Dell Inspiron 5000 Issues with Slackware 14.2

malekmustaq · 12-06-2016, 01:49 AM

Just in case someone gets into the same situation I am making this post for a reference.

Platform:
Dell Inspiron 5000
Intel i7 8gRAM
AMD Radeon GPU R7 260/265 (requires "amdgpu")

OS:
Slackware 14.2
Kernel Huge
Kernel Module "amdgpu" is loaded automatically

Issues:
1. No X
2. Touchpad doesn't work.
3. Network Manager cannot sense carrier signal disconnects 1 second after connecting. Totally denying connection.

Solution:
1. The latest news about "amdgpu" kernel module is that it already works in Linux Kernel version 4.6, but not in 4.4 the version in Slackware 14.2. SOLUTION: I have no time compiling the kernel so I opted to enter this in the Grub kernel commandline:

Code:

acpi=off apm=on

you should be taken to X upon startx.

2. Reaching X you face the connection problem as the Network Manager cannot hold continuous connection. I didn't care to delve further, problem like this one has easy solution. FIRST SOLUTION: You can tweak the /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf setting the eth0 to

Code:

USE_DHCP[0]="yes"
GATEWAY="your gate"

SECOND SOLUTION: removepkg the NM and installpkg wicd which is available in the DVD install @ /extra folder. Internet connection should be available immediately.

3. I have made several attempts to make touchpad usable but I was extremely short of free time. I did not find the solution. So I decided to give up using the kernel module "amdgpu" by blacklisting it.

Code:

touch /etc/modprobe.d/amdgpu.conf
echo "blacklist amdgpu" >> /etc/modprobe.d/amdgpu.conf

upon restart the Dell Inspiron is completely USABLE. Slackware 14.2 boots straight at run level 4; the screen is good enough; touchpad is working perfectly; and with wicd the network including wireless is automatically ready for service.

Hope that helps.

Good luck and enjoy your Dell laptop.

m.m.

kjhambrick · 12-06-2016, 02:17 AM

Thanks malekmustaq

I too gave up on NetworkManager on my Intel i7 6700K Laptop and went with wicd.

What you described is exactly what I saw in /var/log/syslog:

1. NetworkManager connects for a second or so ...
2. NetworkManager disconnects
3. goto 1

OTOH wicd 'just works'.

Below is my lspci. What does lspci show on your Dell Inspiron 5000 ?

-- kjh

Code:

# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Sky Lake Host Bridge/DRAM Registers (rev 07)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Sky Lake PCIe Controller (x16) (rev 07)
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H USB 3.0 xHCI Controller (rev 31)
00:14.2 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H Thermal subsystem (rev 31)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H CSME HECI #1 (rev 31)
00:17.0 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H SATA controller [AHCI mode] (rev 31)
00:1b.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Root Port #17 (rev f1)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Express Root Port #1 (rev f1)
00:1c.6 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Express Root Port #7 (rev f1)
00:1c.7 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Express Root Port #8 (rev f1)
00:1d.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Express Root Port #9 (rev f1)
00:1d.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Express Root Port #13 (rev f1)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H LPC Controller (rev 31)
00:1f.2 Memory controller: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PMC (rev 31)
00:1f.3 Audio device: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H HD Audio (rev 31)
00:1f.4 SMBus: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H SMBus (rev 31)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GM204M [GeForce GTX 970M] (rev a1)
01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation GM204 High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
02:00.0 SATA controller: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Device a801 (rev 01)
3c:00.0 Ethernet controller: Qualcomm Atheros Killer E2400 Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 10)
3d:00.0 SD Host controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5250 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)
3e:00.0 SATA controller: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Device a801 (rev 01)
3f:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros QCA6174 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter (rev 32)

bassmadrigal · 12-06-2016, 07:22 AM

I was going to say that amdgpu is still in its pretty early stages and your card is a pretty recent addition (which, as you stated, isn't supported in the kernel shipped with Slackware 14.2). Blacklisting amdgpu and using the regular radeon driver really is the best option right now until amdgpu stabilizes. Although, why the graphics driver has an effect on your touchpad is pretty confusing to me.

Anyway, if you end up wanting to go back to Network Manager (as that is the default wireless client in Slackware), you can likely solve your connection problems by changing the default dhcp client from dhcpcd to dhclient. It's a known issue, but some people have issues with dhcpcd and some have issues with dhclient, but I suppose Pat felt that dhcpcd caused less issues for more people, so he elected to have that one default.

malekmustaq · 12-09-2016, 05:53 AM

Quote:

Although, why the graphics driver has an effect on your touchpad is pretty confusing to me.

I am sorry I did not mention this in the post above. Actually the relevance is indirect; it is not something related mechanically into the hardware, rather, again, it is with X pointing-device rendering. I have tried to to run the machine with SalixLive XFCE 14.2, the touchpad did not work at X but plugging a mouse the pointer works though unbearably lagging; I tried to improve it by using /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/mouse.conf, etc, using the amdgpu specifications, yet no joy.

Why I said the issue is not related to the hardware: I have the assurance that at Post + Press F2, in the bios, the touchpad is seamlessly useful. It only goes dead or crabby when the amdgpu module is loaded. Having no time to baby-set the luxurious module I chose rather to jettison it. I have no need of shiny robots or scarlet blood bath on the screen; I don't play games in the computer.

Hope that helps.

m.m.

bassmadrigal · 12-09-2016, 07:07 AM

That makes much more sense.

Well, amdgpu support is still in its infancy. Hopefully future iterations will bring about better support. But the radeon driver will likely be supported for a LONG time, so if amdgpu never shapes up for your hardware, you'll still be well supported in Linux with the radeon driver