[vox-if] Re: General Linux Laptop Advice

[Henry House]

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På 2006-02-23, skrev Jordi S:
> Hi,
> 
> I have decided to make the move to Linux and have just bought a new HP 
> laptop. Before I take the computer out of its packaging I would like to 
> know if you have any suggestions or advice about the installation process 
> or possible hardware conflicts.  I have heard that getting Linux running on 
> notebooks can often be somewhat tricky and would like to minimize the 
> headache.  I plan to join LUGOD at the March 7 meeting and would like to 
> have Linux running before then.  I wasn?t sure whom to contact and if you 
> feel there is someone else more able to answer my questions would you 
> please give me their email address.
> 
> Here are the tech specs:
> HP ZE2401
> (this particular model doesn't appear on TuxMobil or Linux-Laptops but 
> several similar ones do)
> AMD Sempron 3000+ 1.8 GHz
> 60 GB HD
> ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M IGP 128MB video memory
> 512 MB DDR SDRAM
> 54g 802.11b/g WLAN wireless
> DVD+-RW
> 
> Thanks for your help!

I recommend taking the laptop to an installfest if your schedule
permits; that way you can get expert help from folks who know a lot
about installations. Info at http://lugod.org/if (maybe you already know
about this). You can go to the installfest with the computer just as you
have it right now or (you will probably prefer this since you want Linux
running before 07 March) you can try your own hand at installation and
then go to the installfest for help tweaking your installation.  If you
can't make an installfest due to schedule conflicts let me know so that
I can try to line up a special appointment for you.

Note that the 07 March meeting is an unstructured social meeting without
a sit-down presentation so you can probably get help tweaking your
installation there too.

Regarding your specific questions:

- - should be fine that the specific model is not listed on TuxMobile, as
  long as other laptops with the same chipsets for important hardware
  components are
- - if you have not settled on a distribution I highly recommend Ubuntu
  (http://ubuntulinux.org) because of its excellent installer; you
  should download the latest version from the net to get the most
  up-to-date installer
- - if there is a proprietary OS installation on the drive I recommend
  leaving that there, at least for now as it can be helpful to reference
  its settings to get hardware working under Linux (use Partition Magic
  or Parted to scale down its partition)
- - if the drive comes with any special partitions you should leave them
  untouched as they may be required for suspending to work
- - getting the video, networking, DVD, etc to work is merely a matter of
  having a new-enough distribution that has the drivers
- - you may need to do some fiddling to get the special keyboard buttons
  to work (e.g., the "web browser" button); in the worst case these may
  not be functional under Linux
- - if anything does not work after you run the Ubuntu installer, follow
  the general instructions for determining chipsets and relevant kernel
  messages and put that into a request for help directed at our
  technical mailing list (vox-tech at list.lugod.org --- subscription info
  at http://lugod.org/mailinglists/)

I hope that helps. Welcome to the world of Linux and welcome to LUGOD!

- -- 
Henry House
+1 530 753 3361 ext. 13
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