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Dell Supporting Linux on Laptops 136

Posted by CmdrTaco from the its-a-start dept.
SPI3LB3RG writes "Dell now supports Linux for it's laptops. Down at the bottom of the page is a listing of Drivers by OS." My old Inspiron basically fell apart. But it was running Linux for years before I wore out the keyboard, broke the CD-ROM drive, and the hard drive started failing ;)
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Dell Supporting Linux on Laptops More

Dell Supporting Linux on Laptops

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  • Re:Thank God For Extended Warranty (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Damn, I'm glad I didn't get one of those... ..actually, I had one (a 3500) for a few weeks, but I gave it back. I'd rather use my sexxxy Toshiba wit da metal lid. Gets all the babez.

  • pcmcia Winmodems? Yes, the beast lives (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Yes, 3com makes one
    3com Winmodem specs [3com.com]

  • Since they offered (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Well, at least this gets the ball rolling... Now one can call Dell and ask "where are the drivers for the 3CCFEM656 nic/modem card you sold me with my Inspiron?" Of course, that driver does not exists yet, but maybe with enough needling from customers, Dell will lean on 3Com enough that they might provide the specs to those writing drivers for linux.

  • Re:There are Only rpm files for RedHat (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Maybe redhat is doing something to actually promote itself with manufacturers? possible, and I hope so.

    One of the big FUD factors working against linux is the large number of distibutions and setups within the framework of linux.

    If Redhat is established as the "standard" for now, that is fine with me. We can worry about evening things out later once Linux support in such a tiny, tiny manner isn't a big news item.

  • There are Only rpm files for RedHat (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    once more, redhat is appearing as the only linux distrib.

    We might need a new format of packages, specifically designed, for those who want to give away binary drivers. It would be fully all-linux distrib -compatible, and would be a nice thing.

    Oh BTW, i don't know what's inside those rpms, but i think that for a few kernel modules and a readme, those packages already exist and are called tarball.

  • What do they think they're doing, acknowledging the existence of Linux? They should be like every other big computer company, and ignore Linux completely. Who do they think they are!!!

  • I'll assume good intentions, here, but Dell definitely doesn't quite get it.

    Where's the source code?

    If Dell wants to be taken seriously on Linux, providing binary-only RPMs of x86 drivers is not the way to do it. Binary-only drivers are a security hazard, they don't benefit from peer review, they're not portable to other CPU architectures that use the chipsets they serve, and they're prone to breakage as the kernel develops. Giving us those, only, isn't even half a loaf. More like 1/10 of one.

    If Dell Computer wants to get serious about this, it can start by providing chipset information on its so-called "system specifications" Web pages. Consider, for exmaple, the Inspiron 3500 [dell.com] system specifications page: What's the PCMCIA chipset? What's the sound chipset? What are the chipsets for the optional modem and ethernet cards? Is the CD-ROM a standard ATAPI one, or on a custom interface? Is the floppy drive on a standard floppy port, or is it USB?

    And, then, once they really get serious, they can apply their influence to get full programming interface information and sample driver code for those chipsets released to the Linux developer community.

    That would be genuine Linux support.

    Meanwhile, it would probably be better for Linux users to patronise companies that at least seem to understand the issues, and are trying. Such as IBM with some of its ThinkPad models, for example.

  • Well, I was going to retrieve copies of these binary-RPM "driver" files, and see if these were from Dell or are copies of open-source software from elsewhere. (Why? Because if they're distributing binaries of other people's GPL-covered drivers, and not offering source, then they're violating the licence.)

    But the site is suffering from Microsoft-induced damage:

    error 'ASP 0115'

    Unexpected error

    /us/en/filelib/system.asp

    A trappable error occurred in an external object. The script cannot continue running.

    Afterthought: If the reason we're supposed to admire Dell is that they offer rather generic and poorly customised preloads of one (only) Linux distribution, then why are we supposed to be excited at binary-RPM drivers on a Web site? Does the preload come without drivers, or what?

  • It works like a charm and the screen is faultless.
  • I am typing this on a Sony Vaio Z505S. It has
    the neomagic chipset with the sound integrated.
    I think it is a NM256AV or some such.

    The stock Mandrake 6.5 install was flawless. I
    have no problems with my video. I don't know if
    it is the same video chipset.

