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http://www.linuxcompatible.org/
Laptops
Dell Inspiron 6000 - 03 Feb 2006
Using since September 2005
Spec:
Centrino 2GHz
512MB RAM
80GB SATA HDD
17" widescreen LCD (aspect ratio 16:10)(resolution 1680 * 1050)
ATI Radeon Mobility M300 w/ 128MB
4x USB2.0
Ricoh R5C522 IEEE1394 (Firewire)
Ricoh R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC adapter
Broadcom BCM4401 100Mbps Ethernet adapter
Intel 2200BG Wireless B/G adapter
Conexant Modem
Description:
Comes with Windows XP pre-loaded, so follow your favourite distro's instructions on installing over or dual-booting it.
Installation:
I wanted to have both Windows XP and Linux on my machine, with a large partition to share data between the 2 OS'es. XP can't natively read ext filesystems, and Linux writing to NTFS is still in experimental stage, so I picked FAT32(vfat) for the shared partition.
The Dell came installed with Windows in one 80GB partition, so I had to use Kubuntu's installation program to partition the hard disk:
|
Partition number |
Size |
Mount Point |
FS Type |
|
1 |
25 GB |
/windows |
ntfs |
|
2 |
180 MB |
/boot |
ext3 |
|
3 |
20 GB |
LVM |
LVM |
|
4 |
33 GB |
/share |
vfat |
I decided to try LVM for my root filesystem(see Benefits of Logical Volume Management on a Small System). In hindsight, I wouldn't install LVM on the laptop, since I can't really see myself reaping the benefits of LVM. I'd now do this instead:
|
Partition number |
Size |
Mount Point |
FS Type |
|
1 |
25 GB |
/windows |
ntfs |
|
2 |
180 MB |
/boot |
ext3 |
|
3 |
8 GB |
/ |
ext3 |
|
4 |
33 GB |
/share |
vfat |
|
5 |
11 GB |
/home |
ext3 |
|
6 |
remainder |
/swap |
swap |
I followed the installation program's prompts to create a dual-boot system, after which it took a bit of time to copy the filesystem to the hdd, and then Kubuntu was installed. All the onboard devices were detected and activated, with the following exceptions:
SD/MMC slot not working
Touchpad works, but scrolling doesn't
Standby doesn't work
Here's some clues I found for the above problems:
SD/MMC - Check out
this page for SD patches to the kernel. You'll need a pretty recent kernel though, and be prepared to do a bit of patching.
I'll update this when I find more interesting info. For now, check out http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/dell.html for more info.
- George Goh, 03 Feb 2006
Preloaded Linux, no MS Tax http://www.acer.co.th/product/travelmate/Aspire3000/index_p.htm
HP has one Linux preloaded laptop, apparently for sale in US only, not in SG
Most of the IBM laptops run Linux fine, here's the compatibility chart: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-48NT8D.html
Dell Latitude D600 runs Linux (tested with Suse 9.3 Retail distro) with inbuilt USB being the only problem. As a result USB keyboards may not function correctly e.g Logitech Cordless Keyboard. USB storage (i.e. thumbdrives) work fine.
This ad was in Computer World 3-16 June 2005 edition. IBM ThinkPad with preloaded NLD Cool!
