IMPORTANT UPDATE

An installer for Ubuntu Netbook Remix 8.04.1 is now available as a binary image that can be put on a USB stick to install it on any Atom-based netbooks, including the Dell Mini 9. This essentially means most of this page install instructions are not needed anymore.

Install Ubuntu Hardy Heron (8.04.1) on the Dell Mini 9

This page documents installing Ubuntu Hardy 8.04.1 onto a Dell Mini 9 PC from a USB CDROM drive. It also includes information about factory-installed Ubuntu Mini 9 netbooks. It will be improved and updated over time.

Please help and update this page

Useful links

• Ask a question about the Mini 9 by registering on Launchpad

• Dell Mini 9 bugs reported in Launchpad - may include some issues not listed in this page

• Dell Mini 9 user guides, including the Ubuntu Quick Reference Guide

• Dell's mini 9 community site including user forums like the Ubuntu on Mini 9 forum.

• Wikipedia page about the Dell Inspiron Mini 9.

• Dell Ubuntu forum @ Ubuntu Forums

• Ubuntu on Dell wiki @ Dell

• Linux Desktops mailing list @ Dell

Product description

The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is a netbook set to contend with other low-cost ultra-portables such as the EeePC and Aspire One. Dell's addition to the subnotebook market began shipments on September 16th, 2008 starting at $349. It is built by Compal Electronics, who also make the MSI Wind and the HP mininote 2133.

It features an 8.9 inch WSVGA(1024×600) wide-screen display running on a 1.6 Ghz Intel Atom Diamondville CPU. In the US, it has 512 or 1024MB of RAM, 4, 8, or 16GB of SSD Storage, and it comes with Ubuntu Linux or Windows XP, whilst in the UK it is currently only available with 1024MB of RAM, a 16GB SSD, and Windows XP. For connectivity, the device carries WiFi and 3 USB ports. In the US, an optional 0.3 or 1.3 MP webcam and internal bluetooth is available . In the UK a 1.3 MP webcam comes as standard.[3] The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is 1-1.22 inches thick and weighs 1.035 kg.

Why 8.04.01 ?

If you try and install the vanilla 8.04 CD, the CD will try to boot, however it will quickly drop out to a Busybox prompt telling you there is a modprobe problem. This doesn't happen on the updated 8.04.1

Upgrading the BIOS

BIOS upgrades from the Mini 9 can be performed directly from Ubuntu. See Flashing the BIOS From the Solid-state Drive in Ubuntu.

Recovery mode on Mini9 with factory-installed Ubuntu

If you have an original Dell Mini 9 with Ubuntu pre-installed, you may have a hard time entering the GRUB menu as the default delay is zero. This is particularly problematic if you're trying to reset your password using the passwd command.

You can enter the recovery mode following these steps:

1. Boot the mini 9 while pressing ESC every second
2. When you see the "MBR 2FA:" prompt or similar, the boot process is stopped.
3. Press ENTER and ESC very fast one after the other.
4. You should then see the GRUB menu. Using the up and down arrows, highlight the second option and press ENTER to boot into recovery mode.

Resetting your password

You need to first boot into Recovery Mode (see above).

Once the boot sequence ends, you will be at a prompt similar to:

root@machine:~#

Type the following command to find out your username:

getent passwd 1000 | cut -d : -f 1

Supposing your username is "james", the output would be:

james

proceed to reset the password by issuing this command:

passwd james

You will then be prompted twice for a new password. There will be no feedback, so you need to type the new password blindly:

Enter new UNIX password: 
Retype new UNIX password:

Once the password has been successfully changed, you will get a confirmation message:

passwd: password updated successfully

You can then resume normal booting by pressing CTRL-D or typing exit followed by ENTER.

Special keys

With the new BIOS A01 and A02, the keys F11 and F12 have been remapped:

• F11 -> Fn+Z

• F12 -> Fn+X

F12

On the Dell Mini 9, you will notice a message at boot time proposing among other options to press F12 for boot options. There is no F12 key on the Mini9, however pressing "0" will have the same result.

