Installing Ubuntu 12.10 on MacBookPro9,1 and all is good

Short Version

You need rEFInd, Ubuntu 12.10, 3.6 kernel, macfanctld.

All is good - except Nvidia drivers that did not work so well, especially by breaking resume which is something I must have.

Details

This is what I am doing:

Getting Ubuntu

Download ubuntu 12.10 - why not consider donating as well?
Burn to DVD.
Eject DVD.

Booting to Live Ubuntu

Shutdown MacBookPro9,1 (MBP).
Hold down 'option' key from here on.
Turn on MBP.
Push in DVD.
Hold down 'option' until you see pictures of hard drives and perhaps CDs and USBs.
Wait a while. Eventually you will see two DVDs: 'Windows' and 'EFI Boot'.
Click on 'EFI Boot'.
Select 'EFI Boot' with arrow keys and hit Enter.
Select 'Try Ununtu without installing' and hit Enter.
Ubuntu Live will start. This will take a few minutes.

Installing

Double-click 'Install Ubuntu 12.10'.
I then selected English and due to my own special requirements, I selected 'something else'.
You might like to try 'Install Ubuntu alongside...'

Note: if you select 'Erase disk and install Ubuntu' then you will get exactly that - my guess is that you DO NOT want to do that.

Here I have to setup my partition manually - you will not have to do this.
If you are interested in my setup, I have this:
sda1: efi 209 MB (EFI partition)
sda2: hfs+ 70 GB (OS-X)
sda3: hfs+ 650 MB (OS-X recover?)
sda4: biosgrub 200 MB (don't remember)
sda8: swap 20 GB
sda5: ext4 20 GB (linux root)
sda6: ext4 20 GB (linux root No. 2)
sda7: ext4 350 GB (/home)

(Boot loader on sda)

Selected Sydney, English(US) keyboard layout, created my user account, selected an icon, and Ubuntu started to install.

It was very quick to install for me.

Shutting Down

Hit 'Restart Now' button.
DVD ejected.
Hit Enter.
Hold down 'option' as soon as you here your MBP starting up.

Booting into Ubuntu

Hold down 'option' until you see pictures of hard drives and perhaps CDs and USBs.

Select 'Windows' and hit Enter.

I got an unhelpful 'Grub Recovery' prompt.

RATS!

Fixing Grub Recovery

I suspect that grub could not read or find my Ubuntu partition. Just a guess.

Odd. It is not as if there aren't very many MacBookPro9,1's around...

I have rEFInd installed so I tried that.

You can install rEFInd from OS-X. See here.

You may be able to use rEFIt if you have that installed, but I recommend rEFInd.

Booting using rEFInd

Shutdown.

Power on.

Select Ubuntu.

After some dodgy screen effects, Ubuntu booted to a blue background.

Getting 'Everything' Working

Ubuntu first wanted me to install language support.
To do this you will need a wired Ethernet connection to your Internet router.

Wireless

Install these packages

• b43-fwcutter
• linux-firmware (this should already be installed)
• linux-firmware-nonfree

Reboot.

Note: I think a friend suggested bcmwl-kernel-source instead of these files, but it did not work for me - perhaps I misunderstood.

Kernel Upgrade

My previous experience suggests that a 3.6 kernel works better.
So I have installed four files from here - you can pick what kernel you want. Install the 'all' file, then the other header file followed by each image file.

UPDATE: I have found that only 3.7.0 and 3.7.5 (so far) work.

After a reboot, I noticed that my initial screen was no longer corrupted.

Fan

You have to have fan control or else your MBP will run too hot.
I used macfanctld from mactel support PPA (precise version).
I also have also written my own for a MBP4,1 that I'll test someday.

Summary

You need rEFInd, Ubuntu 12.10, 3.6 kernel, macfanctld.
Since Fan and sleep/wake are working now, I'm happy to turn this MBP into my daily compute.

I have also tried various Nvidia drivers - some work, but at a high cost of not resuming after standby. So I have removed these.



This works fine, but requires rEFInd. This is not a bad thing as rEFInd is really good, well documented and seems to be maintained by someone who knows a lot about EFI.

But, I want to try to boot to Linux without rEFInd. This may not be possible.

