After spending some time with Ubuntu installed on the SSD (flash memory drive) on the Acer Aspire One I have restored the default Linpus Lite operating system that shipped with it. I am continuing to run Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy) on an external USB hard drive and on a USB flash drive but until there is an optimized version of Ubuntu for the atom/netbook platform or even kernel support for the wireless chipset, I think I will wait.
Based on Fedora 8, the Linpus Lite that shipped with the Acer Aspire One is optimized for the AA1. It seems to be faster on startup/shutdown/suspend/resume. Wireless connectivity seems to be more reliable and I don’t have to recompile the driver each time the kernel is updated. I have been able to find enough of the programs I want to run in and near the repositories supplied by Linpus.
So far, the Ubuntu community support has been great for the AA1 but it sure requires a great deal of effort to get it working and I think most people don’t relish the futzing. Some such as Rui Carmo at the.taoofmac.com ended up returning his AA1 because he found himself wasting too much time. He didn’t even try reinstalling the OS with Ubuntu. If you don’t want to waste too much time then don’t change the OS that shipped with the AA1. It is nice to know you have choices and that you are not locked in but I too have probably spent too much time exploring the possibilities. You can spend a reasonable amount of time making minor changes to the Linpus Lite that shipped with the AA1.
It is possible to gain access to the xfce4 menu by using the “advanced mode hack“. I have added various programs from the Linpus/Asus repositories such as openshh-clients, bluefish, lbrickbuster2, xgalaxy, PySolFC, xpdf, dillo, audacious, gparted and carefully added a few programs (vlc) from other repositories (all the while hoping things won’t break). I have added a few of the programs to the simplified menu as well. I also downloaded and ran the python program gmail-notifier. So far it is working well. There are caveats though since there is the risk of accidentally updating bits of software that have been specially modified for the AA1 by allowing updates from other repositories.
As mentioned I am still running Ubuntu 8.04 on an external 2.5″ hard drive. The USB port on the AA1 powers the hard drive and although it is a 5400rpm, USB connected hard drive, the performance is tolerable. Since it is a hard drive I can use the swap partition, and I don’t have to tweak things for running on the SSD. I am also running a copy of Ubuntu on an 8GB OCZ Rally2 USB flash drive so I am still able to simulate the SSD experience with Ubuntu as well. Hope springs eternal.
How can I install the PySolFC on my AA1 with Linpus Lite? I’ve had my AA1 for almost three years and other than Picasa and Skype, I haven’t run anything that didn’t come pre-installed. I’d love to have a least one Solitaire card game, since I don’t care for any of the games pre-installed on the AA1.
It has been a while since I have done this since I have been using Ubuntu UNR for a few years now. From what I can remember you need to perform the “advanced mode hack” (discussed here http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=28) to gain access to the “Add/Remove Software” gui program in the system menu. If PySolFC is not installable from there then you may have to install it from the terminal.
To see a list of available software:
yum list availableTo install PySolFC:
yum install PySolFCit may be case sensitive so you may need to try:
yum install pysolfcYou will also need to remember the root password you setup when you first got the machine. Sorry I can’t give you better step by step instructions.