coverup

Same `problem' here. In my case, the connection drops once in a while. I use the native intel driver. Interestingly, with Ubuntu 7.10 LiveCD, I had the signal strength well over 80%.

Thanks for the reply. I followed the instructions and have patched those libraries. It did make a significant improvement to how the fonts look, even though the patches disabled subpixel hinting. I still find that antialiasing works strangely, as sometimes long lines of text on the screen are stretched a bit more than they are stretched on my old 3:4 laptop.

Xrandr allows one to rotate the screen. This seems to be a very useful feature for those who do a lot of text editing - it gives you a long page-like screen. However, after I turn the screen sidewise, I have to scroll "left-right" to make mouse go "up-down", which is a bit tricky to get used to. Does anybody know, is it pissible to rotate the screen AND touchpad at the same time?

I have been fighting with blurry fonts on my new 14.1" laptop for quite some time now, and cannot figure out how to fix them despite I tried all possible combinations of subpixel hinting, resolutions tweaks, and dpi settings. To briefly summarise my findings, there are possibly two reasons: (1) intel drivers suck, and (2) wide screens are just a deception. As for the reason 1, it suffice to say, that the intel driver seems to overturn all standard X options such as DisplaySize and DPI settings. With no magic in the world I can force my laptop to switch to the 96dpi resolution. Xrandr and xdpyinfo would report 96dpi, but in fact it is 120dpi - you can change it in gnome, or via xrandr as much as you like, but the screen fonts remain of the same size. As for reason 2, I tried the following experiment. I checked how firefox displays the same page on the my 1440x900 widescreen and an older 1400x1050 laptop. The page does not have any stylesheets, and both laptops were setup to use the same arial 15 font. The firefox was maximized on both displays, and you would expect longer lines on the 1440x900 screen, because it is about 1.5cm and 40 pixels longer. To my surprise, both screens looked exactly the same, except for letters on the 1440x900 screen looked wider, and therefore blurrier (due to subpixel hinting, I presume). My question now is whether it is possible to make the stinky intel driver not to poll the built-in EDID, and use my external 1280x1024 monitor instead?

The dpi setting of my laptop screen always stays 120dpi even though I set Kcontrol to force 96dpi. Sometimes the resolution changes to 122x121 dpi. The quality of fonts is not too great either, especially on the external LCD screen - actually, it's worst I ever seen on a Mandrake/driva system, even with subpixel hinting enabled and typefree library from PLF. Those sadden changes in the dpi resolution make fonts look even worse, hurting my eyes. I used to adjust X settings in the xorg.conf file and was always able to tune fonts this way, but not this time. I read somewhere that the ntel driver apparently automatically resizes the screen to `an optimal resolution'. Is there a way to switch this feature off? I'd rather do it by hand in an old fashion way.

Give some more information, what exactly does not work. Was wireless interface created, is driver loaded, is the network encrypted, etc? What kind of DVD did you put in the tray (data, video)?

Done that, bu the point remains that such a basic feature is missing from Mandrake Control Centre.

I changed /dev/nvram permissions after I boot into X, from x terminal running as user /chmod a+rwx /dev/nvram. After logout/login, I could see tpb's green OSD when pressing the brightness keys, but volume buttons did not work. I wonder if kmilo could interfere with tpb? I was trying to get rid of this junk but urpmi wanted to uninstall a whole lot of kde utils with it (those I need), so I left it in peace.

Despite my best efforts, neither mute, nor volume up/down worked for me using tpb. I am back to using xmodmap. Thanks for your your help.

It would be nice to be able to suspend the laptop from the login screen. Currently I only have the option for shutdown. Is it possible to expand the menu? [moved from Installing Mandriva by spinynorman]

Thanks hips. Will try it sometime. Meantime I have found a different solution using xmodmap. I mapped volume keycodes to XF86Audio events. After that, I was able to use the latter to define global shortcuts in Kmix. The drawback of this solution is that I have to have kmix in the system tray for this to work. Also, the volume changes in uneven steps, sometimes 5%, sometimes 10% or 12% at a time. Also, kmilo does not show anything on the screen. On the bright side this way I can also use Fn+Arrowkeys to control playback in Rhythmbox (and probably in Kaffeine too, but I will need to redefine the kaffeine shortcuts). Amaizingly, now I have all important keys working in Mandriva, and it took only few weeks! What an achievement , given that in Ubuntu they worked out of the box!

