Gerald Waugh wrote: >Medialand Systems, Inc > FEATURES >* 14" 1024 x 768 TFT Display >* Intel Celeron Processor 950MHz >* VIA Core Logic >* Built-in 3.5" Floppy Drive >* 128MB PC-133 SDRAM >* 10.0GB UltraATA Hard Disk Drive >* 24X Slim CD-ROM >* S3 Twister 4X AGP 3D Video (SMA up to 32MB Video Memory) >* Crystal WDM Audio System Chipset >* Internal 56K v.90 Data/Fax Winmodem >* Internal 10/100 LAN >* No OS >* Standard Li-Ion Battery >* Size: 12.68" x 10.9" x 1.79" & Weight: 7.2 lbs >* One Year Warranty >$930.00 > >How does this sound for a notebook? >Do you think it will run (boot) Linux? > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? >Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com > Well it seems like a good notebook deal.
You can be assured it will boot linux if the manufacturer offers it bundled with linux, not otherwise. Linux as a world community effort writes drivers for most of the hardware supported by linux. The minority of the drivers is offered by manufacturers. Notebooks are very seldom up to standards in hardware (engineers have to make dodges to cram all that stuff in a small case and the pcmcia seems to be one of the hard-hit areas with docking stations also very strange). No problem if the hardware isn't quite standard, figure the software engineers working for the manufacturers will write drivers that make the combined hardware-software mix look standard. Of course that should be written for 95% of the market, so we know what system the drivers are written for. Now comes the consumer expecting drivers written for accepted standards to work on machines that are full of special shortcuts and tweaks. Rarely does it produce a satisfied consumer; something is always missing and has to be lived with. Naturally the manufacturers don't want their special shortcuts to be public knowledge, so the driver writers in linux efforts rarely see any technical information from the notebook makers. 80% of the tech support requests are from desktop users and the success rate is 95% or better. 20% are from notebook owners and the success rate is probably less than 50%. For example: WARM REBOOT non-standard-- Launch linux on a certain laptop and then reboot to try to launch windows: FAILS, cannot control address line A20 is the error message. The hardware was not fully reset by the reboot, so the old HIMEM.SYS cannot run to bring in Win98. In other words the hardware remains in a state to run in 386 protected mode, not in the needed real mode (for 286 and older windows compatibility). SOLUTION: Shut down from linux, remove the battery, wait 3 minutes, replace the battery, then power on. Now you can boot windows. TECH INFO from manufacturer: NONE CIvileme So buying a notebook for linux is almost always a crap shoot. ASL made some that werre mainly linux-compatible, and IBMs mainly are, except the older ones have secret hidden partitions with part of the BIOS and if you wipe it you lose many things including serial ports. (and on most middle-aged IBMs, don't load lm_sensors (that is why we don't load it by default) or the first time you check battery power on screen will be the last time you use the computer before you return it to the factory for a new motherboard). So, if you can get the salesman to promise that it will run linux and that you can return it if it doesn't then it is a good buy.
Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
