LaptopTesting

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  * PaulSladen: Yes, these are regressions (things that used to work but don't work any more. They are more important to track down as soon as possible. This should be reported immediately to http://bugzilla.ubuntu.com/ to hopefully allow the particular change that caused the breakage to be identified. Users are more likely to get upset at features that ''used'' to work and now don't over features ''new'' features that they haven't discovered yet.   * PaulSladen: Yes, these are regressions (things that used to work but don't work any more. They are more important to track down as soon as possible. This should be reported immediately to https://launchpad.net/malone to hopefully allow the particular change that caused the breakage to be identified. Users are more likely to get upset at features that ''used'' to work and now don't over features ''new'' features that they haven't discovered yet.

Providing totally rad laptop support

The [http://ubuntu.com/community/teams/laptop Ubuntu laptop team] are on a mission to get Ubuntu to work great on as many laptops as they can. To do this, they need to know which hardware works without configuration and which is currently unsupported.

How you can help

Laptop testing is not that hard. You just need a laptop and a few hours to do it. Here are the steps you need to follow:

  1. Install the current stable version of Ubuntu on it (currently 5.10 (Breezy Badger))
  2. Link/goto a new subpage of LaptopTestingTeam named after your make and model. If you owned a Toshiba Tecra M2, the page would be named ["LaptopTestingTeam/ToshibaTecraM2"]. If this page does not exist, you will be asked to select a Template from the list to use, please use LaptopTestingTeamTemplate. If another tester has the same model, please combine your results on one page.

  3. Add yourself to the table on LaptopTestingTeam. The vintage should give a rough idea of the date the laptop was originally on sale or purchased. Just the year is fine.

  4. Fill out the table. If you need help, see the info below. Don't file any bugs at this point.
  5. Install the most current point release of the development version (currently 6.04 (Dapper Drake)).
  6. Fill out all the information. File bugs for anything that doesn't work, or worked in the stable release and doesn't work now (regressions).
  7. When a new point release for the development version comes out, install that and correct any information. File new bugs for items that are now broken and remember to close any bugs for things that now work.

Process

These are questions to help you test. Please fill out the table, as seen on ["LaptopTestingTeamTemplate"].

Install

Did the installer complete without errors?

Basic Hardware Test

  • Does X start correctly?
    • After installation is complete, a graphical login window should appear
  • Is X running at the correct resolution?
    • The X desktop should be sharp and clear. System/Preferences/Screen Resolution should default to the resolution of the screen
  • 3-D Acceleration: Does glxinfo return the line "direct rendering: Yes"?
    • Start a terminal and type the following:

      glxinfo | grep rendering
      This will print either "direct rendering: Yes" or "direct rendering: No"
  • Does the wired ethernet work?
    • Can you browse the internet when plugged into the wired ethernet port?
  • Does the wireless ethernet work?
    • Can you browse the internet when near a wireless access point?
  • Does the trackpad work?
    • Does it move the mouse pointer?
    • Does the right hand side emulate a mouse scroll wheel?
    • Does the trackpoint work?
    • Does it move the mouse pointer?

Advanced Hardware Test

  • Does the modem work?
    • Right click on the panel and select add to panel. Choose "Modem monitor" and click OK. Right click and select properties. Enter the password. Click add, and choose modem (PPP). Enter a phone number on the next screen. Enter username and password. Apply the changes and then select Activate from the phone applet menu. Does the machine dial out correctly?
  • Does the sound work ?
  • Does pressing the volume hotkeys raise, lower and mute volume?
    • This may or may not result in a dialog appearing on screen showing the current volume
  • Do the brightness keys alter the screen brightness?
    • Brightness up should raise the screen brightness, and down should lower it. On machines with light sensors, the hotkey should enable and disable this.
  • Does the video display hotkey switch the external display on and off?
    • Without rebooting the machine, connect a monitor to the external display. Press the display key. Does a picture appear on the monitor? Is it correct?
  • Does the wireless button enable and disable wireless?
    • When enabled, the wireless monitor applet in the top right of the screen should show a signal. When disabled, it should not.
  • Do application buttons (mail, help, web) launch appropriate applications? Pressing application buttons should launch an application, or bring it to the front if it is already running.
  • Is the machine discoverable from a mobile phone with bluetooth?
    • On the phone, select "Discover devices". See if the computer is listed.
  • If an infra red phone is placed in front of the infra red port, does its address appear in /proc/net/irda/discovery?
    • Ensure that infra-red is switched on on the phone. Place it in front of the infra-red port. From a terminal, type

