Hi, I know I've asked this before, but now I have a better laptop. I'm interested in putting Linux on my laptop, alongside Windows MCE. Now that I have a better laptop I can look at some more recent distros. The hard drive is split into 2 x 28Gb partitions (it came like that, which is handy), so I shouldn't have to reinstall Windows hopefully. Which distro do you recommend for a Linux noob(ish)? I'd like it to be easy to dual boot (I'm not bothered about which boot loader). Also, I'd like a distro which makes it easy to install software (not having to build from source everytime). Looking around on the internet, I'll need to use ndiswrapper for the wireless driver. The chipset is ATi Radeon Xpress 1100 - I'm not sure how well this will work. Finally, because I have a 64bit AMD processor, would it be better to go with a 64 bit distro (and will it be still able to dual boot with 32bit Windows?). The laptop spec can be seen in my signature. Thanks, Thomas
I've been very pleased with Ubuntu. All my hardware ran straight off, no problem. Installing software is a breeze! It's a really slick distro and you can download the KDE Desktop, if you prefer it to GNOME, but retain the option to log-in to either on start up. CODE: sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop There is, of course, a 64 Bit version.
You need to make sure that nothing is stored on that second partition before you install Linux. Check in the Disk Management console and Windows Explorer. A dual boot scenario will get set up automatically when you install Linux. The distribution you choose should detect Windows and install GRUB accordingly. I would recommend you use the 32-BIT edition of Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft). Ubuntu is easy to get to grips with and installing software is easy peasy. Multimedia codecs and binary graphics card drivers are not installed by default, however there are many guides to help you with that. I don't advise going down the 64-BIT route yet because you won't get Flash and the Windows media codecs. 64-BIT systems do not outperform 32-BIT systems anyway. The only advantage of 64-BIT systems is you can install more then 4GB of RAM. Some wireless adapters are supported in Linux. But unfortunately most are not. I guess you won't know until you've install Linux. The next release of Ubuntu, codenamed 'Feisty Fawn', should bring improvements to wireless networking. They will be including more binary drivers by default
Ok Thanks. Is there a big difference between ubuntu 6.06 and 6.10? I already have 6.06 on CD (both 32bit & 64bit). Also, personally I prefer KDE to Gnome, so I would rather run Kubuntu... is there a big difference (speed and reliabilty wise)? Also, looking at the Kubuntu download section, there is a DVD and CD version, what's the difference because I notice the DVD is 4GB. Yeah I've looked into my wireless on Linux and it says I need ndiswrapper as there are no drivers. Thanks, Thomas
I've just tried Ubuntu 6.06 LiveCD, with no success. However, I was booting up Kubuntu to try that and I noticed that it had the option for safe graphics mode, and booting into that works fine. (See images below). Another thing - I was just looking in the network settings, and it showed eth0 and wlan0. eth0 was enabled, and wlan0 was disabled, and wouldn't enable for some reason. Does this mean there is a driver and it has been recognised, or that a wireless chip has been detected and there is no driver? Thanks, Thomas
Choose K/ubuntu 6.06 if you want stability and long term support. Choose Edgy Eft if you prefer newer applications. Edgy is more polished overall and uses Upstart which improves boot time performance dramatically. KDE is a little more responsive as it's based on QT, but usually performance is about the same for everything else. The DVD contains more packages, half of which you will probably never use You will have to use Safe Mode until you install the binary ATi or nVidia driver. After which your graphics should work fine. Well I am not exactly an expert on Wireless cards but I am pretty sure the default network manager in Kubuntu can't manage wireless cards. I think you need to install KNetworkManager Code: sudo aptitude install knetworkmanager If it doesn't work in 6.06, it may work in 6.10. I don't know, you'll have to find out.
Ok I'm in Kubuntu 6.06 now, the touchpad doesn't properly work (I can't click and drag without having to use the buttons below). The display is stretched (due to it being in safe graphics mode and me having a widescreen display). According to this site 6.06 doesn't work anyway, and I should go for 6.10 like you suggested. Thomas
WiFi on my laptop is fully supported - even the front power switch works for the card meaning I can turn it off if I need. The only way to really tell is to give it a try and see what happens I guess...
I use NetworkManager with the GNOME network manager tray icon (knetworkmanager had a few bugs last time, but they're probably fixed now) with KDE using Kubuntu 6.10. Overall its pretty decent. Like you I had to use ndiswrapper so I could use my windows wireless driver in linux, once its set up its pretty flawless though. Laptop displays can be a bit of a pain until you get the drivers working properly, and having ATI doesn't help. You should be able to install the drivers alright though. Don't try to change the resolution with the KDE user resolution feature though, make sure you do Code: dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg .
Hop to it then That thing ruined my life AND my xorg.conf on several occasions! Avoid like the plague and edit your xorg.conf file manually!
My touchpad doesn't work fully on 6.06 either - not a biggie for me as I only use it during lectures - and even in the lectures it's not very often.
Have you tried the numerous configuration applications for touchpads? Heres a few from a basic apt-cache search: Code: gsynaptics - configuration tool for Synaptics touchpad driver of X server ksynaptics - Synaptics TouchPad configuration tool for KDE qsynaptics - Synaptic TouchPad configuration tool tpconfig - configure touchpad devices I am of course assuming that your touchpad is a Synaptics. Almost all laptop touchpads are these days
Ok, I downloaded and installed Kubuntu 6.10 successfully (as far as I am aware). The only problems are the sound doesn't work, and the wireless (as I suspected). The display resolution automatically adjusted to 1280x800 - which is correct. I've read on the internet that a BIOS upgrade will solve the sound and Wifi problems, but I'm not keen on doing this, so I'll wait until the next version comes out and try that. Thanks, Thomas P.S I didn't get chance to try the touchpad settings, but will next time I'm on.
It may not necessarily need a BIOS update, unless your card needs to be enabled/disabled through the BIOS. Link? Synaptics is what my acer laptop uses, and it works fine. It even has the feature where you can hold and drag to the end of the pad, and the pointer continues moving.