F11

The F11 key commonly used to switch applications to full-screen mode does not physically exist on the Mini 9 keyboard. It has been mapped to the "Windows" key, also called "Super" key in some utilities.

Bluetooth / WiFi switch

The Function + "2" keys combination will cycle through enabling Bluetooth and wireless capabilities.

Installation

Recovery via a DVD ISO

Official recovery is available at Dell Support - UPDATE: apparently Dell has removed their official recovery image which included commercial codecs and Dell utility partition. As an alternative, consider using Ubuntu Netbook Remix.

You can use Image Writer to create a USB key.

CD Install

The device doesn't come with a CD/DVD drive, so you will need to attach a USB one to the unit, and place your Ubuntu install CD in the drive. To boot from the CD ROM, press 0 during the initial boot screen (where it shows the Inspiron Logo) and choose the CD ROM drive from the drop-down menu.

You can choose either the Try Ubuntu method or the Install Ubuntu method. The OS installs just as you would expect with Ubuntu. If you have never installed Ubuntu, a page with general install instructions can be found at HowtoForge.

When asked, reboot the computer, remove the CD, and unplug the USB Drive.

Known issues

1 GB RAM limitation, system crashes

This happens only on factory-installed Ubuntu Mini9s.

• See this forum post - kernel recompiling may be necessary

Adding more memory than you ordered from Dell may also cause system crashes.

Smaller disk space than expected

(originally posted in this Ubuntu Forums post)

Some Mini 9 systems shipped with Ubuntu pre-installed may report smaller disk space than expected (ie. 4GB instead of 8GB or 16GB). The "missing" space is on the system, but remains unformatted. Before attempting this verify that you are indeed "missing" such disk space. This has been resolved in later factory installed systems as well as in an update at the Dell Mini repositories. Perform all updates and it should be resolved.

Wifi

If you are having issues with wifi or can't seem to have it recognized, make sure your system is fully updated. Disabling the restricted wifi drivers and re-enabling them may be necessary.

The FN-2 (Function + "2") combination of keys will cycle between enabling wireless and bluetooth modes.

If your wifi is properly recognized but you are not detecting any access points, try this:

1. Go to System > Administration > Network

2. Click the Unlock button

3. Highlight Wireless connection with a single click

4. Click on Properties

5. Ensure Enable automatic mode is checked. Click OK

6. Close all network preferences windows
7. Wait 15 to 60 seconds
8. Click the Network Manager icon in GNOME panel, access point(s) should appear

Also see this thread on the Ubuntu Forums for more information.

If you are having issues where the PC locks up soon after attaching to your wifi hub, this may be a conflict with the ACPId, to disable this on startup

* Ubuntu -> System -> Administrator - > Services

* Click on unlock, enter you password

* Scroll down, untick Power Management (acpid)

Sound

Microphone problems

On early factory-installed Ubuntu systems this may be necessary to properly enable microphone functionality:

1. Start a terminal window

2. Type alsamixer

3. Select Capture (tab)

4. Right arrow to Capture, up arrow until its at a reasonable level

5. rightarrow to Input Source, up arrow to select Front Mic

Enabling sound for vanilla installs

If your Mini9 is not a factory-installed Ubuntu system or if you re-installed using vanilla Ubuntu media, this is how to enable sound:

• From the command prompt:

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

• Add this line to the end:

  options snd-hda-intel model=dell

• Save the file and exit.
• Reboot the computer.
• Once the computer is booted, double-click on the sound icon in the toolbar.
• Increase the speaker volume.

Other comments

Compiz

Works fine after the updates.

Webcam

Works after all updates applied.

Skype

Skype is distributing an i386 build of their program. This is fine for most desktop machines, but for a netbook using Intel Atom and an lpia kernel instead of i386, you will need to install Skype via the command line instead of the graphical interface. This is true of many Debian packages which are not available through the Ubuntu repositories.

To do this, download Skype for ubuntu to your home directory. Then open a terminal (Application > Accessories > Terminal) and run the following command to install Skype:

Note: Please make sure that you moved the package to your home directory and that the package name matches.

