Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) on an Asus EeePC 1000HA

I’m a long time user of UNIX-based computers and have been using Linux exclusively for my primary computing for close to 10 years now. For the past couple of years Linux Mint has become my favorite distribution for desktop and laptop use.

This EeePC netbook had been running Eeebuntu Linux, which was fantastic. Eeebuntu 3.0 was based on Ubuntu 9.04 and Debian Unstable. Built with customization to various packages and a modified kernel it provided support to this netbook that was a perfect fit. That project enabled all the function keys to work and had outstanding power management that kept the machine running on battery for extended use.

Sadly, the Eeebuntu project seems to have broken down as they pursued new goals. IMHO they lost direction and got sidetracked with developing a fancy website for their proposed new release and expanding their project’s scope significantly. In the end this stalled any real end-user progress. In the mean time the old Eeebuntu became outdated and, being based on Ubuntu 9.04, stopped getting any updates. So things like Flash stopped working, etc. I waited as long as I could for their new release, but needed to move on.

Getting tired of the need for repeated reinstalls required by both Windows and Ubuntu-based Linux, I became very interested in Debian Linux. Debian is a rolling release, meaning updated software is available regularly for your existing installation. In practice, this means a software environment that should never require reinstallation but will still keep up with application development! And Linux Mint happened to announce the availability of a version based on Debian (called LMDE)… this gave me the push needed to give Debian a go on this netbook.

So I installed the latest available image of LMDE on my Eeepc in Fall 2011 from a USB stick. Everything went smoothly, no real hiccups at all. There was a minor issue with a package due to an upstream Debian problem which was fixed by marking one package to not update (this was covered in a note on the LMDE page). When installed, I had a good working system with most of the standard function keys working – the machine was totally usable but the dedicated keys for webcam switching, etc. did not operate (unlike how they had under Eeebuntu) and the power management was not tuned for battery preservation.

Luckily one of the former Eeebuntu developers (Andrew Wyatt, a.k.a. fewt) has made available an applet for power management of EeePCs (and other machines) that could be installed. Called Jupiter, it allows switching the CPU to one of three power scaling modes automatically on power events, enabling much longer battery life. It has other functions as well including video mode/external monitor selection and touchpad control.

The combination of LMDE and Jupiter have become a great solution for this netbook and I look forward to using them together for a long, long time to come!

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4 Responses to Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) on an Asus EeePC 1000HA

  1. Don says:

    Well, a new version of Jupiter has come out recently. Unfortunately, there is no .deb package for Debian supplied. So what I did was to install the package ‘alien’ which provides for RPM package conversion to deb. After uninstalling the existing Jupiter deb package I then converted the RPM package for Jupiter 0.1.2-1 with alien and installed it along with the existing jupiter-support-eee 0.0.13 deb from the SourceForge site.

    It all appears to be working fine, and with the new “Power on Demand” mode I’m getting good performance and reasonable battery life. Just what I wanted. 🙂

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  3. Gerua says:

    Thanks for the info on Jupiter. Installing it on my Eee PC netbook.

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