Another Attempt

Boot to OS-X.
Instructions taken from here - Read these. Below is just what I did, not something you should just blindly copy.
Download and install gdisk.
Open a terminal.
sudo gdisk /dev/disk0
I deleted my unwanted Linux partitions from previous attempts.
I created a new partition: id 99, 128M, type ef02 as per instructions.
Restart OS-X, hold down 'option' key and insert Ununtu DVD.
When available, select 'EFI Boot'.
Select 'Install Ubuntu'.
Select 'Something Else'.
Setup a 1 GB reiser boot, 19 GB ext4 root, 19 GB spare, 20 GB swap and rest is ext4 home.
After install, boot to OS-X.
sudo gdisk /dev/disk0
Follow instructions to remove hybrid MBR.
I made a Super Grub 2 Disk but it could not identify any grub 2 installation.

This got me no where, except I no longer have a 'dangerous' hybrid MBR.

Ford Fairlane NL Idle Problem

I have a March 1998 Ford Fairlane NL. It has dual fuel (petrol and LPG).

It also seems to have a special version of Ford's 4.0L straight six engine.

http://autofix.com.au/blog/el-falcon-hybrid-engine-camshaft-timing

I recently had a significant head gasket leak which rendered my car unusable, but leading up to this I had slight coolant consumption and an increasingly annoying idle problem.

Coolant Leak

I had the head gasket done 3-4 years ago. About a year or more after this we noticed that coolant was slowly disappearing. It was just an annoyance so we put up with it. By loosing my radiator cap 1 notch we hardly ever had to add water or coolant.

Idle Problem

Leading up to my second head gasket failure, my Fairlane started to stall at seemingly random times - usually when my wife was driving and usually at a corner or intersection.

Over time, our Fairlane started to stall more and more until my wife would not drive it.

Blown Head Gasket

One day, after a trip to get some wood, my head gasket failed - very dramatic smoke screen.

I was not happy - head gaskets should last longer than this - but also supposed that my idle problem was probably linked to coolant being sucked into engine cylinders.

I decided to replace my head gasket myself this time, but that is a story for another blog.

After replacing my head gasket, it was obvious very quickly that my idle problem had not been fixed - in fact it seemed far worse.

Symptoms

Once my engine was at normal operating temperature it operates normally until I release my throttle. At this point my gear box is driving my engine so nothing happens, but once I begin to slow or brake and revs drop my idle problem begins.

Sometimes my engine revs drop below idle speed (about 750 RPM) and keeps on dropping until it stalls or I tap my throttle - so braking becomes a two foot process.

Recent Work

Due to other faults, I have recently replace these parts:

Fuel filter (Old one was full of rust)
Fuel rail, regulator and fuel injectors.
No.1 Cylinder spark plug - cracked
Distributor (suspect failed PIP sensor)
Leads
Ignition coil (cracked)
ECU (computer)
MAP sensor
ISC valve (but I put back original one because I need to modify my new one for LPG)

A few more parts and I will have a new car!

Diagnosis

I was fairly confident that none of these recently replaced parts were at fault. I was concerned that it could be my ISC valve, but a replacement one seemed worse.

I accessed my engine's ECU fault codes. It reported 'all ok' (code 111) but also 'engine running lean' (code 172).'

http://www.troublecodes.net/Ford/eec-iv.shtml

After some driving I noticed that when on LPG and when my engine would begin to stall, my LPG 'lean' light would be on. This seemed to confirm code 172. But when my LPG 'rich' light was on my engine would behave normally and it would not stall while moving or stopped.

I decided to try to test my oxygen sensor. This seems hard but I also came across people suggesting that water/coolant damages oxygen sensors - one person recommended replacing oxygen sensors when a head gasket is replaced - presumably because it is likely that coolant would be pumped into exhaust ports and would naturally come in contact with an oxygen sensor. Another suggested that moisture damages oxygen sensor heaters.

http://www.repcotrade.com.au/go/news/servicing-oxygen-sensors

http://www.fordaustraliaforums.com/forum/showthread.php?40030-Ef-el-faults-amp-fixes-simplified

http://www.hptuners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27179

Theory

So my theory is that my long term coolant leaks have slowly been damaging my oxygen sensor, causing my engine to increasingly stall on occasions.

Solution

I have ordered a new oxygen sensor.

Oxygen sensor has arrived and is installed.

Results

There was some 'change' but nothing dramatic.

