After initial installation, widescreen resolutions are sometimes unavaible, even if you edit xorg.conf.

For models that have the intel onboard video chipset, installing the package "915resolution" from the repositories will solve this problem. Reboot the system, and your screen resolution should be correct.

Wireless

Intel Chipsets

Some dv6000 models have the Intel 3945 Wireless chipset, and should work out-of-the-box with a basic Ubuntu install. If you are having problems connecting, enable the extra package repositories and install linux-restricted-modules, and don't forget wpa-supplicant if you need to use WPA security.

Broadcom Chipsets

The broadcom AIRFORCE 4113 rev 01 can be made to work with "bcm43xx-fwcutter". I used the script to install firmware and found it buggy using the wl_apsta.o firmware and bandwidth was useless. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/Driver/bcm43xx/Dapper

Preferred method: Install ndiswrapper When set up correctly, works flawlessly. Getting to that point is the challenge.

1. Use synaptic to install the following: ndisgtk ndiswrapper-common ndiswrapper-utils ndiswrapper-utils-1.1 ndiswrapper-utils-1.8 module-assistant

2. Follow the guidelines in the link below. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/Device/Broadcom_BCM4311_rev_01_%28ndiswrapper%29?action=show

I removed ndiswrapper kernel module and rebooted before proceeding with install

sudo rmmod ndiswrapper

sudo module-assistant

will allow you to see if module has been removed. It would be wise to remove the folder /etc/ndiswrapper before attempting to install the source, as described in the link above.

I used ndiswrapper 1.29 and compiled from source. The sp33008.exe can be extracted with cab extract and you must install using

sudo ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5.inf

For some reason ndisgtk never correctly installs them and when correctly installed ndisgtk doesn't show them.

Use this command to see installed drivers:

• sudo ndiswrapper -l

if you are lucky then you will get bcmwl5 driver installed, hardware (14E4:4324) present (alternate driver: bcm43xx) If you get a fatal error or it complains that it's not a valid driver it would seem that you haven't removed the original edgy kernel module and/or you didn't reboot after removing and before installing. If you are successful on reboot the wireless light will turn blue and you can install the package gnome-network-manager, if not already installed.

Reported wireless success

Graphics

You may use Envy, a Python script that eases installation of the official Nvidia and ATI drivers. Please see http://albertomilone.com/nvidia_scripts1.html

Envy works without problem with nvidia Geforce 6150 GO

If that did not work, try this:

nvidia Geforce 6150 GO Will run on open GL but requires the beta driver 13/04/07, this can be tricky to get to work nvidia-glx or nvidia-glx-legacy I have also tried driver direct from nvidia and anything apart from nv in xorg results in blank screen and having to boot into recovery and

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

The 6116eu I am having problems with text only terminal and ethernet while in text login-this could be affecting nvidia driver install-will figure out and report findings

You might have to manually ensure that the video card driver in xorg.conf is "nvidia" and not "nv". (This was tested on Debian etch and lenny/sid, kernels 2.6.18 and 2.6.20)

The following guide has resulted in success: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=263851

Tested models

Integrated Devices

Built-in Webcam

In most cases, the onboard media card reader will not work without a little persuasion. The driver for internal card readers is present in kernel 2.6.17, but is turned off by default. To enable it, do the following:

lspci

Look for SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter and note the number at the beginning of the line. For example, 05:05.2. Then run (inserting your number in place of mine):

sudo setpci -s 05:05.2 4c.b=0x02

Now put in an SD card, and it should work. The driver is still buggy, but should perform well nonetheless.

This method is not permenant, we're working on that.

suggested, but untried as my model has no media slot but-you could use "update-rc.d" to determine run levels and automate

Front Headphone/Microphone Jacks

NOTE: Feisty Fawn has a newer version of ALSA that detects and supports the front audio jacks.

For dv6000 models with Intel audio hardware (hda_intel), the ALSA driver included with edgy does NOT support the front audio jacks. The latest ALSA driver fixes the problem. To correct this, follow these steps:

1. Use synaptic to install build-essential and linux-headers packages.

2. Download alsa-driver package from alsa-project.org

3. Unpack it.

4. Open a terminal and navigate to the directory where you unpacked the driver. Then run "./configure --with-cards=hda-intel"

5. Run "sudo make"

6. Run "sudo make install"

7. Edit /etc/modules with sudo gedit /etc/modules and add "snd-hda-intel" on a new line within the file.

8. Reboot your computer and your front jacks should work!

After reboot, open up volume control and make sure that none of your channels are muted.