Thanks. That gives some hope. AFAIK, R31 also has software volume control. Could you please post your /etc/tpbrc? I tried tpb once for controlling screen brightness, but had no luck with it.

I would like to define global KDE shortcuts associated with ThinkPad volume keys. Apparently, unlike previous thinkpads, in T61 volume is software controlled. The volume up and volume down keys generate keycodes 176 (Up) and 174 (Down), so it should be possible to use them as any other keyboard keys. PS: The trick to get the mute button to work on T61 is to use kernel option "acpi_osi=!Linux" . The exclamation mark is not a typo, it should be there :D

I would like to join the discussion to raise my concerns too. Over the years, I used to change screen resolution and DPI settings (dots per inch) to my liking by adding modelines and DisplaySize settings to XF86config.conf, XF86config-4.conf, and most lately, xorg.conf. But not anymore! I have a laptop with intel x3100 graphics card (in case this is a driver dependent thing), and only way to change DPI is via the KDE control panel which gives me only 2 options, 96 DPI and 120 DPI. Even Windows XP offers more flexibility. Same problem with setting keyboard delay and repeat rate. There used to be xorg.conf option called AutoRepeat, but KDE ignores this settings, and enforces what is set in KDE control panel. I suspect that the problem does not lie with driver manufacturers since they have to adhere to Xorg standards, though I may be wrong of course. So, is it the KDE team or the Mandriva team who decided for me what settings are best for me? My suggestion to the initiator of this post is to try a different desktop such as IceWM, XFCE, and if the problem persists move to another distro.

It looks like the problem is irreparable. This is what the laptop-mode FAQ says: I already have CONTROL_HD_POWERMGMT = 0, hence I must downgrade?!

