This is a compatibility guide to running Linux with the Acer TravelMate 5740 laptop.
This page is just for discussing using Linux on the Acer TravelMate 5740. For a general discussion about this laptop you can visit the Acer TravelMate 5740 page on LapWik.
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For full specifications see the Acer TravelMate 5740 specifications page.
| Name | Acer TravelMate 5740 |
| Processor | Intel Core™ i5-430M/i5-520M processor (3 MB L3 cache, 2.26/2.40 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.53/2.93/3.06 GHz, DDR3 1066 MHz, 35 W), supporting Intel® 64 architecture, Intel® Smart Cache Intel Core™ i3-330M processor (3 MB L3 cache, 2.13 GHz, DDR3 1066 MHz, 35 W), supporting Intel® 64 architecture, Intel® Smart Cache |
| Screen | 15.6” (1366×768) Widescreen |
| RAM | Up to 8GB |
| HDD | 320GB to 640GB |
| Optical Drive | DVD+-RW |
| Graphics | Intel® HD Graphics |
| Network | 10/100/1000 Ethernet Acer InviLink™ Nplify™ 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ |
| Device | Compatibility | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Works | |
| Screen | Works | |
| HDD | Works | |
| Optical Drive | Works | |
| Graphics | Works | |
| Sound | Works | |
| Ethernet | Works | |
| Wireless | Works | |
| Bluetooth | Not Tested | |
| Modem | Not Tested | |
| USB | Works | |
| Card Reader | Not Tested | |
| Webcam | Works |
Tested with Debian Squeeze
I had to install a basic system from DVD: netinstall didn't work since the installer doesn't know the wired network device. The installation medium was “Debian GNU/Linux testing _Squeeze_ - Official Snapshot amd64 DVD Binary-1 20100809-04:27”. The tested hardware is a ACER Travelmate 5740-333G25MN.
Immediately after the installation, wired networking worked flawlessly so i was in the game. To get wireless networking, i installed the broadcom-sta package and did “module-assistant a-i broadcom-sta”.
Adding acpi_osi=“Linux” to the kernel parameters fixed the brightness control.
For two finger scrolling i had to edit the xorg.conf. My relevant section (everything works as i want it) is:
Section “InputDevice”
Identifier “Touchpad0”
Driver “synaptics”
Option “Protocol” “auto-dev”
Option “SHMConfig” “true”
Option “HorizEdgeScroll” “on”
Option “VertEdgeScroll” “on”
Option “VertTwoFingerScroll” “on”
Option “HorizTwoFingerScroll” “on”
Option “CornerCoasting” “on”
Option “PalmDetect” “on”
Option “CircularScrolling” “on”
Option “CircScrollTrigger” “3”
Option “EmulateTwoFingerMinZ” “10”
Option “EmulateTwoFingerMinW” “10”
EndSection
Everything else worked out of the box, including the webcam, playing openarena and waking up from standby.
The Acer TravelMate 5740 works very well with Linux. As of now, the hardware is very new and you should therefore use a very new distro. It is also a nice piece of hardware.
Discussion
Sorry, was reading to fast :(
What's with the brightness-controll?