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Acer Aspire 5532
Author
Lance DeVooght
Introduction
This is a guide to running Linux with the Acer Aspire 5532 laptop.
This guide is intended to provide you details on how well this laptop works with Linux and which modules you need to configure. For details on how to actually install and configure the required modules have a look at our our guides section for distribution specific instructions.
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Specifications
| Name | Acer Aspire 5532 |
| Processor | AMD Athlon 64 TF-20 (1.6GHz) |
| Screen | 15.6” “HD” 16:9 1366 x 768 |
| RAM | 3GB DDR2 (4GB Max in two SODIMM slots) |
| HDD | Hitachi 160MB SATA2 5400RPM |
| Optical Drive | 24x DVDRAM DVD+/-R/RW/DL : CDR/RW |
| Graphics | ATI Radeon HD3200 (RS780M) integrated, 256MB shared from System RAM |
| Network | Atheros AR8132 / L1c Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (10/100/1000Mb/s) : Atheros AR928X Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express ) 802.11b/g/Draft-N : No Bluetooth |
Linux Compatibility
| Device | Compatibility | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Yes | Originally came with AMD Athlon 64 TF-20 (1.6GHz), I replaced it with a Turion 64 X2 TL56 (1.8GHz) Both processors ran/run without issues. New CPU seems to run cool ~50C, fan only comes on occasionally and runs very quiet. CPU Throttling works. No BIOS setting to enable AMD-V |
| Screen | Yes | Very bright; I usually turn it down (that's a good thing). External VGA works only through “System Settings” ⇒ ” Monitor” (or with ATI Catalyst Control Center), but not with Fn+F5 key. |
| HDD | Yes | |
| Optical Drive | Yes | |
| Graphics | Yes | ~302 FPS in fgl_glxgears with fglrx driver. Can be overclocked using the ATI “atioc” utility. |
| Sound | Yes | SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA) Headphones work. Mic input not tested. Speakers are not very loud. Using the “snd_hda_intel” ALSA driver |
| Ethernet | Yes | |
| Wireless | Yes | Died intermittently in Kubuntu 9.10. Since updating to 10.04 its been rock solid. On/Off toggle switch turns off, but not back on using Kubuntu 9.10, but does work correctly with Kubuntu 10.04. |
| Bluetooth | N/A | No Bluetooth despite there being a Fn+F3 key for it. |
| 56K Modem | N/A | |
| USB | Yes | USB 2.0: Only two ports , on left side – Works for thumb drive, Bluetooth dongle, and mouse. |
| Firewire | N/A | |
| Card Reader | Yes | Only tested with SD card. Accepts Secure Digital (SD), MultiMediaCard (MMC), Memory Stick (MS), Memory Stick PRO (MSPRO), xD-Picture Card (xD). |
| ExpressCard Slot | N/A | |
| Camera | N/A | |
Notes
Tested with Kubuntu 9.10, Kubuntu 10.04, and Knoppix (Live CD) 6.2.1 (all 32bit).
Came pre-loaded with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.
Sleep mode: Works, with close of lid and Shutdown menu, but not with Fn+F4 key.
Battery life: ~2hrs
Touch Pad: 2-Button w/ dedicated scroll area – Works – Including scroll area and on/off switch near power switch (nice feature)
Keyboard: Separate numeric keypad – Works, but Page Up, Page Down, Home, End, & Ins keys only work when Numlock is off (as designed). Fn Multimedia keys work after mapping using “System Settings”. Fn+F5 does not switch between laptop LCD and external display (does work in MS-Windows 7), and Fn+F4 does not invoke Sleep Mode.
Upgrading the processor was cheap ($20), easy (30 min.), and significantly increased performance.
Summary
I was able to buy this laptop at MicroCenter for $290 refurbished, so I didn't bother to check Linux compatibility before hand. Given that, I am very impressed that everything just works.
Discussion
I installed wifi driver with help from here.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/Driver/bcm43xx
After u boot the live CD, was the comp on with Ubuntu running? And just install driver, but how?
I installed Ubuntu 10.10rc on my 5532 today. Everything seems to work fine, I did have a problem with the Broadcom wireless card at first as don't have wired Internet. What I had to do was boot the liveCD where I could install the wifi drivers, and install from there. After that, it was fine.