Ubuntu on the Dell Mini 10 (2)
Great news! The Dell Mini 10 now runs on Ubuntu 9.04 at full nominal resolution of 1024 x 576!
What has happened is that the Ubuntu Mobile Team has compiled and packaged kernel modules, X.org drivers, libraries to interface to kernel DRM services, etc. etc. for the Poulsbo chipset and made them available on their PPA.
Remember from my previous post, that my Mini 10 was running using the VESA driver for X. All I had to do to switch to the psb driver was to create the file /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-mobile.list with the following content:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mobile/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mobile/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
Then,
apt-get update
apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-psb
and reboot! The Dell Mini 10 then came alive — after a bit of thinking — with the display at the correct resolution, and the little display just looked stunningly bright, crisp and sharp!
This is really great news to the many owners of Dell Mini 10 and 12 — as well as other Poulsbo based netbooks — that want to run Ubuntu Jaunty.
Kudos and many thanks to the Ubuntu Mobile Team for their effort and a job well done!
mok0's world 
[…] 2: I came across some Ubuntu-specific notes which should be useful […]
I found the Mini 10 with Ubuntu unusable. The track pad was the worst thing about it. I was barely able to control the cursor. I returned it to Dell after a few days. They charged me a $40 restocking fee because I said the product was inadequate and not broken. I told them the track-pad was nearly useless. the Dell rep said, “Why don’t you buy a mouse?”
This was my first and last purchase form Dell.
Yes I agree!!!!! Dell will not give you an OS reinstall unless you are the original owner! They try to make you buy the OS again. Even if you have a COA and proof you paid for the system. Thanks Ubuntu and Linux in any flavor I love you all!
Hi
I have ubuntu 9.10 but when I try to install it via apt it wants to remove all the xorg system
also via dpkg it tell me that there is a conflict with xserver-xorg-core
any advice?
Hm!
I don’t suppose Second Life would run on this thing? Even if only barely? ^.^;
And what about Compiz effects?
Will this solution work with the new Mini 10 with HD screen of 1366×788?
I am almost certain that it will work. It would be nice if someone would check it out though!
Works fine! But no 3d or video though…
It didn’t work on my high-resolution Mini 10. Ubuntu starts in low-graphics mode. I get the following messages:
(EE) PSB(0): the stolenBase is:0x3f800000
(EE) PSB(0): screnIndex is:0;fbPhys
(EE) PSB(0): First SDVO output reported failure to sync or input is not trainded!!!
(EE) [drm] drmOpen failed.
(EE) PSB(0): [dri] DRIScreenInit failed. Disabling DRI.
(EE) [drm] Could not uninstall irq handler.
(EE) PSB(0): This driver currently needs DRM to operate.
I can’t just uninstall. It makes no difference. Now I am forced into low graphics mode. How can I solve this problem?
SecondLife runs slowly, but runs. Compiz effects will OBVIOUSLY WORK on these XD. I got compiz working on a PC with 800 Mhz and 256 MB of RAM recently, without any slowdown. Compiz is all really dependent on the video card more than anything else, and these computers handle it great.
[…] […]
Any idea if the HD display Mini 10 is also supported? I forget the exact resolution–13?? x ???.
See my reply to RUQRU above…
Do you have video playback working with this driver? Is it stable?
I haven’t really tried video yet. However, from what I’ve read in the reviews, I don’t expect much; the 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Z520 CPU is simply not fast enough to process HD video.
Is there anything in particular you’d like me to test?
Well, the GMA500 (video component of the Poulsbo Chipset) is normally able to decode HD streams very easily.
With any Windows OS and a proper driver, you can read 1080p videos using approx. 20% cpu, that’s why Martijn is asking.
Well, the Mini-10 is useless for YouTube videos. You get about 2-3 frames per second.
Good job. Works fine !!!
Oups I can’t connect TV on the HDMI port. My tv is recogized but i can’t change video resoution 😦
I installed the regular version of Ubuntu 9.04 via the WUBI installer and applied the video drivers mentioned above along with the latest version of Adobe Flash and I just watched some YouTube videos which played just fine to me. I think I found the perfect combo for Ubuntu on my Mini 10. It looks and performs great in 1024×576. I hope others try this combo and post their findings.
