This page is obsolete, see LaptopTestingTeam for more details.

How to make a Laptop Testing Report

Laptop testing is not that hard. You just need a laptop and time to test. Here are the steps you need to follow:

1. Install or run a live CD of the most current point release of the development version of Ubuntu ( http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/ ).

2. Check on LaptopTestingTeam if there is already a report for your laptop. If there is hit the upper left edit link and add your WikiName to the testing page. Then see if you have anything different, or can add to the existing report*. Otherwise...

3. Create a new page for your test results. If you own a Toshiba Tecra M2, then the new page is named https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/ToshibaTecraM2 . You can create the new page by typing the address in your browser and then following it. Choose the LaptopTestingTeamTemplate

4. Add an entry to the table on LaptopTestingTeam, or on your manufacturers sub-page. The vintage should give a rough idea of the date the laptop was originally on sale or purchased. Just the year is fine. If you don't already have a page connected to your WikiName now is the time to make one, use the premade template called Homepage. Make sure there's a way people can contact you.

5. Now you're ready to fill out the testing report. If you need help, see the info below and the LaptopTestingTeam/FAQ. Don't file any bugs at http://launchpad.net yet.

6. Fill out all the information in a new column of your report. File bugs for anything that doesn't work, find debugging tips in the LaptopTestingTeam/FAQ and remember to mention if the problem was not in the stable version.

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.

Remember that LaptopTestingTeam/FAQ can help with common problems and questions. Please add anything that could help others reporting bugs.

Once you've done all that, sit back and take a break! Thanks for helping Ubuntu run on your laptop.

The Ubuntu Laptop Team

* Please add a new column to the existing report if there is none for your current major version: If the existing columns are "Dapper" and "Edgy (current development version)", and your version is Feisty, please make the column headers correspond to "Dapper", "Edgy (pre-release version)", "Feisty".

The rest of this page supplements the LaptopTestingTeamTemplate.

Testing Tips

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 card 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?

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 ?
  • A good initial indication is if a sound was played on GNOME login.

  • Start a terminal and type the following:

    speaker-test

    Here any noise from the speakers?

  • Have multi-channel sound card. Try multi-channel(4.1,5.1 etc. ) sound test:

    speaker-test -c 6 -D surround51

    Got any error? Hear sound from all speakers? Don't forget putting sound card in multi-channel mode(alsamixer) and increasing volume of all channels.

  • A sample audio file which will be played out of the box by totem can be found here: http://www.xiph.org/vorbis/listen/41_30secOgg-q0.ogg

• 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 infrared 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)?
• Is CPU frequency scaling supported?

  • Start a terminal and type the following:

    sudo invoke-rc.d powernowd restart

    It should not print "CPU frequency scaling not supported".

Questions

• I am surprised that there isn't a piece of software added to the distribution to ease the task of hardware testing, especially when Linspire had one available in Linspire 5.0, Linspire 5.1 and Freespire 1.0 (all based on pure Debian). The program is called Linspire Hardware Compatability Tool, and it claims the ability to test the following items: Graphics, Audio, Modem, PCMCIA, USB, Writer (?), TVCard, Network, FireWire, & Wireless. After the program runs, it generates a rather lengthy diagnostic report for technical types to work with. Equally surprising is that this software hasn't shown up (as far as I can see) on the new CNR.com Web Site for Linspire 6.0, Freespire 2.0, (both based on Ubuntu/Kubuntu 7.04) and even Ubuntu/Kubuntu 7.04. [kenyon_karl (at) mail.com]

Links to source code [from CNR service] los-precertui_0.1.7-0.0.50.linspire0.1.dsc http://www.linspire.com/download_package_source.php?filename=los-precertui_0.1.7-0.0.0.50.linspire0.1.dsc&url=http://10.0.0.84:80/cnrPackageServer.php?fileLocation=/linspire/pkgsrv/pool-src%2Flos%2Flos-precertui/los-precertui_0.1.7-0.0.0.50.linspire0.1.dsc los-precertui_0.1.7-0.0.50.linspire0.1.tar.gz http://www.linspire.com/download_package_source.php?filename=los-precertui_0.1.7-0.0.0.50.linspire0.1.tar.gz&url=http://10.0.0.84:80/cnrPackageServer.php?fileLocation=/linspire/pkgsrv/pool-src%2Flos%2Flos-precertui/los-precertui_0.1.7-0.0.0.50.linspire0.1.tar.gz

I found a partial answer in the Kubuntu hardware database program which CLAIMS to send a complete technical listing of my hardware to a Ubuntu database server. It also obviously tested by sound card, video, keyboard, and mouse, but all other tests were veiled. I was also unable to obtain verification (via the built in query) that the database was properly written to the server. Note that I have added the database record number to the testing record for use in bug chasing and the like, and thus suggest that an entry be built into the laptop testing template! [kenyon_karl (at) mail.com]

• Another comment, can a foolproof means be found of adding columns to these tables? Perhaps Wiki has a gizmo that I don't know about because I am such a beginner. [kenyon_karl (at) mail.com]

• 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.

• 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 unfortunate, but still, it might be helpful... -- ThomasMHinkle

    • Okay, I've written said script -- here it is: LaptopTestingDataScraper. -- ThomasMHinkle

• I've got a Samsung Laptop called X20 1730III, there is an article for SamsungX20. There are minor hardware differences between 1730III and 1730V for example. Shall I create a new article for different versions or just add extra notes at the relevant points in the existing article? --LukasDrude

  • I second this question --GuillaumeDuveau

• I want to update a laptop testing survey that contain testing survey related to old Ubuntu version (i.e.: Dapper and Breezy ) what should I do? Should I add extra column to the testing result table (i.e.: So the wiki page will have 4 column, Dapper, Breezy, Edgy, Feisty) or should I drop the column related to old version (i.e.: So the wiki page will have always 2 column: current stable and current development) ? --StefanoLenzi

  • Please don't drop old columns as long as there is a probability that someone uses that version and thus is interested in the information. Adding a new column is the appropriate way to go.

• when I try sudo invoke-rc.d powernowd restart I get invoke: command not found is that command no longer included (couldn't find it via the package manager either). --LetterRip

  • joosteto: the command is "invoke-rc.d" without spaces; you probably typed "invoke -rc.d". Failing that, you could try: /etc/init.d/powernowd restart

• when I try sudo invoke-rc.d powernowd restart (Kubuntu 9.04) I get invoke-rc.d: unknown initscript, /etc/init.d/powernowd not found. Tried locate/find powernowd but there is no such file on my laptop. Any ideas? -- Untitled

CategoryHardware CategoryLaptop