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I have found http://www.linux-laptop.net/ useful in the past. Good on you for introducing them to linux at a young age. Wish I would have found linux before 14...

Not to detract from your Big Blue commercial.My fly by night Pavilion laptop runs Ubuntu Studio slickly. My experience with Ubuntu forums is excellent. Debian, from which Ubuntu springeth, hath billions in dollars in people time, coding,hacking and sundry work. We could put out a commercial for any linux and laptop for any number of reasons.

            My advice is research some laptops over at http://www.linux-laptop.net/ and get a feel for what you like/can afford, then find a linux that suits your needs. http://www.livecdlist.com/ is a fun easy way to browse/test/fondle various distros before commiting to tweaking an install. Tests your hardware pretty fair, but to their credit most drivers not included in a distro can be downloaded and compiled if you just gotta have a certain distro.
http://linmodems.technion.ac.il/compiling.html should take some mystification out of it if you need it.

          If you really wanna do the linux/bsd/*nix lifestyle, poking around, customizing, tweaking are all part of it. Support is netwide anytime.

Alternative:

1) Buy a laptop with Linux preinstalled: list of vendors around the world
2) Do your research.: http://www.linux-laptop.net/, http://tuxmobil.org/mylaptops.html, and Google.
3) Ask the retailer if you can boot the laptop off a live CD or USB stick and check everything works.

MIL-STD-810F http://www.linux-laptop.net/rugged-laptop.html and a URL to a Linux friendly selection.

I thought about making a 'transportable' one that has the guts in a dust proof box with a battery pack and a heat exchanger and no openings. It would use an industrial wireless mouse and keyboard and have a sealed bulkhead USB connector(s). A CD is a problem even if it's external. I doubt I'll get the funds soon.

I have to agree that Win95 is probably going to be the best GUI experience you'll get on such a machine. I ended up doing the same on a Compaq Contura 4/25 (486SX/25 with 8Mb RAM and 320Mb HD, floppy only, no networking apart from RS232 for a modem).

Initially I installed Slackware 3.9, whose critical elements were available as floppy images. I downloaded the rest via dialup modem. You might like to try Zipslack, which is available up to v11 of Slackware and installs on FAT (with the option to change to ext2 later, IIRC). I think up to at least V7 still had floppy images for booting.

I got X running, with help from http://www.linux-laptop.net/ and installed Netscape 3.0 (without WM) - it just about worked.

Alternatively, you could use an svgalib graphical browser like Arachne:
http://www.glennmcc.org/aralinux/
I've used the DOS version with great success on 286 and 386 platforms, but I've not tried the Linux version.

In the end I created a set of Win95 floppies from an install CD, installed the OffByOne browser and it ran at a much more usable speed:
http://offbyone.com/offbyone/

I'm no fan of Windows, but it provided the best UI on that particular laptop.

Rob

The problem is that if it comes w/some Windowzen OS, I wonder if they let me take it back to them just stating that installing debian didn't work. I have an Acer 7003 WSMi that runs debian just fine, but the little I've researched, it seems that for example iBooks are tedious w/Linux. I tried at one point to figure out if the LG bagtops can run Linux, but the answer just wasn't to be had, so I decided to not get one.

So, I want some kind of guarantee. I don't want nor need a laptop that can't run Linux. And I'm not really interested in even trying it myself. I want to know when I'm buying. Of course http://www.linux-laptop.net/ helps.

Check on Linux on Laptops and see if anybody has written about installing the latest Ubuntu on your brand/model of laptop.

I've been eyeing second-hand Toughbooks for some time, as they make ideal laptops to throw into my motorcycle hardcases without worrying about padding around them.

As far as I can tell, and the reports on linux-laptop.net seem to bear this out, Panasonic aka Matshushita uses fairly standard chipsets in these things, the kind they also sell to other manufacturers, so they run Linux with a little fiddling at most. Which is of course logical: a well-known, well-tested, and well-integrated hardware design is also much more stable driver-wise, and what use is a rugged laptop if it keeps crashing? The upside is that these are usually the kind of chipsets that also run well under Linux.

It's too late for "Linux on the desktop". Now it has to be "Linux on the Laptop". With WiFi. And that just doesn't work very well.

Yes, there are resources for running Linux on laptops. And they're very funny.