I installed my new ISC valve (That isn't what I bought - I paid about $95 AUD) and engine rarely stalls but it hunts - overshoots and undershoots and eventually stabilizes at 700 RPM.

But when idling to a stop, revs slowly drop to about 500 RPM. If revs drop below this something happens and revs pickup and my engine will sit at about 700 RPM.

What is now different is that on LPG my gas controller is indicating rich mixture when idling slow whereas before it was reporting lean.

Thoughts

* new ISC valve might be 'sticking' instead of moving smoothly - later testing casts doubt on this.
* ECU may not be driving ISC correctly - later proven ok.
* I wonder if I need to reset idle stop point? - later I did a small adjustment.
* some vacuum leak I have not found - found a few but nothing significant.
* ISC needs to be modified to LPG - I have not done this yet - now done.

More Results

For LPG, a gas pipe fitting was drilled into my ISC valve. This takes fumes from crank case via a one-way valve and burns them.

What seems odd to me is that it sucks very hard and I can not see how this is a controlled flow of fumes. It is only regulated by hose size (about 6 mm and a weighted 1-way valve that seems by design to leak).

Constricting this fume flow (squeezing hose with pliers) does seem to improve idle behaviour. I also recall inserting two 5 cm bamboo skewers into the hose to restrict flow so I decided to investigate this further.

PCV Valve

As I mentioned, this valve is closed by gravity and a light spring that does not seem to work unless it is open at least 3 mm.

Engine suction at idle is very high and it easily opens my PCV valve causing a lot of air to enter, bypassing ISC valve. Being an old engine, it 'breathes' a bit and this variation in air flow might be enough to cause idle instability.

I looked at my ISC signal using an oscilloscope and I could see it changing width of pulses to increase or decrease air flow - so ECU and ISC seem to be working.

My oscilloscope is a DSO201 worth about $70 AUD - it shows signals and calculates duty cycle, frequency, hi and low-pulse width - very handy.

I decided to re-design this by taking crank case fumes and injecting them in front of my throttle valve (this is when I found a small leak in a rubber bung).

My old ISC didn't like this change, but my new ISC was much happier - but I still had to adjust idle screw by 1/4 turn.

So perhaps my old ISC is not quite right.

Anyway, I have purchased a new PCV valve for $17 as well.

Vacuum Leaks

I found  a large tear in a flexible intake pipe. This could cause sudden loss of vacuum and cause instability - but this is not my problem.

I found a rubber bung had a small tear - this might affect LPG operation a tiny bit, but it shouldn't affect idle on petrol - so this is not my problem.

Result

Fixed!

Sort of.

There is a slight rev increase when coming to a stop. I had adjusted throttle stop 1/2 turn so I have moved it back 1/4 turn to see how that goes.

Engine does not hunt; it does not drop below about 600 RPM; it starts and idles ok (perhaps a little fast).

Postscript

After more trips, it was clear that all was not well. Idle speed still hunts and occasionally drops very low. My adjustment to throttle stop had also resulted in harsh gear 1 to 2 change.

I purchased another ISC (a second-hand one) and idle behaviour seems normal.

Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal on MacBook Pro 8,1

Quick Notes

1. Used this live DVD
2. Hold 'option' key when restarting or turning on
3. Select 'windows' CD/DVD (wait a while for Mac EFI to 'see' CD/DVD)
4. I tried both 'install beside OS-X' and custom (to make a separate home partition)
5. No wireless after install. Not sure what exactly worked but I updated and installed these packages and rebooted:

• b43-fwcutter
• linux-firmware
• linux-firmware-nonfree
• firmware-b43-lpphy-installer

EFI Stuff

Later I did this:

• Uninstalled grub-pc, grub-pc-bin etc. and installed grub-efi

No need for rEFIt or rEFInd unless you want them.

I'd use rEFInd now and ignore rEFIt.

What works

• Right speaker
• Wireless
• Ethernet
• Keyboard backlight, F5/F6 keys, and OSD
• Display brightness, F1/F2 keys, and OSD
• Volume control, F10/F11/F12 keys, and OSD
• Lid close and sleep
• Lid open and wake
• Display (using i915 I think)
• Touchpad

What does not work

• Left speaker is soft
• Bluetooth

Working Mint 13 (based on Unubtu 12.04) on 15" MacBook Pro 9,1 (non-retina TM)

So far, I have succeeded - except I need to hold 'option' to get Mint to boot.

