(or: Why should we try anything other than Xandros Linux on the EEE)
Update: This post is outdated since we've had a plethora of new netbooks and the new version of ubuntu works mostly well on all of them.
So, I've got my new EEE PC (4GB, added 2GB ram, no webcam and 8GB SDHC card) on the mail and the first thing I did was boot it up to see how well it would compare with regular laptops. I was really impressed by what I saw and it pleased me very much. Next I installed the extra 2GB of ram and 8GB SDHC card on it and booted it up again. I could notice a slight difference on the time it took to boot up but not too big of a difference though. I can say I was a bit disappointed. So I went to System Preferences and was surprised by a 1GB ram showing up for me when it was supposed to be 2. Well, this could only mean that I would have to recompile the kernel with the right flags for 2GBs max instead of 1GB.
Asus branded Xandros = strike 1
Well, not too bad of a deal still. I could recompile the kernel latter, but I really wanted to test it out first and upgrade a few things (skype was one of them. Nothing beats skype 2.0 with video for Linux!). I would like to remember you that I had a 8GB SDHC card inserted and Xandros recognized it and mounted it for me, so I thought that it would ask me if I wanted to use it as a storage device. Well, turns out that I couldn't choose it to be part of the system, and I would not be able to install anything on it. It would function strictly as an external drive.
Asus branded Xandros = strike 2
Ok, that was enough for me. It was time to move on to the next OS.
Ubuntu Linux it was. Installing ubuntu was pretty easy and straight forward (provided that I had an external usb dvd reader). After Ubuntu finished installing I was greeted with the full blown desktop with sound and even compiz running just fine. Ubuntu was great, except for 2 things (I forgot to try using the 8GB as part of the file system. I suppose I could just tell ubuntu at the installation that I wanted to mount my 8GB as /home or something. Besides, I am almost sure that this would still not make Ubuntu use the 8GB SDHC for installing programs or updates. Very annoying.):
- No Wireless out of the box.
- Screen was way too cramped.
Now, I know that for the wireless problem there are some workarounds out there and I could have even used the eeeUbuntu distro (which comes with wireless working out-of-the-box) but I didn't want to fiddle with that and besides, my other issue would still not be attended. I would have to deal with that tinny screen and that would be somewhat of a nuisance.
Ubuntu was out. At least for the time being, I would rather not have to deal with a bunch of googling and code compiling.
Time to move on again.
Windows was next up on my list.
Again, Installation process was quite easy. If you install it onto the SSD that is. I was googling a way to install it on the SDHC card and it seems to be a painstaking and desperating process. Of course I will try this eventually, but I am not bored enough with me EEE as it is just yet. Not in order to seek a final solution that will require a lot of sweat, tears, blood and some hammering (at the eee, that's what it is...). So, on with windows installation.
After the install was done I neede to install the drivers for it. Not a big deal, since Asus provides you with the drivers if you buy at least their 4GB model (which I did). And what a surprise! After you install the drivers you have the option to switch the resolution from 800x480 (which is the eee fisical max) to 800x600. Of course it was not perfect, mainly because what you have to to is to move your mouse over to either the top or the bottom edge of the screen in order to scroll it. Useful but not quite what I wanted. It was time for some updates from Microsoft. And what a disappointment. I was left with 6mb free on the SSD. And for the life of me, I could not find a way to tell windows to not use the SSD and use the SDHC instead.
That was a HUGE drawback for windows. It was almost like a uber-strike +∞.
Now, just to make things fair, I've found just recently a hack for windows that allows me to emulate any wide-screen resolution I want up to 1600x1200 (I think that this is right. Could be more or could be less...). It does make everything on the screen looks a little bit smaller, but I have perfect vision so this is not a problem, and there are some applications that won't run with at least 1024x768 screen res. I haven't tried yet because by the time I saw that I had uninstalled windows already. It seems to be extremely complicated to make it work, but I may be willing to try it out when I decide that I am ready to try and install windows on my SDHC.
And the time to move on to the next OS was here again.
OS X 10.4 was the last one on my list. I wasn't too serious about getting it to work since I would not be using it on my eee (against Apple EULA.). I tried it more as an experiment than as a real attempt to get it running. Surprisingly it was easy enough once you patch the installation DVD to accept other Intel chips other than the one that apple uses. And boot up as the fastest other than Xandros (on that same note, Xandros was the fastest, and ubuntu was the slowest. Go figure.)
The only drawback I could notice was the lack of support for wireless. But I could even install and run it from my SDHC, no problems. Was in fact really easy to do.
But since I wasn't going to use it as my OS, I decided to move along.
So, it was time for a big decision. And while I was at it, I caught myself thinking about the Xandros easy mode. I know, how lame of me, a more or less seasoned Linux user thinking about an easy interface. The fact is that it was really helpful and responsive, and nothing beats its boot up time.
XANDROS(or: There and Back again.)
(Disclaimer= This title is copyrighted by JRR Tokien™)
So back to Xandros it was. Re-installing it was a no brainer. Asus made sure that it was foolproof. Of course I would have to tweak it a lot to be to my liking but any other solution would require tweaking also, so I wasn't too bothered by it. First thing I did was recompiling the kernel so it would accept 2GB of ram. Afterwards I had to make sure that the EEE would recognize my SDHC as a part of the unionfs. Then I got lazy and decided to install tweakeee. What it does is it allows you to activate all the tweaks out there on the internet with a click of the mouse. Easy like that. Want access to the advanced mode? Just check the advanced mode check box. Want a start menu? Another check box and you are good to go. Want to add firefox 3.0b5? Click on install and you are done. It was probably one of the best piece of software for the eee yet to come. I would compare it only to automatix 2 or easybuntu.
After running the tweaks, the eee was almost the way I wanted. I just wanted one more thing and that was to be able to lock my screen. Well, again googling provided me with the answer and the eee was ready for deployment. Well, not deployment, but was the way I wanted.
And this is where I am at right now.
I may consider going back to windows on a later date, or maybe even eeeUbuntu. But for now I am more than happy with Xandros running on easy mode and my 13 secs boot up time (the extra 3 secs are for the wireless to connect.).
Please, let me know what you guys think about these, and if you would have done something different.
No comments:
Post a Comment