Ubuntu Wiki

• Contact: Adam Niedling (kricsek et yahoo döt com)
• Make: Fujitsu Siemens
• Model: Amilo La1703

• Website: http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com/home/products/notebooks/amilo_la_1703.html

Hardy

• Live CD should be used in safe graphic mode because Ubuntu doesn't detect the native resolution properly.
• Sound and microphone works but they're muted by default.
• Wifi only works with ndiswrapper.

• 2D and Video acceleration works with driver from http://linux.via.com.tw/. For proper resolution you need to follow instructions on this page. Change Load "glx" to Disable "glx" in configuration file, otherwise driver hangs if you try to use OpenGL. 3D acceleration does not work.

• Screen doesn't turn off in power saving mode.

Gutsy

Gutsy won't install on this laptop at all because the x server can't start, not even in safe mode. However I was able to install and update Gutsy Tribe 5 with no problems. It is also possible to install 'dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg' at the live cd before install and set the resolution to 1280x800 and then a startx. After the installation the proper resolution can only be set by issuing the "dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg" command because the screen and graphics menu doesn't work properly. 3D graphics is not supported because the openchrome driver is still under in the early stage of development, but the vesa driver can display proper resolution and play movies. The sound problem is partly resolved, because the speaker still doesn't make any sound but at least the headphones can produce low volume of sound (with ALSA drivers). Latest OSS drivers (http://www.opensound.com/oss.html) works perfectly. However a secondary monitor/beamer doesn't show anything. The brightness adjustment buttons do not work always properly.

Feisty

X starts but not with the correct resolution. During the installation the window is too big so its bottom doesn't fit in the screen. I had to push the buttons blindly and used the tab key to navigate. There is no 3D acceleration and there is no sound. WLAN doesn't work automatically but this problem can be fixed. Ubuntu doesn't like this laptop.

Problematic hardware:

• Video card: VIA VN896 Chrome9 HC
• Sound card: VIA HD Audio Codec VT8237A
• WLAN: sis163u

System Info

$ sudo dmidecode -s system-manufacturer
FUJITSU SIEMENS

$ sudo dmidecode -s system-product-name
AMILO La1703

$ sudo dmidecode -s system-version
1.0

$ lspci 
00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M890CE Host Bridge
00:00.1 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M890CE Host Bridge
00:00.2 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M890CE Host Bridge
00:00.3 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M890CE Host Bridge
00:00.4 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M890CE Host Bridge
00:00.5 PIC: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M890CE I/O APIC Interrupt Controller
00:00.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M890CE Host Bridge
00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 PCI bridge [K8T800/K8T890 South]
00:02.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8T890 PCI to PCI Bridge Controller
00:03.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8T890 PCI to PCI Bridge Controller
00:0f.0 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237A SATA 2-Port Controller (rev 80)
00:0f.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 07)
00:10.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev a0)
00:10.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev a0)
00:10.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev a0)
00:10.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev a0)
00:10.4 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 86)
00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237A PCI to ISA Bridge
00:11.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8251 Ultra VLINK Controller
00:12.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102 [Rhine-II] (rev 7c)
00:13.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237A Host Bridge
00:13.1 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237A PCI to PCI Bridge
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M890 [Chrome9] Integrated Video (rev 01)
04:01.0 Audio device: VIA Technologies, Inc. VIA High Definition Audio Controller (rev 10)

Notes

The forum of this laptop: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=514080

Amilo la 1703 Ubuntu howto: http://amilola1703.uprize.no/index.php