Linux Tweaks (Mint 13)

This is just a list of simple tweaks I've made to my Mint system.  This post has been sitting as draft for some time and I thought I'd post it tonight -- I'll add more to it as I go. 


Default low display brightness setting on boot:
http://www.faqforge.com/linux/remember-screen-brightness-settings-in-ubuntu-and-linux-mint/

Keyboard brightness key skips brightness steps:
http://askubuntu.com/questions/173921/why-does-my-thinkpad-brightness-control-skip-steps/178003#178003

Install updated kernel (in my case 3.4) to address freeze-ups with my Intel Ivy Bridge video card (this worked):
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=11391743#post11391743

Adjust wireless mouse sensitivity:
http://leftbraintinkering.blogspot.com/2012/12/wireless-mouse-too-sensitive-in-linux.html

Enable CPU scaling for better laptop battery life
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/CPU_Frequency_Scaling

Get HDMI audio output to work
http://askubuntu.com/questions/112512/ubuntu-refuses-to-output-audio-via-hdmi

Synopsis: Check 'alsamixer' and make sure the HDMI device isn't muted.  Then, try to test the output:

wskellenger@marquette ~ $ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: Cirrus Analog [Cirrus Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

wskellenger@marquette ~ $ speaker-test -c 2 -t sine -f 261 -D hw:0,3

After running the above test, it suddenly started working.  Prior to this it was not working so I have no idea what changed.  Maybe just *running* alsamixer was what fixed it.

Emulate middle button click on touchpad
http://askubuntu.com/questions/130393/how-to-configure-the-touchpad-middle-click