Posts Tagged ‘Easy Peasy’

A few days ago I received my ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-VU1X-BU which I ordered from NewEgg. It came with Windows XP pre-installed, and I bought the item with the intentions of installing Linux on it. I am still working on getting Debian to work with it. The problem is the new Atheros AR8132 Ethernet controller and Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter are a new design. The old Kernels do not sport modules for Linux. The new modules on the 2.6.28 and above kernels will support the Wireless adapter but not the Ethernet controller (however I have heard the release candidates for the 2.6.31 candidates support both).

With this dilemma I decided to try one of the distributions specifically designed for netbooks. My search lead me to the Easy Peasy project who provide a Linux distribution tailored to the Eee PC and netbooks in general. Easy Peasy is based on Ubuntu 8.10 and utilizes a collection of tools designed for netbooks such as the Netbook Launcher that organizes the desktop in a more streamlined manor for smaller screens.

I followed their instructions for installation via a USB drive. Once installed, I discovered I had no access to my Ethernet controller or Wireless Adapter. I had to download the fallowing back-ports from Ubuntu 9.04 to acquire the 2.6.28 kernel and modules. I saved the following packages onto a USB drive and transported them to my Eee PC for installation (in the same order as below):

wireless-crda
linux-image-2.6.28-15-generic
linux-backport-modules-2.6.18-15-generic
linux-backports-modules-jaunty-generic
linux-backports-modules-jaunty

With that accomplished I rebooted my computer and I know had wireless access via my wireless router. Overall I like the general design of Easy Peasy with the Netbook Launcher and Go-home applet, making navigation and operation on the small 10.1 inch screen a breeze. Behind the interface is the GNOME desktop environment, and you can switch to regular desktop mode. However, I feel there is a lot of unnecessary bulk included with Easy Peasy and I am not always a fan of the Ubuntu way of doing things. I tested the backport packages on my Debian desktop and found them operational; my theory is that this same method might work for Debian Lenny on the Eee PC 1005HA. I will report back soon with my discovery.