• Linux-Laptop.net This is a collection of links to blogs of people who were able to get Linux to run on a laptop. Really.
• Tuxmobil.org A collection of links to other sites about Linux. With ads.
• Linux.org's laptop page. Most of the listings are for machines that are no longer manufactured, or even for defunct manufacturers. Compaq and DEC are listed, but Leonovo isn't.
• Ubuntu's support wiki for laptops. Big table of laptops, what doesn't work, and what hacks might make them work. Dell's current laptop line, the Inspiron 1501/1505/1705, isn't listed. Even for ones that work, there are instructions like this: This is installation instructions for Hoary. I was unable to complete a successful install with Warty, and I looked, but was unable to find anyone else who had completed an install of Warty. You must first upgrade to BIOS version A32. .... For information on doing this without a windows partition, go here: ... Type in at boot: linux pci=noacpi noapic to prevent it from freezing partway through install (this seems to be a recurring problem with Dell laptops). ... Debian will detect the screen resolution incorrectly. ... To fix this once everything has installed, boot to the Root Terminal or use Applications-System Tools-Root Terminal. Once logged in, type (without quotes) "sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf" and edit...

This is no better than it was four years ago. Maybe worse. You can't even get the WalMart Linux laptop any more.

Linux on the server, sure. Linux on the desktop, maybe. Linux on the laptop, not ready for prime time.

A kernel panic is extremely unusual and most often the hallmark of a hardware problem, that sooner or later will crop up under Windows too. Perhaps you had bad RAM? A corrupted disk ? Did you check that your CD was OK before booting from it ? To be sure it can also happen due to some (usually temporary) incompatibility, in which case you need to search on the web for your hardware configuration, which can be a pain, I agree.

I found that Fedora is by and large the best distro when it comes to recognize hardware and fix problems quickly. The Ubuntu people don't have yet the same level of experience, Debian is usually a bit behind, and Suse is losing its way with Novel.

Since you talk about winmodems, does it mean it was on a laptop? With laptops things are harder because they often include lots of proprietary stuff. Try out the nice linux-laptop pages.

With all due respect, when did you last try Linux ? Things have finally gotten much better in the last 2 years or so.

When you buy a new computer bundled with XP, you have none of the problems you describe because they have been worked out by the EOM.

When you install XP on a machine that you built yourself or when you upgrade an older machine, what you describe applies as well to Microsoft's OS. In fact the driver hunting can be so bad that there are whole for-pay infrastructures on the net that help you hunt the correct drivers for you.

Now I find that installing Linux on a random desktop machine is way way easier than XP. I've had pretty much zero issues for years with either Fedora or Ubuntu. Laptops are a different matter though, you have to go by what other people have tried and does work.

Wow, looks like a sweet machine.

My advice, if you really want to be sure, take the time to go through the hardware specs and check the kernel source for drivers for each thing you definitely want to have running (be careful of versions)

You could also check out the linux on laptops site

Finally, I've noticed that the biggest problems for me in the past have always come in with ACPI support. This is where the most noticable improvements(*) in the kernel have come for me lately. You might want to check out the ACPI4Linux site to see if there's anything special that's been discovered about your system yet.

* It's actually not a problem with Linux, it's a problem with the way some OEMs do ACPI using tools from M$ that the kernel guys have been doing a better and better job of working around. Who needs standards when you think you pwn the world.

thousands of first hand experiences, sorted by laptop make/model and distro.

It has some very specific info on getting certain things like touchpads etc to work on some models that could save you HOURS of searching.

http://www.linux-laptop.net/

best of luck.

I've found these guys very helpful in getting laptops working with various distros:

http://www.linux-laptop.net

See which laptops seem to have the best support and go from there.

Au contraire, there is a barrier and it has to do with laptop support. More and more people are using laptops as their primary machine as in your case and linux support for laptops is lacking at best. In my case, I tried installing a couple of distros on my HP laptop nc8230- Ubuntu 5.10, debian 3. Most peripherals were either detected correctly or drivers installed without too much trouble. The video driver had to be downloaded from ATI and took hours of trial and error to get working although never at the native resolution. I noticed that the laptop was getting hotter and hotter and eventually found that the fans were not coming on appropriately despite the processor COOKING ITSELF TO DEATH. Well fortunately, not quite to death. Googling revealed that this is a known problem and there are no work arounds. ACPI support in linux is truly lacking. It seems like dynamic processesor speed control is also acheived with an patch to the kernel. I dual boot linux on a desktop but that episode scared me a bit about trying linux on my laptop again until I know that those serious deficiencies have been corrected. With Windows XP, I use notebook hardware control to undervolt my processor and reboot once every couple of weeks and am quite happy with it. Before anyone responds with a link to http://www.linux-laptop.net/ didn't work. If your particular laptop is fully supported, fine. But in my case, the problems are either acknowledged problems or not addressed. Don't say that people should find out about linux compatibility prior to purchase because first of all, my company decided on the model and very few people make purchases that way.

because you didn't found this ?

