Slackware-Current-Acer C720 Setup 3

HOTKEYS SETUP

In order to map the ChromeBook's Hotkeys, compile and install:

xbindkeys-1.8.5
xvkbd-3.5

Create the file ~/.xbindkeysrc

$ vi /home/user_name/.xbindkeysrc

# Backward, Forward, Full Screen & Refresh is just for web browser
#Backward
"xvkbd -xsendevent -text "\A\[Left]""
m:0x0 + c:67
F1

#Full Screen
"xvkbd -xsendevent -text "\[F11]""
m:0x0 + c:70
F4

#Forward
"xvkbd -xsendevent -text "\A\[Right]""
m:0x0 + c:68
F2

#Refresh
"xvkbd -xsendevent -text "\Cr""
m:0x0 + c:69
F3

# on ChromeBook, it "Enter Overview mode, which shows all windows (F5)", see also https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/1047364?hl
# here it work at KDE, it "Switch to next focused window", see also http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/47
#Switch Window
"xvkbd -xsendevent -text "\A\t""
m:0x0 + c:71
F5

#Backlight Down
"xbacklight -dec 5"
m:0x0 + c:72
F6

#Backlight Up
"xbacklight -inc 5"
m:0x0 + c:73
F7

#Mute
"amixer set Master toggle"
m:0x0 + c:74
F8

#Decrease Volume
"amixer set Master 5- unmute"
m:0x0 + c:75
F9

#Increase Volume
"amixer set Master 5+ unmute"
m:0x0 + c:76
F10

# added Home, End, Pg Up, Pg Down, and Del keys using the Alt+arrow key combos
#Delete
"xvkbd -xsendevent -text '\[Delete]'"
m:0x8 + c:22
Alt + BackSpace

#End
"xvkbd -xsendevent -text '\[End]'"
m:0x8 + c:114
Alt + Right

#Home
"xvkbd -xsendevent -text '\[Home]'"
m:0x8 + c:113
Alt + Left

#Page Down
"xvkbd -xsendevent -text '\[Page_Down]'"
m:0x8 + c:116
Alt + Down

#Page Up
"xvkbd -xsendevent -text '\[Page_Up]'"
m:0x8 + c:111
Alt + Up

#
# End of xbindkeys configuration

Save the file and exit.

XFCE BINDKEYS

In XFce, go to Applications Menu--Settings--Session and Startup

At the Application Autostart, click the ADD button

Name: XBindKeys
Description: Acer C720 Key Binding
Command: /usr/bin/xbindkeys -f /home/user_name/.xbindkeysrc

Click OK and be sure there is a checkmark on the box next to the Autostart Description.

KDE BINDKEYS

In KDE, go to K Menu > Settings > System Settings > Startup and Shutdown > Add Program Button

Put this in the command line and hit OK

/usr/bin/xbindkeys -f /home/user_name/.xbindkeysrc

You will see the AutoStart fill in some information. Click OK

TOUCHPAD - DOES NOT WORK OUT OF THE BOX

Source - https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...720_Chromebook

First, be sure and compile and new kernel in the Linux-3.17.X Series the Acer C720 Drivers are present in this kernel. I used the config-generic-3.14.27, copied it over to a 3.17.7 source, make oldconfig, hit ENTER many times to get back to the command line, and compiled the kernel and modules. There were no problems. I have also done the same with Kernel 3.18.1 and it worked also. Look at activating ZRAM, which is shown a few lines down. I have also used the BFS Scheduler and that worked well for me also. After you have the kernel running:

Create the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-cros-touchpad.conf and place the following in it:

# vi /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-cros-touchpad.conf

# This configuration is for better usability
Section "InputClass"
Identifier "touchpad peppy cyapa"
MatchIsTouchpad "on"
MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
MatchProduct "cyapa"
Option "FingerLow" "10"
Option "FingerHigh" "10"
EndSection

Save the file and exit.

# This configuration will remove the right-click behavior from the bottom-right area of the TouchPad. You can still right-click with two-finger clicks.

# vi /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-cros-touchpad.conf

# This configuration removes the right-click from the TouchPad
Section "InputClass"
Identifier "touchpad peppy cyapa"
MatchIsTouchpad "on"
MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
MatchProduct "cyapa"
Option "FingerLow" "8"
Option "FingerHigh" "16"
Option "SoftButtonAreas" "0% 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0"
Option "AreaBottomEdge" "0%"
EndSection

Save the file and exit. The second touchpad configuration worked better for me.

KERNEL ZRAM CONFIGURATION

Processor type and features >

<M> Memory allocator for compressed pages
[ ] Use page table mapping to access object in zsmalloc

Device drivers > block devices

<M> Compressed RAM block device support[*] Enable LZ4 algorithm support[*] Compressed RAM block device debug support

ZRAM

Source - https://github.com/otzy007/enable-zRam-in-Slackware

Zram is a Linux Kernel Module previously called "compcache" that increases performance by not paging to the swap space and instead using a compressed block device in RAM. The premise is that it is faster to compress data in RAM instead of using swap space on a physical disk. Since the Acer C720 has an SSD, I wasn't sure if it would be faster. After I set it up, I noticed the speed advantages. Subjectively, it feels like having 4GB of RAM instead of the 2GB that is the default for my ChromeBook.