I am affraid, it's above my head. Could you please advise what I should change in those files? Many thanks /usr/share/config/kpowersaverc [General] lockOnSuspend=true lockOnLidClose=true ActionOnLidClose= ActionOnLidCloseValue= ActionOnPowerButton=SHUTDOWN ActionOnPowerButtonValue= ActionOnSleepButton=SUSPEND2RAM ActionOnS2DiskButton=SUSPEND2DISK buttonsAllowedActions=SHUTDOWN,LOGOUT_DIALOG,SUSPEND2DISK,SUSPEND2RAM Autostart=true AutostartNeverAsk=false unmountExternalOnSuspend=true lockMethod=automatic timeToFakeKeyAfterLock=5000 forceDpmsOffOnLidClose=true psMsgAsPassivePopup=false autoInactiveBlacklist=mplayer,gmplayer,kaffeine,xine,mencoder,cdrecord,cdrecord-dvd,cdrdao,growisofs,kdetv,xawtv,realplay.bin schemes=Performance,Powersave,Presentation,Acoustic ac_scheme=Performance battery_scheme=Powersave batteryWarning=12 batteryWarningAction= batteryWarningActionValue= batteryLow=7 batteryLowAction=BRIGHTNESS batteryLowActionValue=1 batteryCritical=2 batteryCriticalAction=SHUTDOWN batteryCriticalActionValue= batteryAllowedActions=SHUTDOWN,SUSPEND2DISK,SUSPEND2RAM,CPUFREQ_POWERSAVE,CPUFRE Q_PERFORMANCE,CPUFREQ_DYNAMIC,BRIGHTNESS [default-scheme] specSsSettings=false disableSs=false blankSs=false specPMSettings=false standbyAfter=5 suspendAfter=10 powerOffAfter=15 disableDPMS=false autoSuspend=false autoInactiveAction=_NONE_ autoInactiveActionAfter=0 autoInactiveSchemeBlacklistEnabled=false autoInactiveSchemeBlacklist= enableBrightness=true brightnessPercent=100 cpuFreqPolicy=DYNAMIC cpuFreqPolicyPerformance=51 [Performance] specSsSettings=false specPMSettings=true standbyAfter=10 suspendAfter=20 powerOffAfter=30 disableDPMS=false autoSuspend=false autoInactiveAction=_NONE_ autoInactiveActionAfter=0 autoInactiveSchemeBlacklistEnabled=false autoInactiveSchemeBlacklist= enableBrightness=true brightnessPercent=100 cpuFreqPolicy=DYNAMIC cpuFreqDynamicPerformance=75 [Powersave] specSsSettings=true disableSs=false blankSs=true specPMSettings=true standbyAfter=2 suspendAfter=3 powerOffAfter=5 disableDPMS=false autoSuspend=false autoInactiveAction=_NONE_ autoInactiveActionAfter=0 autoInactiveSchemeBlacklistEnabled=false autoInactiveSchemeBlacklist= enableBrightness=true brightnessPercent=50 cpuFreqPolicy=DYNAMIC cpuFreqDynamicPerformance=25 [Presentation] specSsSettings=true disableSs=true specPMSettings=true standbyAfter=10 suspendAfter=20 powerOffAfter=30 disableDPMS=true autoSuspend=false autoInactiveAction=_NONE_ autoInactiveActionAfter=0 autoInactiveSchemeBlacklistEnabled=false autoInactiveSchemeBlacklist= enableBrightness=true brightnessPercent=100 cpuFreqPolicy=DYNAMIC cpuFreqDynamicPerformance=60 [Acoustic] specSsSettings=true disableSs=false specPMSettings=true standbyAfter=5 suspendAfter=7 powerOffAfter=10 disableDPMS=false autoSuspend=false autoInactiveAction=_NONE_ autoInactiveActionAfter=0 autoInactiveSchemeBlacklistEnabled=false autoInactiveSchemeBlacklist= enableBrightness=true brightnessPercent=100 cpuFreqPolicy=DYNAMIC cpuFreqDynamicPerformance=50 /etc/laptop-mode/laptop-mode.conf ############################################################################### # # Configuration for Laptop Mode Tools # ----------------------------------- # # There is a "system" to the configuration setting names: # CONTROL_something=0/1 Determines whether Laptop Mode Tools controls # something # LM_something=value Value of "something" when laptop mode is active # NOLM_something=value Value of "something" when laptop mode is NOT active # AC_something=value Value of "something" when the computer is running # on AC power # BATT_something=value Value of "something when the computer is running on # battery power # # There can be combinations of LM_/NOLM_ and AC_/BATT_ prefixes, but the # available prefixes are different for each setting. The available ones are # documented in the manual page, laptop-mode.conf(8). If there is no LM_/NOLM_ # in a setting name, then the value is used independently of laptop mode state, # and similarly, if there is no AC_/BATT_, then the value is used independently # of power state. # # Some options only work on ACPI systems. They are marked ACPI-ONLY. # # Note that this configuration file is a fragment of bash shell script: you # can use all the features of the bash scripting language to achieve your # desired configuration. ############################################################################### ############################################################################### # Configuration debugging # ----------------------- ############################################################################### # Set this to 1 if you want to see a lot of information when you start/stop # laptop_mode. VERBOSE_OUTPUT=0 ############################################################################### # When to enable laptop mode # -------------------------- # # "Laptop mode" is the mode in which laptop mode tools makes the computer # consume less power. This includes the kernel "laptop_mode" feature, which # allows your hard drives to spin down, as well as various other settings which # can be tweaked by laptop mode tools. You can enable or disable all of these # settings using the CONTROL_... options further down in this config file. ############################################################################### # Enable laptop mode when on battery power. ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE_ON_BATTERY=1 # Enable laptop mode when on AC power. ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE_ON_AC=0 # Enable laptop mode when the laptop's lid is closed, even when we're on AC # power? (ACPI-ONLY) ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE_WHEN_LID_CLOSED=0 ############################################################################### # When to enable data loss sensitive features # ------------------------------------------- # # When data loss sensitive features are disabled, laptop mode tools acts as if # laptop mode were disabled, for those features only. # # Data loss sensitive features include: # - laptop_mode (i.e., delayed writes) # - hard drive write cache # # All of the options that follow can be set to 0 in order to prevent laptop # mode tools from using them to stop data loss sensitive features. Use this # when you have a battery that reports the wrong information, that confuses # laptop mode tools. # # Disabling data loss sensitive features is ACPI-ONLY. ############################################################################### # Disable all data loss sensitive features when the battery level (in % of the # battery capacity) reaches this value. MINIMUM_BATTERY_CHARGE_PERCENT=3 # Disable data loss sensitive features when the battery reports its state # as "critical". DISABLE_LAPTOP_MODE_ON_CRITICAL_BATTERY_LEVEL=1 ############################################################################### # Controlled hard drives and partitions # ------------------------------------- # # For spinning down your hard drives, laptop mode will remount file systems and # adjust hard drive spindown timeouts. These parameters specify which # devices and partitions are affected by laptop mode. ############################################################################### # The drives that laptop mode controls. # Separate them by a space, e.g. HD="/dev/hda /dev/hdb". The default is a # wildcard, which will get you all your IDE and SCSI/SATA drives. HD="/dev/[hs]d[abcdefgh]" # The partitions (or mount points) that laptop mode controls. # Separate the values by spaces. Use "auto" to indicate all partitions on drives # listed in HD. You can add things to "auto", e.g. "auto /dev/hdc3". You can # also specify mount points, e.g. "/mnt/data". PARTITIONS="auto /dev/mapper/*" # If this is enabled, laptop mode tools will assume that SCSI drives are really # SATA drives that only _look_ like SCSI drives, and will use hdparm to control # them. Set this to 0 if you have /dev/sd devices and you want laptop mode # tools to use the "sdparm" command to control them. ASSUME_SCSI_IS_SATA=1 ############################################################################### # Hard drive behaviour settings # ----------------------------- # # These settings specify how laptop mode tools will adjust the various # parameters of your hard drives and file systems. ############################################################################### # Maximum time, in seconds, of work that you are prepared to lose when your # system crashes or power runs out. This is the maximum time that Laptop Mode # will keep unsaved data waiting in memory before spinning up your hard drive. LM_BATT_MAX_LOST_WORK_SECONDS=600 LM_AC_MAX_LOST_WORK_SECONDS=360 # Should laptop mode tools control readahead? CONTROL_READAHEAD=1 # Read-ahead, in kilobytes. You can spin down the disk while playing MP3/OGG # by setting the disk readahead to a reasonable size, e.g. 3072 (3 MB). # Effectively, the disk will read a complete MP3 at once, and will then spin # down while the MP3/OGG is playing. Don't set this too high, because the # readahead is applied to _all_ files that are read from disk. LM_READAHEAD=3072 NOLM_READAHEAD=128 # Should laptop mode tools add the "noatime" option to the mount options when # laptop mode is enabled? CONTROL_NOATIME=0 # Should laptop mode tools control the hard drive idle timeout settings? CONTROL_HD_IDLE_TIMEOUT=1 # Idle timeout values. (hdparm -S) # Default is 2 hours on AC (NOLM_HD_IDLE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS=7200) and 20 seconds # for battery and for AC with laptop mode on. LM_AC_HD_IDLE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS=20 LM_BATT_HD_IDLE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS=20 NOLM_HD_IDLE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS=7200 # Should laptop mode tools control the hard drive power management settings? CONTROL_HD_POWERMGMT=0 # Power management for HD (hdparm -B values) BATT_HD_POWERMGMT=1 LM_AC_HD_POWERMGMT=255 NOLM_AC_HD_POWERMGMT=255 # Should laptop mode tools control the hard drive write cache settings? CONTROL_HD_WRITECACHE=0 # Write cache settings for HD (hdparm -W values) NOLM_AC_HD_WRITECACHE=1 NOLM_BATT_HD_WRITECACHE=0 LM_HD_WRITECACHE=0 ############################################################################### # CPU frequency scaling and throttling # ------------------------------------ # # Laptop mode tools can automatically adjust your kernel CPU frequency # settings. This includes upper and lower limits and scaling governors. # There is also support for CPU throttling, on systems that don't support # frequency scaling. # # This feature only works on 2.6 kernels. ############################################################################### # Should laptop mode tools control the maximum CPU frequency? CONTROL_CPU_FREQUENCY=0 # Legal values are "slowest" for the slowest speed that your # CPU is able to operate at, "fastest" for the fastest speed, # "medium" for some value in the middle, or any value listed in # /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_available_frequencies. BATT_CPU_MAXFREQ=medium BATT_CPU_MINFREQ=slowest BATT_CPU_GOVERNOR=ondemand LM_AC_CPU_MAXFREQ=fastest LM_AC_CPU_MINFREQ=slowest LM_AC_CPU_GOVERNOR=ondemand NOLM_AC_CPU_MAXFREQ=fastest NOLM_AC_CPU_MINFREQ=slowest NOLM_AC_CPU_GOVERNOR=performance # Should laptop mode tools control the CPU throttling? This is only useful # on processors that don't have frequency scaling. # (Only works when you have /proc/acpi/processor/CPU*/throttling.) CONTROL_CPU_THROTTLING=0 # Legal values are "maximum" for the maximum (slowest) throttling level, # "minimum" for minimum (fastest) throttling level, "medium" for a value # somewhere in the middle (this is usually 50% for P4s), or any value listed # in /proc/acpi/processor/CPU*/throttling. Be careful when using "maximum": # this may be _very_ slow (in fact, with P4s it slows down the processor # by a factor 8). BATT_CPU_THROTTLING=medium LM_AC_CPU_THROTTLING=medium NOLM_AC_CPU_THROTTLING=minimum ############################################################################### # Syslog configuration control # ---------------------------- # # Syslog daemons have a tendency to sync their log files when entries are # written to them. This causes disks to spin up, which is not very nice when # you're trying to save power. The syslog.conf can be tweaked to *not* sync # a given file, by prepending the log file name with a dash, like this: # # mail.