Linux (RH9) Evo800c Notebook and port replicator issue...

[Andrew Bruce]

Hi,

I have Redhat 9.0 (2.4.20-9) installed on an Evo 800c notebook. It works fine with the exception of two problems:

1. Most important - docking into the port replicator is broken - the mouse, keyboard, and monitor connected to the port replicator won't work - any fix for this?

2. The battery is not detected by the APMD. If I unplug AC power, APMD thinks I have -1% battery power remaining!!!

[Hamersky Robert]

Hi

I have installed Mandrake 9.1 on an EvoN800c and the port replicatior works fine! I think this does not depend on the software wich is installed. If it does not work, its mainly a hardware fault!

The only problem i have is the ACPI/APM. None of this work correctly...

;-) robert

[Bruce Copeland]

Power management on newer notebooks requires ACPI. The kernel shipped with RH 9.0 is not configured for ACPI. To get working ACPI, you need to build a kernel (after patching with an appropriate patch obtained from the ACPI project on SourceForge).

Bruce

[Andrew Bruce]

Thanks for the replies (points still to come):

I know the port replicator problem is not hardware - it works fine under win2k (my laptop is dual boot (though I don't think that has any bearing on the problem)).

Under Mandrake, did your port replicator get recognised as additional hardware (device)? Or is the functionaility entirely transparant?

WRT ACPI - I already built a kernel including ACPI, but that didn't helo either. I had a look for an ACPI deamon but didn't manage to find anything resembling a working solution.

Can anyone recommend an ACPI deamon, and is there any other software I should be looking at?

Thanks again...

[Bruce Copeland]

There are a couple of important aspects of ACPI to be aware of:

1) Most users find the ACPI support built into 2.4 kernels unsatisfactory. It is important to use the ACPI project patches.

2) ACPI is mediated through the bios. As a result, different ACPI features are available on different hardware, depending on what the manufacturer implemented. Also this means that the names of /proc/acpi subdirectories and files vary from one computer to another. So in many scripts or programs written for ACPI, it is necessary to adjust the ACPI file/directory names in order to get things to work.

3) Things like software suspend (which is actually code separate from ACPI) often don't work very well on particular hardware.

I use acpid as a daemon and gkrellm with an acpi plugin for monitoring battery and temperature. You can find more details on my ze4100 site:

http://www.cybersym.com/pages/linux-ze4100.html

Bruce