This is a tutorial on how to install and configure Arch Linux on a Toshiba Satellite P500 Laptop. ## Contents * [1 Hardware](#Hardware) * [2 Removing Windows](#Removing_Windows) * [3 Arch Installation](#Arch_Installation) * [4 Realtek wireless card driver](#Realtek_wireless_card_driver) * [5 Install NVIDIA driver](#Install_NVIDIA_driver) * [6 Install the Synaptics driver](#Install_the_Synaptics_driver) * [7 ACPI](#ACPI) * [8 Laptop Mode Tools](#Laptop_Mode_Tools) * [9 Multimedia Buttons](#Multimedia_Buttons) * [10 External Microphone](#External_Microphone) ## Hardware Custom configuration, purchased on 11/29/2010 from Toshiba Direct: * Intel® Core™ i5-460M processor * Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) * 4GB DDR3 1066MHz memory * 500GB HDD (7200rpm) * 1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M * 18.4" screen lspci reports this: ``` # lspci 00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor DRAM Controller (rev 02) 00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor PCI Express x16 Root Port (rev 02) 00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset HECI Controller (rev 06) 00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 05) 00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio (rev 05) 00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev 05) 00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev 05) 00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 5 (rev 05) 00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 6 (rev 05) 00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 05) 00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev a5) 00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 5 Series Chipset LPC Interface Controller (rev 05) 00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset 4 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05) 00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset SMBus Controller (rev 05) 00:1f.6 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Thermal Subsystem (rev 05) 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Device 0a29 (rev a2) 01:00.1 Audio device: nVidia Corporation High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1) 07:00.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): O2 Micro, Inc. Device 10f7 (rev 01) 07:00.1 SD Host controller: O2 Micro, Inc. Device 8120 (rev 01) 07:00.2 Mass storage controller: O2 Micro, Inc. Device 8130 (rev 01) 0a:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device 8172 (rev 10) 0b:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Atheros AR8132 / L1c Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (rev c0) ff:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture Generic Non-core Registers (rev 05) ff:00.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture System Address Decoder (rev 05) ff:02.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Link 0 (rev 05) ff:02.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Physical 0 (rev 05) ff:02.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 05) ff:02.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 05) ``` ## Removing Windows I was thinking of keeping Windows in its own partition, but I had trouble with repartitioning the hard disk. Since I don't really use Windows, I ended up deleting all Windows and Toshiba Restore partitions. For some reason cfdisk (my tool of choice) didn't work here, so I had to use fdisk to do that. ## Arch Installation Both Arch 32 and Arch 64 install flawlessly on the laptop. For compatibility reasons, I decided to go with Arch 32, given that I had to later recompile the kernel with PAE option turned on, in order to access 4GB of RAM. ## Realtek wireless card driver The `8192cu` driver is included in kernel, so it should work out-of-box. Note that the card model is 8172, but it does seem to work fine with the 8192cu driver. ## Install NVIDIA driver See [NVIDIA](/index.php/NVIDIA "NVIDIA"). ## Install the Synaptics driver The mouse pad works, but it has issues. You need to install [Synaptics](/index.php/Synaptics "Synaptics"). ## ACPI You have to tweak acpi a little, otherwise the laptop will randomly freeze. First add the following modules to your rc.conf: ac, battery, button, fan, thermal. Second edit /etc/acpi/handler.sh and under **battery** create another case for BAT1) which is the same as BAT0). Here is an example of my /etc/acpi/handler.sh: ``` #!/bin/sh # Default acpi script that takes an entry for all actions # NOTE: This is a 2.6-centric script. If you use 2.4.x, you'll have to # modify it to not use /sys minspeed=`cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/cpuinfo_min_freq` maxspeed=`cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/cpuinfo_max_freq` setspeed="/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_setspeed" set $* case "$1" in button/power) #echo "PowerButton pressed!">/dev/tty5 case "$2" in PWRF) logger "PowerButton pressed: $2" ;; *) logger "ACPI action undefined: $2" ;; esac  ;; button/sleep) case "$2" in SLPB) echo -n mem >/sys/power/state ;; *) logger "ACPI action undefined: $2" ;; esac  ;; ac_adapter) case "$2" in AC) case "$4" in 00000000) echo -n $minspeed >$setspeed #/etc/laptop-mode/laptop-mode start  ;; 00000001) echo -n $maxspeed >$setspeed #/etc/laptop-mode/laptop-mode stop  ;; esac  ;; *) logger "ACPI action undefined: $2" ;; esac  ;; battery) case "$2" in BAT0) case "$4" in 00000000) #echo "offline" >/dev/tty5  ;; 00000001) #echo "online" >/dev/tty5  ;; esac  ;; BAT1) case "$4" in 00000000) #echo "offline" >/dev/tty5  ;; 00000001) #echo "online" >/dev/tty5  ;; esac  ;; CPU0)  ;; *) logger "ACPI action undefined: $2" ;; esac  ;; button/lid) #echo "LID switched!">/dev/tty5  ;; *) logger "ACPI group/action undefined: $1 / $2"  ;; esac ``` You may also want to add pm-suspend under button/lid) to make your laptop suspend when closed. I particularly do not ever close my laptop, because I use it as a desktop computer. ## Laptop Mode Tools I installed **laptop-mode-tools**, but it didn't seem to improve anything so I disabled it. The battery life of this laptop is less than an hour and there is not much you can do. I use the laptop as a replacement for a desktop computer, so it's always plugged in. ## Multimedia Buttons The volume buttons work out of the box. I am, however, slightly annoyed with them, because they are a little too close to the keyboard and can be accidentally pressed when typing. They can be disabled from the Gnome menu System -> Preferences -> Keyboard Shortcuts ## External Microphone The external microphone works well with OSS, but in order to work with ALSA, you have to add this line to /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf ``` options snd-hda-intel model=dell-vostro ```