Problems Encountered with Installation on an ASUS R501VM Laptop

[NoWorries]

You might try a variation of the instructions here: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=1298213

1. Fiddle around until both asus-wmi and asus-nm-wmi will both load. modprobeing both should eventually get this to happen.

2. Make a new initramfs:

update-initramfs -c -k all

3. Cold boot and see what happens

This is getting to be very elusive as after doing the following,

 sudo update-initramfs -c -k all

I still got the same results from modprobe, namely the "Module asus-nm-wmi not found" message.

I noticed that the archlinux problems were with Kernel 3.9.3 and on Kubuntu 13.04, I have no problems with the backlights. As you can see I have Kernel 3.10.0-5 and I remember seeing that this problem was supposed to be fixed in this Kernel.

[SteveRiley]

You might try a variation of the instructions here: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=1298213

1. Fiddle around until both asus-wmi and asus-nm-wmi will both load. modprobeing both should eventually get this to happen.

2. Make a new initramfs:

update-initramfs -c -k all

3. Cold boot and see what happens

[NoWorries]

Please verify that

sudo modprobe asus-nm-wmi

works again. Note that the difference between not-working and working is obvious when you run

ls -al /sys/class/leds

You may need to put that first command in /etc/rc.local instead. But that would be weird.

Firstly, I tried the modinfo comands that you showed and I get:

:~$ modinfo asus-nb-wmi
filename:       /lib/modules/3.10.0-5-generic/kernel/drivers/platform/x86/asus-nb-wmi.ko
alias:          wmi:0B3CBB35-E3C2-45ED-91C2-4C5A6D195D1C
license:        GPL
description:    Asus Notebooks WMI Hotkey Driver
author:         Corentin Chary <corentin.chary@gmail.com>
srcversion:     5BDE545E9BC01354BA5ED45
depends:        asus-wmi
intree:         Y
vermagic:       3.10.0-5-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 
parm:           wapf:WAPF value (uint)
:~$ modinfo asus-wmi
filename:       /lib/modules/3.10.0-5-generic/kernel/drivers/platform/x86/asus-wmi.ko
license:        GPL
description:    Asus Generic WMI Driver
author:         Corentin Chary <corentin.chary@gmail.com>, Yong Wang <yong.y.wang@intel.com>
srcversion:     C7ED5DF3058308896E8A99A
depends:        sparse-keymap,wmi,video
intree:         Y
vermagic:       3.10.0-5-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 
:~$ modinfo wmi
filename:       /lib/modules/3.10.0-5-generic/kernel/drivers/platform/x86/wmi.ko
license:        GPL
description:    ACPI-WMI Mapping Driver
author:         Carlos Corbacho
srcversion:     375B15B80222C7C3B79549F
alias:          acpi*:pnp0c14:*
alias:          acpi*:PNP0C14:*
depends:        
intree:         Y
vermagic:       3.10.0-5-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 
parm:           debug_event:Log WMI Events [0/1] (bool)
parm:           debug_dump_wdg:Dump available WMI interfaces [0/1] (bool)
:~$

When I try the modeprobe and ls comands I get:

:~$ sudo modprobe asus-nm-wmi
FATAL: Module asus-nm-wmi not found.
:~$ ls -al /sys/class/leds
total 0
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 0 Jul 25 10:12 .
drwxr-xr-x 54 root root 0 Jul 25 10:12 ..
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root 0 Jul 25 10:12 ath9k-phy0 -> ../../devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1c.1/0000:03:00.0/leds/ath9k-phy0
:~$

I am starting to wonder if the problems are caused by a race condition in the kernel software. After installing updates this morning followed a reboot, the backlights came on but were not controllable by the function keys. After a reboot, they did not come on and they have not been on since a couple of reboots.

[NoWorries]

Yes, you are correct. Voting is compulsory in Oz, but an option was to post the voting to us while away. The problem is that we will be moving around a bit. We will start by visiting our Son and his family in the UK, doing a 12 day tour of Scandinavia, going to Salzburg, Hallstatt, Vienna and then back to the UK before our return to Oz. So, contacting us by post could be problematic. Email is possible but hardly secure for voting.

Since Oz is a long way from the rest of the Western world, we tend to make the most of our trips. I am beginning to think that we will have to start and do shorter trips in order to visit our Grandson in the UK. My wife will find it increasingly difficult to rely on Skype communication and will want to see, touch and cudle.

[SteveRiley]

Yes it is good and I hope he wins the next election. We may be overseas when the election is called and my wife called the electoral office today so that we could be exempt from voting if we are away during the election. We will be away for 6 weeks and only out of contact sometimes.

But isn't he facing a monumental challenge trying to maintain a minority government a second time?

And why would you want to be exempt? I understand that voting in Oz is compulsory (which I think is great). Can you file a vote from abroad?

[SteveRiley]

Please verify that

sudo modprobe asus-nm-wmi

works again. Note that the difference between not-working and working is obvious when you run

ls -al /sys/class/leds

You may need to put that first command in /etc/rc.local instead. But that would be weird.

[NoWorries]

That and a city that resolutely shuts down at 17:00. But Kevin's in charge again, so all's good, right? RIGHT?

Anywayz...how's it going after editing /etc/modules?

Yes it is good and I hope he wins the next election. We may be overseas when the election is called and my wife called the electoral office today so that we could be exempt from voting if we are away during the election. We will be away for 6 weeks and only out of contact sometimes.

[NoWorries]

OK, your post #8 appeared as I was typing my post #9. Please enter this:

sudo nano /etc/modules

Add the following line at the end:

asus-nb-wmi

Cold-start your machine and let me know what happens.