I was trying to get Ubuntu 12.04 installed, but Mint 13 had a better live DVD 'compatibility mode' that allowed linux to boot and run with a GUI.

Just to be clear: I have a 15" MacBoook Pro 9,1. This is a non-retina (TM) MacBook Pro.

According to wikipedia,

• 15" version is 9,1 and has an Nvidia display
• 13" version is 9,2 but does not have an Nvidia display
• 15" retina (TM) version is 10,1 and seems similar in specification to 9,1

This is what I have tried:

ISO-2-USB EFI

1. Downloaded Ubuntu 12.04 desktop AMD64 mac iso

2. Downloaded a magical ISO-2-USB EFI-Booter for Mac 0.01 beta from

Followed instructions on this page:

This is my version:

1. Format a USB drive with a MBR and FAT32 partition. Elsewhere some suggest a GUID instead of MBR. I used MBR. On linux Disk Utility, FAT32 is FAT.
2. Make a /efi/boot directory tree on USB drive.
3. Copy bootX64.efi from “ISO-2-USB EFI-Booter for Mac 0.01 beta” to /efi/boot
4. Copy Ubuntu iso to /efi/boot/
5. Rename iso to boot.iso. Check that you have 2 files in /efi/boot
6. Reboot your Mac, hold down 'alt' key. Eventually you will see your Macs Normal OS, a Recovery, and EFI Boot.
7. Select EFI Boot and the boot.iso will load.

For me, this works but it gets no further than a loading linux and a ramdisk.

rEFInd

I installed rEFInd (which works fine).
This will help me test various boot methods.
I installed rEFInd in my Mac's esp partition, and copied iso and ext2 drivers so rEFInd can look for EFI programs on CD/DVDs and EXT2 partitions.

rEFInd did not install first time.  I would try this file first, follow the OS-X instructions but instead of ./install.sh I recommend sudo ./install.sh

Boot Ubuntu CD

First Attempt

1. I burnt a Ubuntu iso (see above) to CD
2. Rebooted my Mac and inserted CD
3. rEFInd started and listed bootable OSs. If CD image is not shown, hit ESC key to let rEFInd look again.
4. Selected live

No good: just got a blank screen with a flashing cursor

Second Attempt

1. Rebooted my Mac and inserted CD
2. When I got to the 3 GRUB options, I selected live but modified the command to add these linux kernel boot options (before --): nomodeset nointremap vga=0x361. These hints came from this discussion
3. Press Fn+F10 to run modified command

I get the Ubuntu splash screen, but it fails to boot with a vesafb error. 
It drops to a shell so linux is running but it seems it can not initialise graphics correctly.

Third Attempt

1. Rebooted my Mac and inserted CD
2. When I got to the 3 GRUB options, I selected install this time but modified the command to add these linux kernel boot options: nomodeset nointremap vga=0x361.
3. Press Fn+F10 to run modified command

I get the Ubuntu splash screen, and the install process ran and completed.
I had to force power off.
On reboot, rEFInd did not run, but Grub did, however Ubuntu would not start - just a blank screen.
I re-blessed rEFInd and it now starts.

Getting closer...

Info

I think these are true - but that does not mean they are true:

1. If you do not use nomodeset, you will not see anything on screen and linux will not boot. To fix, boot into OS-X (to reset video mode?) and then try linux again.
2. Ubuntu and Mint installers/live DVDs seem to work by magic. Mint has these linux kernel options as found in /proc/cmdline
   
   file=/cdrom/preseed/mint.seed boot=casper xforcevesa nomodeset b43.blacklist=yes initrd=/casper/initrd.lz ramdisk_size=1048576 root=/dev/ram rw noapic noapci nosplash irqpoll -- BOOT_IMAGE=/casper/vmlinuz
   
   I think these ones in bold are key, so I will try them now...
   

Fourth Attempt

1. Rebooted my Mac and inserted Mint DVD 13
2. Mint in 'compatibility mode' works
3. I installed Mint but it complained about not being able to install grub (I suspect) since Mint uses grub-pc for machines with a BIOS. I ignored this message and continued.
4. After install, refind did not find Mint - not totally unexpected.
5. Holding 'option' key down while turning my MacBook Pro on, I found that Apple's boot manager did detect a new OS. It labelled it 'Windows'.
6. I let it boot 'Windows' and (from memory) I got a console screen - no GUI.
7. I updated grub to include xforcevesa noapic noapci irqpoll options, ran update-grub and restarted.
8. Success! Now Mint starts fine. Screen brightness is at max.

