Congratulations! Laptops are fun things to install Linux on, aren't
they.
My Toshiba Satellite 4000CDT has a few strange quirks you have to look
out for when you install, but nothing quite so picky as your NEC.
Everything goes fine, except that if I pick 800x600 LCD for the display,
I can only get 640x480 for the resolution, so I cheat and pick a generic
monitor capable of 1024x768@70Hz (what it will drive on the external VGA
port), and configure it for 800x600x24 (b&w icons in Netscape don't
bother me that much, I've actually gotten used to them).
1.) Sound isn't configured, so I configure it.
2.) No problems.
3.) Shut the laptop down and take it into work the next day.
4.) Boot up and discover that I've lost my keyboard by the time I get
to the login prompt. *
5.) Discover that GRUB doesn't just take 'single' appended to the
commands it sends.
6.) Tell it not to start sound during bootup.
7.) Login as root.
8.) 'cd /etc/rc.d/rc3.d'
9.) 'mv S45pcmcia S98pcmcia'
10.) 'reboot'
11.) everything works fine.
* Somebody's GOT to fix this one. I know it has something to do with
the sound driver, because if I tell it not to start sound during bootup
I still have the keyboard until I start the sound and return to the
login prompt.
- Theo
Civileme wrote:
>
> >From the NEW-TOYS Dept.
>
> It arrived and was placed in the arms of this system
> administrator. i810 Chipset, LCD Screen 64Mb of
> SO-DIMM memory, a tiny foortprint and WinNT.
>
> First item was to find a witness to erasing the
> NT partitions (they were FOUR 15-bit FATs, no less) on
> the 6.4G HDD. WinNT was never booted so we will be
> applying to NEC under EULA for a refund as we return
> the unopened CDs and still sealed manual with its
> certificate of authenticity.
>
> Now on to Mandrake 7.1
>
> The install went smoothly, normal use, expert mode
> (why expert? I'll get to that)
>
> Everything is in--network is set up and doesn't work
> (no security downloads) and then we have the X server.
>
> No configuration works--Cancel and do not run X at
> Startup
>
> Startup--login as root and run Xconfigurator.
>
> Now it works on the test, but sets up in 800x600 in
> 15-bit color
>
> Well when the graphical login comes it is
> 640x480--I need three monitors tro accommodate all the
> info. Luckily Alt-click grabs windows anywhere to move
> them around.
>
> Networking showed the NIC recognized but "Enabled"
> wasn't ticked. I ticked and quit quit/activatechanges
> and lo we had networking light and networking too.
>
> Change X resolution was next--would not accept any sane
> combo.
>
> So click on the house-up one level, /etc/X11/XF86Config
> change VideoRAM to 8192, and uncomment the line. By
> now, most people would have turned the air blue because
> the screen blanks for redisplays if you look at it
> crossways.... Very annoying!
>
> quit DrakConf, ctrl-slt-backspace login as root run
> DrakConf->Change X Resolution->Show all
>
> NOW we can select 1024x768 in 16 million colors
> (actually 16777216) or 4 billion colors 800x600
>
> For some weird reason agpgart.o for the i810 will not
> accept 800x600 so we go 1024x768 in 16 bit depth so
> netscape doesn't look too crappy. The 24 bit depth
> works but netscape doesn't like it. THis results in a
> steady screen after quitting and another
> ctrl-alt-backspace to restart X.
>
> BY golly, count the Powermate 2000 as linux-neutral.
> It is a bit of a pain in the posterior to set up but it
> does work.
>
> Civileme
