Asus U35JC - Debian

Hardware info on main page.

This machine runs the x86_64 or amd64 version of Debian.

Currently, it runs Debian 8.

The hard drive (ad4) is sliced up as follows:

slice 1 - 20 GB - recovery partition
slice 2 - 149 GB - win7 partition
slice 3 - 213 GB - FreeBSD partition
slice 4 - 213 GB - Xubuntu partition

boot key: Esc,

Links

Debian,

local links

Dell Latitude D620,

Work log

2021-12-11: I re-created this page on my self-hosted web server.

2015-10-30: when I check out the SSD on my FreeBSD workstation, partitioning looks standard:

tingo@kg-core1$ uname -a
FreeBSD kg-core1.kg4.no 9.3-STABLE FreeBSD 9.3-STABLE #1 r287724: Sun Sep 13 00:23:47 CEST 2015
     root@kg-core1.kg4.no:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/GENERIC  amd64

gpart

root@kg-core1# gpart show -p da0
=>       63  351651825    da0  MBR  (167G)
         63       1985         - free -  (992k)
       2048   97654784  da0s1  linux-data  [active]  (46G)
   97656832       2046         - free -  (1M)
   97658878   15622146  da0s2  ebr  (7.5G)
  113281024  238370864         - free -  (113G)

disktype

root@kg-core1# disktype /dev/da0

--- /dev/da0
Character device, size 167.7 GiB (180045766656 bytes)
DOS/MBR partition map
Partition 1: 46.57 GiB (49999249408 bytes, 97654784 sectors from 2048, bootable)
  Type 0x83 (Linux)
  Ext3 file system
    UUID AEAA10C5-9FD6-4069-B4FA-40F29383D73E (DCE, v4)
    Last mounted at "/"
    Volume size 46.57 GiB (49999249408 bytes, 12206848 blocks of 4 KiB)
Partition 2: 7.449 GiB (7998538752 bytes, 15622146 sectors from 97658878)
  Type 0x05 (Extended)
  Partition 5: 7.449 GiB (7998537728 bytes, 15622144 sectors from 97658878+2)
    Type 0x82 (Linux swap / Solaris)
    Linux swap, version 2, subversion 1, 4 KiB pages, little-endian
      Swap size 7.449 GiB (7998529536 bytes, 1952766 pages of 4 KiB)

ok.

2015-08-25: install - even after making sure that only sdc1 is affected by the install, and that grub is written to /dev/sdc (manual device) the machine won't boot from the SSD, it just hangs on a blank screen. A different machine (Dell Latitude D620) has no problems booting from the SSD, using the same usb-to-sata adapter. Strange.

2015-08-24: install - I start the installer. I select English language, Norway as country and en_US.UTF-8 as locale, Norwegian keyboard. End result: installation works, but the boot doesn't afterwards. It works on another machine. Crap.

2015-08-24: install - I'm going to install on a 180 GB SSD (Intel 530 Series) connected via a usb-to-sata adapter as a trial, and to gain experience with Debian install process. I connect the SSD, and it shows up as sdc in /var/log/syslog:

Aug 24 17:53:02 localhost kernel: [768392.623601] usb 2-1.3: new high-speed USB device number 9 using ehci-pci
Aug 24 17:53:02 localhost kernel: [768392.716805] usb 2-1.3: New USB device found, idVendor=152d, idProduct=2509
Aug 24 17:53:02 localhost kernel: [768392.716813] usb 2-1.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=11, SerialNumber=3
Aug 24 17:53:02 localhost kernel: [768392.716818] usb 2-1.3: Product: Usb production
Aug 24 17:53:02 localhost kernel: [768392.716822] usb 2-1.3: Manufacturer: JMicron
Aug 24 17:53:02 localhost kernel: [768392.716826] usb 2-1.3: SerialNumber: 0012345667888
Aug 24 17:53:02 localhost kernel: [768392.717707] usb-storage 2-1.3:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
Aug 24 17:53:02 localhost kernel: [768392.717942] scsi5 : usb-storage 2-1.3:1.0
Aug 24 17:53:02 localhost mtp-probe: checking bus 2, device 9: "/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.3"
Aug 24 17:53:02 localhost mtp-probe: bus: 2, device: 9 was not an MTP device
Aug 24 17:53:03 localhost kernel: [768393.715424] scsi 5:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Disk     Name             DC32 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2 CCS
Aug 24 17:53:03 localhost kernel: [768393.715776] sd 5:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg3 type 0
Aug 24 17:53:03 localhost kernel: [768393.716918] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] 351651888 512-byte logical blocks: (180 GB/167 GiB)
Aug 24 17:53:03 localhost kernel: [768393.717905] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
Aug 24 17:53:03 localhost kernel: [768393.717910] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 28 00 00 00
Aug 24 17:53:03 localhost kernel: [768393.719292] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] No Caching mode page found
Aug 24 17:53:03 localhost kernel: [768393.719296] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
Aug 24 17:53:03 localhost kernel: [768393.727397]  sdc: unknown partition table
Aug 24 17:53:03 localhost kernel: [768393.730395] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI disk