Buy a good quality laptop, and load linux on it. Lots of help on how to load Linux on any laptop is available. E.g.:

http://www.linux-laptop.net/

Point is that Apple mixes up software with hardware. On paper this may look good. In practice, this may result in compromise in either the software quality or hardware quality. Kind of like why SGI went down the tubes.

Speaking of which, has anyone actually installed Linux on one of these?
(I'm particularly interested in one with an X2 4800+ with 2GB of mem).

If so, what distro and what problems were encountered?

Any prayer of having the info posted on http://www.linux-laptop.net/
so that we can have an idea of what to expect?

TIA!

(I think someone posted a comment here about AGP or somesuch, but I
can't seem to find it easily, so please bear with me - given the price
of one of these beasts, I'm trying to be prudent before unzipping my
fly and actually ordering one of these things.)

http://www.linux-laptop.net/

http://linux-laptop.net/

Linux on Laptops is a great resource for how-tos on getting your specific model of laptop working, there are some other sites as well (linux.org), and while they aren't the best updated they helped me at least get linuxs working on my D600 very well. Also its a good spot to check to see if you particular laptop model is generally supported.

Which DVD player and what wireless network card? If it's an intel pro based network card tryout ipw2100 or something similar found at the same site.

If you're trying to use mplayer to play your DVD's you should try xine instead. It needs some extra libraries (such as libdvdcss etc) but I've found it to be less of a hassle to get going than mplayer (this is just what I've found and shouldn't be taken as the gospel truth).

If all else fails go here and see what other people have had success doing.

Linux on Laptops -- Pick your brand...

Most of these older Toshibas can gotten for pretty cheap from eBay. The only drawback is that a good battery is quite expensive.

Here's some helpful links:

• http://www.linux-laptop.net/toshiba.html
• http://www.buzzard.org.uk/toshiba/
• http://www.networkcomputing.com/unixworld/tutorial /012/012.html

I'm a Java developer so I didn't need the VM stuff but I've gone from doing development on a Windows laptop to the same system with Linux. Gentoo is a pain to setup(first couple times around) but as far as laptop exp. goes for me I always end up needing the latest kernel, X server, etc in order to get everything working. But I am writing this from my laptop.

It took about a week and a half on and off to get my laptop(HP ze4240) fully working. We're talking 2.6.5 kernel, Xorg w/ dri cvs for 3d, linuxant modem driver, etc. But then you get in to things like my pcmcia DLink DWL-650 rev P 802.11b card wasn't support by the rev of the wlan software even in Gentoo so I had to go out and get the latest version of that.

You might just want to go to http://www.distrowatch.com/ and just try the most popular free distros till you get one that works on your system without too much hassle. You could also take a look at http://www.linux-laptop.net/ and see how other people faired at various distros on your laptop model.

I'd like to get FreeBSD going on my laptop but I've had trouble with the cardbus ethernet adapters. Can anyone recommend a 16 Bit PCMCIA ethernet for use with FreeBSD? Too bad there are no sites like Linux-Laptop for BSD. As far as BSD dying, spend some time dealing with various non-responsive Linux package maintainers and then say who is dead.

It seems the only real route at present is linux compatability lists, coupled with Windows Refunds

Its a shame, but it seems the big manufacturers just dont see the market for linux laptops.

Plus only recently has it been decreed that MS can no longer hold things back from manufacturers who ship bare systems.

Ebay seems like the way to go nowadays for most large ticket items, so long as you buy from reputable dealer. If you want to check out if laptops are compatible with linux, go to Linux on Laptops. On most popular laptops they have detailed lists of what distros are compatible with what portion of the hardware. Some of them like mandrake are better than windows with drivers out of the box.

With linux, we lose on both fronts - not only do the PVR developers have to code their software to work for a variety of different platforms (hardware/software encoders, different remotes, distributions, etc), but they also have to rely on other sets of open source developers who work on the drivers for the sound cards (ALSA), video cards (ivtv, v4l), tv-out video cards, etc.

I think one way to help with this is to have a good list of hardware combinations that are known to work. This could be as simple as the developers listing their *working* hardware configurations, or as complicated as something like linux-laptop.net. Not everybody uses the crap they have laying around. Sometimes I'll actually go out and buy a new piece of hardware to tinker with. It would be nice to know ahead of time that it'll work with the other stuff I have.