Now... what works and what does not work...

What works for me

• Brightness keys (Brightness resumes at max setting after boot)
• Volume keys
• Track-pad
• WiFi
• Front Right speaker
• Camera (using VLC)
• Detects power
• Mute Key
• Play/Pause Key
• Rewind Key
• Eject Key
• Nvidia (using nouveau)
• Shutdown
• Colours appear more vivid than my MacBook Pro4,1 (which look washed-out in comparison)
• Forward Key

What does not work

• Fan!!! (runs hot, but fan does come on, just not soon enough)
• Keyboard backlight keys - they bring up OSD but nothing changes
• Front Left is silent (or is same as Front right)
• Bluetooth (so far)

What I can't test

• Firewire - module loaded but where is port?

Now to try a few experimental things

• Kernel 3.5
• Nvidia 304 (wasn't actually in used)
• MacTel macfanctld

Results

• Front Left speaker now works
• Close lid to sleep (I forgot to test this with 3.2 kernel)
• Does not wake when lid opened (although white pulsing light goes out when lid is lifted) - had to force power off

Drop Nvidia 304

Results

• No change since Nvidia was not being used.

Try Linux Kernel 3.6

I used 3.6 RC3 and64 debs from here: http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.6-rc3-quantal/
Install 4.

Results

• First think I noticed was that my fans turned on!
• Brightness Keys no longer change brightness
• Keyboard back-light keys work!

This is looking more positive.

UPDATE: Howto Restore from a Time Machine backup on a Drobo-FS

This is what I did. Not everything here may be important, but...

My Starting point:

• A PowerBook G4.

• A probably damaged file system (ie. I could not shrink a partition).

• A recent Time Machine backup to a Time Machine enabled share on a Drobo-FS. This was 'updated' several times as I was cleaning out my file system. This also meant it is huge.

• I removed all partitions on my hard drive - I wanted a clean start.

Note: my Drobo-FS share is accessible by 'Everyone'. My other shares require an account. This may be important as I am not sure if you will later be able to connect to this share by using a username and password. So, I would connect to your Drobo-FS and add 'Everyone' with Read/Write access.

What I wanted to do was install a tiny OSX partition, restore some of my old accounts, and install linux as well. My aim was to make Linux the main OS.

Howto Restore from a Time Machine backup on a Drobo-FS

• Boot of install DVD. Mine was OSX Leopard 10.5

• After first screen to select your language, turn on AirPort (icon in top right hand corner) and joined your home wireless network.

• From the menu, select Utilities - we need to somehow find and mount your Drobo-FS share containing your Time Machine backup bundle.

• Select Disk utility.

• Select File - Open Disk Image. This will not actually work, but it will allow you to mount a Drobo-FS share. You should now see your Drobo-FS under SHARED in a Finder window.

• Click on your Drobo-FS. Your shares should be listed.

• Double-click on your Time Machine backup share. Your Drobo-FS backup share should now be mounted and accessibly for restoration.

• Cancel back to Disk Utility.

• Here, I created a Partition and gave it the identical name that it had before. In my case it was 'Macintiosh HD'. This may or may not be important.

• Exit Disk Utility.

• Select Utilities - Restore... (not sure exactly what is is called)

• From here you should be able to select your Time machine backup share and your hard drive for the restore to proceed.

Note: I had trouble using the wired Ethernet port and enabling AirPort seemed to help - On previous attempts to migrate accounts, I found that Apple's installer could not  use my wired Ethernet port!?!

Note: This is not what I want, but I hope to be able to shrink this later to add other partitions for Linux.

Currently mine is up to 96%.

UPDATE: It did finish and all was well and Linux (Mint PPC) runs great!

Postscript

Dear Drobo,

You market these 'simple-to-use' devices and promote Time Machine compatibility - to a degree.

I should not have to go to some third party blog that suggests I run a terminal and type in a command that only geeks would know what it does or means. 

Should I?

This is your support page. - well, that is what I found. Is that the best you can do?

UPDATE: Drobo have contacted me and suggest looking at this page.

http://support.drobo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/667/kw/restore

It looks very complicated and they indicate that it only works for Lion or later. 

