Buggy Kernel & Instability / Crashing?
There have been reports of instability with the 4.10.x kernel. The last stable kernel is 4.10.37. A bug report has been filed upstream to try and address the instability issue. Until then contact support if you need documentation on reverting your kernel to an earlier version. Please let us know what distribution and version you are using so we can post distribution specific appropriate documentation.
* This issue has only been confirmed to impact Linux Mint users at this time although its not unlikely that it also is impacting other particularly similar distributions built off Ubuntu 16.04.
A 3.11 or above kernel is required. A recent xserver is also required for 3d acceleration. Some distributions may not have a sufficiently recent version available at this time. This will be forthcoming in most if not all future distribution releases. For distributions/releases/versions where brightness and sound are not adjustable add the following to your kernel boot line in GRUB:
acpi_os_name=Linux acpi_osi=vendor acpi_backlight=vendor
Example with Ubuntu 13.04 (works with Debian 7 as well, amongst other Debian/Ubuntu based distributions):
1. Open a terminal (you can do this from dash > gnome-terminal)
2. Type the following and hit enter
sudo nano /etc/default/grub
3. Use your arrow keys to modify the following line:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
to read:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash acpi_os_name=Linux acpi_osi=vendor acpi_backlight=vendor"
4. Save and exit (hold ctrl and hit x, then hit y to save)
5. Run the following:
sudo update-grub
* Note: The desktop environment must also support the special keys. If they don't you may be able to seek documentation from the distributor or that specific to the desktop environment.
openSUSE 13.1
If brightness and sound are not adjustable, make sure you have installed the OS in traditional BIOS mode (not UEFI), installed GNOME (keys are not supported in all environments), and then add the following to your kernel boot line in GRUB:
1. Open a terminal (you can do this from Activities > gnome-terminal if GNOME is installed)
2. Type the following and hit enter after each line
su
zypper install nano
nano /etc/default/grub
3. Use your arrow keys to find and modify the line which starts with:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=
after the showopts add:
acpi_os_name=Linux acpi_osi=vendor acpi_backlight=vendor
4. Save and exit (hold ctrl and hit x, then hit y to save)
5. Run the following for :
/usr/sbin/grub2-mkconfig
* Note: The desktop environment must also support the special keys. If they don't you may be able to seek documentation from the distributor or that specific to the desktop environment.
Touchpad Sensitivity / Accidental Clicking / Slow Pointer
think@penguin ~ $ xinput list-props "ETPS/2 Elantech Touchpad" | grep -i finger
Synaptics Finger (261): 1, 1, 0
The pressure sensitivity of "1" above was very low, so increase it a bit (as an example we settled with 16, 20):
xinput set-prop "ETPS/2 Elantech Touchpad" "Synaptics Finger" 16, 20, 0
Then make the change permanent in:
/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-synaptics.conf:
Section "InputClass"
Identifier "touchpad catchall"
Driver "synaptics"
MatchIsTouchpad "on"
# This option is recommend on all Linux systems using evdev, but cannot be
# enabled by default. See the following link for details:
# http://who-t.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-to-ignore-configuration-errors.html
MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
Option "FingerLow" "16"
Option "FingerHigh" "20"
Option "MinSpeed" "1"
Option "MaxSpeed" "2"
Option "AccelFactor" "0.35"
EndSection
Make changes permanent via above conf file ("PalmDetect" and "PalmMinZ" are options in conf file too: http://www.x.org/archive/X11R7.5/doc/man/man4/synaptics.4.html).
Directions for removing the hard drive and/or accessing other components
Please note before following these directions you must close the laptop, turn it off, unplug the power cord, turn it over, and remove the battery. If your unable to see how to do this it is inadvisable to continue further. Seek an expert instead. These directions are for a person who is reasonably technical. Don't forget to discharge any static electricity before continuing.