The Asus F50SF has been a fairly mysterious laptop over the last few months. At first Nvidia failed to verify if the video card on the Laptop's packaging even existed (Nvidia 220GT 1GB). So far, for a work horse this laptop has been great. I'll list the specs below, but first I want to get some problems and solutions with Wireless and no sound coming out of speakers, detailed in this article that will save every owner quite a bit of time.

First up, If you are wanting to use any distro other than the unreleased Ubuntu Lucid 10.0 you are basically left up a creek. The 2.6.32 is the only kernel that ethernet, sound, and wireless work consistently. I was unable to get Debian to even install because the default kernel even for testing installers is 2.6.26 which will leave you without any networking to obtain the working 2.6.32 kernel images now in the Debian package repo. Being unable to install Debian leaves me with Ubuntu 10.0 only. Fun...

Wireless:
Its details in Ubuntu are as follows:

• "lspci" 02:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)
• "lspci -n" 02:00.0 0280: 168c:002b (rev 01)
• "lspci -k"02:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)
  • Kernel driver in use: ath9k
  • Kernel modules: ath9k

The wireless card has some serious regressions in kernels before 2.6.32 that leave this laptop completely useless. "Some serous regressions" refer to the fact that randomly 2-3 minutes of usage the laptop will hard lock so you have to hold the power button down to turn it off, or unplug AC and battery.

Sound:

• 00:0f.0 Audio device: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] Azalia Audio Controller
• Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
• Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel
• 00:0f.0 0403: 1039:7502

I have waited a long time to get the F50SF to have output on its built in speakers. Previously I have only heard sound on in Windows Vista and Windows 7 or Via headphones in Linux. While searching yet again like I do weekly for a fix to get the internal lines correct in my alsa-base.conf I have finally come across a Ubuntu launchpad post that reveals the fix that unlocked the almighty power of my laptop speakers. That original post is here: Question #93097 Realtek ALC663. As you can see this card is actually a Realtek ALC663 chipset. These snd-intel-hda chipsets have a lot of options that tell the kernel what the line out configurations are. By default the Asus F50SF's output is misconfigured to ignore speakers completely but allow headphones to function. Do the following steps to configure alsa correctly:

1. sudo nano -w /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf
2. Append the following lines to the end of the file
   
   options snd-pcsp index=-2
   alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel
   alias sound-slot-0 snd-hda-intel
   options snd-hda-intel model=m51va
   options snd-hda-intel enable_msi=1
   
3. press ctrl-x and y to save the file
4. sudo reboot

After much waiting, now you also will have sound! Lucid is required I believe for the latest Alsa version 1.0.21 or above. If you are on previous versions of Ubuntu read the original post to see how to upgrade alsa on your Ubuntu version. There are also links in that post on how to the the Asus F50SF HDMI audio working for a great multimedia TV experience via the built in HDMI port.

Asus F50SF Specs:

• Intel Core Two Duo P8700 Processor 2.53GHz
• 4GB DDR2 800 RAM, 2 slots, 4GB Max
• 320GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM), DVD SuperMulti Drive
• Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit) Operating System
• 16 Inch HD LCD Display, NVidia GT 220M 1GB DDR2 Video RAM

Here are some Nice Accessories!

Logitech VX Nano Cordless Laser Mouse for Notebooks (Black)

Carrying Case Bag for Asus F50Sf-A2 16-Inch (Pinn Series Cream / Green)

Carrying Case Bag for Asus F50Sf-A2 16-Inch (Pinn Series Lavender / Magenta)

Asus F50Sf-A2 16-Inch Neoprene Laptop Sleeve Slipcase - Dual-Pocket - Pink