Xandros: How to do a check-up on your Eee PC

Member shinrai of the EeePH forum has posted a tutorial on how to conduct a check-up on Asus Eee PC 701s and 900s using Xandros' Diagnostic Tools.

You can read the entire step-by-step tutorial here.

How to Run Windows Apps on Your Linux Asus Eee PC

If you need to run your favorite Windows applications but do not want to replace the default Xandros OS on your Asus Eee PC, follow Laptop Magazine's tutorial on installing and using Wine, an application that enables you to do just that.

The tutorial's outline is as follows:

1. Open Synaptic Package Manager
2. Add the Wine Repository
3. Update Package Listing
4. Download and Install Wine
5. Configure Wine
6. Install a Windows Program
7. Run Your Windows Program

You can read the complete tutorial here.

2 Ways of Making Your SDHC A Resident Hard Drive in XP

rljaplit of EeePH forum has posted an excellent tutorial on turning your SDHC memory card into a "permanent" drive. He describes two methods - the first by mounting your SD/SDHC card and the second by using MicroDrive drivers.

The first, mounting your SD/SDHC Card, is recommended if you only have one SD/SDHC card reader and regularly swap out cards -

A simple solution is to mount the SD/SDHC card as a directory in C: which is a local disk. This tricks programs into thinking they are being installed to a directory on the C drive, and also allows you to swap cards on the fly without any issues. And because you are not making any driver modifications, you get to keep your high read/write performance. It's also much simpler and can be easily unmounted.

1. Create a Program Files directory on your SD/SDHC card (E.g.: E:\Program Files\)
2. Create a SDHC directory in your C:\Program Files\ directory. (E.g: C:\Program Files\SDHC\)
3. Right click on My Computer and click Manage.
4. Select the Disk Management plugin under Storage on the left.
5. Right click on your SD/SDHC drive and click Change Drive Letter and Paths….
6. Click Add…
7. Make sure “Mount in the following empty NTFS folder” is selected, and browse for the directory you created in step 2.
8. Click OK to the three windows open and close Computer Management.

The second method is to use MicroDrive drivers and is recommended if you have a second card reader modification/hack or only own one memory card.

This fix will trick Windows and program installers into thinking your SD/SDHC card is a fixed local disk. While this has the obvious benefit of allowing stubborn installers to install to your SD/SDHC card just like the Mount method, it also carries the unfortunate side effects of decreased read/write performance, as well as hampering the card reader's plug and play and hot-swappability (after you install this driver, once you swap out your card, Windows will not quickly recognize the new card).

1. Download the MicroDrive drivers here and extract them to a folder on the desktop.
2. Insert your SD/SDHC card into your EeePC.
3. Click Start > Run > type “regedit” (without quotes) and click OK.
4. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Enum\USBSTOR\Disk&Ven_USB2.0&Prod_CardReader_SD0&Rev_0100/.
5. Inside that you should find another directory that is just a bunch of numbers. Mine reads: 146030377350&0. Select it to display its contents in the right pane.
6. In the right pane you should see a key called “HardwareID”. Double-click on it.
7. You should see 7 lines of text. Copy ONLY the first line to the clipboard. Mine reads: USBSTOR\DiskUSB2.0__CardReader_SD0__0100
8. Click Cancel, and close Registry Editor.
9. Open cfadisk.inf in the directory you unzipped the MicroDrive driver to.
10. Delete all lines between [cfadisk_device] and [cfadisk_addreg].
11. Below [cfadisk_device], insert a new line, and type the following: %Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,
12. After the comma, hit CTRL V to paste what you copied from the registry into the file.
13. Save the file.
14. Right click My Computer and click Manage.
15. On the left pane, click the Device Manager plugin.
16. Under disk drives, you should see SiliconMotion and USB2.0 Card Reader. Right click on the card reader and click update driver.
17. Direct the driver updater window to the Hitachi driver you just edited. It won’t detect the driver automatically, you have to specify that you're supplying the disk for the hardware and force it to use the driver.
18. After the driver is updated, restart Windows.

You can read the complete thread, including comments and additional suggestions, here.

