installing linux on laptop

[darkzerox]

hi,
i want to install linux on my acer aspire 1692WLMi...
but i'm not sure which version to install, or if it will work properly...
it seems red hat and/or fedora are popular...
and i need to know if my touch pad and battery life manager are going to work properly...

so...which (free) version of linux should i get, where can i get it, and how do i resolve these issues?

thank you for any help

[soccercisco]

Hi,

Welcome to the world of Linux...

In a nutshell, different distros for different users. That is the main reason for so many options out there!

As a "newbie" to Linux, it would be wise to start with one of the "easier" distros out there. There are some that will look and feel almost exactly to Windows (Mepis for instance). Mepis even has the option of running the whole show fro m your cdrom. Ubuntu and Suse are also popular among newbs since the installation is usually straight forward, and both are able to recognize most common hardware.

No one will tell you use this one, or that one. That's the beauty of Linux, you're not stuck as with other OSs...

If you need help with your hardware I suggest post specific details (other than the model of the Laptop) to make our lives easier in helping you... Since we reply to probably hundreds of posts each day.

Finally, as much as I hate to tell you. But there will be probably a lot of reading involved for you (at first), even in this forums you will probably get a link for an answer since most problems that hebs have, have already been answered. Though, people are very willing to help anyone get started (and become proficient) in this Linux world.

Cheers and happy new year,

[soccercisco]

http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/lin...linux-use.html

You'll find many posts like yours (link above was asked a few posts before you) and the answers are consistent. Even though I usually recommend Ubuntu to people who are starting out, the person above found it complicated to use. So my friend, it all depends on your likings and needs.

Regards,

[darkzerox]

thanks, but what kind of details about my lappy do you need?

in short, its specs (googled) are:
Pentium-M 1.73GHz; 512MB RAM; 15.4in TFT LCD; ATI Mobility RADEON X700 graphics; 80GB HDD; 802.11b/g wireless
there's been no modifications to it, and nothing plugged into it...

all i really want to know is, after installing some "distro" (learning words here), is my touchpad going to work, or do i need to install some software to make it work? and same with the power manager. i don't care if it's different software, as long as it works and is compatible with my laptop (ie, accurately reports battery life, and knows when my power cable is plugged in or not, and a few options for adjusting the cpu usage, screen brightness, etc)
i just dont want to install some operating system and then find out i can barely use my laptop at all. the other kinks i can work out later

[AlexK]

Since you have a fairly recent laptop it should be fine. Most distros these days already come with the Synaptics (touchpad) driver in it.

From personal experience, I would suggest that you try something like SUSE for first time or laptop installs. Also, just to see wether linux likes your hardware grab a livecd such as Mepis or Knoppix and see how the computer reacts.

[felipe1982]

i recommend suse over ubuntu. suse was my first distro, and I sort of have a soft spot for it. If you have a knack for computers, you can learn all about your distro in about a month. you will still have a lot to learn after that, but you will get "most" of what you need to know in a month.

Before suse, download knoppix linux distribution (www.knoppix.org or www.knoppix.net I can't remember which) you can burn the ISO file to a cd (be sure you know how to do that) and boot it from the cd. You can run the entire operating system from your cd, without installing a single thing. In this way, you can become a little more familiar with the world of gnu/linux without even touching a single byte on any hard drive(s).

I have not be able to get accustomed to ubuntu...i like this distro, but my hardware doesn't like it (video issues, mostly, in my case)

Good luck!

[soccercisco]

As I mentioned... Different users, different likings/needs.

In order to get your touchpad working, you require the synaptic package (software) which will "automagically" configure it. This package is include in most (if not all) major distributions out there.

As someone above (or below) mentioned, give the "LiveCD" distros a try. I used Simply MEPIS from my CDRom (just to verify that this in fact was possible) and I was atonished when I booted a full system on my Laptop and Desktop without installing anything, literally anything. Internet (wireless), sound, usb, etc. Everything was already configured ("easier" than a Windows install, excuse the comparison).

This for me was an ice-breaker into Linux, though I ditched the distro instantly and went with a different one.

Cheers,

[darkzerox]

alright!
good to know.
thank you so much guys!

i'm going to try one of these live cd's and see how that goes. i might decide to go with fedora core 6 eventually though (i was reading up on them). i'm new to linux, but i am a computing science major, so i should be able to figure most of this stuff out

[darkzerox]

so i just installed fedora, rebooted.. and all i get is a blinking underscore,
what do i do?

edit: hrm. installed it again exactly the same way, but seems to be working this time.

heheh...this is pretty spiffy. i like it already setup is considerably nicer than windows, although it will take some getting used to. didn't have to install a power manager or anything, everything seems to be working nicely.

[felipe1982]

glad to see that it is working out for you, thus far. No power manager? Cool. Do you have an intel core or core 2 processor? They have neat power saving features, be sure your distro can deal with them, to save the most battery power possible.