Table of Contents

Asus M50Vn

Introduction

This is a guide to running Linux with the Asus M50Vn 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 guides section for distribution specific instructions.

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Specifications

For full specifications see the Asus M50Vn specifications page.

NameAsus M50Vn
ProcessorIntel Core 2 Duo
Screen15.4” WXGA or WXGA+ or WSXGA+ Widescreen
RAM1GB to 4GB
HDD250GB to 500GB
Optical DriveDVD+-RW or Blu-ray
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce 9650M GT
NetworkEthernet 100/1000Mbps, Intel 3945ABG 802.11abg or Intel 4965AGN 802.11abgn or Intel 5100 802.11abg or AZWAVE NE771 802.11BG

Linux Compatibility

DeviceCompatibilityComments
ProcessorYes
ScreenYes
HDDYes
Optical DriveYes
GraphicsYes
Sound 1. With alsa =<1.0.17. Partial, use options snd-hda-intel model=3stack-dig (edit file /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base). Inserting headphones doesn't mute speakers. Sound over hdmi doesnt work.
2. With alsa >=1.0.18a. Fedora 10 and Ubuntu 8.10 sound is fine. Option “snd-hda-intel model=3stack-dig” need to be removed. For easy installation, you can use Linuxant
EthernetYes
WirelessYes
BluetoothYes
56K ModemNot Tested
USBYes
FirewireYes
Card ReaderTested for Memory Stick Duo Pro card - not work; SD cards seem to work with sdhci module
ExpressCard SlotYes. See note
Fingerprint ReaderYes
CameraYes

Notes

You can enter any specific notes with running Linux on the Asus M50Vn here.

Light sensor

The ASUS m50vn notebook is equiped with an automatic light sensor,
this sensor must adapte the screen brightness according to the ambient light.
Under Linux the results is somehow not suitable, nevertheless it is possible to switch
the sensor off, in Fedora linux this can be done using a script:

#!/bin/sh
#
# chkconfig: 2345 20 90
#
# description: Startup script for to stop/start
# the automatic brightness sensor on ASUS notebooks
#

RETVAL=0

start(){
echo -n $”Starting the automatic brightness sensor”
echo 1 > /sys/devices/platform/asus-laptop/ls_switch
touch /sys/devices/platform/asus-laptop/ls_switch
RETVAL=1
echo ””
return $RETVAL
}

stop(){
echo -n $”Stopping the automatic brightness sensor”
echo 0 > /sys/devices/platform/asus-laptop/ls_switch
touch /sys/devices/platform/asus-laptop/ls_switch
RETVAL=0
echo ””
return $RETVAL
}

restart(){
stop
start
}

case “$1” in
start)
start
;;
stop)
stop
;;
restart)
restart
;;
status)
status brightness
RETVAL=$?
;;
*)
echo $”Usage: $0 {start|stop|status|restart}”
RETVAL=3
;;
esac

exit $RETVAL

Lets call the script brightness and lets put it in /etc/init.d and use chkconfig to configure it as a service:

su -
cp brightness /etc/init.d
cd /etc/init.d
chmod 755 brightness
chkconfig –add brightness
chkconfig –level 2345 brightness on

graphical start-up

It is possible to improve the start-up of the computer (on a graphical point of view)
by adding the following instruction to the kernel loading line in the /boot/grub/grub.conf file:

kernel /vmlinuz ……………….. vga=0x361

ExpressCard

Tested on AVerTV Hybryd Express Slim - Requires a reboot, the device was defined.
lspci:

04:00.0 Multimedia video controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23885 PCI Video and Audio Decoder (rev 02)

The system has identified the device, but the tuner is not supported, therefore, fully test the slot is not possible :(

Summary

You can enter a summary of how well the Asus M50Vn works with Linux here.