* -/var/log/mail/mail.log # # Using the following options, you can let laptop mode switch between # different syslog configurations depending on whether you are working on # battery or on AC power. To set this up, start by configuring these options # for your syslog daemon, and then run lm-syslog-setup to create the various # files. Then edit the laptop mode-specific syslog configuration files to # remove the syncs only when laptop mode is active. ############################################################################### # Should laptop mode tools control which syslog.conf should be used? CONTROL_SYSLOG_CONF=0 # Laptop mode tools controls syslog.conf by replacing /etc/syslog.conf (or # whatever you specify in SYSLOG_CONF) by a link to the files configured here. # NOTE: these files are NOT created by default, and if they do not # exist this feature will not work. You can run the script # /usr/sbin/lm-syslog-setup to set things up. LM_AC_SYSLOG_CONF=/etc/syslog-on-ac-with-lm.conf NOLM_AC_SYSLOG_CONF=/etc/syslog-on-ac-without-lm.conf BATT_SYSLOG_CONF=/etc/syslog-on-battery.conf # Signal this program when syslog.conf has been replaced. SYSLOG_CONF_SIGNAL_PROGRAM=syslogd # This is the syslog configuration file that should be replaced by a link to the # other files. SYSLOG_CONF=/etc/syslog.conf ############################################################################### # X display settings # ------------------ # # Using these settings, you can let laptop mode tools control the X display # standby timeouts. ############################################################################### # Should laptop mode tools control DPMS standby settings for X displays? CONTROL_DPMS_STANDBY=0 # These settings specify the standby timeout for the X display, # in seconds. The suspend and poweroff timeouts are somewhat # larger values derived from these values. BATT_DPMS_STANDBY=300 LM_AC_DPMS_STANDBY=1200 NOLM_AC_DPMS_STANDBY=1200 ############################################################################### # Terminal settings # ----------------- # # Using these settings, you can let laptop mode tools control the terminal # blanking timeouts. ############################################################################### # Should laptop mode tools control terminal blanking settings? CONTROL_TERMINAL=0 # These settings specify the blanking and powerdown timeouts. Note that # the powerdown timeout is counted from the moment the screen is blanked, # i.e. BLANK_MINUTES=2 and POWERDOWN_MINUTES=5 means the screen powers # down after 7 minutes of inactivity. The range for all these settings is # 1 to 60 minutes, or 0 to disable. BATT_TERMINAL_BLANK_MINUTES=1 BATT_TERMINAL_POWERDOWN_MINUTES=2 LM_AC_TERMINAL_BLANK_MINUTES=10 LM_AC_TERMINAL_POWERDOWN_MINUTES=10 NOLM_AC_TERMINAL_BLANK_MINUTES=10 NOLM_AC_TERMINAL_POWERDOWN_MINUTES=50 ############################################################################### # Auto-hibernation settings # ------------------------- # # Using these settings, you can make laptop mode tools automatically put your # computer into hibernation when the battery level goes critically low. # # This feature only works on ACPI, and only works on computers whose batteries # give off battery events often enough. ############################################################################### # Should laptop mode tools perform auto-hibernation? ENABLE_AUTO_HIBERNATION=0 # The hibernation command that is to be executed when auto-hibernation # is triggered. HIBERNATE_COMMAND=/usr/sbin/hibernate # Auto-hibernation battery level threshold, in percentage of the battery's # total capacity. AUTO_HIBERNATION_BATTERY_CHARGE_PERCENT=2 # Enable this to auto-hibernate if the battery reports that its level is # "critical". AUTO_HIBERNATION_ON_CRITICAL_BATTERY_LEVEL=1 ############################################################################### # Start/Stop Programs settings # ---------------------------- # # Laptop mode tools can automatically start and stop programs when entering # various power modes. Put scripts accepting "start" and "stop" parameters # in the directories /etc/laptop-mode/batt-stop, batt-start, lm-ac-stop, # lm-ac-start, nolm-ac-stop and nolm-ac-start. Laptop mode will call the # scripts in a state-"stop" directory with the "stop" parameter when entering # the state in question, and it will call the same scripts with the "start" # parameter when leaving the state. Scripts in a state-"start" directory are # called with the "start" parameter when the specified state is entered, and # with the "stop" parameter when the specified state is left. ############################################################################### # Should laptop mode start and stop programs? CONTROL_START_STOP=1 ############################################################################### # Settings you probably don't want to touch # ----------------------------------------- # # It is usually not necessary to change these parameters. They are included # for completeness' sake. ############################################################################### # Change mount options on partitions in PARTITIONS? You don't really want to # disable this. If you do, then your hard drives will probably not spin down # anymore. CONTROL_MOUNT_OPTIONS=1 # Dirty synchronous ratio. At this percentage of dirty pages the process # which calls write() does its own writeback. LM_DIRTY_RATIO=60 NOLM_DIRTY_RATIO=40 # Allowed dirty background ratio, in percent. Once DIRTY_RATIO has been # exceeded, the kernel will wake pdflush which will then reduce the amount # of dirty memory to dirty_background_ratio. Set this nice and low, so once # some writeout has commenced, we do a lot of it. LM_DIRTY_BACKGROUND_RATIO=1 NOLM_DIRTY_BACKGROUND_RATIO=10 # kernel default settings -- don't touch these unless you know what you're # doing. DEF_UPDATE=5 DEF_XFS_AGE_BUFFER=15 DEF_XFS_SYNC_INTERVAL=30 DEF_XFS_BUFD_INTERVAL=1 DEF_MAX_AGE=30 # This must be adjusted manually to the value of HZ in the running kernel # on 2.4, until the XFS people change their 2.4 external interfaces to work in # centisecs. This can be automated, but it's a work in progress that still # needs# some fixes. On 2.6 kernels, XFS uses USER_HZ instead of HZ for # external interfaces, and that is currently always set to 100. So you don't # need to change this on 2.6. XFS_HZ=100 # Seconds laptop mode has to to wait after the disk goes idle before doing # a sync. LM_SECONDS_BEFORE_SYNC=2

