Windows 10 Anniversary Update on ASUS R2H - "End of the Road"

I remember I started this blog almost exactly 10 years ago all excited by the advent of mini-tablets in the form or UMPCs, with a first post from the actual device.

My ASUS R2H came with Windows XP Tablet Edition, qualifying for a free upgrade to Windows Vista, followed by quite a number of pre-release, preview, trial and final versions of Windows 7, Windows 8 and 8.1, and finally Windows 10. In spite of the fact that the actual support from ASUS and Intel ended with Windows Vista, it has been possible to run for much longer thanks to Windows support for legacy devices from Microsoft.

It is finally time to declare End of the Road for Windows with so appropriately release named: Windows 10 Anniversay Update (version 1607, build 14393.447)


ASUS R2H-BG059T

• 7" screen (800x480), touchscreen / stylus
• Intel Celeron M 353 Dothan
• 1.25 GB RAM (256 MB soldered + 1 GB module)
• Intel Mobile 915GM  Express Chipset
• Intel Graphics GMA 900
• Hitachi Travelstar HTC426060G8CE00 (1.8", 4200 rpm, 60 GB)
• ASUS WL-159G WiFi (Atheros / ZyDAS ZD1211)
• ASUS BT-183 Bluetooth
• ASUS Driver & Tools support page

Windows 10 Anniversary Update
version 1607, build 14393.447

• How to get the Windows 10 Anniversary Update
• Windows 10 (Multiple Editions), Version 1607 (Updated Jul 2016) (x86) - DVD (English)

 ➤  Graphics 

       Graphics performance of the old Intel GMA 900 is quite poor with Microsoft Basic Display Adapter driver (v10.0.14393.0, 21 Jun 2006).

       ASUS graphics driver for Windows Vista (v6.14.10.4764, 15 Mar 2007) will not install anymore, XPDM (XP Display Model) drivers are not supported starting with Windows 8.

➤  Touch screen

      Calibrate using Digitiser Calibration Tool (tabcal.exe)

➤  Audio

 
      ASUS audio driver for Windows Vista (v6.10.1.6030, 15 Mar 2007)

➤  Webcam

     ASUS camera driver for Windows Vista (for Bison v6.32.0.04.2, 10 Sep 2007 or otherwise choose your own from the driver download page)

➤  Thumbstick

     ASUS touchpad driver for Windows Vista (v9.1.5.0, 25 Jan 2007)

➤  Fingerprint

       Works fine with Windows (AuthenTec) driver (v3.4.4.84, 11 Oct 2012). Enrol your fingerprint(s) in Settings > Accounts > Sign-In Options. Fingerprint Set Up button might be disabled if you haven't configured a text password yet - should do that first and then come back to it.

 

➤  Bluetooth

     Works fine with generic Microsoft driver (10.0.14393.351, 21 Jun 2006). ASUS Bluetooth driver for Windows Vista (v5.10.02, 12 Feb 2007) would not install.

 

➤  WiFi

     Works with Windows (Atheros) provided driver (v2.2.0.27, 29 Jul 2008). You can install ASUS Wireless driver for Windows Vista (v2.0.0.130, 17 Aug 2007) but after installing ASUS Wireless Console (v2.0.8, 7 Mar 2007)

 

➤  Ethernet

     Works with Windows (Realtek) provided driver (v10.9.422.2016, 22 Apr 2016). You may try to install the ASUS LAN driver for Windows Vista (V6.190.115.2007, 24 Jul 2007).

➤  GPS

     Enable GPS receiver (NMEA 0183 on COM1, 4800 baud) with device_switch.exe part of ASUS Device Switch (v1.0.0.1, 25 Jul 2007) or the open source eqivalent gpsCtrl.exe (dandar3/ASUS-R2H-gpsCtrl on GitHub).

Tested with GPSDirect (Sensor Driver > Install, followed by Tests > Sensor Explorer On) and MTTTY Serial Terminal (COM1, 4800, 8-N-1, followed by File > Connect).

Windows 10 Technical Preview on ASUS R2H

8 years later is still going: Windows 10 Technical Preview on ASUS R2H.

Installation steps:

• download Windows 10 Technical Preview x86 ISO (2.93 GB)
• prepare bootable USB stick with Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool
• enable BIOS boot from USB stick (F2 > Boot > Hard Disk Drives > 1st Drive)
• install updates from Windows Update through a wired connection.

