’t sum it all up.

Another factor that greatly affects battery life is you. How do you use your netbook? Do you just write documents, visit the internet? Do you watch movies and TV series on your Eee PC? Do you prefer very bright LCD and faster CPU speed? Anything you do with your netbook affects all else on the equation. It may prolong or reduce the life, but as long as you are satisfied of what what you’re doing then it’s fine. Except that what we’re trying to achieve here is the longest battery life we can have.

But if you really can’t conserve power and you still want to see long life, you may consider adding third part batteries, a monster one.

Warning: This is an old topic, I just thought it might still be helpful.

Despite all the good things about the Eee PC, there’s also annoyances we’ve been hearing as well. The least I should say is the Right-Shift key, which most user thinks it was misplaced (and small as well). Seems to be true, and we think it’s because of the limited real estate of the keyboard.

Most of us are probably used to using both shift keys when typing, and we can’t blame ourselves if we had to have few errors when typing. But there are always solutions to go around any problems. And this one’s not too big to annoy everyone.

There’s an option that needs hacks to make the keyboard work for you as expected. But it will also require moving keys (arrow up key and shift key). It seems very easy to do, practiced by many users already, but I still opt not to do the same on my Eee PC. It never took a day from me before I get used to using only the left key when I type. On my observation, it did not impact my typing speed at all. The only effect I noticed is that I have not been using the right key anymore, even though I am using the regular sized keyboard.

Who else have tried moving the keys on their Eee PC? And how many of you have opted to practice typing with left shift key?

There’s a company in Germany (Nova Media) that offers a helpful software called “launch2net for Linux” to do the configuration part for your 3G modem/phone. The pack is exclusively for Linux but the weird thing is that it’s not free. Why would you opt to pay for this while setting up 3G on Linux (esp. Xandros), is not too hard to do?

Related Topic: You can setup the T500 3G on Linux easier via a .deb package and I want to try this with other 3G modem / phone as well.

via eeepc.net

UPDATE: Not only Eee PC users will enjoy the service but the non-eee users as well.

It’s quite not fair for some users who owns the first versions of Asus Eee to be unable to have free 20GB Eee Storage. Currently, the service is pre-installed to newly purchased Eee PC, and users will be able to have an account automatically from first access to the Eee Storage.

I got some words from YoStore and they said that owners of the prior versions of Eee PC will also be able to avail the service, but not yet. They are still on the process of upgrading the Eee Storage and all Eee PC users will soon enjoy this. That’s good news.

So if you are a 700/701 user, asking how you can enjoy the service, well, there’s currently no way but to wait until it becomes available.

While the release of the Eee PC 901 Atom-powered processor has been announced officially (DigiTimes), it’s not the same with 3.5G version. A question during the Press Launch in Manila was raised by Yuga if they are going to release 3.5G version in the future and the answer was clearly NO. But the good thing is, Ethan Hung (Asus Exec) confirmed that 3.5G is already available, though not integrated internally with the coming versions.

Now, if you happen to have the T500 3.5G card for the Eee PC already, here’s how to install it.

Installing in Linux (Xandros)

1. Download the .deb package from Asus Support (look under Utilities)
2. Copy .deb file to home directory (tip: use XandrosFileManager)
3. Open terminal and navigate to /home/user>
4. Install the .deb by typing “sudo dpkg –i asus-t500-3gmpt-1.0-9_all.deb” without the quotes and press return key.
   Note: actual filename might vary depending on the downloaded version.
5. Connect the T500 Card with your SIM Card via USB cable. Wait for a while for Xandros to detect the device. (might ask for PIN)
6. Configure APN (depends on Provider)
7. Hit the Connect button and enjoy!

Installing T500 3.5G Card on Windows OSes should be much easier. Just download the right drivers and you should be fine.