How to Overclock the ASUS Eee PC (XP/Vista)

Our good friend Vito Cassisi has written an in-depth, easy to follow, step-by-step tutorial on overclocking the Asus Eee PC over at his Cyb3rglitch Tutorials site.

He starts off by providing an intro to overclocking -

Overclocking the Eee is the best way to improve its performance. Many people add extra RAM, faster RAM (which is a waste of time, more on this later), and cut down their OSs (see here) in order to squeeze every last bit of processing power available.

What is overclocking?
Overclocking is the process of increasing component clock speeds above stock.

Theory behind overclocking
Overclocking is not a difficult concept, but it does require some background knowledge. Due to the identical processing hardware in each Eee PC, knowing the theory isn't essential for this guide, but if you're interested, read this tutorial on the subject here.

He then proceeds to explain the different ways of overclocking the Asus Eee PC and why he prefers using the EeeCtl software. After which he follows with a step-by-step tutorial, complete with screen caps, a couple of which are shown below.

The eeectl.ini file:


OCCT stability test:


All told, it is an easy to comprehend, well-written and very useful tutorial for those looking to make their Eee PCs run faster.

You can read the entire tutorial here.

How to Remove the Asus Eee PC's Keyboard (German Video)

A video tutorial on how to remove the Asus Eee PC's keyboard. On-screen text is in German but there is no voice-over. It is graphical enough to follow even if you know understand German -

HOWTO - Mount SD card as part of the unionfs

albkwan of Eeeuser forum has posted a tutorial on how to mount an SD card as part of the unionfs. What this allows you to do is to gain back memory space on the SSD storage (quite important for 2G users) since all user data will now be written to the SD/SDHC card instead.

It also allows you to share your Eee PC with others since each user can have his/her own SD card to store personal data or programs, without the need to configure different user profiles. You can also have different versions of the default Xandros on different SDHCs: one for daily use, one for testing, another one hopefully with a low latency kernel, etc.

The approach is fully upgradeable and you don't need to worry about wearing of the SSD (which is now read only). Any sign of disk read/write error on the SD, you just buy a new SD and move all your data there.

If you intend to try this out, be sure to read the entire thread as albkwan updated his instructions.

Adding and Using GIMP

For those of you who have emailed about installing and using GIMP,
the Eeeuser wiki has a step-by-step tutorial. You can access it here.

Incidentally, the tutorial also includes instructions on how to add icons for your newly installed program. :)

Installing VLC Media Player on the Eee

The My Asus Eee PC blog has a nice simple mini-tutorial on installing VLC Media Player. Considering that the Asus Eee PC's media player has problems playing back AVI files generated by some Canon models, this should be worth a try.



The tutorial uses the Debian version of VLC. Check it out here. Make sure to read the comments for additional instructions. :)

Put Windows on SD card for Eee PC - XP3eSD Utility

From a post by stargate in the Eeeph forum -

XP3eSD Utility

"Utility to modify a Windows installation CD so that it can be installed onto an SD card for use in your 3epc. You just need to copy the contents of your CD to your hard drive, then run the utility and voila it will produce an iso ready to be burned to CD for installing Windows XP onto your 3epc so that it can then transferred to an SD card."

Download the utility from 3eportal.

A cacophony of ASUS Eee Linux PC tips and tricks

ITWire's David M Williams, in his The Linux Distillery column, has compiled a list of various tips and tricks for the Asus Eee PC. Some have been posted previously in other blogs, while others are new (at least to me). But the article in which they are mentioned actually makes for an interesting read especially if you are an Asus Eee user.

Auto-starting Your WiFi Connection in Easy Mode

By default, the Asus Eee PC does not connect to an available WiFi connection automatically. You will have to connect it manually every time you turn it on. That is, unless you set it up to do so. The following tutorial teaches you just how to do that from the Easy Mode Menu.

From the Internet tab, select the Network icon and click it:



A list of Network Connections will appear. Select the Connection that you want to auto-start and click it:



Its Properties window will appear. Note near the lower left corner, there is a field labeled Start Mode. By default it is set to Manual.



Click on the down arrow beside the Manual setting to change it to On Boot. Then click OK.



The Properties window will disappear and the Network Connections window will re-appear. Click OK.



That's it. The next time you start your Asus Eee PC, it should automatically connect to the WiFi connection that you have just set, assuming there is available signal.

