Envy 14 & Linux

Thanks for the link
I managed to get the driver installed but now it has created even more issues.
Shutdown, suspend and hibernate don't work - shutdown simply sends me to a prompt with lines of error code, suspend is similar but then immediately boots ubuntu again, problem is if I attempt to log in I'm met with a message telling me that the battery monitor (or whatever the name is) is not functioning properly, then finally the entire computer freezes requiring a hard reboot.

Anyone with tips on how to solve this? I've tried just about every tip and guide out there about fixing suspend/hibernation issues but none have worked so far.

UPDATE:
I've managed to fix the shutdown issue by doing a fresh install of Natty, suspend now causes screen to go black for a few seconds before showing the same issues as mentioned before, and hibernate causes the same procedure as suspend.

 

Is there a distribution by now that supplies external monitors via hdmi and switchable graphics out of the box?

 

I believe LenvyX is what you're looking for. Although I haven't seen any updates since RC1 it works perfectly on my Envy 14 1010 and I have no complaints.

lenvyx.com

 

Wondering if anyone has got Ubuntu 11.10 up and running well? I'm kinda new to linux and my Envy 14-2XXX, so any help would be much appreciated.

 

I actually installed Ubuntu 11.10 on my ENVY 14-2070nr, and it worked well, with the exception of needing to press the "Brightness Up" key on first startup if the screen is black. Some issues with the AMD restricted drivers, but it works out of the box.

 

What kind of issues exactly? I get 2 options for the drivers, one normal and one "post-update" or something. The post-update don't seem to install, while the other install but I don't notice anything different. The graphics card still doesn't display in system information and I get an error when trying to open catalyst control.

And what about the trackpad, anyway get it to disable on the double tap like in windows? Also how is your battery life? When I unplugged it was saying just over 2 hours.

 

I have the same issue with my Envy 17 (sandy bridge). Hybrid gfx are the problem. There is just no support for us. Despite installing the Catalyst driver, you are still using Intel's built in gfx.

Until we get proper support for Hybrid switchable gfx on linux, we are forced to use our laptops purely for business applications for which the Intel gfx is ok. :/ I use my lappy for business only anyway. My alienware running windows is my games machine. Who would use windows for serious work anyway

 

I've spent a bit of time over the last few days trying to fix some of the issues. Existing Envy/Linux guides have been helpful, but some are a bit dated, not noob friendly, or I just the fixes weren't working for me. Still trying things out though, but will update later.

 

I'm glad to see this topic being alive again!

I've got an Envy 2nd gen too, and I installed ubuntu 11.04 on it (I am very reluctant go get rid of the gnome classic desktop to get this unity POS,..). Anyway, so far it is working pretty well, but the discrete graphics are not working well indeed, as far as I know the only way to switch is to do it manually with vgaswitcheroo. I personally disable the ATI board at startup to save power, which gives me around 4 to 5 hours of battery life.
A patch is available for natty to get the trackpad to work, I don't know about oneiric. The on/off switch doesn't work though.

My other issues are that the mute LED is showing the opposite status, not sure how to fix that, and sometimes I can't boot on battery power. I haven't really looked into it but I believe it is liked to the graphics. And finally waking up gets the fans running full blast. Kind of annoying.

I would love to know if some of thoses issues are / can be fixed on 11.10.

Cheers.

 

Fix GTK-WARNING for Gedit:

• Open Terminal
• Enter sudo mkdir -p /root/.local/share

Fix Trackpad Buttons and Two-Finger Scrolling:

• Open Terminal
• Enter sudo add-apt-repository ppa:sergio91pt/synaptics+clickpads
• Enter sudo apt-get update
• Enter sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-input-synaptics
• Restart computer
• Open 'Mouse and Touchpad' settings
• Edit as desired

Fix Hybrid Graphics and Brightness at Startup

• Open Terminal
• Enter sudo gedit /etc/rc.local
• Add the following before the "exit 0":
  
  Code:

  ############################# Hybrid Graphics #############################
  ## Default graphics card is set to the integrated graphics card to save  ##
  ## power. To change this, comment out the  DIGD  line and uncomment the  ##
  ## DDIS line.                                                            ##
  ###########################################################################
  
  # Turns ON the unused graphics card
  echo ON > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch
  
  # Switches to th integrated graphics card (lower power)
  echo DIGD > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch
  
  # Switches to the discrete graphics card (higher power)
  # echo DDIS > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch
  
  # Turns OFF the unused graphics card
  echo OFF > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch
  
  ########################### End Hybrid Graphics ###########################
  
  ############################ Screen Brightness ############################
  ## To change the screen brightness at boot, set the number to anything   ##
  ## between 1 (lowest) and 10 (brightest).                                ##
  ###########################################################################
  
  # Sets the screen brightness at boot
  echo 10 > /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness
  
  ########################## End Screen Brightness ##########################
  

• Save file
• Enter sudo chmod +x /etc/rc.local
• Restart computer

Fix Fan Issues with Suspend/Resume:

• Open Terminal
• Enter sudo gedit /etc/pm/sleep.d/00hybrid_graphics
• Add the following:
  
  Code:

  #!/bin/sh
  
  ############################# Hybrid Graphics #############################
  ## This file will turn on the the unused graphics card when suspending   ##
  ## the system, and while then turn it back off when it resumes. This     ##
  ## will hopefully prevent the fans from going crazy when it resumes.     ##
  ###########################################################################
  
  case "$1" in
      hibernate|suspend)
          echo ON > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch 
          ;;
      thaw|resume)
          echo OFF > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch 
          ;;
      *)
          ;;
  esac
  
  ########################### End Hybrid Graphics ###########################
  
  exit 0
  

• Save file
• Enter sudo chmod +x /etc/pm/sleep.d/00hybrid_graphics

Remove Guest from LightDM:

• Open Terminal
• Enter sudo gedit /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
• Add the following
  
  Code:

  allow-guest=false
  

• Save file
• Restart computer

Disable Touchpad via Indicator:

• Enter sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/atareao
• Enter sudo apt-get update
• Enter sudo apt-get install touchpad-indicator
• Open 'Touchpad Indicator' preferences
• Edit as desired