Hello:
I have a Dell Inspiron Mini 10 that I bought two months ago. I installed Ubuntu 9.04. Like most of you, I have a crappy resolution of 800×576 (along with no sound for some reason). I attempted to upgrade the driver using the instructions in this post, but I get this message:
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
xserver-xorg-video-psb: Depends: libdrm-poulsbo1 but it is not going to be installed
E: Broken packages
So, I try to install this libdrm-poulsbo1 file via apt-get install, but what happens is that when I do I removes xorg and all the drivers. even after trying to install xserver-xorg-video-psb, I get a terminal login at reboot with no Gnome or any windows manager for that matter, I have to reinstall xorg just to get my 800×576 resolution back. I need that 1024×576 resolution and not from windows. What am I doing wrong?
You don’t give much information to go on (series? arch? other ppa’s used?)… but obviously there’s some kind of conflict in the specific set of packages on your computer that apt can’t resolve. You could try to use aptitude, which has another resolver, and also offers the command “aptitude why” that should tell you more about the conflict.
If problems persist, perhaps you’d better seek advice from one of the Ubuntu Mobile Team. Good luck, and please report back here what your progress is!
the same problem(
Used Aptitude and followed it’s solution for installing. Now my computer looks awesome. 1024×576 resolution after book. Thank you! t looks better than the Windows 7 RC1 I have on my little netbook as well! Faster too.
I’m getting and error when trying to apply the update. The following signatures couldn’t be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 99D6B21CC6598A30
Any Ideas?
Sorry, I get this error when I run the apt-get update command.
You need to provide apt with the public key from the PPA. Try this:
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys C6598A30
Where C6598A30 is the so-called key-id, namely the last 8 characters of the key’s fingerprint.
Read more HERE.
Thank you! You totally made my day! 🙂 Ubuntu is finally useful on the mini-10 and I can leave XP.
Thank You Thank You Thank You!
have had my mini 10 for months now with an 800×600 display. It frustrated me to no end, but you have solved my troubles and answered my prayers.
cheers
Even the Acer Aspire One 751H is working at full res (1366×768) now…
it’s slow, really slow… but it works!!!
a.
oh yeah!
[…] […]
Hello all
Would any be kind enough to add an idiots guide for this please, anything other than point and click in Ubuntu is beyond me.
I tried running terminal and entering the command “deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mobile/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main” but I get get a “command not found” error.
Thanks
That line is not a command to execute. You need to open a text editor, and create a file in the directory /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ You must be root (administrator) to do this.
Put the line into that file. The file can be named anything you want, as long as it ends in “.list” .
Another way is to add the line to the already existing file /etc/apt/sources.list
You must have root (administrator) privileges to edit the file.
After you have done this, type or paste the two apt-get commands into a terminal window.
Me again, worked it out and Ubuntu’s looking fantastic. Thanks so much.
help! how can i do this “You must have root (administrator) privileges to edit the file.” pls help im noob in ubuntu, but i love it, but i want a 1024×576
Look here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo
Just a heads up – the 2.6.28-13 kernel release breaks this a wee bit. I think the guilty party is the psb-modules deb.
drm.ko and psb.ko have unresolvable symbols according to insmod, so forcing the issue doesn’t seem like a go. You’ll have to rebuild since the deb hard codes the directory to the old kernel. Here’s my fix:
apt-get install psb-kernel-source psb-kernel-headers
The post install builds the module… and… well… it’s a mini 10… wait for it. When the build is done, simplest solution is to reboot.
thank you so much for this post!… update as of june 23rd broke my 1366×768 fix. Your fix repaired it. 🙂
I finally got this working. I had to install the psb headers and now I got the higher resolution. I’ll have to keep going with this to see how it works in the days ahead.
Hi! Thanks a ton! the psb-kernel-source bit is the final dash of flavor to get my NBR install to the full 1366×768!
-danny
Does standby/resume work for everybody? When I tried this sequence on a live-boot USB drive, it worked, but it could not resume from standby – unlike the default driver.
Hello,
please, does Dell Mini 10 has a fan on the processor? Or is this passively cooled? I mean, does it run completely silent?
