[OmniBook] Problems with XE3-GC and a lot of questions

[P. Christeas]

> Hi,
>
> I use my HP omnibook XE3-GC with linux for about 2 years now, but so
> far I never bothered to try the OB specific stuff. But I think it is
> great that many of you invest a lot of effort in making this work, and
> you sure did a great job already.
>
>
> This being said, let me give you some details of my problems:
>
> - As I said I have the omnibook XE3-GC model and run a Debian woody on
>   it using the kernel 2.4.19. (For those who want some details about the
>   GC model, it has a 256 MB RAM and an 8 MB Savage/IX-MV graphics chip).
>   I use alsa for sound and have also some PCMCIA card installed.
>
> - First I installed the omnibook kernel module, apparently without
> problems. I get all documented info from /proc/omnibook, which is fine. But
> when I try to load the module automatically via adding it to /etc/modules,
> the machine systematically hangs (The capital A led and the up/down arrow
> leds start blinking and nothing is to be done any more).
>   I am not yet sure where this comes from, any ideas ?
It must be a fatal kernel crash. That blinking shows the kernel is dead (I 
think). Anyway, I can't see any reason why you should use the kernel omke 
module. The Perl 'omke.pl' script will do what you want, more safely and 
cleanly.

>   Without the omnibook module the machine appears to run stably. On some
>   occasions it seemed to hang when alsa is trying to start, on others it
>   collapsed once I started an X session.
>
> - I applied the onetouch patch to the xkb inet symbol definitions, but I
>   don't know how to activate it. I guess I need a new section in the X
>   config, but I couldn't find any example of it. What I tried so far gives
>   "Couldn't load XKB keymap, falling back to pre-XKB keymap", so if anybody
>   could send me an example of how to activate these buttons under X ..
>   (I don't think I need them in console mode, but is it easy to activate
>   them ?)
>
Yeap. Something like 'setxkbmap inet(xe3gc)' should do. However, there is sth 
wrong with the settings: the extra keys are mapped to X-specific codes. This 
means, KDE/Gnome don't know how to use the 'XF86www' button. I want to submit 
a patch (I use that) that maps the extra keys to Fn13-20. That way, you can 
do anything you want with them in KDE/Gnome.

> - I cannot get the touchpad to work properly, eg I would really like the
>   up/down button to work and 3 button emulation. Right now I use it in a
>   PS/2 compatibility mode, but that is not really satisfactory.
>   How to get the touchpad to work properly ? (Under X and console, maybe
>   with gpm ?)
>
I'd suggest you forget the touchpad. There is a X driver in 
http://mobilix.org/touchpad_driver.html which works OK. However, you 
shouldn't waste the processor resources it needs, just to enable one more 
key. It's in the touchpad: you either use it like now, or have the PIII do 
the extra stuff.

> - Is there a way to get accelerated X with the Savage graphics chip ? I am
>   most interested in OpenGL ? Any hints would be greatly appreciated.
>   If it's not possible, then can one use another graphics card with the
>   laptop ? (eg via ?PCMCIA?  or using a docking station ?)
Savage is not supported on GL. Probably won't be as it's hell difficult to 
reverse-engineer that. Forget PCMCIA, try asking for a Docking station and a 
PCI card on it. Probably PCI cards won't be as good as the AGP ones are.
>
> - I would very much appreciate a fine-tuned XF86Config-4 file for the GC
>   model. If you'd like to share yours with me, I'd be glad.
>
> - I am also looking for a fine-tuned kernel config, as I only slightly
>   modified the vanilla kernel. If you have one, send me a copy, pls.
>
I don't think there is anything special you should use. I'm still tuning mine.

> - Some more hardware question, what is the maximum amount of memory that
>   the XE3-GC model can support ?
>
I don't know.

>
> Thanks for any hints in advance,
>   Marc Baaden