I suspect frequcny scaling too. Here is the content of /etc/sysconfig/cpufreq more /etc/sysconfig/cpufreq #uncomment to set cpufreq governor after module load #possible choices are ondemand powersave userspace performance #GOVERNOR=ondemand #minimum frequency #MIN_FREQ= #maximum frequency #MAX_FREQ= #Uncomment to use acpi-cpufreq as fallback #USE_ACPI_CPUFREQ=yes As you can see everything is commented out. Yet the frequency does jump from 800 Mhz to 1200Mhz and even higher. Apparently, Mandriva now relies on kpowersave to do speedstepping and spindown. I tried to disable it and enable klaptop to no avail; see this post https://mandrivausers.org/index.php?showtopic=48124 . So how I can take control of frequency scaling and where do I adjust spindown policy? I suspect that the the problem occurs when Emacs tries to do auto-save while the drive is already "put to sleep". Emacs is not a KDE application, and I can only suspect that the communication is broken between kpowersave and non KDE applications. That is, this is the situation descried by iphitus.

Make sure all required kernel modules are loaded on start. I don't use ndiswrapper, but from what I remember, you have to add some stuff to /etc/modprobe.conf (or something). Please read the tutorial, you can find one on this forum.

Could this be a hardware/firmware problem (ie, a noncompliant bridge, etc).? I found the USB and peripherials support in 2008 superior to any other Mandrake Linux system I had before.

