Linux on a Notebook

[linux]

I'd just like to say thanks, before you read this message, seeing as I know it contains a lot of questions, and I really do need answers. Thanks in advance.

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I'd really love to install Linux on this notebook, but I can't. I can't afford to face no soundcard support, USB support, and loss of iTunes and support for my newly purchased iPod touch. I mean, I suppose I could use a Linux music tool to sync my iPod, but is there one that 100% recognizes and syncs music (in multiple formats, including mp3, m4a, and wav) as well as mp4 videos, and jpg and png photos?

I might install Linux (probably Ubuntu) on this box if it has support for every feature that a laptop has to offer. The hardware buttons don't matter to me, but the closing of the lid, unplugging the A/C power cord, battery, and USB support are needed.

How is Ubuntu Linux with laptops in general? It's a Windows built machine, meaning it isn't a MacBook or Apple brand computer. It also isn't an ASUS computer, so it wasn't purchased with Linux on it. It had Windows XP Media Center Edition, which, using the Vista DVD, was upgraded to Vista Home Premium.

But getting back to the topic, how is Ubuntu with notebook computers in general? Like, is there an option for closing the lid, what the power button does, etc? Also, does Ubuntu completely utilize the battery? Is the battery power crippled at all? With Vista, I usually get about 2 hours on full brightness, and 3 hours on "Power Saver" mode.

Also, how is Ubuntu with REALTEK sound cards? I just don't want to wipe my entire hard drive of all of my music and everything, only to find that I can't play anything that I put on it because the operating system doesn't support my soundcard. I have a Realtek High Definition Audio card, that came preinstalled on the machine.

And also, another issue is with the type of hard drive that I own. It is an 80GB SATA hard drive. Will Linux be able to create a partition (the whole thing) on this hard drive? I don't know what the support is with SATA hard drives and Linux.

Now that I'm thinking about it, wireless card (Intel PRO) and my DVD ROM drive (MATSHITA DVD RAM). Are there drivers available for them? I know I should search for these before I ask, but I just want to know because I want to install Linux as soon as I possibly can. Haha.

I'd just hate to boot up and not be able to connect wirelessly or read CDs, which would totally suck. Hah.

Thank you again.

-- Alex

[Zapme]

I run Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn on a Dell c610 laptop and you won't need a new soundcard but you will have to do a little downloading to acquire the mp3 emulators as mp3 is propriety not open license. The ubuntu install worked very well on my machine and I set it up to dual boot so now I have windows XP and linux on the same laptop and they are happy together. Ubuntu uses grub bootstrap loader not Lilo which really helps on the dual boot. The only trouble I have is my wireless adapter --a USB 2wire only will work on windows. Your ATA hard drive is no problem. You also need to join Linux.org as they have forums with real experts instead of novices like me. They will load you up with all the advice you need. Generally, the older your equipment the better off you are as it takes time for the open source community to develop the drivers needed for the latest gear. Also, google "HCL Linux" for the latest in compatibility info on your hardware.
You can get wireless adapters for the 802.11g standard for linux but I am trying to do driver workarounds first for mine. Ubuntu is easier for the novice than many other distro's as software application software is easier to install and partitioning is easier to do too. Good luck and have fun.

[John A]

>I can't afford to face no soundcard support, USB support,
USB should work out of the box, and getting a soundcard working in Linux should, at most, require installing a driver and/or recompiling the Linux kernel.

>and loss of iTunes and support for my newly purchased iPod touch. I mean, I suppose I
>could use a Linux music tool to sync my iPod, but is there one that 100% recognizes and
>syncs music (in multiple formats, including mp3, m4a, and wav) as well as mp4 videos, and
>jpg and png photos?
I've read various success stories of running iTunes (version 7.4 -- so far, 7.5 is garbage) on Linux via wine. However, since wine doesn't include USB support, this still means you won't be able to sync your iPod. There are lots of iPod syncing tools available on Linux, although most have only preliminary support for iPod Touch and iPhones. See this Ubuntu article for more details:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PortableDevices/iPhone

>I might install Linux (probably Ubuntu) on this box if it has support for every feature that a
>laptop has to offer. The hardware buttons don't matter to me, but the closing of the lid,
>unplugging the A/C power cord, battery, and USB support are needed.
That should work, although getting your computer to suspend to RAM when the lid is shut might prove a little bit of work. Battery and AC power stuff can usually be handled by the laptop's hardware, even if the operating system doesn't support it.