ASUS R2H-BG059T

• 7" screen (800x480), touchscreen / stylus
• Intel Celeron M 353 Dothan
• 1.25 GB RAM (256 MB soldered + 1 GB module)
• Intel Mobile 915GM  Express Chipset
• Intel Graphics GMA 900
• Hitachi Travelstar HTC426060G8CE00 (1.8", 4200 rpm, 60 GB)
• ASUS WL-159g WiFi
• ASUS BT-183 Bluetooth

Drivers:

• Intel Inf Update v9.2.0.1030
  Download from Intel, run infinst_autol.exe and if needed manually update drivers for:
• Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 266F
• Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 265x
• Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 265C
• Graphics 
  Original OEM drivers won't install anymore, running on default Windows "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter" driver
• Wireless
  Working with original OEM Windows Vista drivers: ASUS USB Wireless Network Adapter, v2.0.0.130

Notes:

• Speccy fails to install due to incompatibility issues
• Winaero WEI Tool reports 0 / unrated, appears assessment doesn't complete.

Windows 8.1 Enterprise Evaluation on ASUS R2H

Windows 8.1 Enterprise Evaluation (90 days) running on the old ASUS R2H boy!

Installation steps:

• download Windows 8.1 Enterprise Evaluation x32 ISO (~2.7 GB)
• prepare bootable USB stick using Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool
• enable BIOS boot from USB stick (Boot > Hard Disk Drives > 1st Drive)
• install updates from Windows Update through a wired connection
• install Windows 8.1 Update from Windows Update or KB2919355 (make sure you read "Installation Instructions" section)

ASUS R2H-BG059T

• 7" screen (800x480), touchscreen / stylus
• Intel Celeron M 353 Dothan
• 1.25 GB RAM (256 MB soldered + 1 GB module)
• Intel Mobile 915GM  Express Chipset
• Intel Graphics GMA 900
• Hitachi Travelstar HTC426060G8CE00 (1.8", 4200 rpm, 60 GB)
• ASUS WL-159g WiFi
• ASUS BT-183 Bluetooth

Drivers:

• Intel Inf Update v9.2.0.1030
  Download from Intel, install running infinst_autol.exe and if needed manually update drivers for:
• Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 266F
• Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 265x
• Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 265C
• Graphics 
  Original drivers won't work anymore, running on default "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter" driver
• Wireless
  Working on Windows default driver (ASUS USB Wireless Network Adapter)

 

 

 

Windows 8.1 Preview on ASUS R2H

ASUS R2H UMPC running Windows 8.1 Preview!

Installation:

• download Windows 8.1 Preview 32 bit (x86) ISO (2.8 GB)
• prepare bootable USB stick using Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool
• enable BIOS boot from USB stick (Boot > Hard Disk Drives > 1st Drive)
• install using provided product key (NTTX3-RV7VB-T7X7F-WQYYY-9Y92F)

Ubuntu 13.04 on ASUS R2H

With Ubuntu 13.04 "Raring Ringtail" just released the other day, thought I would upgrade the recent 12.04 installation. Instead of doing a fresh install, I've decided for an upgrade - never done one before and wanted to see how well it works.

I wouldn't recommend it though, for two reasons: one cause I first had to upgrade to 12.10 (~700 MB download) and then again to 13.04 (another 700MB) - much larger than downloading the full 13.04 ISO - and second cause the wi-fi network was quite slow at around 50 KB/s and took ages to download and seemed like hogging the wi-fi channel for my laptop to use at the same time (seen similar with the original install when downloading updates). One advantage on the other hand is that it kept what I had, like apps and screen resolution / calibration.

Some parts of the UI seem a little more responsive (like dragging the on-screen keyboard around), but the I guess visual effects (fading, zooming) make it slower. Other things like starting programs seem slower as well - the file manager starts after a few seconds after being clicked with a gray window for another couple of seconds, then you get your files. VNC connection seems slower as well.

Cue Ubutu Software Center > Unity Tweak Tool.

CompizConfig Settings Manager is still there - disabling animations and fading windows locks up the UI for a good few seconds, but it will come back eventually.

One thing I didn't cover in previous post was the on-board keyboard, which comes very handy when you use the unit away from your desk. Search for OnBoard Settings:

Another thing I didn't cover was how to enable hibernation. Press the Power hardware button and will be presented with the lock / standby / hibernate / shutdown dialog.
http://askubuntu.com/questions/94754/how-to-enable-hibernation

And this is all for now...

Ubuntu 12.04.2 on ASUS R2H

Today we're going to install Ubuntu 12.04.2 Desktop on the ASUS-R2H UMPC. Why not latest 12.10? I've already done that and somehow it seems slower - feel free to install that if you want, should be fairly close to the one below.

