I was referred to a utility this morning for use with the Asus EeePC netbook. This utility allows you to simply control hardware (wireless, camera, sD), performance and hotkeys. Models supported are: 701/701SD, 702, 900, 900A, 901 and 1000/1000H.
To install the .deb package and begin using the eee control tool, see this site.
I reinstalled my Asus EeePC 701 this morning with Ubuntu 8.10 “Intrepid” final release. To my surprise the wireless no longer worked whereas it did in previous releases (beta, etc). Jumping into IRC I was able to find a fix however, and here it is.
Installing Backported Kernel Modules
You’ll need to install a backported kernel module package. In order to do this you’ll also need to activate the backports repository. You can do that in two ways.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu intrepid-backports main restricted universe multiverse“After you’ve done either of the above you can then run these commands to install the package:
sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude install linux-backports-modules-intrepid
echo "blacklist ath_pci" | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
At this point you should be able to reboot and you’re done. Enjoy.
I wanted to throw out a quick thank-you to all those that attended my OpenWeek Presentation today. I think things went really well and had some great questions and suggestions from those in attendance. If you missed the presentation and would like to catch up on the logs you can find them here.
It also appears that we’ve formed a loose new team/group, dedicated to advancement of Ubuntu support on the EeePC. If you’d like to participate please drop me a note (see my contact page) or drop by the #ubuntu-eeepc irc channel for discussion. Our goal is to have 100% support out-of-the-box by Ubuntu 8.10 “Intrepid”. Think we can do it? 
I hope by now you’ve heard some of the noise regarding Ubuntu OpenWeek which begins tomorrow, 15:00 UTC in #ubuntu-classroom. We’re going to have some really cool, really interesting presentations this time around! I’m trying to figure out when I’ll have time for work there are so many presentations that I want to attend!
I also wanted to mention that I’ll be presenting on Thursday, 16:00 UTC. I’ll be presenting on using Ubuntu on the EeePC. If you have an EeePC still running Xandros, if you have an EeePC running Ubuntu (or derivative), or if you’re just thinking about getting one I think it’d be a great presentation for you to join. I’ll be discussing current and future EeePC specs, how to install on Ubuntu and how to customize the Gnome desktop for such a small resolution.
I use my EeePC more than any of my other machines anymore. I take it on the road with me when I travel, I write code on it, I write blog posts on it. Nearly anything I would do on my MacBook I do on my EeePC. Yes, even Compiz! Its a great little machine!
If you are an EeePC user and have suggestions on items to include in the presentation please leave a comment. If you are not an EeePC user and have specific questions you’d like me to cover I also invite you to leave a comment. See everyone on Thursday!
I started a blog post on how to install Ubuntu 7.10 on the EeePC and before I knew it the post was about a mile long. I figured it was better at that point to publish the information on the Ubuntu community Wiki (this one is for you Popey). So, for all of you that are interested in installing Ubuntu 7.10 on an Asus EeePC, please have a look at the Ubuntu community wiki and make any improvements you can.