Tested models

Modem

Battery Life

To pull some more life from your battery, open a terminal and type

sudo gedit /etc/default/acpi-support

Look for the section containing ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE=false and change this value to true. This will cause your laptop to enter laptop mode when running on battery power, conserving more power. A restart will put this into effect.

Next open Synaptic and make sure you have the extra repositories enabled. Then install the following packages:

ubuntu-laptop-mode
laptop-mode-tools
laptop-detect
cpufreqd
cpufrequtils

or install them from the command line using this

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-laptop-mode laptop-mode-tools laptop-detect cpufreqd cpufrequtils

Additionally you can visit the unofficial Ubuntu Guide at www.ubuntuguide.org and follow the instructions found here http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Feisty#How_to_enable_your_CPU.27s_Power_Saving.2FFrequency_Scaling_features which has been reported to improve battery life.

Suspend / Hibernate

Suspend usually works out of the box for Ubuntu 7.04. If it does not post in the forums for quick help. Hibernate is a bit trickier and if it doesn't work out of the box use the following steps {{{sudo apt-get install uswsusp sudo s2disk ## CAUTION: make sure data is saved for this test! }}} You will have to use that command to hibernate but at least it will be functional. If you use Beryl for desktop effects and find that suspend and hibernate do not work properly, then go into beryl settings and disable "Sync To VBlank". Next edit the /etc/default/acpi-support and set this {{{POST_VIDEO=false }}}

Known Issues

1. Reports of incorrect fan operation and risk of overheating. You should monitor your laptop's temperature until you are sure that the cooling system is operating correctly. Could be firmware issue - more info needed'

2. Occasional shutdown crash.

3. The headphone and microphone jacks are known to NOT work with the version of ALSA shipped in Edgy. Some users have reported that compiling a more recent version of ALSA has solved the problem. NOTE: Feisty Fawn Herd 5 and on support the headphone jack.

4. dv6116eu: If you duel-boot, the HP System Check will NOT inform you of BIOS updates as it claims. Both friend and myself have the 6116eu and on random occasions with f.17 BIOS it will not power up without first removing the battery and then re-inserting it. I followed the HP chat person's advice and used the automated updater - when instructed to remove battery & hold power button for 30sec-1 min, insert cable and boot without battery, boot windows and shut down, then re-fit battery.

5. I still get random lockups and crashes, especially when a beep might occur (e.g. pressing tab at a bash prompt to complete a filename).

6. Almost every time I shutdown, the system gets as far as shutting down the system clock, and then it locks up. The few times I've seen it get past that, I see that the next thing to get shut down is the alsa driver, which makes me wonder whether the reason for my lockups and inability to shutdown properly is due largely to the alsa driver.

latest bios allows button beep to be turned off (bios f.27 02/01/07) serious boot issues

The dv6116eu has ongoing issues with edgy - everything I've tried has failed to result in reliable booting:

1) Ndiswrapper and the Nvidia driver don't play nice.

2) ACPI sometimes stalls on boot, Noapic options have zero effect.

3) Occasional screen corruption on gdm login manager.

4) Since bios upgrade I now have some program like xfree86 is trying to directly access hardware - stalls on boot.

5) random hard lockups

Result boot 1 in 8

I fixed the boot issues by keeping an edgy base system and installing feisty kernel 2.6.20-6-generic - Do this entirely at your own risk

Wireless Issues:

*With the Intel 3945ABG wireless chipset, boot sequence will sometimes pause if the wireless switch is in the ON position. Turning the switch to OFF causes the boot process to resume normally. Once booted, wireless can be reactivated without a hitch.

• - - - > Could be related to the native drivers. Some users have reported that replacing them with ndiswrapper has resulted in greater boot reliability.

keyboard and touchpad

search

ksynaptics (kde) gsynaptics (gnome)

or

qsynaptics (general for config of synaptic)

panel system>administration>preferences>keyboard you can alter repeat rate etc

Installation using Wubi

Wubi creates a virtual Linux disk on a Windows system. I tried installing Linux on its own but I ended up ruining my dual-boot setup. I suggest you do this to make sure Ubuntu runs nicely on your system before making a full switch. "This has been tested with a dv6402ca." Download the latest Wubi Windows: http://wubi-installer.org/

Step 1

Run the installer. It will download the correct alternate ISO according to your choice. No 64-bit ISOs are listed, but you can get around this by reading up on instructions on how to install a custom ISO. I suggest installing to a new (unused) partition. If you are installing on the same drive as Windows, run Defrag twice. Otherwise, you will get some odd errors when booting into Linux.