• Don't forget to backup your disk if you want to easily restore your Windows later.
• Download Ubuntu 12.04.2 ISO (32 bit) ~700 MB (or have the installer below download it for you)
• Prepare a bootable USB stick (on Windows):
  http://www.ubuntu.com/download/help/create-a-usb-stick-on-windows
• Configure R2H to boot from the USB stick:
  F2 > Boot > Boot Device Priority (set USB device) or Hard Disk Drives (change order).
• Boot Ubuntu from the USB stick.

* * *

Screen resolution is quite low (640x480) and windows are not fitting entirely. If you have an external monitor connect it through the VGA port, otherwise you use ALT + left mouse to move a window around say to get to the buttons at the bottom (best to connect an external mouse and keyboard).

You can increase the resolution to 800x480 by going into System Settings (left) > Displays, and in there uncheck Mirror displays box, select Laptop (left) and change the resolution from the drop-down (now 800x480 becomes available, filling up the screen).

If you prefer to continue the installation remotely, once you connect to the local network (wi-fi or wired) enable Desktop Sharing and use a VNC client for remote control - I've used TightVNC from my Windows laptop.

Start installation with the shortcut on the desktop. I won't cover all steps, they are quite easy to follow and you can find a lot of step-by-step tutorials on the net covering it all in detail. Checking the box to Download updates while installing makes it download a lot of things during installation and at times it will hog the wi-fi network...

What I will cover though is the partition creation part - I already had the disk split into a Windows 8 partition (will replace with Ubuntu) and a personal data partition (that i'd like to keep). In my previous attempt, I chose the Install Ubuntu alongside Windows 8 which didn't work out very well for me, as it removed all partitions (again, remember to back up your disk! see note at the start) - maybe because it couldn't find any un-allocated disk space. So what I'll do is go with the manual option, remove the recovery and Windows 8 partition and manually create a swap and system partitions for Ubuntu (just as well it might work to use the manual step to remove the two and then come back and choose the first option, haven't tried it though).

Remove first two partitions

Create new partitions (swap + system)

Click Install now to continue with the installation, that will take a while... Once done it will ask you to restart - remove the USB stick and restart.

* * *

Now installed, login and change resolution, maybe enable Desktop Sharing, just like you did when in the installer (see above). Finish installing updates (around 139) through the Update Manager (left) - that will take a while...

UI performance:

• install MyUnity and CompizConfig Settings Manager (Ubuntu Software Center)
• disable window animations, fading and other effects...

Touch screen works, but the cursor is off:

• install xinput-calibrator (Ubuntu Software Center)
  https://apps.ubuntu.com/cat/applications/xinput-calibrator/
• Run application from Dash Home (search for calibrate)
• Copy the on-screen output and save to persist settings:
  copy the snippet below into '/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-calibration.conf'...
• Select text (existing terminal window) > right click > Copy
• Right-click (existing terminal window) > Open Terminal
• sudo mkdir /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/
• sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-calibration.conf
• Right click > Paste > Save

Webcam works, but the image is upside down. Haven't tried this fix just yet:
http://www.danbishop.org/2011/03/27/asus-upside-down-webcam-in-ubuntu/

Bluetooth seems to work out of the box.

Fingerprint reader:

• install Fingerprint GUI
  https://launchpad.net/~fingerprint/+archive/fingerprint-gui
  sudo add-apt-repository ppa:fingerprint/fingerprint-gui
  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get install libbsapi policykit-1-fingerprint-gui fingerprint-gui
• logout and log back in
• run Fingerprint GUI to enroll / verify your fingerprint(s)

GPS

• install gps, gpsd-clients (terminal or Ubuntu Software Center):
  http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-1104928.html
  sudo apt-get install gpsd gpsd-clients
• add your user to dialout group (so it can read from /dev/ttyS0)
  ls -la /dev/ttyS0
  sudo adduser dandar3 dialout
• enable gps:
  https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/204247
  echo 1 | sudo tee /sys/devices/platform/asus-laptop/gps
• run gpsd in console / debug mode
  gpsd -b -N -D2 /dev/ttyS0 &
• test with xgps, or
• install a GPS client, e.g. FoxtrotGPS (Ubuntu Software Center)

Macrium Reflect Free - restoring partition / disk backups

Now with the disk backup and the rescue USB flash created earlier, we’re going through the restore process. I won’t do that on a real PC though but on a local VM, where I can take some screenshots.

Macrium Reflect running on Windows PE looks pretty much the same as in the full Windows app (and it probably is the same :-). You can browse the network (in my case) or an attached USB drive for the disk backup image.



Choose the “Restore Image” option and that’ll take you to the restore wizard.

Note: I’ve set up the VM display to 800x480 at first (ASUS R2H screen size) and I can see a problem as it cuts off the bottom of the wizard window. Maybe you can work around that if you learn the key sequences to push the buttons, but maybe the Windows PE might just support an external monitor you can connect through VGA? I’ve changed the VM screen to a 800x600 to move on.



