Mageia forum

I just purchased an Acer Aspire One 725 and would like to install Mageia 2 x86-64 GNOME. How do I find out if the BIOS is UEFI or not? The computer comes installed with Linpus Linux, but I only get a root command line when I boot. I tried contacting Acer tech support, but was told in an unfriendly manner that Linux is open source and not a closed system like Windows and can therefore be modified by anyone. Therefore Acer is not required to provide user support. I pointed out that the computer had Linpus installed at the factory and had not been installed by me, and as far as I could see, Acer was required to provide enough support to get the new user into a GUI. No luck on the BIOS info either - just the word "Linux" nullified any need to provide any form of tech support on the computer Weird.

If you enter the bios it should be written clearly there whether it is UEFI or not. At least that's how it is with the computers/motherboards I have dealt with until now.
AFAIK if its UEFI the screen will be graphical oriented and the settings can be changed using a mouse as well as a keyboard.

Thanks for the quick reply. The BIOS on this computer looks old school, but I became suspicious when I saw the partitioning scheme.

A UEFI BIOS is not necessarily a problem - I'm typing this on a machine with a UEFI BIOS running Mageia 2.

What is it about the partitioning scheme that concerns you? I don't see anything unusual there.

I would try booting a Mageia 2 live CD first, just to make sure that all your hardware is supported.

martinw wrote:What is it about the partitioning scheme that concerns you? I don't see anything unusual there.

I do.
/dev/sda1 if it's the / partition is far to big and /dev/sda2 if it's the /home partition is fat32 which is wrong in every way.

martinw wrote:A UEFI BIOS is not necessarily a problem - I'm typing this on a machine with a UEFI BIOS running Mageia 2.

What is it about the partitioning scheme that concerns you? I don't see anything unusual there.

I would try booting a Mageia 2 live CD first, just to make sure that all your hardware is supported.

I agree. UEFI BIOSes are not necessarily a problem, other than getting a boot loader that will work correctly with them. As you mention, it is important to plan ahead, and make sure that everything works before installing. My first concern was that the weird partition scheme could be a sign that the netbook has a UEFI BIOS. Now it appears that my main problem will be getting the touchpad to work. I have seen some posts about the netbook stating that it was produced by Elantech. I checked the output when I was testing Linux Mint (which has the same problem) and this is what I got:

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mint@mint ~ $ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 14h Processor
Root Complex
00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI
Wrestler [Radeon HD 6290]
00:01.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI Wrestler HDMI
Audio [Radeon HD 6250/6310]
00:04.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 14h Processor
Root Port
00:05.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 14h Processor
Root Port
00:10.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson USB XHCI
Controller (rev 03)
00:11.0 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson SATA
Controller [AHCI mode]
00:12.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson USB OHCI
Controller (rev 11)
00:12.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson USB EHCI
Controller (rev 11)
00:13.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson USB OHCI
Controller (rev 11)
00:13.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson USB EHCI
Controller (rev 11)
00:14.0 SMBus: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson SMBus Controller (rev
14)
00:14.2 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson Azalia
Controller (rev 01)
00:14.3 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson LPC Bridge (rev
11)
00:14.4 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson PCI Bridge (rev
40)
00:14.5 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Hudson USB OHCI
Controller (rev 11)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 12h/14h
Processor Function 0 (rev 43)
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 12h/14h
Processor Function 1
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 12h/14h
Processor Function 2
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 12h/14h
Processor Function 3
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 12h/14h
Processor Function 4
00:18.5 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 12h/14h
Processor Function 6
00:18.6 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 12h/14h
Processor Function 5
00:18.7 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 12h/14h
Processor Function 7
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller (rev 05)
02:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM43228 802.11a/b/g/n

mint@mint ~ $ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 093b:0023 Plextor Corp.
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 192f:0416 Avago Technologies, Pte.
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 04f2:b335 Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 0489:e046 Foxconn / Hon Hai

Any ideas about the touchpad / trackpad? I haven't been able to find anything in the Mageia forums on the issue.

Ken-Bergen wrote:

martinw wrote:What is it about the partitioning scheme that concerns you? I don't see anything unusual there.

I do.
/dev/sda1 if it's the / partition is far to big and /dev/sda2 if it's the /home partition is fat32 which is wrong in every way.

Yes, thank you.The partition scheme is downright bizarre in my opinion. The only concern however, is if this is what is needed for an UEFI BIOS. As I am led to believe that is not the case, I'll just wipe the sucker when I get the hardware issues sorted out and am ready to do an install.

Ken-Bergen wrote:

martinw wrote:What is it about the partitioning scheme that concerns you? I don't see anything unusual there.

I do.
/dev/sda1 if it's the / partition is far to big and /dev/sda2 if it's the /home partition is fat32 which is wrong in every way.

Yes, but we are talking about a company that mostly makes Windows machines, and from globetrotterdk's earlier comment, don't care much about their Linux users. A stupid partition scheme seems par for the course

globetrotterdk wrote:Any ideas about the touchpad / trackpad? I haven't been able to find anything in the Mageia forums on the issue.