I think my 'discovered' method is simpler. Drobo's instructions require terminal commands and details that would be hard to get if you are not familiar with low-level Unix commands and IP networking.

You now need to publish simple-to-use instructions on how to use Drobo's (especially networked ones) in situations where we, your customer's need instructions.

Why? Because your products don't 'just work'!!!

In the case your Drobo-FS product - the one I paid handsomely for on the basis of 'simple-to-use'... you need to publish at least these instructions:

• Restore a machine from a Time Machine backup on a Drobo-FS share.

• Migrate accounts at any time or after a fresh install of OS-X.

You need to test these instructions, try them of all supported OSs, you do do this already don't you? So document it so people can do it for themselves.

How can I recommend a Drobo-FS to someone when I had so much trouble restoring!?!

But, if I am the dummy here, please tell me where I went wrong. I have to do this a few more times!

How many Linux installations are there?

How hard can it be?

I'd like to know how many linux desktops/laptops, servers, phones, tablets and even routers there are.

What if each linux distro included a package that was part of a default desktop or server installation and this package submitted machine data to an online database?

A database already exists that oddly goes by this URL: linuxcounter.net

So, we have a database, we just need automated data to populate it.

We might need some rules:

1. Opt-in
2. Don't use serial numbers

Following these rules, a linux installation could send in these values:

1. CPU type
2. RAM
3. HDD size
4. linux kernel
5. Desktop, Server, Phone, Tablet, Router (based on installation)
6. Install date (of package)
7. Distro identifier

8. Number of user accounts
9. Public or private IP address (not actual IP address, just type)

A key could be generated using data 1 to 7 - things that are unlikely to change too often.

This data could be sent in monthly to either update a database entry, or to create a new one.

Old entries that don't get updated for 1 month get marked as stale.
Stale entries get deleted after 6 months.

A machine that undergoes a significant hardware or software change will automatically get a new entry and it's old entry will go stale and eventually be deleted.

At any time we will have a lower bound on active linux installations - I'd like that.

Approximate Distance between Two Points

Is there an approximate way to calculate distance between two points?

Normally I would use
   
    D = sqrt( dx^2 + dy^2 ).

But I didn't want to use sqrt().

Note: I have assumed that dx and dy are always positive by using absolute values.

Consider a case where dx >= dy:

After normalizing by dividing dx and dy by dx,

    D' = D / dx = sqrt( 1 + (dy/dx)^2 )

Plotting this from 0 to 1 shows a flat-ish curve. It could be approximated by a straight line or, as I have done, by a quadratic.

    D' = Ax^2 + B

Plugging in two extreme points (0,1) and (1,sqrt(2))

When x=0, D'=1 therefore B=1

And when x=1, D'=sqrt(2) therefore A=sqrt(2) - 1 (about 0.4142)

So, for dx>=dy (and dx!=0)

    D = 0.4142 * dy^2 / dx + dx

And for dx<dy (and dy!=0),

    D = 0.4142 * dx^2 / dy + dy   (dx and dy are swapped)

Average error seems to be less than 1% - good enough for what I want and simple.

By using different 'tuning' points, better accuracy can be achieved

Another approach (using a linear approximation I suspect) can be found here.

PowerTop - Howto Enable Device Power Management by pressing the P key

Have you ever ran powertop? If not, have a look at these links.

http://www.linuxpowertop.org/ 

http://www.lesswatts.org/index.php 

When you run powertop as root (eg. sudo powertop), it might recommend something like this: 

Enable Device Power Management by pressing the P key

So how do you do this when powertop is not running?

This forum made a suggestion that I have attempted to simplify.

find /sys/devices/pci* -path "*power/control" -exec bash -c "echo auto > '{}'" \;

Or you can use this slightly longer one that echo's values before and after it changes.

find /sys/devices/pci* -path "*power/control" -exec \
  bash -c "echo -n '{}' = && cat '{}' && echo auto > '{}' && echo -n '{}' = && cat '{}'" \;

Both have to be run as root or using sudo.

eg.

sudo find /sys/devices/pci* -path "*power/control" -exec bash -c "echo auto > '{}'" \; 

Here is my bash script that I run with an extra powertop recommendation that may 

not be applicable in your case.