  • Now that Dell wallpaper & icons RPM is cute.
    I wonder when they'll start shipping a matching Dell screensaver too ;)
  • That's odd -- I ordered a Dell Inspiron in October. They granted me $5,000 credit immediately, no hassle. They told me that it would ship in mid-December due to a shortage of screens; it shipped November 17.

    I know of several friends who have bought from Dell, and none have had trouble. Their quality seems to be well above average -- two friends have had their laptops for almost 1.5 years with no problems. One has had his for over two, no problems. Their good experience with Dell was one of the reasons I bought from them.

    Maybe they treat companies different than individuals or something . . .

  • Even though I never liked the customer service from Dell (them wanting me to pay $300 to replace a keyboard in which the part [at the time] cost about $30) their p133 Latitude laptop was my main machine for about 3 years.

    In the past the NeoMagic video card was only supported by AcceleratedX but eventually RedHat released free Xfree drivers for the card.

    The machine was great and I am glad to see Dell finally moving support to a wider range of PC's. I really hope that other "online" stores (like GW2k) will soon follow suit.
  • I've got a Latitude CPi, too (brand new, 400MHz :-), but the X Server (3.3.5) doesn't recognize the NeoMagic chipset's revision number. It won't work out of the box.

    It worked only after I forced it to 'NM2200' and found out somewhere deep in xfree86.org that there was no acceleration at 24bpp so _that_'s what made it so ****ing slow.

    It's working great now, though. Sound too.

    However, the 'Linux' link at the downloads pages is only there when you choose the Inspiron. It's gone when you go to the Latitude driver page.
    So the headline "Dell supports Linux on laptops" may just be slightly exaggerated.
  • You know, I used to think that too. Until recently, I couldn't find a Dell laptop with Linux on it.

    The trick, however, is not to look at their home / home office section, but rather their Small Office section. There you can find the Inspiron 7500 laptop with your choice of Windows or Linux [dell.com]. Only the 7500, and the default price is $3952, but you can knock that down to $3744 by removing those extraneous options like external keyboard and changing the warranty to 3 year next day on site. You can even drop it more by removing the ethernet and modem.

    Along these lines, does anyone know a good company that makes well-done Linux laptops? The later VAIO's are good, and VA used to make some fine laptops (I'm only sorry I didn't get one then). Is there anyone else that does them right? Or is there any WinLaptop that out of the box will be nearly fully Linux supported yet has all the standard goodies (15" screen, built-in modem, etc)?
  • I looked at the Latitude LT page, and there was no option for Linux drivers.
    I've got RH6.0 on my LT, and have had no problems, except the built in modem is a Winmodem.

    Now when Dell starts pre-loading laptops with Linux, then I will get excited.
  • The built-in modem in my inspiron is a Winmodem. The specs didn't indicate that this was a Winmodem, but I should have asked. If you look at the standard built-in modem for the I7500 it states "56K Capable V.90 Modem, Internal". I suspect that this is a winmodem too. I bought a PC-Card modem and all is fine now.
  • It is sad that they shoosed only to release .rpm-files. If you run Debian, or some other distro, you have to install the RPM system in order to extract the drivers. And they do not provide any source. But, someone here at /., hinted that these drivers where not developed by Dell, but by others, so that the source is out there for you, just not on Dell's site. Is this correct?
    Anyway, it is quite strange that the site mentions the format of the drivers to be "i75alna0.rpm - Non-Packaged - This file format is used for files that have no specific installation mechanism, or where an installation mechanism is not applicable." :)
  • I've seen Linux (Redhat, Caldera, Corel), NetBSd and FreeBSD all run on Dell Latitudes and Optiplexs. My only problem was I could not get an external monitor to work on the Latitudes with the Neomagic video card. All in all they are great machines to run as high powered portable open source workstations.

    300mhz 128mb ram 6 gig hd running NetBSD !
  • I have a Inspiron 3500 and absolutely love it. It does seem kind of fragile though, so I hope it holds up in the long term (doesn't do too much traveling). Setting up RH6.1 was a no-brainer. If I wasn't already a linux geek, I would be saying "XF86Config? what's that?"

    Oh yeah, the Xircom....

