http://www.corey-m.com/blog/?p=309

Don’t get me wrong, Xandros on my new Eee PC 900 was great because of the fact that all of the Eee PC’s hardware was supported. However, Xandros’s simplicity was not quite what I was looking for, and I’m not so much a KDE fan either. The following are the steps I took to get my Eee PC up and running XUbuntu with most of the hardware supported. The same steps should work with Ubuntu. I tried both, and the speed of Xfce in XUbuntu won me over the looks of Gnome in Ubuntu.

Installation

    * First, you’ll need to download the installation ISO from the official website (Ubuntu / XUbuntu). I would recommend downloading the “Alternate Desktop” version because the text installer is very straightforward.
    * Burn the ISO to a CD with your favorite disk burning application.
    * Attach a network cable and external (USB) CD drive with your new Installation disk in it to the Eee PC and turn it on. Network connectivity is not required, but it is recommended. At the splash screen, press Escape. You will be prompted for which device to boot from, choose the CD drive.
      *If you do not own an external CD drive, you can alternately install via a thumb drive, but this is slightly more complicated. More info on that here.
    * Ubuntu installation on the Eee PC is much simpler than that server install I did last week. The client version has much fewer options. Basically follow the prompts to setup your keyboard, partition the disk (I chose “Guided- Use Entire Disk” and installed to my 16gb SSD (sdb) and erased the 4gb with Xandros), and setup a user account.
    * The installation will complete and ask you to remove the CD and restart. You no longer need the CD drive, but leave the network cable plugged in.

Configuration- Hardware

    * The first thing you want to do is update. Assuming you are connected to the Internet (via the network cable; we will setup wifi later), an update notification should appear a few moments after logging in. Ignore the warnings about your battery and proprietary drivers for now.  Update and restart as required. The following steps can be completed in pretty much any order (or not at all, if you do not care about that particular functionality), however I recommend installing the wifi fix last, because installing certain fixes after it requires it to be reinstalled anyway. Also, it is a good idea to reboot after reconfiguring hardware. You can do this by pressing the power button then click restart or typing “sudo reboot” into the command line.
    * Shutdown fix: When the shutdown button is pressed, Ubuntu will not shut down completely by default. Fix this by modifying the halt file. Type the following into the command line (Applications > Accessories > Terminal):

          sudo nano /etc/default/halt

      Add the following line to the end of the file:

          rmmod snd-hda-intel

      Press ctrl+x to quit, y to save changes, then enter to confirm.
    * 5/31 Touchpad Configuration fix: The Eee PC 900 uses an Elantech touchpad, not the Synaptics one used in the Eee PC 701. In order to configure it, you must update your kernel mouse driver file and install the elantech configuration utility. To update your driver, type the following into Terminal (driver compiled by StewieGriffin at the EeeUser forum):

          wget http://corey-m.com/blog/wp-content/...05/mouse.tar.gz

          tar zxvf mouse.tar.gz

          cd /lib/modules/2.6.24-17-generic/kernel/drivers/input/mouse

          sudo cp psmouse.ko psmouse.ko.sav

          sudo cp ~/mouse/psmouse.ko .

      Now, reboot. Type the following into Terminal:

          sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

      Add the following line at the end of the section that begins with “Identifier ‘Synaptics Touchpad’”

          SHMConfig “true”

      Press crtl+x to quit, y to save changes, then enter to confirm. Now download and install the package for the configuration software gsynaptics-elantech here. Now, to configure the touchpad, just run the config program by typing the following into Terminal:

          gsynaptics

    * ACPI fix: This fix, combined with the next (OSD) will enable the “Fn” hotkeys to work on your keyboard.

          sudo apt-get update

          sudo apt-get install -y -f build-essential module-assistant eeepc-acpi-source --force-yes

          sudo m-a a-i eeepc-acpi

          sudo cp /etc/modules ~/modules.tmp

          sudo chmod 777 ~/modules.tmp

          echo “eeepc-acpi” >> ~/modules.tmp

          sudo chmod 644 ~/modules.tmp

          sudo mv ~/modules.tmp /etc/modules

    * OSD fix: This fix combined with the previous (ACPI) enables your “Fn” keys with the corresponding on screen popup dialogues. Type the following into Terminal:

          wget http://eee-osd.googlecode.com/files...buntu1_i386.deb

          sudo dpkg -i eee-osd_2.1-0eeeXubuntu1_i386.deb

          sudo rm -r eee-osd*

    * Mute Key fix: This fix allows the mute key to function correctly. Type the following into Terminal:

          gconftool-2 --set /desktop/gnome/sound/default_mixer_tracks --type list --list-type string “[PCM]“

    * 6/10 Sound on Resume fix: This fix makes your sound drivers resume correctly when the computer wakes up from suspend mode. Type the following into Terminal:

          sudo nano /etc/default/alsa

      Change the following line:

          force_unload_modules_before_suspend

      to read:

          force_unload_modules_before_suspend=”snd_hda_intel”

      Press crtl+x to quit, y to save changes, then enter to confirm. Type the following into Terminal:

          sudo nano /usr/lib/pm-utils/sleep.d/45sound

      Paste the following into the new file:

          #!/bin/bash

          if [ ! -x /sbin/alsa ]; then
                  exit 0;
          fi

          case “$1′ in
                  hibernate|suspend)
                          /sbin/alsa suspend
                          ;;
                  thaw|resume)
                          /sbin/alsa resume
                          ;;
                  *)
                          ;;
          esac

          exit $?

