HP Pavilion dv5z

Update, bootpart worked as advertised, I don't have to copy the bootsector to the VISTA partition each time I make a new kernel.

Also, at least with Slackware 12.2 and probably any 2.6.x kernel, make sure you build the tmpfs filesystem into the kernel or udev can't load and you get nothing but a continous stream of error messages at boot time.

The ath9k module seems to support the wifi card (802.11n) haven't actually used it yet though, still working on pairing down the kernel and getting modules set up the way I want them (no reason to configure as a module if it's going to get loaded at boot time and stays loaded.)

Update
1. The ath9k module works fine, proof? I'm writing this from X.

2.If you rebuild your Kernel and already have the ATI proprietary driver install then you want to make sure that it gets reinstalled in the module directory for the new kernel (I currently have 3). I actually modified my init scripts to abort starting X if the module isn't loaded, and drop me back to a text console. Otherwise when X starts you get a garbage screen and the only way to fix things is to turn the computer off manually. Of corse if you are booting directly to X then you have to figure out a way to get a login prompt to fix the problem. SO MAKE SURE FGLRX IS LOADED!

3.To use the synaptics touchpad driver for X under the 2.6.27.7 (and probably later, I didn't go through lxr looking for how far back it goes) you have to have these configuration items for your kernel:

   a. EMBEDDED=y so you can do...
   b. MOUSE_PS2_SYNAPTICS=y
   c. Preliminary results indicate that the psmouse code has to be built as a module, but I'm still testing that.
   d. In Slackware 12.2 you have to comment out the protocol line in /etc/modules.d/psmouse
   e. Finally if you didn't include the /dev/psaux support in the kernel (like me) you have to configure the X driver to use /dev/mouse instead.

4. KDE 3.5 appears to use the /dev/dsp device exclusively, even when told to use ALSA. At least when I tried to get it to use the /dev/snd/pcm* devices it wouldn't. Which means you have to have the OSS compatibility code in the kernel. Still testing if it can be builtin or has to be as modules.

After further testing, psmouse and evdev can be compiled into the kernel, They do not need to be be modules.

According to dmidecode the smart battery system is supported but the sbs module doesn't appear to work. The /proc/acpi/battery, /proc/acpi/ac_adapter, and /sys/class/power_supply directories are all empty with the sbs module-chain loaded. Fortunately the standard battery and ac adapter modules work fine and provide all the information sbs provides, as far as I can tell at least.

Just figured out how to use the audio control buttons above the keyboard. They generate keyboard scan codes and matching keycodes so in order to use them you just have to map them to key symbols which your programs can use. Since I'm using KDE I didn't bother with mapping them under linux and used xmodmap instead. This is my .xmodmaprc…

!map QLB audio control buttons to keysyms - amarok already configured to use them
!I'm using function keys because I know them don't exist on the keyboard

!mute
keycode 160=F13

!volume down
keycode 174=F14

!volume up
keycode 176=F15

!previous track
keycode 144=F16

!play/pause
keycode 162=F17

!next track
keycode 153=F18

!stop
keycode 164=F19

…which I load from ~/.kde/Autostart

Then I just configured Amarok Global shortcuts to use the keysymbols for the appropriate functions.

Note that the linux kernel assigns different keycodes to them. You can use showkeys -k to see them.

So much for playtime.

One more trick, not really specific to this laptop but useful anyway. To have the system come up with the same preset volumes every time set your volumes the way you want them, then tell the mixer control for your desktop (kmix in my case) not to restore the volumes. Do “alsactl store” as root, then as long as you have “alsactl restore” in your startup sequence and no “alsactl store” in the shutdown scripts your system will boot with your preferred volumes every time.

Just for giggles, I set the master volume according to the headphones, and then adjusted the front speaker volume to match by ear. Now whether I use the speakers or headphones my volumes are correct without any tweaking.

Hi Matt
I am embarassed by wireless connection. My computer is HP Pavilion DV5, Atheros AR5009 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless card. Can you show me the details about how to set it? Thank you so much!