    Dell sells the cardbus version of this. IT DOESN"T WORK WITH LINUX! No, I didn't learn this the hard way. Just go on dejanews and look for David Hinds (the linux PCMCIA guru, since you said you were a newbie) telling folks it doesn't work.

    I picked up a 16-bit (REM* model, not the REMB* model) Xircom realport 56K modem and 10BT (not 10/100) ethernet from compusa on-line for $200. It works almost like a charm. The ethernet is great. The modem works, but with strange problems. Usually it works great. But on certain downloads, it just stalls at the same point every time (the file I had problems with was the VmWare tools for windows). It will repeatedly stall in the same location every time. Web surfing was flawless, but I had some problems accessing an IMAP mailbox. These problems do not show up when booted into windows.

    I am using the pcmcia distribution that came with RH6.1. I am going to check to see if there is a newer one, and if that hives the same problem, I'll file a bug report.

    Anybody else using the 16-bit Xircom Realport with Linux?
  • Yeah, we had the same experience. We had previously purchased 4 Inspiron 7000 laptops, and they required the cash up front before even building the machines! They also said that if we were willing to give them three years of audited comany statements, they would give us $25k credit. Yeah right! CDW gave us double that, with only references, no audited reports. Maybe if we have ordered 400 laptops they would have changed their minds ...
  • Hmm... I have a Dell Ispiron 3500 and can't seem to get it to run at 800x600. While this may not seem incredibly useful, I've had to project on several occassions, and unless I can get the laptop to work at this resolution, I can't really do it (so i just project from a console -- luckily, this has been sufficient so far). Anybody having more luck than me?

    Also, dell seems to have added a linux software directory on the inspiron 7000 series page, but not on the 3500. Maybe this will change....

    -Yinon
  • Interesting little problem on my 3500. Occasionally when coming out of a suspend, I hit the "g" and it gives me a "5" as well (so I can't enter a g without getting a "g5"). Same things with h and 6, backspace and \, and - and '. Pretty odd. How hard is it to replace the keyboard yourself? Can't seem to find much documentation on this one..
  • Give me some credit, please.

  • Seams like a place to ask. I'm trying to track down details on the Mini PCI spec from PCI SIG [pcisig.com]. I just need gross details like size of board, connector used, etc. It's a spec to make daughter cards for laptops to a common standard so each manufacturer donsen't need their own format. Email me [mailto] with them. I want this because over the weekend I came up with the idea of standard for motherboards and expansion cards for wearable computers. Wearable Board Standard [slashdot.org] My document sofar is rather slim, but it's a start with a bunch of ideas that all seam well founded.

  • My company INSISTS on putting NT on laptops, even though there's poor power management support. I hope that Linux will support power management in Dell's configuration!
  • I have one of these (a 450 celeron 7500). It's bloody fast, i have an 18gb hdd and 256 mb of ram. I had a bit of trouble getting linux up, and I sure as hell will appreciate sound and network drivers from Dell.

    To anybody out there who hasn't tried one, do it. They're bloody amazing. It cost me AU$7000, but I'd pay almost that much just for an lcd as good as this. It does 1400x1050, and now I don't even like working on my 17' trinitron coz compared it looks like a fishbowl!

    Cheers to Dell!
  • Yeah, binary only for RedHat 6.1. What if I am not running RedHat at all? I need freedom baby! Let me compile my own damn driver.
  • I've been running redhat 6.0 on my inspiron 3500 for a while now and I love it. Everything (video, sound, pcmcia, touchpad, haven't had a chance to monkey with USB yet) works great under linux except the built-in LT Winmodem!

    I've been to linmodems.org [linmodems.org] and the gist I got was that was that Lucent doesn't give a rip about the end user and probably couldn't be pressured into releasing a driver (or specs for us to write a driver) by us, the end users. Pressure to release a linux driver for their modems would have to come from their direct customer - the computer manufacturer - which would be Dell in this case.

    HEY DELL! If you're reading this, how about giving Lucent a kick in the pants and releasing a linux driver or some specs for the LT Winmodem in your notebooks? I'll buy more of your products if you do.

  • seems like growing pains to me. I've been using their machines for ~3 years and their online support (drivers and the like) is top-notch, dunno about enterprise customers tho.
  • I have an Thinkpad 1400 and it has a Neomagic too, it seems to work very well with the Thinkpad.
  • I found that there was no "Linux" link for my CPi either. Quite annoying. The link that I posted above is very useful for the CP series of laptop though, so through its use you should have no probs.