Step 2

Run through the test installation. It's quite straight-forward. Once you reboot (installation complete) you will get a boot-up screen with "Windows (default)" and "Ubuntu". You can go ahead and select Ubuntu. Important: Be ready to press the ESC button, otherwise your computer might hang-up. There will be a 3 second pause (by default) to press escape and put in special boot-up options. If you miss this step, you will have to run Chkdisk (Windows usually does this automagically) and reboot to Ubuntu again.

Step 3

You should be at a black and white text screen with a couple of boot options. Using the arrow keys, select the top-most 'kernel' entry and press 'e' on your keyboard. You will now see the boot-up string. Add "noapci nolapic noapic noirqpoll nosmp" to the end of this line. Press enter to exit the edit. Press 'b' to boot using your newly edited kernal options. Note: The next time you boot into Ubuntu, you will have to do this again. To permanently make the change, you must edit your boot options while in Ubuntu. See point #2 here: http://grumpymole.blogspot.com/2007/05/ubuntu-how-to-edit-grub-boot-parameters.html

Step 4

You should see Ubuntu! Log in and mess about. Test everything and begin customizing interface and getting your drivers properly installed. Good luck! am /at/ artform /dot/ ca

= Gutsy on DV6620

This section specifically lists troubles and fixes found when porting Ubuntu 7.10 on a DV6620 laptop. Most of the hints are available when googling, but it can take a while to grab all the relevant data.

== Screen Resolution for GeForce 8400

Up to Gutsy, using properly the nvidia driver involves some hacks (driver recompilation) or the use of Envy. Personnaly I was not able to use envy because of missing (obsolete) package dependencies. Anyway, with Gutsy things are much simpler:

1. From the menu: System -> Administration -> Restricted Drivers Manager, enable the NVIDIA drivers.

2. Reboot the machine to take the change into account.

3. From a terminal run:

• sudo nvidia-settings

4. Select "X Server Display Configuration" and choose Resolution to 1280x800. Click on apply to see what happens. Don't forget to click on "Save to X Configuration file "to make it remanent.

That's all.

== Having the sound working

If nothing is done, the sound led remains red meaning it is not usable even if the system seems to know it. Most of the advices are to install the drivers by hand by recompiling them first. The easy solution is here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=565873&highlight=sound+problem+hp&page=2

1. From a terminal, type:

• sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules

2. Reboot and the sound will work (the led comes to blue).

== Having both CPUs working

I don't know if this issue is due to my install process. Anyway, strangely enough I saw that the kernel ignored the second CPU (warning in the dmesg log file). It is due to the fact in the /boot/grub/menu.lst file the 386 kernel is loaded by default. To have SMP working you need to select (and/or move as default kernel) the generic kernel.

To have the generic kernel working as fine as the mono-cpu one, I had to do the following:

NOTE

I started this wiki page as much for my own reference as to help others, without their help this page wouldn't be so comprehensive. Because the Dv6000 series varies in hardware, some users will have perfect systems and others will struggle.

Please feel free to add sections, if you feel there is an error please pm me and discuss before you delete

My DV6116eu has been an ongoing struggle with bios firmware and compatibility, I have resolved this by moving to Debian etch and beta Nvidia driver.

if bios update and power cycle do not resolve power button issue and power on times become longer-indicates hardware failure-interestingly in my case touch buttons then booted system.

HP has recently released two new versions of the BIOS for some dv6000 models (mine is a DV6383eu); the latest one (F.3A) seems be a (small) step forward in fixing some of the problems described on this page.

After a rather enthusiastic announcement, that the new bios was fixing most of the problem on my laptop (requiring only the NOAPIC boot option in order to work smoothly) i discovered that the solution had probably to be credited by a rather cryptic combination of the new patch and the hardware that was plugged in my computer (specifically: after 2 days, removing an usb webcam reverted everything to the old behavior...).

Until i will be able to perform more tests in order reproduce the lucky combination and generalize it a little, i can only report that the new F.3A patch for the BIOS doesn't solve the Pavillion problems (at least on my laptop) though doesn't compromise it's functionality either (and should probably be installed).

CategoryLaptop CategoryLaptop