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Which Distro For an Eee PC?
An anonymous reader writes "I've got an Eee PC 1000HD, and frankly, I can't stand XP. I know it's odd, because I actually like Vista, but XP is such a giant piece of crap on here that I struggle to use it day-by-day. Anyway, my question is this: which Linux distro should I run on it? Plain Ubuntu just doesn't have driver support. I tried Ubuntu-eee, which, to put it bluntly, does not work for me at all (slow, terrible battery life, even worse interface). I've heard that Jaunty Jackalope is going to have better netbook support, but that's all the way in April! Is there a distro out now that will free me from XP's terribleness without being terrible itself?" Getting wireless working on an Eee PC (though in my experience imperfectly) with stock Ubuntu is possible; for me it took some googling, though I've been told with great enthusiasm that it actually works "out of the box." What distros are you running on your netbook, and what problems do you find?
Also there is EeeOS which claims to be:
EeeOS is designed to be a minimalistic Custom Debian Distribution that provides a base system (drivers, system tools, Xorg) and nothing more. The idea behind such a release is so that users of Eee Linux OS can configure and build their own Eee experience ... an EeeXperience if you will :P While systems like Ubuntu, Fedora, Suse and Xandros are all amazing in their own right, they often come pre-configured and with a lot of bloat. Some power users prefer to have complete control over their systems and it is with these users in mind that Eee OS was created.
I was going to go on a lengthy explanation about how you could use Slackware or Gentoo to provide the optimal configuration you are interested in but after reading your summary, I doubt you're interested in this sort of devotion to squeezing your eeePC like a lemon over your enemy's eye.
Ubuntu has worked "out of the box" for two of my DLink WiFi cards. It worked on a no name CompUSA brand rebate PCMCIA card on my laptop but there were ... annoyances ... with lack of encryption options.
... which I guess would be more widely supported?
Also, why did you go with an Eee Ubuntu and not Xubuntu
My work here is dung.
Ubuntu makes a nice EEE distro.
But since you like Vista there may be nothing we can do.
Half of writing history is hiding the truth.
You may wish to try http://www.eeebuntu.org/ which is NOT the same as Ubuntu-eee.
It has worked decently on my 1000HD.
IMarv
Trusting software vendors is no smarter than trus
It really is.
If you're struggling to use Windows XP on a daily basis, perhaps you should try something like this laptop. I'm certain you will find yourself struggling just as much and see just as much bloat with any kind of GNU/Linux distribution, so this can really cut down on the learning curve and usability issues.
If you like vista why not stick windows 7 on it?
Seconded.
I've been running Debian's Lenny release upon my Eee PC for the past few months. Everything works, from the power buttons, sound, video, camera, wireless.
The only instructions I used were those on the wiki you link to.
Still this question is going to receive the obvious replies - everybody will suggest the distribution they know and like the best (the two are often the same).
I'd say "try a few, choose your favourite", but I suspect the better thing to do would just be to pick what you're using elsewhere, or whatever local people are using. Then if you have problems you'll have people to ask.
You like Vista, but dislike XP?
What's it like in your parallel universe? Can I visit?
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
I can't take seriously someone who claims he loves Vista AND considers XP to be crap.
I can kinda, sorta understood someone liking Vista's pretty new interface, but I've been using XP for 7 years now, and it's far from being crap. It's the most stable OS I've ever used, second only to the Mac OS. Vista on the other hand..... I can't even get it to play video on cnn.com or foxnews.com. It's not the worst OS I've ever used (Windows 3 was worse), but it's still pretty sad.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
But I can't take seriously someone who wants to watch videos on foxnews.com.
I think I speak for all of slashdot when I say this.
No, you really don't. You just speak for judgmental, obnoxious pricks that believe the world should operate only according to their narrow-minded rules. People like you are the reason linux only enjoys a 1.2% marketshare.
A lot of us actually would like to see better market penetration and a system that is universally accessible and enjoyed by users of all proficiency levels. This is a requirement for the big software houses to want to port their products to *nix.
I'm the same, I've got Xubuntu and compiz running and it's perfect, get some minimal window decorations and you're sorted.
Just do a standard installation, then head over to http://www.array.org/ and follow the instructions to install the kernel which will get your wireless and hotkeys working.
http://www.eeeuser.com/ is an excellent forum if you have any more questions. There are a few threads there that have step by step guides to installing and configuring Xubuntu, but there really isn't much to it beyond getting a custom kernel.
I found stock Ubuntu Intrepid with a few tweaks to be easier to set up and more pain-free than any of the "easy/tuned" distros are. Once I had everything working (including wireless), I wrote up a HOWTO explaining how to go from bare metal to a fully working system so that others wouldn't have to go digging through a dozen forums to find the info. Check it out, might be all you need to get up and going.
Read my blog.
I bought a Eee, with Linux preinstalled to give to my wife for her birthday last week. The wifi didn't work. Called Asus tech support, and they figured out that the problem was that the machine had an RaLink wifi card, but the only one they had working drivers for was Atheros. They weren't able to offer any solution other than returning it, so I did.
