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Gentoo on the MSI megabook s260 / MSI 1012

Working hardware

v Intel GMA 900 - more...
x Intel pro wireless abg
v Realtek RTL-8139 nic
x mmc/sd/ms reader
x pcmcia etc
x Multimedia keys
v Audio
x ACPI
v Touchpad

Installation

Follow the gentoo handbook. You must install using a wired connection. The 8139 nic is autodetected, all you need to do is net-setup eth1.

(The wireless card was detected as eth0 and the driver loaded correctly, but the on/off button which is acpi based doesn't work since you have to turn off acpi to get it to boot at all.)

Kernel configuration

When you get to the point in the handbook where you have to configure the kernel, check these options:

Networking Support ---
    [*] Wireless lan (non hamradio)

Cryptographic options ---
    [*] Cryptographic API
    AES cipher algorithms (i586)
    ARC4 cipher algorithm
    Michael MIC keyed digest algorithm
    CRC32c CRC algorithm

These for the 8139, not sure which one so I grabbed both:

Device Drivers --->
    Networking support --->
        Ethernet (10 or 100Mbit) --->
            RealTek RTL-8139 C+ PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter support (EXPERIMENTAL)
            RealTek RTL-8139 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter support

These for the video adapter:

Device Drivers --->
     Character devices --->
         /dev/agpgart (AGP Support)
        Intel 440LX/BX/GX, I8xx and E7x05 chipset support
        Direct Rendering Manager (XFree86 4.1.0 and higher DRI support)
        Intel I810
        Intel 830M, 845G, 852GM, 855GM, 865G (i915 driver) --->

These for the built-in powersaving in the cpu:

Processor type and features --->
     * Processor family (Pentium M)

Power management options (ACPI, APM) --->
     [*] CPU Frequency scaling
     Default CPUFreq governor (userspace) --->
          'ondemand' cpufreq policy governor
     Intel Enhanced SpeedStep
         [*] Use ACPI tables to decode valid frequency/voltage pairs
        [*] Built-in tables for Banias CPUs

Enabling frequency scaling on startup

Add the following line to /etc/conf.d/local.start

echo ondemand > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor

Multimedia keys

Multimedia keys don't generate any x events at all, and do not show up in /var/log/messages as unknown keypresses.

Misc

The fan on this laptop is very noisy. I had to force it to run at 800 mhz to keep the fan at its lowest level.

When you start it up the fan goes on for 1 sec then for the first 10 minutes it's quiet. Then the fan is on continously until you turn it off. I ordered it with an extra quiet fujitsu drive, but that was useless.

This laptop has a serious acpi problem. To get it to boot at all, you have to tell it to turn off acpi with gentoo acpi=off when booting the install disc.

When you have installed pci=noacpi seems to have worked for some, and then they were able to turn on the wireless through the acpi button. No such luck for me.

I would keep it if not for the noise and acpi problems, the screen is very nice, and I like the design. It's light and portable. Feels sturdy and does not get hot.

I'll feel bad about getting rid of it, but the fan noise is terrible. Way to ruin a good product with a crappy fan.

Msi released a new bios in the beginning of september.

The easiest way to install it is if you dualboot with windows, MSI has a very nice bios flashing utility that works in windows. Otherwise you'll have to prepare a boot-cd running dos and include the bios image on it. This can be tricky.

I didn't try to upgrade (I have v. 2.70, made in april), since I'm going to return this laptop for another one because of the fan noise.

The update might fix the acpi issues, but I doubt if it will fix the fan noise...

Output of lspci

0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/PM/GMS/910GML Express Processor to DRAM Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 04)
0000:00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 04)
0000:00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 04)
0000:00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 04)
0000:00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 04)
0000:00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev d4)
0000:00:1e.2 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 04)
0000:00:1e.3 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 04)
0000:00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801FBM (ICH6M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 04)
0000:00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) IDE Controller (rev 04)
0000:00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 04)
0000:01:03.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
0000:01:04.0 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev ac)
0000:01:04.1 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev ac)
0000:01:04.2 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C552 IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 04)
0000:01:09.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 2915ABG MiniPCI Adapter (rev 05)

Verbose.

Graphics

The driver for this is not in xorg as of September 10. 2005, but it's in the latest snapshots. It will be in xorg 6.9.

Install a tarball either from the old CVS snapshots or the 6.9 release candidates (newer).

I used this one.

Unpack it, enter the xc directory and do

make World && make install

I got it to work with the i810 driver. See this.

Use 915resolution to replace one of the video bios modes with 1280x800.

Good luck. I hope you will have a better experience with this laptop than me.