Don't know.... I stopped using latex2html a long time ago. Posting a PDF on the web does the job for me.

Thanks, Ian. I have stopped avahi, netfs and ncsd too. Will see what the result will be. Thanks everybody.

I am affraid, I do not have an answer. Your document produces the same error on my machine. It seems that there is a problem with creating the temporary directory in /var/tmp/. That seems to be the root of the problem.

Here we go: # chkconfig --list | grep :on acpi 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off acpid 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off alsa 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off apmd 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off atd 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off avahi-daemon 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:off 5:on 6:off consolekit 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off cpufreq 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off crond 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off cups 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off dkms 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off dm 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:off 4:off 5:on 6:off haldaemon 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off harddrake 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off iptables 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off jexec 0:on 1:on 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:on keytable 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off kheader 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:off 5:on 6:off laptop-mode 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off mandi 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off messagebus 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off netfs 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off network 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off network-up 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off nscd 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off partmon 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off shorewall 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off sound 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off sshd 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off syslog 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off I am booting into X (initlevel 5). I was thinking of stoppng avahi-daemon, but then I looked at the output of route -n: Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface 192.168.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 35 0 0 wlan0 169.254.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.0.0 U 35 0 0 wlan0 127.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 lo 0.0.0.0 192.168.0.1 0.0.0.0 UG 35 0 0 wlan0 Note that wlan0 is given the route to the subnet 169.254.0.0. I guess this subnet is used as a fallback when the primary interface eth0 is up. Is it what avahi for (sorry for the lame question)?

Thanks, tyme. Much appreciate. My dhcp servers bot at work and home write DNS server information into /etc/resolv.conf. No reason to keep resolvconf running.

I turned off indexing the very first boot into the KDE. The processes that topped the list were artsd, firefox, (these were always on top), and also ksoftirqd, mysqld, hald, net_applet, ifplugd, X, scsi_eh_1, ata/0. I went further in my investigation and turned off a bunch of services I think I don't need: lisa, mysqld, nfs-common and nfs-server, openvpn, portmap, postfix, resolvconf, and winbind. That calmed the system down a bit, I could even hear fans slowing down for a short while, and the harddisk LED stopped flashing. Maybe I did do something right.... Services I am not certain about are * cups - do I need it running just to be able to print from the laptop? I print to a LAN printer * netfs - I don't know what it does, the description says it mounts all SMB and NFS mount points. I don't use NFS or SMB at the moment, but may ocasionally need to use SMB. Worth netfs running? * nscd - I cannot understand the info. Something about passwords and groups lookups. * partmon - Is it really useful? * resolvconf - I turned it off, but what does it really do? * winbind - again, it has something to do with SMB.