Since they have RaLink on some of their machines, and they say they don't have working Linux drivers for RaLink, it sounds like some of the Windows versions have RaLink, and therefore the OP should check that before trying to switch to Linux.
If you look at the Amazon reviews for the model I bought, you'll see a lot of people complaining that they bought the Linux version, installed Windows, and then Windows didn't work right. On all of those, I clicked the "NO" link next to "Was this review helpful to you?," because that's just silly. If you want Windows, you buy the Windows version. Installing an OS on a desktop tends to be a hassle, doing it on a standard notebook has many more pitfalls, and doing it on a netbook is even more difficult to get right. It's pretty silly that these people are blaming Asus when essentially they just bought the wrong model.
The OP seems to be making the same mistake, but in reverse, which seems even less sensible to me. It means that MS is getting a Windows tax from him for an OS he doesn't like and isn't going to use. Great way to support an illegal monopoly when you didn't even have to, as well as creating huge hassles for yourself. My advice at this point would be either to return it if he can, or sell it on eBay, and then buy one with Linux preinstalled.
BTW, a little googling will show that a lot of people are receiving Eees with nonfunctional wifi. I'm really looking forward to the day when Linux-based desktop and laptop machines are so cheap and good that it puts MS out of business. Unfortunately, that day hasn't come yet. The quality just isn't there yet. I've bought PCs with Linux preinstalled from a variety of vendors (Great Quality, WalMart, Asus) over the last 5 years or so. The best that ever happened was that the hardware was fine but the version of Linux that came preinstalled (ThizLinux, gOS) was lousy, so I wiped the disk and installed something else (FreeBSD, Ubuntu). The worst that ever happened was this experience with the Eee.
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I installed Arch on my 701, and I have been really happy with it so far. I only have what I need installed on it, and the thing boots in like 20 seconds. There is actually a good article in the works on the Arch wiki on how to set it up on the eee. There are custom kernels that are ready to go and everything. If you know your way around linux good enough, I would recommend giving it a try.
Freedom would be not to choose between black and white but to abjure such prescribed choices. -Theodor Adorno
I realize that there is some intent of humor behind the post, but really why would it be so hard to believe that someone actually gave Vista a serious look as opposed to having a blog-formed bias against it before using it? Yes, XP is not "giant piece of crap" but Vista is better.
Sorry, I'm just tired of hearing crap flung against Vista when people don't give it a serious look. I look forward to Windows 7 for somewhat similar reasons as the Vista-haters - we won't hear any more about Vista. But the difference is that I'm hoping it will take the bias away as well.
Prove it.
"You just speak for judgmental, obnoxious pricks that believe the world should operate only according to their narrow-minded rules."
Like he said, he speaks for all of slashdot.
On my eeePC 901, I'm using the standard Ubuntu 8.10 install and then using a wired connection I have installed Adamm's kernel which fixes all the hardware issues. The instructions are simple to follow and are available at http://array.org/ubuntu/ (if you can use apt-get you can follow these instructions).
Why does my post history abruptly stop? I want to laugh at the stupid things I posted as a kid.
The latest archlinux ftp install worked without custom kernel on my 701, wifi and all. The img file makes it easy to install on the cd-less computer.
Why did you feed the troll??
I am a beginner to intermediate level desktop user of Linux who is getting ready to buy a Samsung NC10 netbook and plan on dual booting it with ubuntu. I am COUNTING on the linux community to help me along the way. From what I have seen, it isn't assholes like the AC who keep linux from getting any traction, it is the overwhelming amount of information out there about the 'alternative' free OS. The linux user community and their willingness to help others is the reason that it is UP to 1.2%
These cheap netbooks will keep the % going up.
http://www.tomandemily.com
If you want an optimized system, Arch Linux is not more difficult than any other distro. You just don't have the choice to install a complete desktop system with lots and lots of things you don't want, configured in ways you don't like, so that you can uninstall almost everything and then install what you want, from obscure package repos, so you get library confusions etc, for then to reconfigure almost everything, so it works the way you like it to.
The Arch Linux installer lets you:
1. Install a very basic system
2. Configure the most important things in one simple configuration file (or a few more if you want or need to)
Then you boot into your basic system and:
1. Update your system with one command
2. Install the programs you need. The package manager will take care of all dependencies.
3. Configure them the way you want them
4. Enjoy!
Of course, I agree, this is more difficult than letting someone else make all the choices for you.
By the way, I use Arch Linux on a Eee 901, and it works perfectly. There are some tricks to speed it up. Mounting the /tmp and /var/log and /var/tmp as a ram disk makes it a lot more responsive. Turning off disk cache in firefox is also a good idea.
Driver support isn't a problem for me at least. Everything works. You might need to install a customized kernel package for the wireless card, but from 2.6.29 there will be support for the card in the kernel (This is for the 901, I don't know about the 1000HD).