It’s almost silent. The Dell Mini 9 is completely silent. It has no fan. With almost silent, I mean you have to put your ear to it to hear it, and not the it still has a fan, but it’s a very quiet fan “almost silent”.
Thank you vergil658! that was the nugget of info I’ve been searching for for the last 3 hours…. Works a treat.
Thanks vergil658! I’m an Ubuntu / Linux nubile, but I was able to use your tip and a few others on this page to get my mini 10 up and running . . . (neat too, I’ve never compiled a kernel . . . is that what I did?) Again, thanks 🙂
Hi
I get the message:
(EE) PSB(0): the stolenBase is:0×3f800000.
(EE) PSB(0):screnIndex is:0;fbPhys is:0×3f800000;fbsize is:0×007df000.
(EE) PSB(0): First SDVO output reported failure to sync or input is not trainded!!!
(EE) [drm] drmOpen failed.
(EE) PSB (0): [dri] DRIScreenInit failed. Disabiling DRI.
(EE)[drm] Could not uninstall irq handler.
(EE) PSB(0): This driver currently needs DRM to operate.
Before I updated the psb module I also got:
(EE) PSB: Failed to load module “Xpsb” (module does not exist, 0)
But since the update this mesage is gone.
I have the 2.6.28-11-generic kernel.
Any idea what I can do?
The drivers available now from ubuntu-mobile have been updated to work with the latest kernel update (2.6.28-13-lpia), available from the jaunty-updates repo. I suggest you try to upgrade and try again.
I tried the update but with 2.6.28-13 kernel my netbook wont even boot … seems like there’s some other driver problem with the new kernel
Any ideas how i can solve this problem on 2.6.28-11?
After upgrading kernel for ubuntu you have to reset/install drm as the message tells you:
EE) PSB(0): This driver currently needs DRM to operate.
I use this set of commands and it works. I have upgraded kernels from the update manager twice now – and it has worked. I saw the same message when I updated to the current kernel (2.6.28-18) in Feb 2010.
sudo dpkg –remove psb-kernel-source
sudo dpkg –purge psb-kernel-source
sudo apt-get install psb-kernel-source
Lots of confusion out there. I too had the “(EE) PSB(0): This driver currently needs DRM to operate.” message, however was able to get things working, here’s the order that worked for me:
Dell Mini 10 (not 10v)
1. Base install of 9.04 (NOT the Nebook remix)
2. Ignore Update manager
3. create the file /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-mobile.list
sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-mobile.list
3a. add the following content to the newly created file:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mobile/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mobile/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
4. sudo apt-key adv –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com –recv-keys C6598A30
5. sudo apt-get update
6. sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-psb
7. Reboot, ignore video error messages, select “run one time in low res mode.”
8. Let Update manager do its thing. (Now running at 2.6.28-13)
9. Reboot and the 1024×576 resolution should be working.
Tested youtube (after adobe flash install) videos & looks great.
[…] Updates looks smooth, so the first thing to fix was the resolution. This blog post basically covered it: […]
[…] […]
[…] to how to install the GMA 500 drivers in Ubuntu here, or here, or here or follow the discussion on […]
I’ve just upgraded to 2.6.28-14 and I’m back to 800 wide.. I’ve tried uninstalling and re-installing everything here, but its still not working… Any ideas?
1. Boot with 2.6.28-14
2. Run one time session with low graphics
3. Make sure you are connected to the internet
4. Open Terminal and type
sudo apt-get install psb-kernel-source
sudo shutdown -r now
The graphics will restore psb.. Long live Ubuntu!!!
When attempting these steps, I get this:
Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information… Done
E: Couldn’t find package psb-kernel-source
Any way to make this work?
I get this error on the final step, everything seems to have worked fine:
Package xserver-xorg-video-psb is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
E: Package xserver-xorg-video-psb has no installation candidate
I’m still have the issue I mentioned:
Package xserver-xorg-video-psb is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
E: Package xserver-xorg-video-psb has no installation candidate
chris@mini10:~$ sudo apt-get install psb-kernel-source
Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information… Done
E: Couldn’t find package psb-kernel-source
Any solutions for this?