      Press crtl+x to quit, y to save changes, then enter to confirm. Type the following into Terminal:

          sudo chmod +x /usr/lib/pm-utils/sleep.d/45sound

    * Battery Warning fix: This disables the battery warning mentioned earlier. Ubuntu is still able to properly analyze your battery. Type the following into Terminal:

          gconftool-2 --set /apps/gnome-power-manager/notify/low_capacity --type bool 0

      Now, when the battery warning shows at startup click don’t show again.
    * 5/27 Sleep on Lid Closed: Right-click on the battery monitor on the top right of your desktop and selecting preferences. Select Suspend from the drop down list for when the laptop lid is closed.
    * Webcam fix: This enables the webcam. *NOTE: You must enable the webcam in the bios (start up Eee PC and press F2 at the splash screen) before the webcam will work! Even if you think you have not disabled it, there is a good chance that it still is. Type the following into Terminal:

          sudo aptitude install subversion

          svn co svn://svn.berlios.de/linux-uvc/linux-uvc/trunk linux-uvc

          cd linux-uvc

          sudo make

          sudo make install

          sudo modprobe -r uvcvideo

          sudo mv /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/ubuntu/media/usbvideo/uvcvideo.ko /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/ubuntu/media/usbvideo/uvcvideo.ko.original

          sudo cp uvcvideo.ko /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/ubuntu/media/usbvideo/uvcvideo.ko

          sudo modprobe uvcvideo

          sudo rm -r ~/linux-uvc

    * 5/27 Microphone fix: This enables the microphone. The quality is not great, but it is very callworthy if you turn the mic volume up. Edit the alsa-base file by typing the following into Terminal:

          sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base

      Add the following line:

          options snd-hda-intel model=auto

      Press crtl+x to quit, y to save changes, then enter to confirm. Then type:

          sudo alsactl store

      Reboot. Now, type the following into Terminal:

          sudo apt-get install module-assistant

          sudo m-a update

          sudo m-a prepare

          sudo m-a a-i alsa

      Reboot again.Now Type the following into Terminal:

          sudo nano /var/lib/alsa/asound.state

      Press ctrl+w to search and type in “Capture Switch” (without the quotes). Make sure the two following booleans are set to “true” (without the quotes). Press crtl+x to quit, y to save changes, then enter to confirm. Now, type:

          sudo alsactl restore

      Reboot again and you should be in business. Make sure to set your Capture volume to high in Volume Control.
    * Wifi fix: This enables wifi. This fix seems to be nullified if certain fixes are applied after it. For this reason, I recommend installing this last. If this happens though (wifi is no longer recognized), just repeat this fix. Type the following into Terminal:

          sudo apt-get update

          sudo apt-get install build-essential

          wget http://snapshots.madwifi.org/madwif...20080706.tar.gz

          tar zxvf madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3752-20080706.tar.gz

          cd madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3752-20080706

          make clean

          make

          sudo make install

          sudo rm ~/madwifi*

      Now you can connect to wifi networks by clicking the network icon in the top right of the screen.

Configuration- Aestetics

    * Smaller Fonts: This will set general smaller fonts in Ubuntu. This is more suitable for the Eee PC because you dont have a whole lot of screen real estate. Anything helps. Type the following into Terminal:

          gconftool-2 --set /apps/nautilus/preferences/desktop_font --type string “Sans 8′

          gconftool-2 --set /desktop/gnome/interface/document_font_name --type string “Sans 8′

          gconftool-2 --set /desktop/gnome/interface/font_name --type string “Sans 8′

          gconftool-2 --set /apps/metacity/general/titlebar_font --type string “Sans Bold 8′

          gconftool-2 --set /desktop/gnome/interface/monospace_font_name --type string “Monospace 8′

    * Full Screen: This will enable any app to be run in full screen by pressing Alt+F11. Type the following into Terminal:

          gconftool-2 --set /apps/metacity/window_keybindings/toggle_fullscreen --type string “F11′

    * Icon-only Toolbars: This will disable the redundant text in certain toolbars. This will make them smaller, gaining you slightly more screen real estate. Type the following into Terminal:

          gconftool-2 --set /desktop/gnome/interface/toolbar_style --type string “icons”

    * Smaller Pannels: This will slightly reduce the size of the pannels on the top and bottom of your screen, gaining you slightly more screen real estate. Type the following into Terminal:

          gconftool-2 --set /apps/panel/toplevels/top_panel_screen0/size --type integer 19

          gconftool-2 --set /apps/panel/toplevels/bottom_panel_screen0/size --type integer 19

    * Remove Menu Icons: This will remove the icons from certain menus making them smaller, gaining you slightly more screen real estate. Type the following into Terminal:

          gconftool-2 --set /desktop/gnome/interface/menus_have_icons --type bool 0

    * Unconstrain Windows: This will allow you to move certain windows beyond the constrains of the top edge of the screen. Type the following into Terminal:

          gconftool-2 --set /apps/compiz/plugins/move/allscreens/options/constrain_y --type bool 0