Installing Windows XP on Asus EeePC 1015BX

By default this netbook are bundled with Windows 7 Starter and or Asus ExpressGate OS. You can't find any driver on bundling CD available for Windows XP installation. I have been trying many OS on this netbook, from Windows 7 to some Linux Distros.

Windows 7 is the best option for this netbook, when the desktop running very smooth and responsive for your office application. But some games are not running well with this OS. I don't know exactly why, due to huge memory need while playing the game or because of DirectX 10 compatibility.

Then I try to installing Windows XP Professional to Asus EeePC 1015BX with all risk. This is not easy to find the XP driver for this netbook. I have to surf and search over the net and find compatible driver.

Here the steps to installing Windows XP on Asus EeePC 1015BX :

Preparation :
1. External USB Optical Drive/ DVD/ CD drive.
2. USB Flash Disk
3. Windows XP installation CD
4. Download XP driver listed the Section 2.

Section 1 :
1. Boot your netbook and goes to BIOS by pressing F2.
2. Set IDE setting to Native IDE
3. Choose your installation device boot priority.
4. Install XP just as usual.

Section 2 :
1. When installation was done, you need to install some driver.
2. ATI HD 6290 Driver, you can find the latest driver on official ATI AMD sites. Click here to go.
3. Realtek HD Audio, you can use driver from CD. That's compatilble with XP too.
4. For Wireless, LAN and other device, you can use skydriver to install the drivers. Download here.

When I'm using Windows 7 on my netbook, I was frustrated because I can't play my favorite Assassin's Creed 2. It's always force closed on Ubisoft logo. I think this netbook has not enough resource to play the game. But I amazed when using Windows XP Pro SP3, Assassin's Creed series was running well altough it run with poor FPS. But, with low setting graphics, I still can play this games.

Installing Java on Ubuntu

Yes, I believe in the present day everybody use Java. So I don’t need to explain what is Java because you can found it on Wikipedia or another site to getting know more.

Here I just want to make a notes for my self, cause I’m tired to searching this method on the net every time I need to installing  Java on Ubuntu. Here’s the steps:

First you need to remove openjdk if it’s installed or if you don’t know is it installed on your system. Just remove it from your terminal (Ctrl-Alt-T) with this following command.

sudo apt-get purge openjdk*

If you have Java installed from another PPA and you are having problem with it then you have to do following steps before installing the new one.

sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/oracle-java7-installer*

sudo apt-get purge oracle-java7-installer*

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*java*

sudo apt-get update

Now you can install the new Java with this following commands

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webup8team/java

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install oracle-java7-installer

You can check the Java version by searching Java Control Panel on Dashboard.

Playable Games on Asus Eee PC 1015BX

I have an Asus Eee PC 1015 BX with AMD C60 APU (Brazos), 2 GB DDR 3 memory and ATI Radeon 6290 Graphic Card chipset. Yes this is a netbook, but with that specification I believe this netbook can run some nice present games.

So I trying some games on this netbook, some can running smoothly and some not running at all.

Here the list of playable games running well on Asus Eee PC 1015 BX :

1. Pro Evolution Soccer 2012

I really love soccer game, so the first game I've been trying on this netbook was PES 2012. I didn't see any big difference when I set the game to low or high resolution. Still have a little lag on any moments. But it playable.

2. Pro Evolution Soccer 2009

I'm not satisfy with PES 2012, so I'm looking for another replacement. Trying Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 on it and still has lag. The only run smooth and responsive is Pro Evolution Soccer 2009.

3. Need For Speed Most Wanted

This game running very well on Asus Eee PC 1015 BX. No lag, no flickering, and still playable on the highest setting.

4. Need For Speed Shift 2 : Unleashed

This game is really heavy for any laptop today. Detail texture and amazing effect on this game make it requires high performance graphic card and processor. But I just want to try it on my Asus EeePC 1015BX. After more than an hour instalation, I try to play it. And surprise it's work. I can play this extreme game on Asus EeePC 1015BX with AMD C60 and ATI 6290. And for information, this game little bit slower and hard to control.

5. Prince of Persia : The Forgotten Sands

The most finest game I've been playing on Asus 1015BX. There is no lag, no frame skipping, everything just running fine. I play this until the end of game.

6. Tony Hawks Underground 2

It's running well, I have no issue with this game. Just install it and play.

7. Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 3

It has some lags when playing the video scene but really smooth on game play. When video scene it is load the game on the background. It makes the processor work so hard to load it together. But it's not a big deal, I still can play the game with good quality.

8. Assassin Creed

This is my favorite game. Assassin Creed running very well on Asus 1015BX. After installation finished, it will tell you that is not enough memories and processor. Just ignore this messages and run the game. I have no problem with it. But the other Assassin Creed series can't run on this netbook.
9. Assassin Creed 2
Assassin Creed 2, Brotherhood and Revelation is also running well with low resolution. After I downgrade the operating system to Windows XP Professional SP3, I can play this game with high setting, but I set it to very low resolution to reduce processor work and more comfortable gameplay.
10. Far Cry 2
I has no problem playing Far Cry 2 on Asus EeePC 1015BX. This game is running smooth and no lag on medium graphic setting.
Note :
Some games won’t run on Windows 7, so I do downgrade my Asus EeePC 1015BX to Windows XP, overclocked it to 1,6 Ghz and add Gamebooster. Then BOOM you will impressed with this netbook performance.

Picture is taken from OnlySP

PCLinuxOS 2010 on Acer TravelMate 4150

A few days ago I tried to install PCLinuxOS 2010 on Acer TravelMate 4150. After downloading the ISO file with KDE version from a local repository, I then burn it to a CD.

Boot time is needed since the laptop is turned up to KDE screen takes about 2 minutes on the Live CD version. All devices on Acer TravelMate 4150 is detected well by PCLinuxOS 2010. I tried to explore the ability of PCLinuxOS 2010 on the laptop. Reading NTFS partitions, open several types of video and audio files and perform Internet connection. Tried a few games that integrated on PCLinuxOS 2010. Everything went smoothly without any problems.

After trying for compatibility on Acer Travelmate 4150, I finally decided to install it permanently on a laptop. The installation process is not difficult. With the GUI interface, I think even a novice will understand. The installation process runs about 20 minutes.

After installation is complete, I restarting my computer and calculate the boot time. These times faster than the Live CD because the PC version of the Linux OS already installed on my hard drive. I do more testing on the compatibility of like when I use the Live CD version.

It seems that the installation version is not as good version of the Live CD, I do not understand why this could occur. I experienced a few times crashes when opening video files, and when to upgrade to some software, it suddenly did not want to open the File Explorer. And when I restart the computer, PC Linux OS 2010 can not open the KDE screen. I can only get in on the Terminal Console.

Overall, this operating system is very good in terms of appearance. All graphical effects on the desktop can be run well. Like Cube Desktop, Transparency, Glass and other effects. From the desktop, this OS is better than Windows Seven who did not support Windows Aero on Intel 915, the embedded graphics chipset in the Acer TravelMate 4150.

I think beyond the problem of stability, PCLinuxOS 2010 could be another option for your laptop.