Ummm... I've got Mandrake 9.1 running on an eMachines M5305. If I remember right, the install found every device right out of the gate.

I also got it running on a Panasonic Toughbook CF-25 MKII. Everything works fine except for the PCMCIA slots will not recognize cardbus cards (they won't under any current version of Windows, either). Specs on this bad boy are Pentium 150Mhz, 48MB RAM, 4GB HDD, and it was mostly useable. Took forever to boot, and load apps.

Buddy of mine had it running on a Toshiba Satillite of some sort (low end P4). Uses it for war-driving among other things.

Another guy I used to work with "borrowed" a company laptop (IBM T30). Mandrake 9.1 worked quite well there, also.

Check out Linux-Laptop to see if someone has already de-Gates-ified your particular model.

knoppix is going to be slow on that unless you repartion a drive to use swap space. Knoppix is cool enough to find an existing linux swap space, and use it (This may be a problem for some people doing recovery, because it is reading/writing to the hard drive). Try loading knoppix in text mode first: that's much easier on the memory requirements. Once you do get X working, don't use KDE; try a lighter window manager & desktop.

as for your wireless, you'll need to load some special drivers, which won't play nice with a live-cd unless you customize it yourself. It won't be perfect, but its a start.

I've never played with your sort of watch, but I imagine knoppix will treat it just like any other USB thumbdrive. The newer versions will automatically detect attached storage devices and mount them (/mnt/sda# I think).

I have no clue what to do about your pcmcia cdrom drive. Try doing a PXE boot from a network drive to do a hard drive install if you can't boot of your cd-rom. That'll get you going, but I have no experiance with a pcmcia drive. Linux is pretty good about supporting older technology, its the newer stuff it is slow with. Recompiling a custom kernel is extremely easy with 2.6, so you may want to wait for knoppix to release a 2.6 kernel version to tweak your hardware.

The biggest problem I've had is with ACPI - the spec varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. I wouldn't even bother with it on a 2.4 box; you'd be asking for trouble. ACPI and powermanagment (cpufreq is awesome) are much better in 2.6.

Linux on Laptops will give you a great start on fine tuning or getting a distro installed.

Good luck.

Shite. I was looking at a T40 with the 9k video in it, as I want the SXGA+ display (at least ... again, the Dell 1920 x 1200 WUXGA looks sweet, on paper anyway) and, though I don't game now, I want at least reasonable 3D acceleration for the future. The best I've had in the past is the Mobility Radeon in the Toshiba 1905 I gave my wife, so the 7500 in the other T40s would be a step up, but not a huge one I don't think, and I don't think the T40 w/7500 can be had with anything but the XGA screen. I've not seen any other complaints on the net RE: the issue you mention -- perhaps it's just your machine? OTOH, I'm not done researching, and the T40 just got added to my list the other day. It's more expensive than I want to spend, but the 8600 fully loaded and with said 3yr warranty got pretty damn close, so I figured I'd throw the T40 into the mix and hope SWMBO is cool with the extra expense.

Your comments about Dell are why I wouldn't consider getting one w/o a long warranty. Your last comment (runs Linux surprizingly well) is why I'm still considering them.

Decisions, decisions.

In 2004, that trend will increase. If you've got a laptop, why not put Linux on it all by itself?

OK, some of you have your reasons, though making the jump and dealing with the problems (if any) is one way to get the ball rolling. Here are two resources to help out;

1. Linux On Mobile Computers
2. Linux on Laptops

Check here and find your machine on the list.

I recently bought a Sony VAIO SRX - not quite as small as the PictureBook, but still smaller than just about anything else out there (there are a few in its class - Fujitsu has a nice offering with built-in DVD drive). I recommend you take a look at it if you're looking for a small form-factor without sacrificing usability. It's got a usable keyboard, and a touchpad (pointing sticks drive me nuts - otherwise I was really looking at the picturebook). The battery life on the standard battery is about 4 hours or so for normal usage, and the 10.4 inch screen (1024x768) is very easy to see and read. Built-in Wi-Fi is the best thing since sliced bread - I don't even use my Home Theater PC anymore for quick internet stuff - it's faster to flip open the laptop and use the wireless connection from the couch, and I don't have to fumble around with a bunch of remotes.