Select the physical destination disk and you can pick the partitions you want to restore and then click the “Copy selected partitions”. Here I will restore all 3 partitions, although you can use to only say restore the "personal” partition, and re-install the OS on the first partition later, or the other way around.



Click Next to get to a summary page, and then click Finish to start the restore process.



Leave it running, this will take a while. Although might look like like a long time, but it’s definitely shorter than having to re-install OS and applications, and certainly a lot less effort (and I should know, I’ve done this a lot).



Restart the system, and should now be fully restored to its previous state.



Now having used it end to end, I think Macrium Reflect Free is a great tool for a home user, and amazingly you get all that for free! Might sound odd, but I wasn’t paid for these last posts, I’m just genuinely surprised how easy it was and how well it worked to do exactly what I needed

Macrium Reflect Free - bootable rescue media

A day may come when your old hard disk might crash - or if like me, you might break things :-) - and you’d need to restore your system. The nice thing about disk / partition backups is that you can restore your system very quickly to the previous state with contents and all, rather than reinstall Windows and the rest of your applications.

For that, we’ll be preparing a boot disk with the Macrium Reflect software – the software creates an .iso image you can write to a CD/DVD, or my preference is for a USB flash drive. If you only got a computer around the house, might want to do that early while your system is still usable, otherwise you can do that later when you need it.



You have a choice between a Windows PE and Linux based disk – I tried the Linux image earlier and unfortunately didn’t seem to be able to connect to my Seagate GoFlex Home NAS. I can imagine the Windows PE supports a lot more network devices, so I’ll go for that.



This option requires Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) – if you already have it downloaded somewhere you can just point to it (have used it before for Windows 8 PXE boot), otherwise the application will download it for you (1.7 GB).



WAIK and image preparation finished, you can choose to burn it onto a CD/DVD or a USB flash drive.



If you get the error message below when writing the image to the USB flash drive, follow the directions in this Macrium KB entry to prepare the drive and then try again.



I will go through the restore process using this newly created rescue disk in a new post soon.

Macrium Reflect Free - disk / partition backups

Have been looking for ages for a good free partition backup (imaging) software, and Macrium Reflect Free 5.0 does exactly what I wanted and even more – I’m quite surprised the free version has so many features really. While Windows Backup has improved quite a bit in the last Windows versions and handy for file backups, what I needed is an application to image entire partitions or disks and be able to easily restore the disk contents after a system crash. Another feature I was looking for is to have a bootable CD or flash drive so I can restore the system without the need for a full OS. I’ve been reading on the likes of Clonezilla, PING and DriveImage XML, but they just don’t seem very easy to use, especially on the last part - they are using Linux based boot images, mostly console based and they just don’t seem very friendly to use (here is a good start if you are looking into this).

In today’s exercise I’m going to backup the entire disk of my ASUS R2H (all partitions), in preparation for installing Ubuntu 12.04 next week (mm, that’ll be interesting :-), but just as well you can choose one partition if you want to image them separately or some more often than others. The windows are a bit tall for the 800x480 screen (R2H), so I’m running it through Remote Desktop in 800x600 and it seems to fit just fine – it appears they did think of smaller screen computers, but not that small.

The main interface is colorful and easy on the eye.

 

I’m going to save the disk image on my Seagate GoFlex Home NAS on the network, but a USB hard drive should be just as good.

The summary page has an advanced button (bottom left) where you can choose the compression level, split the image into separate files, enter a comment or choose to shutdown when finished, if you have to leave it running for longer on its own.

 

Initial estimation is about 2 hours for the 60 GB disk (about 80% full) – the system is quite busy on the CPU, maybe the medium compression is a bit too much for the tiny Celeron. Grab a cup of coffee or find something else to do in the meantime :-)

That was quite accurate, 2 hours later disk backup is finished – with an image file of about 40 GB.

Now if you switch to Restore tab, you can see the image and you can choose to verify it…

 

or, just above that (or from left tasks) you can choose to browse the image – that will mount a partition as read-only in Explorer. I see that very useful if want to pick a few files from an image, without the need for a full restore.

 

That’s it from the backup perspective. There will be two other posts on how to create a recovery USB flash drive and how to use that to restore the backup we just did.

Windows 8 Enterprise Evaluation on ASUS R2H

ASUS R2H running Windows 8 Enterprise 90 days evaluation!

Installation steps:

• download Windows 8 Enterprise Evaluation x32 ISO
• prepare bootable USB stick using Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool
• enable BIOS boot from USB stick (Boot > Hard Disk Drives > 1st Drive)
• run Windows Update through a wired connection.