      cat /proc/net/irda/discovery
      and see if it contains a line referring to the phone
  • Does attaching a docking station result in all of the hardware appearing correctly under Ubuntu?
    • Do USB ports on the docking station work?
    • Does the video out on the docking station work?
    • Do any removable media devices in the docking station work?
    • If the docking station contains a battery, does it show up correctly?
    • Does removing the docking station result in correct behaviour?
    • If the docking station is removed, does Ubuntu carry on running?
    • If the docking station is reattached, does the docking station still work?
  • Does the PCMCIA/CardBus port work?
    • If you have a PCMCIA/CardBus card to try with, is the device picked up? The lights on the device should light up.
  • Does the firewire work?
    • If you have a device to try with, plug in a firewire device and see if it is detected.
  • Do the USB ports work?
    • Plug in a USB device, does it work? Using something simple for testing like a mouse is good.
  • Note: For the above tests, if the usability of the device is not apparently, you may wish to refer to the 'dmesg' command, or the "Device Manager" located under System->Administration to see if the device is listed.

Power Management Test

  • Does pressing the sleep button cause the machine to sleep?
    • After a few seconds, the machine's screen should go blank and the sleep light come on
  • Does the machine then wake up correctly?
    • After a few seconds, the machine should wake up. Moving the mouse should result in a screen unlock box appearing.
    • Does the keyboard still work after resume?
    • Does the network still work after resume?
    • Do USB devices work correctly?
    • Does the audio still work correctly?
  • Does pressing the hibernate button cause the machine to hibernate? (Not all machines have hibernate buttons)
    • The screen should go blank. Some time later, the machine should switch off.
  • Does the machine then wake up correctly?
    • Pressing the power button should result in the machine waking up. After a while, moving the mouse should result in a screen unlock box appearing.
    • Does the keyboard still work after resume?
    • Does the network still work after resume?
    • Do USB devices work correctly?
    • Does the audio still work correctly?
  • Does performing these actions from the logout menu behave identically?
  • Does repeating the entire process, having already done one suspend perform the same (i.e. suspending more than once.)

Questions

  • The process described provides answers to questions that don't exist in the template, what should we do with those answers?
    • PaulSladen: For the moment, please add any that you notice not working to the Current Issues sections at the top. Longer-term, these can be worked into the main LaptopTestingTeamTemplate.

  • Should we record changes in the development version (ie. I just installed Colony-3 and a number of things are broken over Colony-2)?
    • PaulSladen: Yes, these are regressions (things that used to work but don't work any more. They are more important to track down as soon as possible. This should be reported immediately to https://launchpad.net/malone to hopefully allow the particular change that caused the breakage to be identified. Users are more likely to get upset at features that used to work and now don't over features new features that they haven't discovered yet.

  • Is someone going to update the template to make Ubuntu 5.10 "The Breezy Badger" the stable, and add whatever the name for the new development version is? (Also, will this change all the pages using said template, or will all current ones need to be manually tweaked?) I've got 5 laptops I can test, and can easily get more to test, but I want to do it with the template set up correctly, as long as we're going forward.
    • PaulSladen: Yes, this has now been done, thanks for picking up on it!

  • Can we put up some sort of recommended laptop page? Take the results of all the test laptops and produce a list of Perfect/Near Perfect/Good/OK/Poor/Bad/Terrible laptops so anyone who might maybe be looking at purchasing a laptop would have a nice point of reference. I know this might defeat the idea of bringing RAD support for all, but someone looking to spend £500+ might just want to start higher up the ladder in terms of compatibility.
    • I'd like to second this request. Instead of simply having a Perfect/Near Perfect/etc. page, it seems to me the best thing would be to use the data more powerfully still. For example, I'd like to buy a laptop with working sleep -- it would be awesome if I could get a list of all laptops that had been confirmed to have working sleep in Ubuntu. In fact, I'm thinking of making a quick script to do this for myself anyway -- would there be a good place to post the result if I did this? Obviously it would have to be rerun periodically, which is unforunate, but still, it might be helpful... -- ThomasMHinkle

CategoryLaptop

LaptopTesting (last edited 2010-11-24 09:09:05 by host238-226-dynamic)