  • No, sorry, once I got the driver config'd correctly, everything was hunky-dory. To tell you the truth, it's been a couple of months since I've had a chance (gotten off my lazy ass that is) to play with it, I can't remember too much about the config or any particular problems I had. I will say that the Redhat installer, well, nevermind, that's another story altogether.

  • Has anyone gotten X to work right on their i7000? If so what did you use as the settings for the monitor? Mine does some crazy stuff and I don't know what the H sync and vertical refresh rate is for my 15" LCD screen...
  • Does this config work with the ATI Rage Mobility or jsut the NeoMagic? I have an Inspiron 7000 with the Rage card in it. Is this card even supported? If not I have Accelreated X Laptop so that will work instead then. Also is the Xircom Realport 10/100 pcmicia card supported inder Linux?
    (Sorry for the ignorance but I'm a Linux newbie)
  • Well, Dell has always been great for me. I really like the level of support on their website - complete specs for practically every system they've made. And their OptiPlex line of business workstations is awesome.
  • I bought a Quantex T-1410 in September and it came with 128MB of RAM, PII-366, 6.1 GB hard drive and a DVD-floppy combo drive. They didn't offer linux as an alternative OS but installing linux was easy. The only problem was that RH 6.1 didn't include the driver for the sound card (Maestro ESS). But, RH support has a link to a page where you can download it.

    So far, I'm very happy with my laptop and as an additional bonus it was a few hundred cheaper than the nearly identical Dell Inspiron.

    One downside though was that Quantex only offered Winmodems (bleh) at the time (not sure if it is still the same). When I asked them how much they would reduce the price to omit the modem they said they would take off $20 (US). I ended up keeping it (I was afraid it would delay shipping) and bought a 3Com combo card from a retailer.
  • When they support FreeBSD then I shall cheer.
  • I have some time ago - right out of the box - installed RedHat 6.0 on my Dell Latitude CP (233MHz). I runs wolderfully, and network is 100% OK on my docking station.

    Yesterday I installed RedHat 6.1 and the only small problem I have discovered is that spmd (daemon for monitoring battery) hangs, and needs a pathch to run normally.
  • Has any one had any success with Linux or Beos on Acer Notebooks.
    ...what do you think of acer nootebooks them selves?
  • How much is that in US$?
  • My experience with Linux on a Dell laptop is that it SUCKS. When I came to my current job, I left an HP Omnibook and got a Dell Inspiron 3500. I loved my HP, it was perfect. The Dell on the other hand, is horrible.

    First of all, getting my network card to work took many hours. Once I get everything working (or so I thought), I found that when you close the lid, the laptop goes into suspend mode. On my HP there was a BIOS setting to disable this, so naturally I looked in the BIOS. Nada. I looked around online and found that there is no way to fix this. The suggested method was to break off the little tab that signals the computer that the lid is closed. I did that.

    That did solve the problem of suspending on lid close, but that didn't fix the suspend totally. At one point, I was running VMWare and wanted to get out to do something in Linux using the Ctrl-Alt-Esc keys, like I should. Instead of VMWare releasing my cursor, the laptop went into suspend mode.

    So now, if I want to use VMWare, I have to get everything ready so that once I'm in VMWare, I boot up windows, do my stuff, then shutdown windows.

    I WANT MY HP!!!
  • I don't know what your problem might have been, but I've been running RH6.0 and 6.1 on my Inspiron 7500 since October and power off works fine.

    Suspend works too, although it loses the keyboard repeat settings and one of my PCMCIA cards doesn't reset properly.

    jim

    jim frost
  • I bought a pair of Inspiron 7500s back in late September. It took a little while to get the process going because of poor availability of the 15" displays, but they called me and told me about it and even beat their (revised) estimated ship date by two weeks.

    I have no complaints about them and the machine works so well that I recommend it. I had to cobble together some drivers and figure out the display settings myself but this was expected.

    Now we have Dell officially supporting Linux (even if only RH Linux) on the things. That's another step in the right direction if you ask me.