good.

2015-08-24: Debian liveUSB has been running for about 8 days now:

user@debian:~$ date;acpi -t;sudo tail /var/log/syslog;df -h;uptime
Mon Aug 24 19:50:09 CEST 2015
Thermal 0: ok, 66.0 degrees C
Aug 24 14:05:03 localhost NetworkManager[872]: <info>   domain name 'kg4.no'
Aug 24 14:05:03 localhost dhclient: bound to 10.1.161.18 -- renewal in 17419 seconds.
Aug 24 14:05:03 localhost dbus[888]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.nm_dispatcher' unit='dbus-org.freedesktop.nm-dispatcher.service'
Aug 24 14:05:03 localhost dbus[888]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.nm_dispatcher'
Aug 24 14:05:03 localhost nm-dispatcher: Dispatching action 'dhcp4-change' for wlan0
Aug 24 14:17:01 localhost CRON[26516]: (root) CMD (   cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly)
Aug 24 14:59:09 localhost wpa_supplicant[1208]: nl80211: send_and_recv->nl_recvmsgs failed: -33
Aug 24 15:17:01 localhost CRON[26620]: (root) CMD (   cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly)
Aug 24 16:17:01 localhost CRON[27033]: (root) CMD (   cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly)
Aug 24 17:17:01 localhost CRON[27186]: (root) CMD (   cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly)
Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
aufs            3.9G  833M  3.0G  22% /
tmpfs           1.6G  9.1M  1.6G   1% /run
/dev/sdb1       941M  941M     0 100% /lib/live/mount/medium
/dev/loop0      821M  821M     0 100% /lib/live/mount/rootfs/filesystem.squashfs
tmpfs           3.9G     0  3.9G   0% /lib/live/mount/overlay
devtmpfs         10M     0   10M   0% /dev
tmpfs           3.9G  457M  3.4G  12% /dev/shm
tmpfs           5.0M  4.0K  5.0M   1% /run/lock
tmpfs           3.9G     0  3.9G   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
tmpfs           3.9G  172K  3.9G   1% /tmp
tmpfs           780M   12K  780M   1% /run/user/1000
/dev/sda5       202G  130G   62G  68% /media/user/ae5de014-e0b5-4045-80ca-d4d6ff37aa79
 19:50:09 up 8 days, 21:31,  3 users,  load average: 0.52, 0.40, 0.45

good.

2015-08-21: Debian liveUSB has now been running for about a week:

