LaptopTesting
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
If you have a spare laptop that doesn't contain any important data, or if you like restoring from backups, or if you know how to install an OS under a chroot, here's what you can do.
- Install Ubuntu Breezy on the laptop.
Add a row to the LaptopTestingHardware page, describing the level of support Breezy has for each item listed.
Ubuntu developers can then choose which hardware to target for improvement, with the aim of ensuring that it works out of the box in future releases.
What we're interested in
These criteria have been chosen to define laptop support in Breezy.
Hotkeys
Any printed hotkeys should generate events that are passed on to userspace, and appropriate commands then executed. For example, a wireless button should enable or disable the wireless and bluetooth hardware. A sleep button should put the laptop to sleep. A mail button should launch an email client.
A list of known keys is being assembled at LaptopKeycodes.
Bluetooth
The Bluetooth hardware in the laptop should be automatically configured on boot.
Modem
The modem should be autodetected and configured. The user should simply be able to configure /dev/modem for their ISP.
Infra-red
The infra-red port should work correctly. Where possible, it should use FIR, but falling back to SIR is acceptable.
Docking station
When supported by the hardware, it must be possible to hot dock and undock the laptop from the docking station. On docking, all docking station hardware must automatically appear and be made available with no further configuration. On eject, the resources must be freed correctly.
Video/TV out
With the aid of hotkeys or UI elements, it must be possible for the laptop user to enable and disable all video outputs on the laptop.
Suspend
Suspend to disk and to RAM must work without any further configuration.