Ubuntu Tip: Disable Synaptics touchpad while typing

Finally!!
If you are like me, and can't help but involuntarily touch the touchpad while typing on the keyboard, here is the solution (thanks to ubuntugeek.com):

1. Open a terminal and type: sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf_synbackup
2. Type gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
3. Look for the section called: Section “InputDevice” / Identifier “Synaptics Touchpad”
4. Just above the line that says "End Section" type this line: Option “SHMConfig” “on”
5. Save, close all the windows and restart Gnome (Ctrl-Alt-Backspace)
6. Open the sessions manager: System -> Preferences -> Sessions
7. In the Startup Programs tab click the "New" button
8. Type "Syndaemon" in the name field and "syndaemon -i 1 -d" in the command field
9. Close and restart Gnome (Ctrl-Alt-Backspace)
10. Voila!
    

Battery very much OK

The replacement/spare battery I've bought on eBay from the Chinese seller shengz3 is very much OK.
Its price was very good indeed even after applying shipping costs and duties, it arrived very quickly and in very good conditions, and most of all it's 100% original and very high quality.
It's made by Sanyo (like the original one that came with my Si1520) and it's 100% functional: it charges up to 100%, while the one that came in the box with the laptop only charges up to 86%. Therefore I'm very satisfied, and can't help but suggest the seller to anyone in need of a second battery for their Amilo.

Spare battery arrived

The spare battery I talked about in a previous post, has arrived.

It's been blocked a couple of days by the customs (had to pay 13€ for custom duties and taxes). Anyway, it's 100% genuine, and I will test it tomorrow. So far I'm pretty satisfied by the service provided by the seller. I will keep you posted.

A summary of reviews on the SI1520

Notebookcheck.com has a nice summary page with links to various reviews of the SI1520.

You can find it here.

Installation of Ubuntu Feisty Fawn 7.04

Ubuntu Linux 7.04 is finally out: how does it behave on an Amilo SI1520?

Hardware Information

Screen & Monitors
Screen: Works
Correct resolution: Yes (after installing package 915resolution)
Correct refresh rate: Yes
3D Acceleration: Yes
External monitor works: Yes (tested by Juan)
External monitor - mirrors: Yes (tested by Juan)
External monitor - extend desktop: Yes (tested by Juan)

Power Management
Battery detected: Yes
Hibernates: Yes
Sleep: Yes (1)
Dim monitor on battery: No
Blank monitor on inactivity: Yes
Lid Close: Yes
Cpu frequency scaling: Yes (2)

Sound
Sound works? Yes
Correct volume? Yes (Although volume is pretty low)
Hardware volume switch: N/A (but Fn buttons to control volume work)
Headphone jack: Works
Mic jack: Does not work (I Couldn't manage to make it work)

Networking
Wired NIC: Works
Wireless NIC: Works
PCMCIA NIC: Untested
Firewire: Untested (Should work)
Bluetooth: Yes (Not personally tested. See Aron's comment.)
Modem: Untested
Infrared: N/A

Touchpad & Mice
Touchpad: Works
Touchpad - Doubletap = double click: Works
Touchpad - Scroll down side: Works
Touchpad - turned off while typing: Works (3)
External mouse - USB: Works
External mouse - Serial: Untested

Other Hardware
CD/DVD Burner: Works (Couldn't make it burn at speed >2x)
4-in-1 Card Reader: Works

Output of the lspci command:
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS, 943/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) SATA AHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (rev 02)
07:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation PRO/100 VE Network Connection (rev 02)
07:09.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller
07:09.1 Generic system peripheral [0805]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 19)
07:09.2 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd Unknown device 0843 (rev 01)
07:09.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter (rev 0a)
07:09.4 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller (rev 05)


NOTES:
(1) Suspend to RAM works only with BIOS version 1.10. Later versions have something wrong and this feature will not work properly. You can downgrade to v1.10 if your laptop does NOT mount an Intel Core Duo (Yonah) D0 stepping processor (which basically means those CPUs coded T2x00). Check here for more detailed information.
(2) You can manually set the CPU frequency and the operative mode by reconfiguring the Gnome applets ($ sudo dpkg-reconfigure gnome-applets) and answering “Yes” to the question regarding setting the suid of the cpufreq-selector executable. Now you can left click on the CPU Frequency Monitor Applet and choose the CPU frequency and/or operative mode (Conservative, Ondemand, Powersave, Performance).
(3) Needs this trick

Last update: June 19, 2007