Hi its me again
I reinstalled Ubuntu, updated and tried if the 2.6.28-13 kernel is working without xdriver and it does. So I installed the driver on 2.6.28-13 and the only thing I get after booting is a black screen at the time when I get the error messages on 2.6.28-11 (look at my previous post about these errors)
Any ideas why I get a black screen instead of errors on 2.6.28-13? In my opinion the driver seems to load properly but I only get a black screen.
I did the fix at the top of this screen and am super happy to now have my 1366×768 resolution back. Thanks so much to Mok0 and everyone for the fix! But now I’ve still got the problem that my machine is painfully slow! totally driving me nuts how slow it is.. Any idea how i can get the speed up now?
Are you running Ubuntu (the Gnome version)? I installed Xubuntu and it helped a lot. (All you need to do is “apt-get install xubuntu-desktop”).
Jeff Sullivan an vergil658 thanks.
1. create the file /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-mobile.list
2. sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-mobile.list
3. add the following content to the newly created file:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mobile/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mobile/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
4. sudo apt-key adv –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com –recv-keys C6598A30
5. sudo apt-get update
6. sudo aptitude install psb-kernel-source psb-kernel-headers
7. sudo reboot
8. sudo aptitude install xserver-xorg-video-psb
9. sudo reboot
You /etc/X11/xorg.conf file will look like this.
[CODE]
Section “Device”
Identifier “Configured Video Device”
EndSection
Section “Monitor”
Identifier “Configured Monitor”
EndSection
Section “Screen”
Identifier “Default Screen”
Monitor “Configured Monitor”
Device “Configured Video Device”
EndSection
[/CODE]
Reboot and the 1366×768 resolution should be working on Dell Inspiron mini 10 running Ubuntu Jaunty
[EDIT]
Final
/etc/X11/xorg.conf
Section “Device”
Identifier “Configured Video Device”
Option “AccelMethod” “EXA”
Option “DRI” “off”
Option “MigrationHeuristic” “greedy”
Option “IgnoreACPI” “true”
EndSection
Section “Monitor”
Identifier “Configured Monitor”
EndSection
Section “Screen”
Identifier “Default Screen”
Monitor “Configured Monitor”
Device “Configured Video Device”
EndSection
Section “ServerFlags”
Option “DontZap” “False”
EndSection
Modify procedure number #8 to this.
8. sudo aptitude install xserver-xorg-video-psb poulsbo-driver-2d poulsbo-driver-3d
[VERY IMPORTANT]
If you upgrade your kernel you have to rebuild this “psb-kernel-sourc” source by doing the following.
sudo dpkg-reconfigure psb-kernel-sourc
[…] It's … really simple. Also, I found other instructions for doing this thing through Google, here: Ubuntu on the Dell Mini 10 (2) mok0’s world This seems much easier, though, and with less thinking/much more explicit. I am all for as little […]
I tried this and it works PERFECTLY! Thanks!
Thank you Lindylex!
I second your instructions, it worked great here!
1. create the file /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-mobile.list
2. sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-mobile.list
3. add the following content to the newly created file:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mobile/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mobile/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
4. sudo apt-key adv –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com –recv-keys C6598A30
5. sudo apt-get update
6. sudo aptitude install psb-kernel-source psb-kernel-headers
7. sudo reboot
8. sudo aptitude install xserver-xorg-video-psb poulsbo-driver-2d poulsbo-driver-3d
9. sudo reboot
Compiz doesn’t work yet and my linux froze many times, but I don’t think these are related to the driver.
Thanks for the hints!
They perfectly worked, but the system had an annoying tendency to free after about one hour work… To solve that (apparently related to a bug in the driver or something like that), I also add to add the following lines into the “Device” section of /etc/X11/xorg.conf:
Option “AccelMethod” “EXA”
Option “DRI” “off”
Option “MigrationHeuristic” “greedy”
I hope this helps somebody else…
[…] found a link on moko's blog that showed how you run Ubuntu Jaunty in 1024×576 on a Dell Mini 10. However, I have the Mini 10 […]
First I want to thanks everybody by mini10 is working great now but got a question. ( I am new on the linux realm) What is getting installed when:
8. sudo aptitude install xserver-xorg-video-psb
vs when I put
8. sudo aptitude install xserver-xorg-video-psb poulsbo-driver-2d poulsbo-driver-3d
I thought both were the same but not sure.
