Linux on the ASUS A2500DC Laptop

This an installation report about Debian on a ASUS A2500DC laptop. The hardware of this laptop features: 15" TFT (XGA) - AMD Mobile Athlon XP 2800+ - Audio DJ - 32 MB AGP - 256 MB DDR (1x256MB) - 40 GB HDD - DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo - Windows XP Home (OEM) pre-installed.

Installation via PXE over Network Card

First I have set up another laptop with a Knoppix CD running KNOPPIX Terminal Server.

Next I have prepared the A2500DC BIOS and set "Boot from LAN" to enabled. You may reach the BIOS by pressing <F2>. When the laptop starts again press <ESC>, you may now find a menu with different boot media. There I have chosen "Network Install".

TouchPad

The touchpad works with the Synaptics TouchPad Driver.

LAN

Works with sis900 driver.

SD/MMC Card Reader

Doesn't work with Linux yet.

Output from `lspci'

0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 746 Host (rev 10)
0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SG86C202
0000:00:02.0 ISA bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS963 [MuTIOL Media IO] (rev 25)
0000:00:02.1 SMBus: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS]: Unknown device 0016
0000:00:02.5 IDE interface: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 5513 [IDE]
0000:00:02.6 Modem: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] AC'97 Modem Controller (rev a0)
0000:00:02.7 Multimedia audio controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] Sound Controller (rev a0)
0000:00:03.0 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.0 Controller (rev 0f)
0000:00:03.1 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.0 Controller (rev 0f)
0000:00:03.3 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 2.0 Controller
0000:00:04.0 Ethernet controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS900 PCI Fast Ethernet (rev 90)
0000:00:0a.0 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c475 (rev b8)
0000:00:0a.1 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C551 IEEE 1394 Controller
0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV250 5c61 [Radeon Mobility 9200 M9+] [..]

Other Resources

• Linux Laptop Survey - ASUS
• TuxMobil - hardware section
• Linux Mobile Guide - Installing, Maintaining and Tuning of Linux on Mobile Computers
• Debian Laptop Proposal