#!/bin/bash

find /sys/devices/pci* -path "*power/control" -exec \
  bash -c "echo -n '{}' = && cat '{}' && echo auto > '{}' && echo -n '{}' = && cat '{}'" \;

F="/sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save"
echo -n $F = && cat $F
echo 1 > $F
echo -n $F = && cat $F
 

An idea: a DockBook

A DockBook looks like a laptop or netbook or a portable DVD player or a TV - who knows.

Update 7/9/2011: It has sort-of been done.

It is probably a dumb device: a screen, a keyboard, a battery, USB ports, SSD, ... whatever you like.

On its own, it may do nothing (but it could have some functionality, but this is not the main function).

Where you might expect a trackpad to go, it has a square-ish hole - call it a 'docket'. In this docket you place a sabot that is specific to your phone. This sabot allows your phone to be held neatly and firmly in your DockBook.

A separate sabot could be provided for a second phone battery - again, an open interface.

A DockBook is just a collection of peripherals that allow you to do more with your phone.

Your phone provides CPUs, GPUs, touchscreen, broadband interfaces, WiFi, GPS, accelerometers etc. And your DockBook provides, perhaps, a full-size keyboard, large screen, camera, speakers, mics, power and other interfaces not found on your phone.

A DockBook could simply be a car-dock or an alarm clock. Perhaps a tablet too. The docket might have different forms for different Docks: a flat one for a netbook form or a vertical one for an alarm clock. The sabot might wrap around all of your phone or just its base.

Your phone is a powerful computer and phones will get more powerful. But for some tasks you need a keyboard, mouse, bigger screen, or a holder to keep it in a particular position.

A DockBook sabo provides a charging interface to your particular phone and Bluetooth provides communications to peripherals. Perhaps inductive charging?

While you are working you might get a call - just un-dock your phone and answer the call. Or you could answer it while docked and use a DockBook's microphone and speaker - hands free.

Imagine apps on your phone displaying specific buttons that can be touched making your docked phone a smart, reconfigurable touchpad - a menu system perhaps, or slider control. Perhaps a scrolling list of things to select?

Another DockBook could be a Digital SLR camera: your phone provides GPS, and internet connectivity and your camera dock provides lenses, flash and focus system.

What about a mouse dock? your phone becomes a touchpad for your PC or perhaps your phone's accelerometer can be used just like a mouse? While you are at your PC your phone is charging and enabling applications to work with your phone in a new way.

Imagine a docket that configures your car to your particular preference: temperature, seating position, mirrors and music.

It all needs to be open so companies and individuals can make a Dock for a market or niche use. It should work with any phone - not just an iPhone or an Android phone.

Some other docks: a games console like a wii or a PSP; a printer; braille terminal; a tablet; lego mindstorm robot; synthesizer; printing calculator; desk phone; chess board; ePaper book reader; projector dock; digital radio; car/plane/train seat dock;

Howto use nfs to access files on a Drobo-FS - UPDATED

This should work for Linux clients and OS-X.

Notes

1. I am going to assume that, if you want to use nfs on your Drobo-FS then you know what you are doing and I can be brief.

2. drobo-fs is the dns name of your Drobo-FS or use it's IP address. In OS-X, I use drobo-fs.local

Steps

1. Install Unfsd on your Drobo-FS

See here

http://www.drobo.com/droboapps/apps-for-drobofs.php

Which links to this

http://support.datarobotics.com/ci/fattach/get/25295/1286306491/redirect/1/session/L2F2LzEvc2lkL0JYM3RrMXJr

2. If Linux, make a mount point

sudo mkdir /mnt/drobo

3. If Linux, add this to your /etc/fstab file - UPDATED

drobo-fs.local:/mnt/DroboFS/Shares/Public  /mnt/drobo  nfs  rw,soft,proto=tcp  0  0

3.1 Install nfs-common package


If Linux

sudo apt-get install nfs-common

4. Mount the nfs directory on your client

If Linux

sudo mount /mnt/drobo

If OS-X

mount -w -t nfs drobo-fs.local:/mnt/DroboFS/Shares/Public /mnt/drobo

Thanks to http://obasandbox.wordpress.com/tag/drobofs/

or in Finder

Connect to server nfs://drobo-fs.local:/mnt/DroboFS/Shares/Public

Test

In Linux, browse to /mnt/drobo and you should see the files in your Public share.

In OS-X, open the drobo-fs.local share.