Asus Eee PC 1008HA BIOS update

One of the coolest things about the latest versio of Ubuntu is that Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope includes out of the box support for a number of Intel Atom based netbooks. Power management, WiFi, and even some computer hotkey combinations work as soon as you install Jaunty Jackalope on older Asus Eee PC models, for example. But it turns out that if you install Ubuntu 9.04 on a brand new Eee PC 1008HA there’s one thing that doesn’t work right away: the WiFi card.

At least one user has reported that you need to install the compat-wireless package for Ubuntu in order to get the wireless card up and running. 

It’s worth noting that Asus did just release a BIOS update for the Eee PC 1008HA, which is supposed to address wireless issues. But it’s not clear if this will have any impact on Ubuntu performance. 

I also haven’t heard anything yet about users installing custom Linux distributions like Eeebuntu or Easy Peasy on the Eee PC 1008HA yet. It’s still a pretty new computer and it isn’t available in all parts of the world yet. But since the netbook does feature a dramatically different look than most Asus netbooks, we probably shouldn’t be surprised if it uses a few different internal components like wireless adapters from earlier models as well.

via I4U

Eeebuntu is a custom version of Ubuntu Linux designed for netbooks. And the latest version, Eeebuntu 3.0 is based on the recently launched Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope, which means it has all the latest features included in a standard Ubuntu installation. While Canonical, the company that maintains Ubuntu, has built improved support for netbooks into Jaunty Jackalope, Eeebuntu 3.0 uses a custom kernel designed to work with all of the hardware and custom hotkeys on most Asus Eee PC netbooks.

Eeebuntu comes in three versions, Standard, Base, and NBR. The standard version includes a basic Ubuntu installation plus some extra bells and whistles including Compiz desktop effects and popular applications including OpenOffice.org and the VLC  Media Player. NBR includes the Ubuntu Netbook Remix interface. And the Base edition is a stripped down version that comes with fewer applications. This means the operating system is faster to download and takes up less space on your computer. You can always install the missing apps or others after the operating system is installed.

Eeebuntu Base 3.0 is now available for download. The developers hope to make Eeebuntu Standard and NBR 3.0 available soon. A new version using the light weight LXDE window manager should follow soon after.

thanks Guitaraholic!

The next full version of the popular Linux distribution Ubuntu is due out in April. But you can already download and try out a beta version of Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope if you’re willing to put up with the possibility of finding a few bugs. One of the most exciting changes in Ubuntu 9.04 is improved support for a number of netbooks, particularly models with Intel Atom processors.

I downloaded the latest beta and loaded it onto a 1GB USB flash drive using UNetbootin. You can try out Ubuntu without making any changes to your system by running it as a LiveUSB. If you decide you want to install it, just click the install icon on the desktop and follow the instructions. You can either overwrite any existing operating systems or try to make them live peacefully next to one another.

Long story short, when I plugged the Ubuntu 9.04 flash drive into my Eee PC 1000HE, the operating system booted quickly and all of the hardware just worked. The keyboard shortcuts for adjusting the volume and screen brightness work, the WiFi card is recognized, and I connected to my home network in a matter of seconds. The only problem I noticed is that the speakers seem substantially quieter than they are under Windows XP or Windows 7.

Ubuntu Mini reports that Jaunty Jackalope also supports the Dell Inspiron Mini 9. Have you tried Ubuntu 9.04 on your netbook yet? Let us know how it went in the comments.