Difference between revisions of "Fitlet: Installing Linux Mint 17.2"

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(Aggressive Link Power Management (ALPM))   (change visibility)
(watchdog)   (change visibility)
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  min_power
 
  min_power
  
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== Watchdog ==
 +
* [http://fit-pc.com/wiki/index.php/Fitlet:_Linux:_Kernel Custom kernel] should be installed to make this feature work
 +
* The AMD FCH supports a user configurable watchdog
 +
* Once the watchdog is enabled the system restarts once the timeout period elapses, in order to prevent it the user needs to either feed the watchdog or to disable it
 +
$ sudo apt-get install watchdog
 +
* Uncomment watchdog-device line in /etc/watchdog.conf
 +
watchdog-device = /dev/watchdog
 +
* Set responsible kernel module to sp5100_tco in /etc/default/watchdog
 +
watchdog_module="sp5100_tco"
 +
* By default the timeout value is 60 sec and the watchdog deamon feeds the watchdog every 10 sec
 +
* As example you can simulate kernel panic (as root user):
 +
$ echo c > /proc/sysrq-trigger
 +
* As a result, the watchdog is not fed and the system will reboot after 60 sec
  
 
[[category:fitlet]]
 
[[category:fitlet]]

Revision as of 12:12, 18 November 2015

Prepare installation media

Base installation of Linux Mint

  • Follow the standard Linux Mint installation procedure - choose timezone, partitions, username, password etc.
  • Disconnect the installation media and reboot.
  • Login using previously selected username and password.

ATI Catalyst video driver

  • fglrx is a proprietary ATI Catalyst video driver that provides XvBA (X-video Bitstream Acceleration) support.
  • WARNING!!! fglrx driver has been updated on 2015-05-19, from version 13.350 to 15.200. There is a bug or some incompatibility in the new package. Please blacklist new version until Ubuntu or ATI will release the fix. Create file /etc/apt/preferences.d/fglrx.13.350.pref
Package: fglrx*
Pin: release a=trusty
Pin-Priority: 1001
  • Install fglrx driver and other required utilities with the command below:
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install fglrx-updates fglrx-amdcccle-updates xvba-va-driver vainfo
  • Note: system reboot is required after the installation of the fglrx driver.

Kodi and VLC

  • Kodi (formerly known as XBMC) and VLC are well known free and open-source multimedia players
  • Both of them use GPU accelerated video decoding and give excellent playback quality
  • Both of them compatible with the most popular video formats
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:team-xbmc/ppa
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install kodi vlc
  • Kodi will support GPU accelerated video decoding out of the box
  • In VLC you need to check Tools->Preferences->Input and Codecs->Use GPU accelerated decoding checkbox to take advantage of GPU accelerated video decoding

Thermal monitoring

  • Install tools for monitoring CPU and storage temperature
$ sudo apt-get install lm-sensors hddtemp
$ sensors
k10temp-pci-00c3
Adapter: PCI adapter
temp1:        +60.9°C  (high = +70.0°C)
                      (crit = +105.0°C, hyst = +104.0°C)
$ sudo hddtemp /dev/sda
/dev/sda: SanDisk SD6SF1M064G: 42°C

Aggressive Link Power Management (ALPM)

  • It's a mechanism where a SATA controller can put the disk into a very low power mode during periods of zero I/O activity and into an active power state when work needs to be done. Tests show that this can save some power and decrease mSATA average temperature.
  • Create text file /etc/pm/power.d/sata_alpm
#!/bin/sh

for i in /sys/class/scsi_host/host*/link_power_management_policy; do
echo min_power > $i
done
  • Make it executable
$ sudo chmod +x /etc/pm/power.d/sata_alpm
  • Reboot, check that SATA power management policy has been changed
$ cat /sys/class/scsi_host/host*/link_power_management_policy
min_power
min_power

Watchdog

  • Custom kernel should be installed to make this feature work
  • The AMD FCH supports a user configurable watchdog
  • Once the watchdog is enabled the system restarts once the timeout period elapses, in order to prevent it the user needs to either feed the watchdog or to disable it
$ sudo apt-get install watchdog
  • Uncomment watchdog-device line in /etc/watchdog.conf
watchdog-device = /dev/watchdog
  • Set responsible kernel module to sp5100_tco in /etc/default/watchdog
watchdog_module="sp5100_tco"
  • By default the timeout value is 60 sec and the watchdog deamon feeds the watchdog every 10 sec
  • As example you can simulate kernel panic (as root user):
$ echo c > /proc/sysrq-trigger
  • As a result, the watchdog is not fed and the system will reboot after 60 sec