I have an Elantech multi-touch touchpad in my laptop. By default, the sensitivity is too low, but after running synclient to tweak the settings it is usable. The right button doesn't work (it gets treated as a left button), but you can use a two finger tap instead. No guarantees it will work for you, but again, the live CD will let you find out.

martinw wrote:

globetrotterdk wrote:Any ideas about the touchpad / trackpad? I haven't been able to find anything in the Mageia forums on the issue.

I have an Elantech multi-touch touchpad in my laptop. By default, the sensitivity is too low, but after running synclient to tweak the settings it is usable. The right button doesn't work (it gets treated as a left button), but you can use a two finger tap instead. No guarantees it will work for you, but again, the live CD will let you find out.

Do you have anything to share on getting the touchpad working? Mine doesn't work at all from the Live CD.

globetrotterdk wrote:Do you have anything to share on getting the touchpad working? Mine doesn't work at all from the Live CD.

If you go to "Browse and configure hardware" in the Mageia Control Centre, does the touchpad show up in the "Mouse" section (and is it correctly identified)? If so, what do you get if you type

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synclient


in a terminal window (just as a normal user, not root)?

With my touchpad, I thought it wasn't working at first because the sensitivity was set too low - pressing down hard so more of my finger was in contact with the touchpad got some response.

martinw wrote:If you go to "Browse and configure hardware" in the Mageia Control Centre, does the touchpad show up in the "Mouse" section (and is it correctly identified)? If so, what do you get if you type

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synclient


in a terminal window (just as a normal user, not root)?

With my touchpad, I thought it wasn't working at first because the sensitivity was set too low - pressing down hard so more of my finger was in contact with the touchpad got some response.

The touchpad shows, but I can't get anything out of the touchpad, even when I press hard. Here is the output:

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[live@localhost ~]$ synclient
Parameter settings:
    LeftEdge                = 97
    RightEdge               = 2339
    TopEdge                 = 56
    BottomEdge              = 988
    FingerLow               = 25
    FingerHigh              = 30
    FingerPress             = 256
    MaxTapTime              = 180
    MaxTapMove              = 116
    MaxDoubleTapTime        = 180
    SingleTapTimeout        = 180
    ClickTime               = 100
    FastTaps                = 0
    EmulateMidButtonTime    = 75
    EmulateTwoFingerMinZ    = 282
    EmulateTwoFingerMinW    = 7
    VertScrollDelta         = 53
    HorizScrollDelta        = 53
    VertEdgeScroll          = 1
    HorizEdgeScroll         = 0
    CornerCoasting          = 0
    VertTwoFingerScroll     = 0
    HorizTwoFingerScroll    = 0
    MinSpeed                = 1
    MaxSpeed                = 1.75
    AccelFactor             = 0.0754717
    TrackstickSpeed         = 40
    EdgeMotionMinZ          = 30
    EdgeMotionMaxZ          = 160
    EdgeMotionMinSpeed      = 1
    EdgeMotionMaxSpeed      = 212
    EdgeMotionUseAlways     = 0
    TouchpadOff             = 0
    LockedDrags             = 0
    LockedDragTimeout       = 5000
    RTCornerButton          = 0
    RBCornerButton          = 0
    LTCornerButton          = 0
    LBCornerButton          = 0
    TapButton1              = 0
    TapButton2              = 0
    TapButton3              = 0
    ClickFinger1            = 1
    ClickFinger2            = 1
    ClickFinger3            = 1
    CircularScrolling       = 0
    CircScrollDelta         = 0.1
    CircScrollTrigger       = 0
    CircularPad             = 0
    PalmDetect              = 0
    PalmMinWidth            = 10
    PalmMinZ                = 200
    CoastingSpeed           = 20
    CoastingFriction        = 50
    PressureMotionMinZ      = 30
    PressureMotionMaxZ      = 160
    PressureMotionMinFactor = 1
    PressureMotionMaxFactor = 1
    GrabEventDevice         = 1
    TapAndDragGesture       = 1
    AreaLeftEdge            = 0
    AreaRightEdge           = 0
    AreaTopEdge             = 0
    AreaBottomEdge          = 0

Try typing

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synclient FingerLow=3 FingerHigh=8


in a terminal window. This is what I have to do to increase the sensitivity - it might work for you too.

Does your machine have a Fn key combination that enables/disables the touchpad? If so try pressing this, just in case it starts up disabled.

I have just installed Mageia. The first thing I did after booting for the first time, was to see if the touchpad was locked, which it was. However, after a restart, I again have no touchpad functionality.