Sorry to say that this made no difference and I was surprised that it didn't. The code in my modules file is:

# /etc/modules: kernel modules to load at boot time.
#
# This file contains the names of kernel modules that should be loaded
# at boot time, one per line. Lines beginning with "#" are ignored.
# Parameters can be specified after the module name.

loop
lp
rtc
asus-nb-wmi

[SteveRiley]

That and a city that resolutely shuts down at 17:00. But Kevin's in charge again, so all's good, right? RIGHT?

Anywayz...how's it going after editing /etc/modules?

[NoWorries]

Only if you want to be close to the snow fields and can tolerate freezing nights as a result of being inland and a long way from the ocean:-o.

[SteveRiley]

I am pleased to report that today is ideal ... blue sky - sunshine - 14C. A great place to live

Canberra is better, dontchathink?

[SteveRiley]

OK, your post #8 appeared as I was typing my post #9. Please enter this:

sudo nano /etc/modules

Add the following line at the end:

asus-nb-wmi

Cold-start your machine and let me know what happens.

[SteveRiley]

Wait. So they weren't working, then you typed the ls command, then they were working?

It apears that a chain of modules is necessary. First wmi, which is required by asus-wmi, which in turn is required by asus-nb-wmi:

steve@t520:~$ [B]modinfo asus-nb-wmi[/B]
filename:       /lib/modules/3.10.1-031001-generic/kernel/drivers/platform/x86/asus-nb-wmi.ko
alias:          wmi:0B3CBB35-E3C2-45ED-91C2-4C5A6D195D1C
license:        GPL
description:    Asus Notebooks WMI Hotkey Driver
author:         Corentin Chary <corentin.chary@gmail.com>
srcversion:     5BDE545E9BC01354BA5ED45
[COLOR="#FF0000"]depends:        asus-wmi[/COLOR]
intree:         Y
vermagic:       3.10.1-031001-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 
parm:           wapf:WAPF value (uint)

steve@t520:~$ [B]modinfo asus-wmi[/B]
filename:       /lib/modules/3.10.1-031001-generic/kernel/drivers/platform/x86/asus-wmi.ko
license:        GPL
description:    Asus Generic WMI Driver
author:         Corentin Chary <corentin.chary@gmail.com>, Yong Wang <yong.y.wang@intel.com>
srcversion:     C7ED5DF3058308896E8A99A
[COLOR="#FF0000"]depends:[/COLOR]        sparse-keymap,[COLOR="#FF0000"]wmi[/COLOR],video
intree:         Y
vermagic:       3.10.1-031001-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 

steve@t520:~$ [B]modinfo wmi[/B]
filename:       /lib/modules/3.10.1-031001-generic/kernel/drivers/platform/x86/wmi.ko
license:        GPL
description:    ACPI-WMI Mapping Driver
author:         Carlos Corbacho
srcversion:     375B15B80222C7C3B79549F
alias:          acpi*:pnp0c14:*
alias:          acpi*:PNP0C14:*
depends:        
intree:         Y
vermagic:       3.10.1-031001-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 
parm:           debug_event:Log WMI Events [0/1] (bool)
parm:           debug_dump_wdg:Dump available WMI interfaces [0/1] (bool)

I saw a post on the Arch forum that described a similar problem. A kernel update appears to have borked the ability to auto-load asus-nb-wmi, but manually including it in the list of modules to load at boot time worked.

It appears right now that you have all three modules loaded, according to the output of lsmod. What we need to find is a repeatable pattern where this is always the case.

[NoWorries]

On reboot, no lights came on and the output is now:

:~$ ls -al /sys/class/leds
total 0
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 0 Jul 24 13:33 .
drwxr-xr-x 54 root root 0 Jul 24 13:33 ..
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root 0 Jul 24 13:34 ath9k-phy0 -> ../../devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1c.1/0000:03:00.0/leds/ath9k-phy0
:~$ lsmod | grep wmi | grep -v rawmidi
asus_wmi               24191  0 
sparse_keymap          13948  1 asus_wmi
mxm_wmi                13021  1 nouveau
wmi                    19070  3 mxm_wmi,nouveau,asus_wmi
video                  19502  3 i915,nouveau,asus_wmi
:~$

This gives a different output for the ls .... command this time around. I hope this problem is not provoked by having my system on a USB 3.0 memory stick.

[NoWorries]

I'm guessing the lights still aren't working.

What's the output of these two:

ls -al /sys/class/leds

lsmod | grep wmi | grep -v rawmidi

Yes you are correct - no lights at the moment. The output from ls .... is:

:~$ ls -al /sys/class/leds
total 0
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 0 Jul 24 13:19 .
drwxr-xr-x 54 root root 0 Jul 24 13:19 ..
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root 0 Jul 24 13:19 asus::kbd_backlight -> ../../devices/platform/asus-nb-wmi/leds/asus::kbd_backlight
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root 0 Jul 24 13:20 asus::wlan -> ../../devices/platform/asus-nb-wmi/leds/asus::wlan
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root 0 Jul 24 13:20 ath9k-phy0 -> ../../devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1c.1/0000:03:00.0/leds/ath9k-phy0
:~$

Just before executing the next command the lights were on and could be controlled by the function keys. The output from lsmod is:

:~$ lsmod | grep wmi | grep -v rawmidi
asus_nb_wmi            16990  0 
asus_wmi               24191  1 asus_nb_wmi
sparse_keymap          13948  1 asus_wmi
mxm_wmi                13021  1 nouveau
wmi                    19070  3 mxm_wmi,nouveau,asus_wmi
video                  19502  3 i915,nouveau,asus_wmi
:~$

I will now reboot and see if this happens again and let you know.