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Notes on installation and compatibility of Ubuntu with Fujitsu laptop computers.

Summary

Details

Getting 1440x1050 Resolution

A Google search about 1400x1050 or intel 82855 and Linux gives a lot of matches, most of them being some kind of Swahili for the passenger freshly disembarked from Redmond to Ubuntu airport, there are tared roads around the jungle here...

Here is how I got it my way to get full resolution out of your notebook with Intel graphics and 1400x1050 LCD panels (Dell, Fujitsu, ...). (Yes you can get it over the vonsole, but here's my intuitive working way...)

First of all, if you have *a less capable* second monitor connected to your laptop, disconnect it, since XOrg will not give you more than the less capable connected monitor can.

1)From the K Menu (Start) choose System --> Adept package manager.

2) If you see a package named "915resolution" go to 4)

3) You have to get the "universe" repository first: Go to Adept --> manage repositories. The line http://**.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu edgy universe is greyed, right-click on it, choose enable. Fetch updates.

4) Click on "915resolution" select "request install" then "apply changes".

5) From System Settings --> Monitor and Display select your 1440x1050 resolution, Apply.

6) Log out --> End current Session from the Login screen, select the icon at the left and choose "Restart X Server" (you may have restarted the full OS as well, this is faster)

7) Enjoy your new real estate in Ubuntuland!

(**= your language, else EN) P.S. this assumes that your monitor has been correctly recognized (it should), else set it up in System Settings --> Monitor and Display before restarting.

Fujitsu Lifebook P2120

• Works: network, pcmcia, usb, dvd, trackpoint, crt, cd-rw
• Broken: internal winmodem
• Untested: firewire, video out
• Suspend to RAM (S3) works, do not use s3_bios, remove the ohci_hcd module before suspending, mouse stops working on resume, press Fn F4 (mouse) key twice to re-enable it.

• Closing lid after power down turns the computer back ON, see https://bugzilla.ubuntu.com/show_bug.cgi?id=3221

• Audio works on first boot, but stops working after suspend/resume.

Fujitsu Siemens Amilo L1300

Centrino 1,5GHz CPU, 40GB hd, 15" wide lcd, Intel 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device, Ethernet: Realtek RTL-8139/C/C+, WLAN: Intersil 3886 (rev 01) = Prism Javelin

Works:

• Audio, touchpad, CD, USB, Ethernet (some dhcp problems, perhaps my setup only?)
• I had same problem with dhcp, I removed the installed dhcp client software, and install pump. However, pump doesn't come with Ubuntu, so grab it off the net if you can. 'pump_0.8.19-5_i386.deb' worked for me. From console type 'dpkg -i pump_0.8.19-5_i386.deb'.

Partial:

• Graphics works as 'i810' but in 1024x768 mode only. Things appear widened/stretched. Compiling Intel's "updated driver" to the thing had some glitches (see here) but did seem to pump up speed. Even with the updated driver, 1280x800 is still a dream.. (Intel says, 1280x800 is currently not supported in Linux bohoo..

• WLAN first complained of "missing 3886 firmware" but in fact a whole new prism54 driver (not ready yet!) will be needed. Luckily, Ndiswrapper worked almost without an effort; do _not_ fetch the sources, it's actually included in Ubuntu. I failed to notice. ;}

• Sound input / built-in mic: Mixer setup, "ALSA mixer" tab allows faint sound recording, but not good. Am I doing something wrong?

• cont'd: 1280x800 _can_ be done, by 855resolution. Thanks Nico T. for the hint.. Just do sudo 855resolution 5c 1280 800 and have a ModeLine such as

  ModeLine "1280x800" 80.58 1280 1344 1480 1680 800 801 804 827

Broken/missing:

• Boot failures: 'hw_random.ko', 'pciehp.ko' and 'shpchp.ko' (PCI Hotplug drivers) not found. Placed them in /etc/hotplug/blacklist.
• Volume buttons: not working (or: not properly set up).

• Suspend: followed the instructions at SuspendHowto to enable ACPI suspend-to-RAM. It did work, going to sleep (led blinks and so..) but coming back is a no-go. Any hints?

• cont'd: /etc/acpi/buttons/sleep.sh had "echo 3 > /proc/acpi/sleep" by default.

  • Mode 1 (cpu halt, all systems powered): does not sleep, prepares but wakes up instantly.
  • Mode 3 (default; cpu sleep, RAM powered): goes to sleep nicely, wakes up, but display not showing (common for display adapters, is it?)
  • Mode 4 (RAM to disk): no response, well the CPU does something.. but no crash, no halt, no sleep
• Anyone able to get the display come back up after Sleep mode 3? (would be the best solution). Ctrl-Alt-Fx tried, no response.

• cont'd: followed instructions at this page and sleep-to-RAM now works, tadaa!

  • Possibly, all that it really needed was the "VBERestore" option to X11 config - I'll never know. Sleep-to-disk (powerbutton) just shuts down, might be my messup though? (anyone with working sleep-to-disk, please fill in!)
• cont'd: needed to re-edit the sleep stuff to make it work on Hoary - the "VBERestore" (in XF86Config-4) and "ACPI_SLEEP=true" (in /etc/default/acpi-support) seem to be enough. (plus possibly the restore= in /boot/grub/menu.lst, hmm.. was that it?)

Not tested:

• Hibernation (making custom kernel sounds too much fuzz & risk for a day)

• CardBus/pcmcia, S/PDIF (digital audio out), CD/DVD writer, modem

Hints:

• vga=771 as kernel option (/boot/grub/menu.lst) to enable hires text mode.
  • If you place it on 'kopt=...' line, _keep the comment_ and run 'sudo update-grub' after the change.