    My only complaint with them in the ordering process was that they refused to sell me a DVD driver for the machine I bought with NT. NT doesn't have DVD drivers, which I knew, but even though I told them I didn't care (because I intended to dual-boot the thing) they wouldn't sell me the drive anyway. The service representative said their order entry system wouldn't allow him to do it.

    jim

    jim frost
  • my laptop came with a 3Com modem. It's not a winmodem. Worked like a charm with Linux.

  • is there anyone semi-intelligent to answer this?
  • The article is somewhat dated. Since writing it, I have loaded Linux on all but one of my systems, and use it 90% of the time.
  • The article is somewhat dated. Since writing it, I have loaded Linux on all but one of my systems -- a notebook, and use it 90% of the time.
  • I think this is the key point of interest here.

    By claiming official support for Linux on their laptops, Dell is now on the hook to resolve (or at least prove "it ain't our fault") problems with their laptops and Linux. It means that if you have problems with a supported Linux on a supported Dell laptop, you can call tech support and they have to support you. If they don't, they get to talk to Mr. Lawyer.

    One more (small) step towards Linux For The Masses, or, at least, Linux As A Viable Choice For The Masses.

    Side note: the company I work for has standardized upon the Sony Vaio laptops and the Dell Inspirons (someone authorized to get a laptop has a choice between a few models on a short list). Being a networking hardware/software company, many of the laptops are used in the field for on-site diagnostics. The operating system of choice? It ain't 98!

    --Lance

  • http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=F A1012146
  • It's a good thing (TM) they added this file, I mean how many of you haven't spent hours on finding the best configuration for you Xserver?

    IMO, this could be a standard support PC manufacturers can provide... They have the full description of the hardware specs used in their products. It shouldn't take much of their time, but saves us, and especially the newbies *A*LOT*OF*TIME*....
  • The pages are not specific about the shipping, as has been pointed out, however Dell has been shipping Linux as an OS option for a few months (as reported on Slashdot and elsewhere) along with Compaq, and now IBM, it seems, on their desktop systems. I think it is only a matter of time for them to complete their own testing to ship a version (perhaps tweaked? laptops are strange beasts) of Linux, fully supported, on their laptop systems. hurrah! Fross
  • Sadly, yes. 3Com/US Robotics makes a PC Card Winmodem. Beware...




  • The built-in modem in my Inspiron 7500 laptop is a winmodem - a Lucent model if I am not mistaken.

    Apparently there is a "Linmodem" driver available for the Lucent Winmodem in Inspiron 7500s, see the Winmodems are not modems [o2.net] page..

    I *have not* tried this yet, but I have high hopes that I won't have to shell out for a PCMCIA modem (and use up a slot)! I would love to hear from anyone who has tried this driver, particularly on a Dell Inspiron laptop.

    It's great to see Dell selling Linux on Inspiron 7500s, but some of us (most of us?) need Windows too. I didn't see a dual-boot (or better yet, VMware [vmware.com] configuration for sale...

  • Heh.

    Never tried Linux on a Dell, but did run NT and SCO Unix on their servers, and a hell of a lot of Win95 workstations.

    Of the lot, the SCO Unix install was the smoothest.

    Meow.
  • Dell is merely acknowledging Linux existence by hosting the following in support.dell.com (Dell Inspiron 7500):
    • 3Com 3c575C NIC drivers for the Redhat Linux operating system
    • Linux ESS Maestro Audio Drivers
    • Linux Wallpaper/Icons
    • Linux XF86Config File
    and nothing else.

    My Latitude CP runs RedHat without any help from Dell, fortunately.
  • Although I personally don't use RedHat sound drivers, I thank you for your information.
    I was very wrong. Thank you, Dell.

  • I couldn't see from that site that Dell was actually selling their laptops with Linux pre-installed or that they sold laptops without MS Windows. I am going to buy a laptop soon and I don't want to pay for Windows, and I want it to work right away with Linux (RedHat, Debian, SuSe, etc). Are there anyone out there which sells such laptops, preferrably spiffy ones with enough memory?

    Thanks in advance

  • Dell's idea of lightweight is 6.5 pounds! But I've heard the Vaio's are very well made. What's the best lightweight (5 lbs) laptop with over 10GB hard drive space?
  • I have an inspiron 3200. I have had the power supply and floppy drive die. Each time, Dell airfreighted me a replacement, no questions asked. I just had to slap the return label on the box and ship back the old part. The extended warrenty is GREAT.

