Laptop and linux

**whiteskin** · 01-17-2004

I was pleasantly suprised today finding out that my laptop runs x in knoppix just wonderfully. I have heard so many config nightmares with laptops and x that i did not really have many hopes. Anyhow, i digress.

I would like to get linux up running on this laptop, but i have a couple of requirements that will need to be met first.

1. Partitioning software- Can i run somthing like qtparted from knoppix to repartion the drive? Is Qtparted safe, or is there a better free/Open source alternative. I Need somthing free, (exactly why i'm using linux). I need to dual boot because i want to have the option to use my win partion if i need too. I have lots of space, atleast compared to what is on the knoppix cd.
2. Power Managment- Aside from my current wonky battery issues, i need to be able to get into a low (no) power mode with drive power down for transport, that comes up quickly because i need to use it often and move often (School notes). the APM gets wonky on Knoppix (Drive errors), but that may simply be because it is a removable drive.
3. I will not be using kde or gnome: Too heavy on rescources. I think xfce or icewm will suit me perfectly.
4. a distro that does not need to be Uber small, however does need to be under like 2gigs.

Anyone else ever attempted a linux laptop and what did you get out of it? Does it work fine, or what? I know they are out there.... but i want some user to user feedback.

Oh and its a 266M, with 64mb of physical ram, and 2mb of video ram.

**mesut** · 01-17-2004

you can use fdisk,or cfdisk (cfdisk is easier).
install lilo or grub (i think grub is better,( with it,windows thinks that it is installed on primary partition even it is not) ) then u can boot into win.

visit acpi page on sourceforge.net http://acpi.sourceforge.net

use slackware.[/url]

**Dolda2000** · 01-17-2004

Originally Posted by whiteskin

Anyone else ever attempted a linux laptop and what did you get out of it? Does it work fine, or what? I know they are out there.... but i want some user to user feedback.

Yeah, RH Linux works wonderfully on my Dell Latitude CP, that has a 233 MHz CPU, 64 MBs of RAM (used to have 32) and 2 or 4 MBs (I don't quite remember) of video RAM.

Of course, I can't run GNOME or KDE properly, but a simple X environment managed by only sawfish works perfectly.

On older laptops, X can be a real pain to set up. I had some older 133 MHz laptops, but I didn't ever get X running on them (on the other hand, I can't say that I ever tried too hard either, though...). However, considering the specs of your laptop, I'd say it was made in the time when they had begun to standardize laptop hardware a bit, which makes it much easier to set up Linux on it.

**whiteskin** · 01-18-2004

Right. First off, by partioning software, i kinda meant somthing that can non-destructivly repartion my drive. Anyways. I think that i shouldnt have any problems running X, seeing as it runs fine on my laptop. What about APM. How stable is it under linux (It would be a nice change from Win98se)?

**kpzani** · 01-18-2004

You can resize partitions during install of many Linux distributions.

The mandrake CDROM I used last claimed to be able to resize Windows XP NTFS partitions.

**Dolda2000** · 01-18-2004

In fact, Mandrake is the only distribution that I have seen that is able to do that.

**linduxed** · 01-20-2004

i havnt used so many distros but from my experience i'll tell you this:

Mandrake = ok, it's got that "partition manager" but it's a bad choice for a laptop, to heavy.
Red Hat =

Yeah, RH Linux works wonderfully on my Dell Latitude CP

excuse me? i havent used it, but if it's anything like Mandrake (and it is from what ive heard) it'll get a bit slow without *****in' in the config files.
Slackware = Of all the systems ive tried, this one will fit you well (i think)
Debian = The best for your situation (i think), because it's not too big, yet not too small.....and it's got apt!

**Giro** · 01-20-2004

I installed Gentoo on my new laptop and its all working fine. I have a PCG-Z1RMP. Dont use APM use ACPI and have a look at hprofile on source forge for power management like Speedfreq and switching your screen on dim ect..

**kpzani** · 01-21-2004

I find debian asks too many questions during install for most newbies. And gentoo wouldn't install on my laptop at all. I've just installed fedora on mine and it runs well. Yes it is quite heavy but I like the new Gnome and OO. It depends what you intend to use it for.

I do know someone who couldn't install any distro on their laptop (prob due to lack of knowledge) however, Morphix would run from the cd so he used the installer from that and that worked like a dream. Also there is something new from mandrake called something like Mandrake move. that is a cd based distro which you can remove the cdrom once on. the pro version comes with a USB drive with good encryption for data storage, but there is a free one in the downloads section.

**adamdaughterson** · 01-21-2004

Been using Slackware on my Toshiba Satellite S1807 for quite some time. Haven't had any problems with any Distro, Except RedHat. Probably just personally affronted by RH and their /etc/sysconfig bit though.
As for partitioning on the fly; WHY?
If you've got data that is irreplaceble, what in the world is it doing on a laptop harddrive?
APM works just fine with slackware, RH doesn't have it compiled into the kernel even as a module (can't understand why not) but if it's there,

Code:

/sbin/modprobe apm

will get it loaded.

Code:

/usr/sbin/apmd

will start it.

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