Changing Eee PC's Wallpaper

From reader Mary Ellen Lee -

Hi and many many thanks for the inspiring info on the EeePC.

I bought one. For reasons having largely to do with the amount of travel i do on NYC and Ch-town subways, and bus/train/Easyjet in Europe, i bought an "open box" 2G Surf model in Blush Pink. First i only need this to do web chat and surfing beyond what my Blackberry Pearl can already do superbly; and because my real ultralight notebook computer is still too heavy for my old shoulders; and .... in pink, who would steal it ?? :-)...

...My conclusion by day 2 of ownership was that i could live long and prosper with the 2G Surf as is............ *BUT*.... something had to be done about the already too boring Easy Desktop themes.

So for any who might follow my path toward the 2G Surf, to change these is pretty easy.

Firstly, locate them ... hint: they are in /opt/xandros/share/AsusLauncher directory and named variously:

accessibility_internet_wallpaper.jpg
accessibility_learn_wallpaper.jpg
accessibility_play_wallpaper.jpg
accessibility_settings_wallpaper.jpg
accessibility_work_wallpaper.jpg
business_internet_wallpaper.jpg
business_learn_wallpaper.jpg
business_play_wallpaper.jpg
business_settings_wallpaper.jpg
business_work_wallpaper.jpg
home_internet_wallpaper.jpg
home_learn_wallpaper.jpg
home_play_wallpaper.jpg
home_settings_wallpaper.jpg
home_work_wallpaper.jpg
login_page.jpg
student_internet_wallpaper.jpg
student_learn_wallpaper.jpg
student_play_wallpaper.jpg
student_settings_wallpaper.jpg
student_work_wallpaper.jpg

the "accessibility" are the "Blue" theme wallpapers; the "business" are what the chooser calls "Silver"; "home" = "Sunset" and of course "student" = "Green"...
they seem to have used the "internet" .jpg in for the Favourites tab as well as the Internet tab; very efficient!

Secondly, copy these to a USB drive or ftp them to your desktop for alteration; attached is a simple altered example that also reduced the physical file size of accessibility_internet_wallpaper.jpg.

It's probably a good idea to keep a backup copy of the originals somewhere.

Lastly, copy the altered .jpgs from USB drive or ftp back to the /opt/xandros/share/AsusLauncher directory

Changes are dynamic as you copy over the files and move from tab to tab, but it's probably a more "polite" idea to restart the EeePC after copying in the files.

************

Other than that, any suggestions about carrying cases of course *do* apply to the Surfs ... mine fits nicely in any number of bookshop-purchases free bags, Fossil handbags and into the smallest size LL Bean camping toiletries kit

(.. those aren't as useful now that the airlines have the liquids restrictions except for the unbreakable mirror and 1000-year-lasting really handy zippers :-) !

mary

----------

Thanks, Mary!

Installing Vista on Asus Eee PC

Paul of the Asus Eee PC sub-community in the Modaco forum has posted instructions on how to install Vista on our favorite subnote, complete with the video (posted earlier here).

Basically all you need are -

- An Asus Eee PC, completely unmodified (4GB version, 512MB RAM)
- A SD card, 2GB minimum, the bigger the better.
- A Vista DVD
- A 1GB USB stick

If you have all of the above and want to install Vista for whatever reason you might have, then scoot over to the Modaco sub-forum (also known as www.EEEasy.com) and follow the instructions.

Sprint's Wireless Mobile Broadband Set-up Guide for Linux

For Sprint wireless mobile broadband subscribers who want to set-up the Asus Eee PC, there is an on-line guide available here.

Load OSX 10.5 Leopard on the eeePC

Submitted by reader Jon Bradford -

From Uneasysilence via downloadsquad -




"So, ever since I got the eeePC I’ve loved how easy it is to tinker with. Since I’m not a Linux guy, I dumped the Xandros preload and opted for Windows XP so I could you my EVDO USB datacard and blogging software easier, but I wondered could I install OSX on it? And, after trial and error - you can!

The only problem is that the eeePC only supports SSE2 instead of the SSE3 that Leopard is coded for. Kinda a bummer, and will require some extra tinkering to coax the OS on the eeePC. Thankfully Adam’s awesome tutorial over at Lifehacker provided an excellent foundation on how to do these hacks..."

