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Notes on installation and compatibility of Ubuntu with Packard Bell laptop computers.

Summary

Details

Packard Bell Easynote R3400

Breezy notes

• Breezy will by default detect the wrong tulip module as the network card module. remove this module rmmod tulipdownload the uli526x module from http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=83710&page=2 (second post on second page). Follow the details in the post to get the module unpacked and installed properly.

Dapper notes

• Dapper Livecd will only boot with the boot parameters noapic nolapic acpi=off

• Dapper Livecd Installation crashes during finalizing installation stage prior to configuring grub leaving a unusable system.

• Plugging in USB devices will "freeze" the system. Unplug usb device and the system will become available again after 30 seconds. Advice: blacklist the echi-hcd module. This is the usb2 module which causes all the trouble. USB1.1 is the only way to go if you're set on using Dapper.

• Dapper kernel 2.6.15-(all versions) have issues with the ATI chipsets. Kernel will say "8254 timer not connected on IO-APIC". This is a known kernel issue for the 2.6.15 range. It's fixed in 2.6.16 (requires manual building) and 2.6.17 (Ubuntu Edgy). workarround: boot with boot parameters noapic nolapic acpi=off.

• Installation advise: Install Breezy and upgrade to Dapper, it's the only way to get it working.

Edgy notes

• 2006-09-02 sl-modem-source does not compile against current 2.6.17-6-k7 kernelsource.
  • Edgy is still under construction, so it might change before it's final release.

Packard Bell Easynote R3450

• Installation boot only with the parameter vga=771 noapic

• Installation: 1280x800 resolution needs to be set manually in xorg.conf

Packard Bell Easynote R3280

• Installation boot only with the parameter vga=771 noapic

• Installation: Only automatic network configuration failed
• Others: in process

Packard Bell Easynote M5262

• Generally a smooth install and good user experience: ethernet connection, DVD drive, etc, all good
• Touchpad and USB mouse work fine in tandem
• Not yet got built in card reader working
• Problems linking external monitor (but also in WinXP)
• Problems linking digital camera (Fuji Finepix 1400) but may be camera issue
• After booting, X sometimes displays a blank white screen and needs to be restarted with Ctrl-Alt-Backspace to access GDM

Packard Bell Easynote A5560

• Smooth installation, manual partition to keep recovery parition.
• Kept recovery partition so my sister can go back to Windows, should she want to. (Brand new laptop - didn't let her even try Windows.)
• Wireless Linksys card "INPROCOMM IPN 2220" not working. Fixed with ndiswrapper:
  • $ sudo apt-get install ndiswrapper

  • $ wget ftp://ftp.support.acer-euro.com/notebook/TravelMate_4000_4500/driver/a802.zip

  • $ unzip a802.zip
  • $ sudo ndiswrapper -i A802/Winxp/neti2220.inf
  • $ sudo modprobe ndiswrapper
  • $ rm -rf A802 a802.zip
• WXGA not detected automatically. Fixed with 855resolution:

  • Download and install Debian package from: http://www.debian.or.jp/~kmuto/855resolution/

  • $ sudo vi /etc/default/855resolution
    • MODE=3c
    • XRESO=1280
    • YRESO=768
  • $ sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
  • $ sudo /etc/init.d/855resolution start
  • $ sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart
• Wireless not working after resume from hibernate, computer hangs if I try to enable it.
• Haven't testet DVD burning and card reader yet.

CategoryLaptop