On Mon, Apr 11, 2005 at 10:33:32PM +0800, smart penguin wrote:
> Hi there, this is in relation to the posting of :Linux on ECS Desknote
> A530:, which i was hoping you could give me some opinion.
>
> Can (Fedora or Mandriva) linux run on "ECS A530" or "Thinknote" laptop
> ? cause im planning to buy a laptop that can really handle linux.
>
> Any comment is highly appreciate. Thanks.
This is neither a direct answer to your subject (Best Laptop for Linux)
or your questions above (Linux on ECS A530 / ThinkNote), but I thought
I'd mention that I've had an Asus L4500R for quite some time now and am
very happy with it. I am running Debian GNU/Linux Sid, dist-upgraded at
least once a month when I have time (with apt-listbugs to catch obvious
showstoppers, of course), with Linux kernel 2.6.11.6, and XFS on LVM2 on
a Western Digital WD800UE 80GB 5400RPM laptop hard drive that I bought
separately and had installed into my system free of charge at the ASUS
service center in Megamall.
Some issues (and non-issues) that remain:
1. My WinModem still doesn't work. ALSA is supposed to support this,
already. It detects it, as evidenced by these kernel messages:
ALSA device list:
#0: ATI IXP rev 0 with AD1980 at 0xfe700000, irq 5
#1: ATI IXP Modem rev 1 at 0xfe800000, irq 5
I can also access it using minicom:
ati1
SmartLink Soft Modem, 2.9.9
Smart Link Ltd.
OK
ati3
hw:1
alsa modem driver
OK
ati4
s00=000 s01=000 s02=043 s03=013 s04=010 s05=008 s06=002 s07=045
s08=002 s09=006 s10=007 s11=100 s12=050 s13=001 s14=000 s15=001
s16=001 s17=000 s18=000 s19=000 s20=000 s21=000 s22=000 s23=000
OK
But I can't get a dialtone. Go figure.
2. Support for the Broadcom BCM4301 wireless network adapter is through
ndiswrappers and the Windows driver bcmwl5. Not optimal, but it has
worked very stably from the first day I got it up and running, so
honestly, I'm not complaining (unless I'm willing to actually put in
development time and write that open source driver myself, which I'm
not).
3. ASUS ACPI support doesn't work. When compiled in, it detects the
machine as an L4R, which is supposed to be supported. However, I can't
control the LEDs or access battery levels or anything. Plus, it prevents
Fn+F5 and Fn+F6 from controlling brightness (which works perfectly even
with ACPI enabled as long as ASUS ACPI isn't). I've never really had
time or motivation, since they're very minor, but it would be nice to be
able to control the LEDs in front, pol battery levels, and have volume
(through ALSA) controlled by Fn+F10, Fn+F11 and Fn+F12.
Just some bits on the topic for anyone out there thinking of getting a
decent laptop to run GNU/Linux on. On a side note, I regret having
gotten this 15" model. For just a bit more, I could have gotten a 12"
model that would have been much lighter to carry around. I bought a
Samsonite laptop backpack that already provides pretty good weight
distribution, but it's still uncomfortable having to lug this thing
around for extended periods.
My next purchase (not anytime soon, though) just has to be a much
lighter model. I don't need the CD writer all the time, so an external
drive will be fine, and as long as the resolution's good, I think I can
manage with a physically smaller LCD monitor. The ASUS S5N[1] looks
nice. The M5N[2], too, actually, but it's more expensive and has the
combo drive built in. And then of course, there's the PowerBook[3]. I'm
not sure about hardware support, but if Linus uses Mac hardware, it
shouldn't be that bad.
[1] http://usa.asus.com/products/notebook/s5series/s5200n/s5200n_overview.htm
[2] http://usa.asus.com/products/notebook/m5series/m5200n/m5200n_overview.htm
[3] http://www.apple.com/powerbook/index12.html
--> Jijo
--
Federico Sevilla III : jijo.free.net.ph : When we speak of free software
GNU/Linux Specialist : GnuPG 0x93B746BE : we refer to freedom, not price.
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