• Did a dual boot leaving WinXP 12GB as NTFS (start of hda). No problem, default BIOS setup. See DualBootHowto.

by asko, please fill in & comment

..a hint on fonts: Seems L1300 had a bit too big fonts for my taste, I believe installing the '75dpi' package made them better (if you think the same, worth a try?)

..still me: Upgraded to Hoary and tried XOrg. Dual head video worked (cool) but native 1280x800 LCD not. I didn't stay to debug (please tell if you get it to work with Xorg!); shifted back to XFree86 for now. btw, even just the update seemed to do something Good for the fonts. Much more pleasant looking & professional, now. Thanks, Ubuntu!

(oh, ndiswrapper lost in the transition. Will be wired for now)

..on touchpad. The Synaptics Touchpad can be a real pain. It moves around your cursor position _while typing_ if you don't do something about it. Here's what. "sudo apt-get install xfree86-drivers-synaptic" (or something) Then add "MaxTapTime "0"" (you will need quotes around zero, weird??) to your /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file. That should do it (disables tapping feature, but movement still works). To totally ban your tp, do "TouchpadOff "true"".

21-AUG-05: TESTS ON BREEZY (Colonel 3 CD)

First, don't upgrade to Breezy using apt-get; I tried and the machine pretty much went bazark ("no user dhcp" kinda messages, yikes!)

So.. I did a test install of 'Colonel3' boot CD, and it went pretty smoothly I would say. It does not work but that's smooth for Linux still, eh? Anyhow, here are the gotchas on where Breezy hits the ground with Amilo L1300:

• wlan detected (hurray!) but DHCP detection at install not workin (using Apple Airport, WEP encryption, works otherwise on all OSes)

• Ethernet cable DHCP detection succeeds, but at 2nd round (after eject of CD-ROM & reboot) the network doesn't seem to be there, causing installation to get stuck at "Installed language-pack-en (87%)". reboot will work, but no network, still..

• xwga configuration: none (working in 1024x768 mode only, which is fatish on this screen)

Good points:

• WLAN card detected

Bad points:

• WLAN not working, Ethernet not working, WXGA not working
• Sleep button (Fn+F12) not working

The install was a fresh one, overwriting earlier data. Partitions #1 for WinXp (12GB), #2 for /boot (100MB), #3 for / (25GB)

Later same day...

One F1 victory and some 6 hours later, Breezy is up and running Things I had to do:

• wlan: add 'ndiswrapper' to /etc/modules, and 'ndiswrapper -i prisma00.inf' (also needed to 'dpkg -i' the ndiswrapper-utils from /var/cache but that's due to my installation jamming..)

• DHCP: added parameters (DNS) using GUI side tools (Setup/Network). Hey, it worked! what a surprise in Linux. Did not need the 'pump' package (see above).

• wxga: fetched '855resolution_0.4-1_i386.deb' and installed it ('dpkg -i ...'). Modified /etc/default/855resolution to have MODE=5c, XRESO=1280 YRESO=800 (Note: 855resolution installation seems to have changed, for the better) Finally, 'sudo /etc/init.d/855resolution start' (or a reboot).
• sleep mode: uncommented 'ACPI_SLEEP=true' in /etc/default/acpi-support

Good points (con't):

• Sound, sleep etc. keys now work
• GUI network setup dialogs work
• WXGA now directly, no need for Ctrl-Alt-Backspace (as in Hoary)
• No obvious trouble with the Touchpad setup (will watch it..)

Bad points (cont'd):

• Using the volume up/down keys (Fn+F3/F4) messes up the keyboard buffer or something; don't touch them! (if you do, log out of X11, and back in..)

All in all, I'd recommend trying Breezy, if one is to start 'from scratch' with Ubuntu and L1300. If there is a working Hoary installation, I would still wait.

Some months later...

Wait no more! Breezy is so fine on Amilo L1300 (the xorg 3D screen savers rock!) that it's worth a full re-installation. Go for it, I say!

Fujitsu Siemens Amilo M1437G

• Works: audio, 3D acceleration(ATI drivers), network(WLAN/NIC), usb, trackpoint, crt, dvd-rw
• Untested: firewire, video out, internal winmodem(not expected to work), the different suspends are mostly untested, closing lid and opening it again works correct, had problems earlier with another laptop with ATI card.

Had problems with Breezy and hotplug in the beginning, caused a kernel ooops at boot, needed to install Realtek audio drivers, followed advice on http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-75181.html and that worked.

Ran sudo apt-get install xorg-driver-fglrx and edited my xorg.conf, changed "ati" to "fglrx". Set resolution at 24 bits to "1280x800". See http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=408111 for advice.

Fujitsu Lifebook B2610

The touchscreen works as of 6.10 (did not in 6.06), but there is no way to calibrate it to my knowledge. Hopefully Feisty will improve this. Modem doesn't work cause it's a winmodem (duh). Suspend to ram works, but when it comes back up the pointer stick does not move at all, and reseting X doesn't fix it, and requires a full reboot. I'm still trying to fix this (haven't spent much time on it), hibernate works better with my battery. There is a small 5 button keypad above the keyboard on the right that don't work. Took custom drivers for windows to work them (as program launching buttons), might work with ndiswrapper but I've not bothered (not an important feature).

Installation was a hassle because the laptop only boots from USB FDD drives (no internal optical drive) so it took a very round about way to install (using DOS, XP). Using a GRUB floppy with a net installer might work. Would likely take a GRUB disk booting a net installer from TFTP or similar.

Everything else works flawlessly on the laptop.

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CategoryLaptop