>How is Ubuntu Linux with laptops in general?
Pretty decent. It has very good hardware detection, and comes with a lot of utilities for managing stuff such as battery usage, screen brightness, etc.

>Also, does Ubuntu completely utilize the battery?
Right now, my MacBook gets about an hour and a half of battery life when running on Linux, although I haven't really had time to mess around with power optimizations. In real life usage, I'd expect you would get somewhere around 2-3 hours on Ubuntu.

>Also, how is Ubuntu with REALTEK sound cards?
I've never had a problem with any of my RealTek sound cards, but I'd really encourage you to google the exact model that's in your machine to check what kind of compatibility it has with Linux. In fact, I'd recommend you check any hardware you find critical to your system's operation on a search engine prior to installing Linux.

>Will Linux be able to create a partition (the whole thing) on this hard drive?
Yup. Ubuntu has had support for SATA drives for quite some time now.

>Now that I'm thinking about it, wireless card (Intel PRO) and my DVD ROM drive
>(MATSHITA DVD RAM). Are there drivers available for them?
They should both be recognized out of the box by Ubuntu.

[linux]

Thank you guys!

I burned a live cd of Ubuntu 7.10, and booted up with this machine.

It recognized everything, played sounds, connected to a wireless internet, played video, etc etc. I'm extremely pleased with how simple it was.

I've used Linux in the past, however I've always had an issue with sound.

Thank you guys a whole lot!

[linux]

Alright. Update: I installed Ubuntu 7.10, which installed without error, except a small bug which is forcing me to post from my iPod touch.

Wifi. It sees my card, sees my network, tries to connect, then fails. I can connect from my iPod, nit not Ubuntu. Aaaah.

Any suggestions? I'm located about 10 feet from the router.

Thanks!

[Sturm]

>Wifi. It sees my card, sees my network, tries to connect, then fails. I can connect from my iPod, nit not Ubuntu. Aaaah.

I've experienced similiar problems when installing on my parents/relatives computers. Try using wifi-radar to connect instead of the default network manager ( aptitude install wifi-radar ). If this doesn't work, just use iwconfig , which should definetely work.

[linux]

When I use aptitude install wifi-radar, it gives me an error.

E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (13 Permission denied)
E: Unable to lock the administrative directory......

Then I tried as root and it says "Couldn't find any package" ... Etc etc

How can I do this otherwise? Install this correctly, I mean.

[Sturm]

err, I don't have access to a Debian system at the moment, so just as root aptitude update; aptitude upgrade; aptitude search wifi . You should find it.

[linux]

Alright, I put that into terminal and it spit back a bunch of errors, saying to use "safe-upgrade" which I tried, and every time it says access denied and says 0 packages will be installed.

What am I doing wrong?

[jbennet]

sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

this will flush your systems package cache (the zero packages to be installed/ access denied messages signal a possible corruption issue), recache it and upgrade your packages to the newest versions (including the kernel - a new kernel version might solve your wireless problems)

reboot afterwards. If the new kernel doesnt work, select the old one in GRUB.

[linux]

Alright. I tried your suggestiom and rebooted. Now here's what happens.

This network is encrypted. So I connect, enter the passphrase, and Login to Network. It waits, shows that it's attempting to connect, then fails and brings up the dialogue box asking for my passphrase again. No matter how many times I try, I get the same result. No connection.

[jbennet]

Is there a MAC filter?

[linux]

Exact:

Passphrase Required by Wireless Network
A passphrase or encryption key is required to access the wireless network 'Glasser'.
Wireless Security: WEP 128-bit Passphrase <or> WEP 64/128-bit Hex <or> WEP 64/128-bit ASCII <or> LEAP
Passphrase: •••••••••• (1A34551614)
Authentication: Open System <or> Shared Key
Cancel | Login to Network

[linux]

Alright, it works now. Thank you jbennet!

It was a simple matter of switching from the option "WEP 128-bit Passphrase" to "WEP 64/128-bit Hex".

I don't know how to up your "Solved Threads," but it deserves to be upped.

[jbennet]

:) thanks

(most people i help are newebies who post once or twice so thier rep is 0 and they dont mark as solved)

but i dont mind, i enjoy learning and helping people.

Why do you still use WEP by the way, WPA is far more secure ? (but then again i think only G has WEP)

I had similar issue with the Passphrase/Hex thing on a pda a while ago, was gonna ask you to check the security, mac filters first , then encryption.