Several (thoroughly researched) problems on a new install

[TenKey]

I have an Acer Aspire F5-573-58VX and a fresh install of Debian 8.

I've spent several hours researching a couple different problems and thus far have not found solutions that work, despite trying many. Most of them are common problems but the usual solutions don't seem to work.

1. The trackpad doesn't register or respond. I have to plug in an external mouse.

2. The computer can't connect via wifi. There are no connection options in the Network Connections window for wifi, despite installing the requisite drivers. I've tried the FN button to turn on/off the wifi but it doesn't seem to do anything.

3. The brightness function on the directional keys don't work. I thought this https://askubuntu.com/questions/471847/ ... sus-laptop might get the keys working again but when I go to update GRUB I get

"Syntax error: EOF in backquote substitution"

Thanks in advance.

[stevepusser]

This is a seventh generation Kaby Lake laptop, right? i5-7200U?

You need to upgrade the kernel, firmware, and Mesa from jessie-backports.

[phenest]

Could you give the results of:

Code: Select all

lspci -k

[TenKey]

Output of

lspci -k

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Device 5904 (rev 02)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 115c
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Device 5916 (rev 02)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 108f
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Device 9d2f (rev 21)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 115c
Kernel driver in use: xhci_hcd
00:14.2 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Device 9d31 (rev 21)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 115c
00:15.0 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Device 9d60 (rev 21)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 115c
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Device 9d3a (rev 21)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 115c
00:17.0 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Device 9d03 (rev 21)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 115c
Kernel driver in use: ahci
00:1d.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 9d18 (rev f1)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1d.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 9d1a (rev f1)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1d.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 9d1b (rev f1)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Device 9d58 (rev 21)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 115c
00:1f.2 Memory controller: Intel Corporation Device 9d21 (rev 21)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 115c
00:1f.3 Audio device: Intel Corporation Device 9d71 (rev 21)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 108f
Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
00:1f.4 SMBus: Intel Corporation Device 9d23 (rev 21)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 115c
02:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros Device 0042 (rev 31)
Subsystem: Lite-On Communications Inc Device 08a6
03:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device 5287 (rev 01)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 108f
Kernel driver in use: rtsx_pci
03:00.1 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 12)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 108f
Kernel driver in use: r8169

You need to upgrade the kernel, firmware, and Mesa from jessie-backports.

How do I go about doing this?

[GarryRicketson]

How to upgrade the kernel, firmware, and Mesa from jessie-backports.
=====
https://backports.debian.org/Instructions/
======
https://wiki.debian.org/Backports

[stevepusser]

This is much, much, easier if you have a wired net connection, since you also have the exact same wifi device as my Acer:

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Network:   Card-1: Qualcomm Atheros Device 0042 driver: ath10k_pci

or a better result after running "update-pciids" as root:

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Network:   Card-1: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter driver: ath10k_pci

and I know that a recent kernel plus the non-free firmware-atheros package from backports is also necessary to get that thing working.

Anyway, assuming you have a wired connection, the guide to upgrade what you need is: https://forums.bunsenlabs.org/viewtopic.php?id=1185

and you'll also need to add the firmware-atheros package to the install command to get the wifi up and working.

We've seen it get at least one Kaby Lake laptop up and working--from what I gather, that architecture is very close to the preceding sixth generation, Sky Lake, only optimized. My Skylake Acer laptop is working quite well with the backports. All the things you mentioned as not working for you did not work for me with the standard kernel, plus no audio, either, but the upgrades fixed all that.