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Eeepc-wmi

Version 6 (Sharon Hill, 06/07/2011 04:29 pm)

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h1. eeepc-wmi
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h2. Why a new eeepc platform driver ?






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The eeepc-laptop module use an "ACPI":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACPI device (ASUS010) which have usually the same interface in all eeepc. For example the WLDS will always control the wlan card.






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But on newer eeepc, Asus introduced Windows 7 support.






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Models with windows 7 support have a new "WMI":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Management_Instrumentation interface.






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And when an OS is detected as Windows 7, the old ASUS010 interface is disabled.






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OSI is an ACPI method provided by the operating system that can be invoked by ACPI BIOS code. It is used by BIOS developers to detect which operating system is running.






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The Linux kernel returns true when OSI is invoked with any known Windows OS string.






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So, Linux is identified as Windows 7, ASUS010 device is disable, eeepc-laptop can't be loaded.






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h2. Why acpi blacklisting is not a solution ? (or acpi_osi="!Windows 2009")






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A quick workaround is to boot with acpi_osi="!Windows 2009" (and sometime acpi_osi="Linux") but:






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From Len Brown, maintainer of Linux ACPI subsystem






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> Not necessarily the right fix.  We have gone to a lot of trouble






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> to discourage BIOS vendors from depending on the ill-defined OSI(Linux),






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> so I hesitate to invoke it -- even for a workaround.






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Anyway, no that thw wmi interface is here, we can't bet that the old interface won't be maintained and won't expose all features.






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*The solution would be to write a new eeepc-wmi driver.*






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h2. What models are affected ?






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Basically, all models with "Windows 7 support"






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* 1101HA






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* 1005HA






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* 1005P






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* 1201N






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h2. How can I help ?






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If you know how to write a driver, then add missing features to eeepc-wmi.






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If you have hardware to give, and you live near Lyon (France), contact me.






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Else, you can make a small donation to the acpi4asus project, as soon as there is enought money (~250 euros), I'll buy a 1005HA and write a driver for it.






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h2. Status






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Yong Wang started wrote a driver named eeepc-wmi. It's available in new kernels (>= 2.6.35).






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"Online Technical Support":https://www.techienow.com/