The article then continues with straightforward easy-to-follow instructions. Complete instructions are here.

Easy Mode Tour - Learn Tab Options

Here is Part III of the Easy Mode User Interface Tour -

The programs included in the Learn folder is actually geared more towards kids but grown-ups may find the information useful as well.




It has five options. These are –

• Science
• Language
• Math
• Paint
• Web Learn

Science

Clicking on the Science sub-folder as shown in the previous screen loads its options.




There are two options –Periodic Table and Planetarium.


Periodic Table

Clicking on the Periodic Table icon loads the program, which is actually Kalzium from the KDE Education project.




More than just a digital period table, the program actually provides tons of information not normally include with its print counterparts. You can bring up plot details via Miscellaneous  Plot Data.




Or view the periodic table based on State of Matter via Miscellaneous  Show State of Matter.




Aside from the various options available from the menu, you can click on a specific element to bring up more information. In the example, we clicked on Polonium (84). The window pops-up with its overview details.




Aside from the overview details, there are also Miscellaneous, Picture, Energies, Chemical Data, and Atomic Model (shown) entries.




Additional information is available at http://edu.kde.org/kalzium.


Planetarium




Clicking on the Planetarium icon loads up the program, which is actually KStars from KDE simply relabeled.




If it is your first time to run it, you will need to set it up. However a Set-up Wizard is conveniently included to guide you through the process.




Additional information is available at http://edu.kde.org/kstars.


Language

Like the other programs in the Science sub-folders, actually all the programs in the Learn sub-folder, the programs in the Language sub-folder are actually geared more towards kids.




Clicking on the Language icon brings up its sub-folder.




There are three options – Typing, Letter Game, and Hangman Game.


Typing

Clicking on the Typing icon loads up Tux Typing 2, an educational typing tutor for children. It features several types of gameplay, at a variety of difficulty levels. The menu screen is from that site and is slightly different from the one installed on your Asus Eee PC.

Additional information is available at http://tuxtype.sourceforrge.net.


Letter Game




Clicking on the Letter Game icon loads up KMessedWords, a simple mind-training game from the KDE Education Project in which you try to figure out scrambled words.




Additional information is available at http://edu.kde.org/kmessedwords/.


Hangman Game




Clicking on the Hangman Game icon loads up the classical game, which is actually KHangman from the KDE Education Project.




Additional information is available at http://edu.kde.org/khangman/.


Math




Clicking on the Math icon brings up the Math sub-folder which contains some very useful and educational applications.


Fraction Tutorial




Clicking on the Fraction Tutorial icon loads up a relabeled KBruch, a tutorial on fractions from the KDE Education Project.




Additional information on Kbruch is available at http://edu.kde.org/kbruch/.


TuxMath




Clicking on the TuxMath icon loads up Tux, of Math Command, a math edutainment program from the Tux4Kids Project. It stars Tux, the Linux mascot and is based on the classic arcade game "Missile Command." Tux must defend his cities. In this case, though, he must do it by solving math problems.

Additional information is available at http://tux4kids.alioth.debian.org/.


Geometry




Clicking on the Geometry icon loads up a relabeled Kig, an interactive program from the KDE Education Project for studying geometry. Kig stands for KDE Interactive Geometry. With Kig, which is meant to be a better version of programs like KGeo and KSeg, you can play in a pleasant and educational manner with mathematical figures.

You can also use Kig as a WYSIWYG tool to draw mathematical figures. Not only does Kig try to be compatible with all kind of formats of similar programs, it also exports the figure to an image or Xfig file. Because Kig is also a KPart application, you can use its integration in KDE, by embedding it in other applications or .kig files opening it directly in Konqueror without having to start Kig.




Additional information is available at http://edu.kde.org/kig.


Function Plotter




Clicking on the Function Plotter icon loads up a Function Plotter from the KDE Education Project.




Additional information is available at http://edu.kde.org/kmplot.


Paint




Clicking on the Paint icon loads up the Paint sub-folder, which has two programs – Paint and Tux Paint.


