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Home / How to Install Ubuntu on Acer Aspire One

How to Install Ubuntu on Acer Aspire One

Since I'd like to try Xibo Python Linux client, I've decided to install Ubuntu 10.04 LTS in my netbook Acer Aspire One D255. The bad news is that it did not go so smoothly, the good news is that since the wired & wireless network and SD card did not work I can blog the solution about it.

Installing Ubuntu 10.04 from a USB thumb drive.

First, I went to Ubuntu Download page, change the version to Ubuntu 10.04 LTS – Long Term Support and downloaded the ISO file (ubuntu-10.04.3-desktop-i386.iso).

Then I downloaded the Universal USB Installer (For Windows XP) to install the ISO in my USB thumb drive.

Finally, I inserted the USB thumb drive in my netbook and performed the default installation, except for partitioning, where I used the 3rd partition in my hard disk and an extra swap partition to install Ubuntu.

After installation, everything seems to work fine, as Ubuntu booted and I could login without issues. But I soon noticed three problems:

  • Ethernet is not working
  • The Wireless connection is not working
  • The SD card cannot be mounted

Fixing Wired and Wireless Ethernet

For let's have a look at my hardware (Since not all Aspire One D255 seem to have the same Wifi card):

# lspci
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications AR8152 v1.1 Fast Ethernet (rev c1)
02:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation Device 4727 (rev 01)

So I have a Broadcom Wireless card, where I has seen some other people have an Intel Wifi Card with the D255.

Here's how to install the Atheros Ethernet Driver:

  1. Go to http://linuxwireless.org/download/compat-wireless-2.6/
  2. Download compat-wireless-2.6.tar.bz2
  3. Decompress the archive, then compile and install atl1c driver:

    tar xjvf compat-wireless-2.6.tar.bz2
    cd compat-wireless*
    ./scripts/driver-select atl1c
    make
    sudo make install

  4. Reboot your computer or try to load the driver (modprobe atl1c)
  5. Your Ethernet network connection should now work properly.

Source: http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=9446984&postcount=6

Here's how to install the Broadcom Wifi driver:

  1. Compile and install brcm80211 driver from compat-wireless-2.6:

    cd compat-wireless*
    ./scripts/driver-select brcm80211
    make
    sudo make install

  2. Install git:

    sudo apt-get install git-core

  3. Install Broadcom firmware for b43xx:

    git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git
    sudo cp linux-firmware/brcm /lib/firmware -rf

  4. Reboot your computer or try to load the drivers (modprobe brcmutil, modprobe brcmsmac)
  5. Your Wireless network connection should now work properly after you've entered the Wifi password (if any)

If you fail to follow step 3, you'll find the following error with dmesg:

[ 13.963989] brcm80211: fail to load firmware brcm/bcm43xx-0.fw
[ 13.963993] brcm80211: Failed to find firmware usually in /lib/firmware/brcm

Source: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1593354&page=3

Fixing the SD Card Reader

  1.  Download the keucr driver at https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/530277/+attachment/1714152/+files/keucr.tgz
  2. Uncompress the driver:

    tar zvxf keucr.tgz

  3. Add the following two lines in usb.c in the driver source code after the include part (line 19):

    #define usb_alloc_coherent(a, b, c, d) usb_buffer_alloc(a, b, c, d)
    #define usb_free_coherent(a, b, c, d) usb_buffer_free(a, b, c, d)

  4. Build and install the driver:

    make -C /usr/src/linux-headers-uname -r M=pwd modules
    sudo make -C /usr/src/linux-headers-uname -r M=pwd modules_install
    sudo depmod -a

  5. Insert an SD Card, it should be mounted automatically and a window should popup to ask you what to do with the SD Card.

Source: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/530277

That's it. Let me know if you have any problems or if there are other issues in Ubuntu running on Acer Aspire One D255E in the comments section.

How to Install Ubuntu on Acer Aspire One

Source: https://www.cnx-software.com/2011/08/21/installing-ubuntu-10-04-lts-in-acer-aspire-one-d255/