You will need to recompile your kernel since you need to activate the Zram feature. I would choose Linux Kernel 3.17.X since that series has the TouchPad Drivers. Grab the Generic 3.14.24 Kernel Config to make oldconfig with the new 3.17.X kernel. The configuration location is shown above.

After booting the new kernel (in this case, 3.17.7), you should see:

# ls -al /lib/modules/3.17.7/kernel/drivers/block/zram

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 34822 Dec 17 09:10 zram.ko

ZRAM SCRIPT

Source - https://github.com/otzy007/enable-zRam-in-Slackware

You can get the framework from the web address shown above or create the script /etc/rc.d/rc.zram

# vi /etc/rc.d/rc.zram

#!/bin/bash
# Script to start zRam (Virtual Swap Compressed in RAM)
# https://github.com/otzy007/enable-zRam-in-Slackware
#
# Size of swap space in MB
# default 1GB
SIZE=1024

start() {
modprobe zram
echo $SIZE*1024*1024 | bc > /sys/block/zram0/disksize
mkswap /dev/zram0
swapon /dev/zram0
}

stop() {
swapoff /dev/zram0
}

case "$1" in
start)
start
;;

stop)
stop
;;

restart)
echo 1 > /sys/block/zram0/reset
;;

*)
echo "Usage: $0 (start|stop|restart)"
esac

Save the file and exit. Make the script executable.

# chmod +x /etc/rc.d/rc.zram

ZRAM RC.LOCAL

Place the following in /etc/rc.d/rc.local

# vi /etc/rc.d/rc.local

# Start ZRAM swap space
if [ -x /etc/rc.d/rc.zram ]; then
/etc/rc.d/rc.zram start
fi

Save the file, exit and reboot. Do an lsmod to see if the zram.ko kernel module was loaded.

# lsmod

Module Size Used by
zram 13890 1
zsmalloc 6185 1 zram
lz4_compress 2894 1 zram

Your dmesg will show the following message:

[17.186339] zram: Created 1 device(s) ...
[17.198562] zram0: detected capacity change from 0 to 1073741824

USB 3.0 TEST

Source - http://itsfoss.com/find-usb-3-port-linux/

How to know if your computer has USB 3.0. The Acer C720 has 1 USB 3.0 and 1 USB 2.0. The USB 3.0 port is on the same side as the power connector and is blue. I have a Seagate 2TB Backup Plus USB 3.0 Drive and the transfer rates are 70 MB/s write and 80 MB/s read.

This is a test of the Seagate Backup Plus USB 3.0 Drive

$ cd /location/of/usb/drive

Write Test
$ dd if=/dev/zero of=./largefile bs=8k count=10000
10000+0 records in
10000+0 records out
81920000 bytes (82 MB) copied, 1.16378 s, 70.4 MB/s

$ su
Password: <root_password>
# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches
# exit

Read Test
$ dd if=./largefile of=/dev/null bs=8k
10000+0 records in
10000+0 records out
81920000 bytes (82 MB) copied, 1.02427 s, 80.0 MB/s

KINGSTON 16GB SSD DRIVE SPEED TEST

This test is using the Kingston SSD 16GB M.2 NGFF Hard Drive

Write Test
$ cd /home/user_name/
$ dd if=/dev/zero of=./largefile bs=1M count=1024
1024+0 records in
1024+0 records out
1073741824 bytes (1.1 GB) copied, 45.2966 s, 23.7 MB/s

$ su
Password: <root_password>
# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches
# exit

Read Test
$ dd if=./largefile of=/dev/null bs=4k
262144+0 records in
262144+0 records out
1073741824 bytes (1.1 GB) copied, 2.16115 s, 497 MB/s

TRANSCEND 128GB SSD DRIVE SPEED TEST

Write Test
$ cd /home/user_name/
$ dd if=/dev/zero of=./largefile bs=1M count=1024
1024+0 records in
1024+0 records out
1073741824 bytes (1.1 GB) copied, 6.75533 s, 159 MB/s

$ su
Password: <root_password>
# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches
# exit

Read Test
$ dd if=./largefile of=/dev/null bs=4k
262144+0 records in
262144+0 records out
1073741824 bytes (1.1 GB) copied, 1.96568 s, 546 MB/s

PROBLEMS

If you have any problems and Slackware Locks-Up, hit the ESC+REFRESH keys and tap and release the POWER button. The REFRESH key is on the top row, fourth from the left.

When you reboot, Chrome will show a white screen that basically says ChromeOS is not found. Hit the POWER button to turn off.

Turn on the machine, hit CTRL+L and it will boot to Lilo, then Slackware.

Also, you may want to create a System Rescue 4.4.1 USB Drive in case you have a problem with Slackware and need a Rescue Disk to fix things.