Update: 10 March 2011 – For newer Ubuntu versions (10.04 Lucid), instead of reading this howto, I think you can straight away head to http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1549473 – from kathleenhenri. I’ve yet to try it on my box, but looks like it’d definitely work.
Few weeks back (September 2008) I purchased a Fujitsu U1010 (U810 in US market). It ran Windows Vista. Though I have been using Ubuntu for all my computing needs, I thought let the UMPC run Windows much like my Nokia runs Symbian. However, in a matter of few days I got fedup with Vista and decided to install Ubuntu 8.04 – there were challenges, and fortunately with the help of some good souls on internet, I overcame majority of them. Now the UMPC is running full-time Ubuntu Linux.
Disclaimer
The steps mentioned below may not be suitable from security point of view. Please use them at your own discretion. I take no responsibility for anything done to your machine by following the instructions below.
Tasks covered
- Installation of Operating System
- Touchscreen Configuration using evtouch – Not perfect though
- Switching On/Off of Keyboard Lights/LEDs/Headlights
- Rotating the screen
- Associating the keys / , // , and Screen Rotate on the panel with their desired functions, that is, switching on keyboard lights, running handwriting recognition application and rotating the screen.
- Using the Webcam – still painful
- Putting the system into suspend and recovering from it successfully.
Much Thanks to
- Julian Brown – http://panic.cs-bristol.org.uk/~jules/fujitsu-u810-debian-install-notes.html – Without him, the most important feature for me, the Keyboard lights, would not have worked.
- Nathan Eckenrode (n8k99) and LordOfThePigs – http://so.nacreo.us/2007/12/touch-me-i-sick.html – For touchscreen configuration and a shell script for screen rotation
- zmiq2 – http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=2202&forum=16&post_id=16973 – For an excellent tip on Suspend and Resume.
Vivek's blog 