•  sudo dpkg -i --force-architecture skype-debian_2.0.0.72-1_i386.deb

Installing Kubuntu (KDE 4.1)

I've found the KDE 4 interface to be beter with the 1024x600 screen resolution, Gnome is a great interface, but using packages such as Gimp and Evolution don't scale down corectly, so clicking on next and cancel buttons can be a bit of guesswork.

The KDE 4.1 version of Kubuntu can be downloaded from here,

http://www.kubuntu.org/getkubuntu/download

like Ubuntu, we are looking to use the 8.04.1 release of Kubuntu, you will also need to choose the option marked

Kubuntu 8.04 KDE4 Remix - Featuring the cutting edge KDE 4 with community support only

Boot from the CD, and install the complete OS, reboot when the installation is complete.

This part of the install can also be done, with the downloaded ISO, and the information found on Install from USB Stick

However to get the wifi to work, you will need to run

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Then reboot the PC, alternatively, the Ethernet port should work fine.

Updating the packages

Once rebooted, the default Kubuntu 4.1 install isn't the prettiest one, however we can ensure things are a lot more streamlined, by installing the additional packages from the Launchpad repositories.

Open the Konsole app and enter the command

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

and add the line

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-members-kde4/ubuntu hardy main

to the end of the list, save the file, and exit

Update the repository

sudo apt-get update

Once the update has complete, you will need to update some packages.

sudo apt-get install kubuntu-kde4-desktop kdeplasma-addons amarok-kde4 and kontact-kde4 kate-kde4 kmail-kde4'''

I've installed a few extra packages from the norm, the Amarok 2 is still flaky at time of writing, let all these packages install and reboot the PC, the login screen might still look a bit strange, compared to the rest of the layout, which should now have the more up to date backdrop.

Open Konsole again, and type

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

With this done, not only is the interface more streamlined, applications and dialog boxes which would normally open larger than the screen size will become scalable.

Install all the updates, and reboot. You should now have a cleaner looking system, to get the soundcard working, following the above instructions, for fixing the soundcard.

Additional Packages

Some additional packages which you may wish to install, in order to make KDE 4.1 just that little more "appealing" are

• kpowersave - provides a system tray icon displaying remaining power

• kscreensaver-kde4 - provides screen savers

Interface Changes

• GTK-QT

To improve the look of GTK (Gnome) apps, use the gtk-qt-engine-kde4 ackage, which makes the apps look a little more slick.

sudo apt-get install gtk-qt-engine-kde4

• FONT SIZES

The default font sizes are very large, and I'd recommend editing the font sizes in the System Settings section, to about 8, keep the fonts however as changing them can make the system look a little strange.e

• LANCELOT

If you're not a fan of th new KDE menu, thats ok, its a plasmoid, and cna be change easily, using Lancelot as you've already added the necessary repostory, this can be installed quickly, (From Konsole)

sudo apt-get install plasmoid-lancelot

Then add the new Widget on the Deskbar plasmoid.

• Cairo-Dock

Cairo-Dock is an animated application launch bar for the desktop comparable to Mac OS X's Dock, or Rocket Dock (for those of you who come from Windows).

It is compatible with Compiz-Fusion, Beryl, Compiz, and also Xcompmgr, but it can run without a composite manager (with fake transparency). Cairo-Dock can run under GNOME, KDE, and XFCE.

More information about Cairo-Dock can be found here

• Change the Login Screen back to GDM

• Usplash change

KDE 4 will change the USplash (graphical boot and shutdown) theme to Kubuntu. Run these two commands to switch back to the Ubuntu theme, the first will prompt you to select the theme you want:

sudo update-alternatives --config usplash-artwork.so
sudo update-initramfs -u

Updates

Use a wired connection to fully update your system. Once this connection is established, install all the required updates and reboot the computer.

External Links

• Cairo Dock

• Lancelot KDE Menu

• KDE 4 Wikipedia

• Discuss this page.

• Categories: CategoryNew CategoryCleanup