Howto finetune hardware (audio+video) on a i1100Z (smartbook) laptop with Ubuntu
 

I'm using my laptop (smartbook i1100Z) for about a year now. The only thing I did was manually get the sweex WIFI card to work. Further I just updated the system whenever updates were available.
So everything is working...
Still somehow I have the feeling both my video and audio are not really working at top performance. The video is slow and audio doesn't sound very well. Could be the laptop(hardware) but maybe it's just not finetuned. Is this possible in any way?

The best way to start were to tell us what kind of video chip do you have (post output of 'lspci' command) and how does your xorg.conf (or whatever your X config file is called). You may also want to check whether cpu frequency scaling is enabled (try to run 'cpufreq-info').

Best,
Ott

Ok, here it is...

pbuddenberg@Smartbook:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 661FX/M661FX/M661MX Host (rev 11)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS AGP Port (virtual PCI-to-PCI bridge)
00:02.0 ISA bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS963 [MuTIOL Media IO] (rev 25)
00:02.1 SMBus: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS961/2 SMBus Controller
00:02.5 IDE interface: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 5513 [IDE]
00:02.6 Modem: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] AC'97 Modem Controller (rev a0)
00:02.7 Multimedia audio controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] AC'97 Sound Controller (rev a0)
00:03.0 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller (rev 0f)
00:03.1 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller (rev 0f)
00:03.3 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 2.0 Controller
00:04.0 Ethernet controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS900 PCI Fast Ethernet (rev 91)
00:0e.0 CardBus bridge: ENE Technology Inc CB1410 Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 661/741/760 PCI/AGP or 662/761Gx PCIE VGA Display Adapter
02:00.0 Network controller: Intersil Corporation ISL3886 [Prism Javelin/Prism Xbow] (rev 01)

And...

pbuddenberg@Smartbook:~$ cpufreq-info
cpufrequtils 002: cpufreq-info (C) Dominik Brodowski 2004-2006
Report errors and bugs to linux@brodo.de, please.
analyzing CPU 0:
no or unknown cpufreq driver is active on this CPU

I'm not sure what to do with the xorg.conf file. There's actualy two of them (?). What should I look for? I'll take a look at the wiki tot see if I can find any info on it.

Found graphics controler: SIS M661MX

Thx so far,
Peter

1) do you have the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf? If yes, post it. IF not, post the list of files in /etc/X11

2) You have SIS 661/... graphic controller. Googling around suggest it does not have a good (=3D) graphic driver. You may try either 'sis' or 'vesa'.

3) What processor do you have? (Post /proc/cpuinfo). It either does not support freq-scaling, scaling is unsupported, or you have to load explicitly the corresponding module.

Best,
Ott

Sorry been away for a few days...

Here is the xorg.conf

# /etc/X11/xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf(5) manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "Files"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi"
# path to defoma fonts
FontPath "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "i2c"
Load "bitmap"
Load "ddc"
Load "dri"
Load "extmod"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
Load "int10"
Load "vbe"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "stylus"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "stylus"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "eraser"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "eraser"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "cursor"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "cursor"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 661/741/760 PCI/AGP or 662/761Gx PCIE VGA Display Adapter"
Driver "sis"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Generic Monitor"
Option "DPMS"
HorizSync 28-51
VertRefresh 43-60
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 661/741/760 PCI/AGP or 662/761Gx PCIE VGA Display Adapter"
Monitor "Generic Monitor"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

The cpuinfo file seems to be empty.

You're right about the videocard.
The video capabilities of this laptop are not outstanding.
At this moment the screensavers with 'extra effects' are shown very slow.
And I was wondering if this could be improved.
As well as the sound quality.
It sound very hollow... but then: it was a non expensive laptop :)

I'm gonna buy a new machine this weekend. To use in combination with my LCD TV.
A good opportunity to practice my linux skills some more.

Peter

OK. You use 'sis' video driver. Try to google around to check which capabilities are supported. 3D and friends arent, AFAIK (this makes special effect very slow too). You may also check the file ~/.xsession-errors and look for any error message related to glx module (glx is the 3D acceleration module).

/proc/cpuinfo -- I cannot believe it is empty.

New machine -- I would prefer intel or nvidia chipsets.

Best,
Ott

Ok thx for the info, I'll do some google-ing around.

I took another look at cpuinfo, It really is zero kb and keeps giving me this message when opened in gedit:

The file proc/cpuinfo changed on disk.
Do you want to reload the file?

I made a screenshot, can I somehow show this on LQ?

Peter