I ran into another problem with my newly installed system, when I tried to install a driver for my printer. Right clicking on the .rpm file gives me the following error message: "InstallFiles not yet supported by backend". The following is what I get on the command line:

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# urpmi epson-inkjet-printer-nx420-1.0.0-1lsb3.2.x86_64.rpm
In order to satisfy the 'sendmail-command' dependency, one of the following packages is needed:
 1- postfix-2.8.8-1.mga2.x86_64: Postfix Mail Transport Agent (to install)
 2- sendmail-8.14.5-2.mga2.x86_64: A widely used Mail Transport Agent (MTA) (to install)
 3- ssmtp-2.64-5.mga1.x86_64: A minimal mail-transfer agent which forwards mail to an SMTP server (to install)
 4- msmtp-1.4.24-1.mga2.x86_64: An SMTP client (to install)
 5- dma-0.7-1.mga2.x86_64: dma is an end-system mail server and supports queueing and local & remote mail delivery via SMTP and SSL/TLS (to install)
What is your choice? (1-5)

"0" exits, but I am not sure what these MTAs have to do with installing .rpm packages.

It requires "sendmail-command" which is provided by any of the given packages. Same behaviour can be observed when installing chrome browser.
Complain to the vendors about those dependencies, not to us. But for the error "Right clicking on the .rpm file gives me the following error message: "InstallFiles not yet supported by backend"" you should report a bug: https://wiki.mageia.org/en/How_to_report_a_bug_properly

doktor5000 wrote:It requires "sendmail-command" which is provided by any of the given packages. Same behaviour can be observed when installing chrome browser.
Complain to the vendors about those dependencies, not to us. But for the error "Right clicking on the .rpm file gives me the following error message: "InstallFiles not yet supported by backend"" you should report a bug: https://wiki.mageia.org/en/How_to_report_a_bug_properly

Cheers. I found a similar problem under Bug 934. It makes me wonder if the GUI error isn't an inarticulate version of the command line dependency error that kicks up when trying to install the printer driver package.

globetrotterdk wrote:I have just installed Mageia. The first thing I did after booting for the first time, was to see if the touchpad was locked, which it was. However, after a restart, I again have no touchpad functionality.

Not sure how to interpret this. Are you saying the touchpad worked the first time you booted, but hasn't worked since, or are you saying you just have to enable it each time you boot?

martinw wrote:

globetrotterdk wrote:I have just installed Mageia. The first thing I did after booting for the first time, was to see if the touchpad was locked, which it was. However, after a restart, I again have no touchpad functionality.

Not sure how to interpret this. Are you saying the touchpad worked the first time you booted, but hasn't worked since, or are you saying you just have to enable it each time you boot?

Sorry for the lack of clarity. The touchpad worked after I figured out that it wasn't enabled by default at boot. I had to enable it manually, every time I booted, until I updated the system through the system control panel (GUI). Since then, I have been unable to get the touchpad to function at all.

I found this solution to the trackpad problem in Ubuntu, but as a new Mageia user, I am not sure if this will work:

This is a way to create a file that fixed my Aspire One, so I'm sharing it:

Open the Terminal
cd /etc/modprobe.d/
gksudo gedit options.conf
In the text editor, type: options psmouse proto=imps
Save the file and close it.
sudo modprobe -r psmouse
sudo modprobe psmouse

The post can be found here.

try (as root)

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echo "psmouse proto=imps" >> /etc/modprobe.d/psmouse.conf

then reboot or (as root)

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modprobe -r psmouse
modprobe psmouse

Hmmm. Well, after the first command, the touchpad indicator light went out on my Acer, never to return. After a restart, the second and third commands returned the following:

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# modprobe -r psmouse
libkmod: kmod_config_parse: /etc/modprobe.d/psmouse.conf line 1: ignoring bad line starting with 'psmouse'
FATAL: Module psmouse is builtin.

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# modprobe psmouse
libkmod: kmod_config_parse: /etc/modprobe.d/psmouse.conf line 1: ignoring bad line starting with 'psmouse'

The first command should have been

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echo "options psmouse proto=imps" >> /etc/modprobe.d/psmouse.conf


Note however that ">>" appends to the destination file. If /etc/modprobe.d/psmouse.conf just contains the one line you added before, just do

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echo "options psmouse proto=imps" > /etc/modprobe.d/psmouse.conf


to overwrite it.

Cheers. Still no touchpad indicator light, touchpad still doesn't work and I still got the following error:

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# modprobe -r psmouse
FATAL: Module psmouse is builtin.

If a module is built in to the kernel, you can't dynamically load/unload it using the modprobe command, which is why you are getting the

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FATAL: Module psmouse is builtin.

message.

The quick bit of reading I did before posting my last reply suggested that the options in /etc/modprobe.d would be applied to built in modules - but experimentation shows this is not the case. Instead you need to append the string

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psmouse.proto=imps

to the kernel boot parameters. You can either do this temporarily, by pressing F3 when the first boot screen appears, or permanently, via "Set up boot system" in the Mageia Control Centre (ask if you need more help with this).

Note that setting this module option will disable all the advanced features of your touchpad - but I guess that's better than it not working at all!