Reason I ask I did the first one and haven’t done anything with the xorg.conf file and is not freezing at all like other reviews here that did the second one. So I am confuse, should I install the second set and also change the xorg.conf file or just live it alone?
First off, a big thank you to everyone for helping get video working correctly on dell mini 10. Everything was fine until today, when my system got updated and it gave me the same (EE) errors as before and brought my resolution down to the 800*600, while before the updates, I was running 1024*600. I am not sure what got updated that broke the good stuff that you guys had outlined above. To get back the original resolution, I tried to re-do the steps outlined above, but it fails at the:
sudo apt-key adv -keyserver keyserver.ubuntu,com -recv-keys C6598A30.
I get the following error:
Executing: gpg –ignore-time-conflict –no-options –no-default-keyring –secret-keyring /etc/apt/secring.gpg –trustdb-name /etc/apt/trustdb.gpg –keyring /etc/apt/trusted.gpg -keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com -recv-keys C6598A30
gpg: conflicting commands
I have not tried any of the other steps beyond this. Any help with this will be much appreciated. Thanks!
its “–” in the part where you see a long “-“
any Idea n Mandriva 2009 ?
Indranil, anytime you do an upgrade/update if your kernel changes you will have to rebuild the video driver source. Try the following.
sudo dpkg-reconfigure psb-kernel-source
Indranil this is what you typed with a period at the end that will never work.
sudo apt-key adv -keyserver keyserver.ubuntu,com -recv-keys C6598A30.
Type this instead.
sudo apt-key adv –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com –recv-keys C6598A30
Thanks, Lindylex
That worked like a charm. Thanks, Lindylex. And the period was thanks to my habit to punctuate sentences 🙂 I did not put it in the command. But thanks anyways for helping me out!
So, has anyone gotten the video working right with 9.10? 🙂
Hey there
I got a Dell Mini 10, and I have instaled Karmic Koala (upgraded Jaunty) but I have not been able to activate the graphic effects, nor the Compiz. is there any way? I’m runing the Desktop version, not the remix.
Any suggestion would be nice…
hello all!
I have a Mini 10 that I will be using almost solely to stream music to my home audio system. Can anyone let me know how the Ubuntu 9.10 support for the Dell builtin Wireless and sound are?
I have some troubles with audio on my Mini 10, I installed Jaunty a coplue of days ago and then upgrated to Karmic, and have not touched anything regarding drivers/configuration. The problem is that sometimes the sound works but never when I’m playing videos or MP3’s. I do have ffmpeg and all the privative multimedia codecs installed but have not had a change to google for the solution. I hope this helps. By the way, there is a Ubuntu Dell distro specifically for Mini’s, which is based on 9.04, but the ISO is about 1.4 GB. It is a special distro with the drivers compiled for mini’s and some other special features the Dell guys wanted to offer.
Acer Aspire One AOD250-1165
This model is fairly new. So it has the usual features, i.e. built in wi-fi, camera, 160 GB drive, etc, etc. This is the 3 hr battery model. I have no idea where Amazon gets their tech specs. We just bought this and the manual states that it comes with 1 GB of RAM, and is upgradeable to 2 GB. It recognized 4 wireless connections in my area the instant it was powered on. So far it’s great for what it was bought for, the internet, small low demand games, music, simple word processing…
sorry…………………
CAN u explain me how 2 do this instalation or the change……
BECAUSE im new in Linux WORLD …..so i dont understand,,…..
The basic question is how and where 2 install it……
I hope u will reply…….
Thanx…….
I think it may be time to give up and go back to windows. I have switch completely to Ubuntu and have been on Ubuntu for a couple years. Now I have a Dell Mini 10 with the High Def screen. I gave dell a grand for the best screen, added RAM, better wireless card, solid state drive… etc.
For my grand, because of Ubuntu I can’t watch video at all. it is too choppy if it even works.
I tried creating the file above and it tells me I’m not authorized. I can’t find anything else that I could authorize. It didn’t ask for a password or anything.
Do I give up or is there a fix?