user@debian:~$ date;acpi -t;sudo tail /var/log/syslog;df -h;uptime
Fri Aug 21 21:39:23 CEST 2015
Thermal 0: ok, 69.0 degrees C
Aug 21 17:25:31 localhost NetworkManager[872]: <info>   gateway 10.1.10.1
Aug 21 17:25:31 localhost NetworkManager[872]: <info>   server identifier 10.1.10.1
Aug 21 17:25:31 localhost NetworkManager[872]: <info>   lease time 43200
Aug 21 17:25:31 localhost NetworkManager[872]: <info>   nameserver '10.1.10.1'
Aug 21 17:25:31 localhost NetworkManager[872]: <info>   domain name 'kg4.no'
Aug 21 17:25:31 localhost dbus[888]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.nm_dispatcher' unit='dbus-org.freedesktop.nm-dispatcher.service'
Aug 21 17:25:31 localhost dbus[888]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.nm_dispatcher'
Aug 21 17:25:31 localhost nm-dispatcher: Dispatching action 'dhcp4-change' for wlan0
Aug 21 18:17:01 localhost CRON[14762]: (root) CMD (   cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly)
Aug 21 19:17:01 localhost CRON[15069]: (root) CMD (   cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly)
Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
aufs            3.9G  827M  3.0G  22% /
tmpfs           1.6G  9.1M  1.6G   1% /run
/dev/sdb1       941M  941M     0 100% /lib/live/mount/medium
/dev/loop0      821M  821M     0 100% /lib/live/mount/rootfs/filesystem.squashfs
tmpfs           3.9G     0  3.9G   0% /lib/live/mount/overlay
devtmpfs         10M     0   10M   0% /dev
tmpfs           3.9G  309M  3.6G   8% /dev/shm
tmpfs           5.0M  4.0K  5.0M   1% /run/lock
tmpfs           3.9G     0  3.9G   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
tmpfs           3.9G  108K  3.9G   1% /tmp
tmpfs           780M   12K  780M   1% /run/user/1000
/dev/sda5       202G  130G   62G  68% /media/user/ae5de014-e0b5-4045-80ca-d4d6ff37aa79
 21:39:23 up 5 days, 23:20,  2 users,  load average: 0.94, 0.69, 0.87

with light to moderate use.

2015-08-16: Debian still works (from liveUSB):

user@debian:~$ date;acpi -t;sudo tail /var/log/syslog;uptime
Sun Aug 16 11:12:38 CEST 2015
Thermal 0: ok, 68.0 degrees C
Aug 16 05:55:06 localhost NetworkManager[872]: <info>   domain name 'kg4.no'
Aug 16 05:55:06 localhost dbus[888]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.nm_dispatcher' unit='dbus-org.freedesktop.nm-dispatcher.service'
Aug 16 05:55:06 localhost dbus[888]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.nm_dispatcher'
Aug 16 05:55:06 localhost nm-dispatcher: Dispatching action 'dhcp4-change' for wlan0
Aug 16 06:17:01 localhost CRON[25000]: (root) CMD (   cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly)
Aug 16 06:25:01 localhost CRON[25020]: (root) CMD (test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || ( cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.daily ))
Aug 16 06:47:01 localhost CRON[25065]: (root) CMD (test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || ( cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.weekly ))
Aug 16 07:17:01 localhost CRON[25115]: (root) CMD (   cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly)
Aug 16 07:30:01 localhost CRON[25133]: (root) CMD (test -x /etc/init.d/anacron && /usr/sbin/invoke-rc.d anacron start >/dev/null)
Aug 16 08:17:01 localhost CRON[25238]: (root) CMD (   cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly)
 11:12:38 up 12:53,  2 users,  load average: 0.14, 0.24, 0.24

ok.

2015-08-15: I booted Debian 8.1 from a live usb stick, and that worked nicely. Details:

user@debian:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Debian
Description: Debian GNU/Linux 8.1 (jessie)
Release: 8.1
Codename: jessie
user@debian:~$ uname -a
Linux debian 3.16.0-4-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 3.16.7-ckt11-1 (2015-05-24) x86_64 GNU/Linux
user@debian:~$ cat /etc/debian_version
8.1

gfx:

user@debian:~$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1366 x 768, maximum 8192 x 8192
LVDS1 connected 1366x768+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 293mm x 164mm
   1366x768      60.02*+
   1360x768      59.80    59.96  
   1024x768      60.00  
   800x600       60.32    56.25  
   640x480       59.94  
VGA2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

disk layout:

