Hackszine.com: HOWTO - Install Ubuntu on the Asus Eee PC

HOWTO - Install Ubuntu on the Asus Eee PC

Paul McGuinness sent us a howto for installing Ubuntu on the Asus Eee PC. For the most part, the install is fairly straightforward, but there are a few performance tweaks that are different from a typical desktop system. The big one is that you want to disable the access time feature (noatime parameter in fstab) of the filesystem to minimize disk writes.

There are also a number of non-standard drivers that you'll need to grab to get things like the wireless card, webcam and sleep features working. The eeeuser.com wiki has an page that describes in detail how to take care of all these issues. Credit to them for the above photo as well.

I peeked at one of these in a store the other day and the hardware seems really sweet. The included OS interface leaves a bit to be desired for someone who's comfortable and familiar with Linux, so it's good to see most everything (save for hibernation and a few function keys) is working on a stock Linux distro. I'll be asking Santa for one of these this year.

Installing Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsey Gibbon on an Asus Eee PC - Link
EeeUser.com Wiki: Ubuntu 7.10 on Eee PC - Link

Posted by Jason Striegel | Nov 26, 2007 07:38 PM
Linux, Ubuntu | Permalink | Comments (11)

Comments

Newest comments listed first.

Posted by: LordHASH on November 27, 2007 at 1:09 AM

Well...what really happens to me is that I can't find an EEE here nowhere...excuse my English

Posted by: angrykeyboarder on November 27, 2007 at 6:22 AM

The Asus Eee PC is "cute" but completely impractical.

The screen is just too small.

Posted by: CosmicPenguin on November 27, 2007 at 8:30 AM

And to continue to the the ultimate in cheap/educational mashups, there are now Sugar (OLPC UI) packages in Ubuntu:

https://launchpad.net/~jani/+archive

Posted by: on December 1, 2007 at 7:41 AM

For me the Eee pc is great. Also, you can install pretty much any kind of OS you like! It's small and light and you can bring it anywhere. You don't have to lug your heavy laptop just to surf, check your email, chat and for multimedia right?

The Eee will be just right for the average user. By the way, I'll be getting mine tomorrow. I ordered it 2 weeks ago direct from Taiwan. Everywhere, it's out of stock before you can say Eeeee!

There's so much I want to try out on this little thing. Can't wait!

Posted by: on December 7, 2007 at 2:17 AM

I've been testing out the Eee in a high school environment, and most students love it. The exception seems to be the boys with really big hands. For me personally, I'm still going to need a more powerful laptop for Windows code crunching and a few other specialized Windows apps.

Posted by: mark on December 15, 2007 at 12:21 PM

brought mine to day, im planning to install xubuntu on it, when the iso downloads, the keyboard is kinda hard to use, but i will get used to it soon

i brought mine from toys r us in watford if anyone in the uk is interested

Posted by: Benjamin (GER / MUC) on January 23, 2008 at 4:34 AM

Damned great!

Perfect for me on Debian and Blackbox as WM as being a
terminal-freak.

Awaiting Package - one week to go !

Will create site with setup instructions and workarounds for minimalists.

Will post link on linuxonlaptops later!

Posted by: Erik on February 29, 2008 at 5:09 AM

I'm an owner of the Asus Eee and I'm very pleased with it. People seem to think that this laptop is a replacement for their much more powerful $1000+ laptops and desktops, however it isn't. This machine's sole purpose is for lite internet use, web surfing, checking email, chatting and to write papers on. For $400USD it's a great deal!

Posted by: Tracie on May 18, 2008 at 8:02 AM

love the eeepc

Hi i have had mine over a month now......and love it.
I am a pc user so still getting used to things and have a bit of trouble hookin up ipod? but i am in advanced mode and Tinkerbell ...as i call screen set up pink and pretty.As for the size ,i actually prefer it,i picked up my benq joybook yesterday and it felt like a tv on my knee. I am pretty tiny so keyboard is fine to me,i can touch type on it easily nd fits in my handbag!...........love it love it love it... Asus eeepc 701 4gb pearl....perfecttttttttttttt!

Posted by: Rebekah on May 19, 2008 at 7:51 PM

how about ubuntu for OLPC?

Does anyone know if I can put Ubuntu on an OLPC?

Posted by: MisterHyde on July 6, 2008 at 6:40 AM

Ubuntu on OLPC

As far as I know, not yet. Probably when Ubuntu Mobile comes out. Also, eee outclasses OLPC in almost every respect