Paint




Clicking on the Paint icon brings up Paint, which is actually mPaint and is designed for creating icons and pixel-based artwork. It can edit indexed palette or 24 bit RGB images and offers basic painting and palette manipulation tools. It also has supports channels, layers and animation.





Tux Paint




Clicking on the Tux Paint icon brings up Tux Paint, an open source drawing program for children ages 3 to 12 . It combines an easy-to-use interface, fun sound effects, and an encouraging cartoon mascot who guides children as they use the program.
Kids are presented with a blank canvas and a variety of drawing tools to help them be creative.

Additional information is available at http://www.tuxpaint.org.


Web Learn




Clicking on the Web Learn icon loads http://www.skool.ie, an interactive learning site.

Reduce your Linux memory footprint

Submitted by reader Anson -

There is a tutorial on the the IBM website on how to minimize memory usage in Linux, with Ubuntu as the example.

Tutorial is actually rated intermediate, so it might be too advanced for beginners. But it has a lot of information newbies can appreciate.

Asus Eee PC Easy Mode Work Tab Options Tour

Here is the 2nd installment of the Easy Mode user interface tutorial -

The Work tab, as shown, below, has nine options.




These are –

• Accessories
• Documents
• Spreadsheets
• Presentation
• PDF Reader
• Mail
• File Manager
• Dictionary
• Notes

If you have gone through the Internet options in the first installment, you would have noticed how similar the Easy Mode user interface is to that of Microsoft Windows.

Asus has actually taken it a step further by including applications that not only replicate those found in Microsoft Office; they are also compatible with it. Meaning, the documents you create using these applications can be opened and read by Microsoft Office.

However, the arrangement or structure Asus used is slightly different. At any rate, we will discuss the difference as we move along.


Work - Accessories

Clicking on the Accessories option brings up the Accessories window as shown below.




There are three applications.

Calculator

The Calculator is KCalc, an open source application that is actually full-featured. On start-up, it shows a simple interface featuring basic functionality.




However, you can set it up to also show trigonometric, statistics, logic, exp/log, and constants simultaneously as seen below.





PIM

The PIM, which stands for Personal Information Manager, is the PIM from KDE. It is similar to Microsoft Outlook both in function and in lay-out.





Screen Capture

The Screen Capture is a convenient utility that lets you capture screens. It was used to make the screen caps included in this tutorial.





Work - Documents

The next three options – Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations - actually load OpenOffice, which is the open source equivalent of Microsoft Office.

You can get more information, including any future free updates from their website at http://www.openoffice.org.




Clicking on any of the three options will bring up the OpenOffice loading flash screen (below) before loading the actual application. In this example we click on the Documents option (above).




Clicking on the Documents option opens OpenOffice Writer, which is largely compatible with Microsoft Word except that it is missing the more advanced features such as Smart Tags, highly flexible outlining, and smart table formatting.





Work – Spreadsheets




Clicking on the Spreedsheets option (above) will bring up OpenOffice Calc (below), which offers Microsoft Excel compatibility including macros and tables.





Work – Presentations




Clicking on the Presentations option (above) will bring up OpenOffice Impress (below), which offers Microsoft Powerpoint functionality and compatibility.




If it is your first time to use Impress, a Presentation Wizard will automatically pop up and guide you through setting up your presentation. By default, Impress will do this every time you use it. You can disable this by clicking on Do not show this wizard again to put an x on the box before it.











PDF Reader


Clicking on the PDF Reader option opens up Adobe Reader (below), which reads PDF formatted documents.




Adobe Reader itself is free and you may want to check for upgrades at http://www.adobe.com/products/reader.





Mail




Clicking on the Mail option opens up the Mozilla Thunderbird client. If you have not set-up any account, the Account Wizard will pop up. Note that it has a Gmail wizard.





File Manager





Clicking on the File Manager option (above) opens, well, the File Manager from KDE. For Windows users, the lay-out should be conveniently familiar.





Dictionary




Clicking on the Dictionary option loads the Longman Dictionary as shown below.




More than just an ordinary dictionary, it also includes English to Chinese translation.





Notes




Clicking on the Notes option (above) opens the sticky note utility.




You can access its menu by right-clicking on the note’s time bar. Its main menu can be accessed by the sticky icon that appears on the system tray.