Performance is good for business use - it's got integrated Intel 815 graphics (bleh), an 850MHz mobile PIII, and 256MB of RAM standard. I paid $1300 at Best Buy for the SRX-87, with a $100 rebate. The 87 is the now-discontinued model, so they are (or were) dirt cheap. The only difference between the 87 and the current line seems to be that the new ones come with a CDRW/DVD Combo Drive - I got a DVD drive. There's no docking station or port replicator - the drives are i.Link (Firewire)

Also, it mostly runs Linux, according to Linux-Laptop.net

There's some really sweet white-box laptop deals available from http://www.discountlaptops.com, including some tasty Sager notebooks. A friend of mine at work just got one, and it's really nice...I'd have no qualms about getting one if I didn't already have an office-issued Latitude (and I might just pick one up for my next home PC anyway). All of the computers at that site are available with no OS by default. I'm not sure if/when that will change, but it's definitely a nice option for you now.

As for Linux interoperability, Linux-laptop.net had a few writeups about getting Linux running on some older Sager models, but nothing on the latest product line. I'd be very interested to know if anyone's tried this, how well it worked, and how much driver-tweaking and hair-pulling was involved in the process.

Here's the link I use: link

It's got driver info, compatibility tables, how-tos, etc. And useful message boards.

I have seen better pages for Linux on laptops out there.
Linux-Laptops for example...

...or better yet, compare to linux-laptop.net.

So I take it you never found www.linux-laptop.net? It's pretty easy to miss. After all, it's only mentioned in all the laptop-related HOWTOs and at the top of many search results for "linux laptop help".

Or, you can just check Linux on Laptops before buying.

All my laptops over the last few years have run Linux very well (mostly IBM and HP). I'm also pretty happy with my OSX PowerBook, although there is a lot more software available for Linux (at least of the kind I'm interested in).

Fortunately there is strong community support, even if it is not to be had from the major corporations. When it comes to laptops a good place to start is http://www.linux-laptop.net/. It seems that no one has written up an article on your girlfriend's particular model yet, but I would not be surprised to see that change in the near future. The information on this site helped me a great deal in setting up my HP Pavilion N5430.

I will be watching to see what happens, but at I fear the worst. Maybe when it comes time to replace my laptop it will be time to take a look at what IBM offers [assuming that they do not opt to pull out of the consumer market all together].

However, the one that I found most useful was this one:
Linux on Laptops

Most major manufacturers are covered, as well as current and discontinued models.

Now all I need is a friggin' driver for my Orinoco Gold wi-fi card, and I'll be happy.

www.linux-laptop.net

Linux on Laptops

It's mostly a collection of links to various people's pages on their experience getting linux installed on various laptop makes and models. I found it very useful....

I've been using a DELL Latitude LS lately - upgrading the HD to something larger and running RH7.1 linux on it. OK, it only has 800x600, but it is really small and fits in a Timbuk2 cycle courier bag easily and has survived a few crashes (on the bike - rather than SegFault). The Dell warranty has replaced a few bits and pieces (a faulty fan and keyboard) - but thats not bad compared to previous laptops. The Dell warranty is the main selling point for me.

My main gripe is that they come with ms windows - which is a pain in the arse because I don't really use or need it.

I looked at using a Sony C1VE (european edition), but it looked like it wouldn't last 5 minutes although I it scored well on cuteness factor.

I found http://www.linux-laptop.net very handy when setting up linux on various laptops...

callum

does it support the Virge MX+MV chipset? Only Red Hat and Mandrake seem to out of the box, and I'm not l33t enough to get it working under Debian (yes, I've tried several things, including the drivers on s3graphics and from the linux laptop page).

'rneches' has clearly looked at the current market of available laptops. Prolly only missing out on a few low-profile products.

This is an 'Ask SlashDot' posting. Why are people posting additional questions rather than useful tidbits of information.

He has specific goals in mind for the laptop of his dreams (goals that I happen to share), why would you suggest a piece of hardware that violates 90% of his wish list as a solution?

That ends my rant for now and here are a series of links I have dug out of other postings.
PSI_Linux Psion hardware / Linux software project.
Sceptre - Hardware retailer
AMPRO nifty smallish hardware
IBM X-series laptops
Linux-Laptop.net lot's of docs on making laptop hardware work with Linux
TuxScreen strange hardware hacking project
Cyberresearch hardware retailer

Tuxtops used to do it but are now focusing on software. Their hardware buisness is being handled by QLITech Personally, when I wasnt using x, an old Compaq presario 1210 running Slackware worked well (except of course the modem. Now I am running a Sony Vaio PCG-FX240 with Red Hat 7.2, and it has no problems (except the modem, which I have no need for with broadband everywhere I use it. ). (Slack install didnt go as well as I would have liked...) A great deal of useful info can be found on the Linux on laptops page.