user@debian:~$ df -h
Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
aufs            3.9G  238M  3.6G   7% /
tmpfs           1.6G  9.1M  1.6G   1% /run
/dev/sdb1       941M  941M     0 100% /lib/live/mount/medium
/dev/loop0      821M  821M     0 100% /lib/live/mount/rootfs/filesystem.squashfs
tmpfs           3.9G     0  3.9G   0% /lib/live/mount/overlay
devtmpfs         10M     0   10M   0% /dev
tmpfs           3.9G   27M  3.8G   1% /dev/shm
tmpfs           5.0M  4.0K  5.0M   1% /run/lock
tmpfs           3.9G     0  3.9G   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
tmpfs           3.9G   36K  3.9G   1% /tmp
tmpfs           780M   12K  780M   1% /run/user/1000

inxi info

user@debian:~$ inxi -c0
CPU~Dual core Intel Core i3 M 370 (-HT-MCP-) clocked at Min:933.000Mhz Max:1866.000Mhz Kernel~3.16.0-4-amd64 x86_64 Up~25 min Mem~606.3/7791.5MB HDD~NA(-) Procs~162 Client~Shell inxi~2.1.28 
user@debian:~$ inxi -c0 -G
Graphics:  Card-1: Intel Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller
           Card-2: NVIDIA GT218M [GeForce 310M]
           Display Server: X.Org 1.16.4 drivers: nouveau,intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1366x768@60.02hz
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Ironlake Mobile GLX Version: 2.1 Mesa 10.3.2
user@debian:~$ inxi -c0 -b
System:    Host: debian Kernel: 3.16.0-4-amd64 x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop: N/A Distro: Debian GNU/Linux 8
Machine:   Mobo: ASUSTeK model: U35JC v: 1.0 Bios: American Megatrends v: U35JC.208 date: 08/10/2010
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core i3 M 370 (-HT-MCP-) clocked at 933 MHz
Graphics:  Card-1: Intel Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller
           Card-2: NVIDIA GT218M [GeForce 310M]
           Display Server: X.Org 1.16.4 drivers: nouveau,intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1366x768@60.02hz
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Ironlake Mobile GLX Version: 2.1 Mesa 10.3.2
Network:   Card-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR8131 Gigabit Ethernet driver: atl1c
           Card-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) driver: ath9k
Drives:    HDD Total Size: NA (-)
Info:      Processes: 162 Uptime: 28 min Memory: 612.6/7791.5MB Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 2.1.28
user@debian:~$ inxi -c0 -D
Drives:    HDD Total Size: NA (-) ID-1: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD6400BEVT size: 640.1GB
           ID-2: USB /dev/sdb model: Cruzer size: 4.0GB
user@debian:~$ inxi -c0 -o
Unmounted: ID-1: /dev/sda1 size: 20.97G fs: FAT (32 bit) label: RECOVERY uuid: 3E5F-3A2B
           ID-2: /dev/sda2 size: 160.03G fs: NTFS label: OS uuid: E298896398893757
           ID-3: /dev/sda3 size: 229.78G label: N/A uuid: N/A
           ID-4: /dev/sda5 size: 220.01G label: N/A uuid: ae5de014-e0b5-4045-80ca-d4d6ff37aa79
           ID-5: /dev/sda6 size: 9.34G fs: swap label: N/A uuid: c90ec7cd-30c6-415b-98ef-a9a1738aaf07
           ID-6: /dev/sda7 size: 2.15G label: N/A uuid: 555e3e003648a468
           ID-7: /dev/sda8 size: 4.29G label: N/A uuid: N/A
           ID-8: /dev/sda9 size: 5.37G label: N/A uuid: 555e3e01fbd74f08
           ID-9: /dev/sda10 size: 1.07G label: N/A uuid: 555e3e047258442c
           ID-10: /dev/sda11 size: 216.90G label: N/A uuid: 555e3e06e3cd708a
           ID-11: /dev/sdb1 size: 0.99G label: Debian jessie 20150606-15:17 uuid: 2015-06-06-14-18-19-00

ok

2015-08-15: Since Ubuntu currently refuses to work, let me try Debian on this machine. I downloaded a live image (debian-live-8.1.0-amd64-xfce-desktop.iso) and use my FreeBSD workstation (c1) to write it to a usb stick.