    Unfortunately, the support for linux is not retroactive! They have nothing for my older machine. This is true for software and hardware alike. I think one should NOT buy Dell if upgrading is part of your plan; providing an upgrade for older machines doesn't seem to be part of their plan.

    Nels
  • Having bought a Dell/Linux box through a fictious company name and mailing address, I can tell you it wasn't worth it. It came with Red Hat, and even that wasn't installed properly! Apparently, the had the same robotic morons that install Windows on the production line to install Linux, too. Maybe they should throw a Linux for dummies book at them or SOMETHING.
  • No, this is dell in a nutshell: "Help, Help, I'm dell and I'm stuck in a nutshell. Someone please get me out of this nutshell." Sorry, Couldn't resist that. Seriously though, linux drivers are unavoidable. Within a year it will be considered inexcusable to make a device without support across multiple platforms (much in the same way that PC only USB devices are now criticized). Sure, for the current time you might find yourself waiting on drivers more than you would like to, but this will be a shortlived stage in the linux revolution.
  • I work in Business Sales here at Dell, and combed our intranet for info on this. I did not find any changes in our support policy for Linux on Laptops. To my knowledge we support Linux on our PowerEdge servers only. (And the Precision workstation? It's been too long since I have had any "enlightened" customers on the phone.)
  • Hell, I think the X video driver that whoever wrote for the Neomagic...

    I think we can thank Frank LaMonica (and others) from Precision Insight [precisioninsight.com]
  • If I'm not mistaken I was under the impression that when m$ sold (I believe) xenix? to sco they signed some sort of legal proclusion forcing them to never enter the unix market again. Correct me if I am wrong.
  • Try going back to linmodems.org, there's now a binary only kernel module for the thing, problem is that on my Toshiba Satellite it causes some instability, random reboots, and the random lockups. kinda makes me wonder if it will be part of a windows compatability layer.
  • I've got a fleet of Optiplex workstations in my shop as well. Hold up pretty well so we don't have many support issues. I was surprised when I read the Gigaflash, they had about 40 pages of horror stories and case after case of how Dell dropped the ball. Giga is usually pretty straighforward, and they have a good reputation for being on the mark.

    Hope their wrong this time.

  • but do they support V2OS or HURD?
  • Gee... i think we have a hall monitor weenie reading slashdot ... who let him in here! =) its a damn shame!
  • So is Dell putting out drivers (kernel mods, perhaps?) for APM support in their laptops, cause last time I tried redhat on mine, it gave a seg fault every time it tried to turn the power off.
    =======
    There was never a genius without a tincture of madness.
  • I used to work tech support for Merill Lynch on the trading floor. We got all our PCs from Dell, and the support was exceptional. Now I work at a small private IT company out of a home office and we also get all our new stuff from Dell. (Anybody interested can actually check out our network layout here.) In short, I've had a fair bit of dealings with Dell and I come away satisfied every time. Their support of Linux is another giant leap towards universal Linux acceptance. [yourmojo.com]
  • WTF!? Slashdot ate my /a tag.. I previewed and everything. Sorry about that.
  • I have the 312T seriers of these and have been runnning suse on it for over a year. When the mosue pad stopped working and i phoned technical support they were fine about it and said to just leave a post it note with a password on it so they could test it upon replacement.. The only thing that doesn't work is the soundcard allthough others with the same laptop on the net have patches for redhat....

  • inspiron 7500/linux experience/warning (Score:2)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Bought one of these about three months ago, only after Dell assured me that they would still support the hardware if I installed Linux (I had heard that they get a bit funny when they hear something has died and you're not using doze).

    Successfully installed SuSE 6.2 without any problems. Bought a 3com eth-card for a local shop as I was told Dell's are win-fied like their onboard modems. I was online via a cable modem within a few of minutes.

    Can't get X to work properly though.

    You should be aware of their displays. I have two dead pixels on the screen. Dell claim that it's within their manufacturing tolerance, which happens to be 5 dead 'uns with 1 square inch! Odd that magazines never tell you this.

  • most X software works best with at least 3 mouse buttons, and using any of it with a 2 button mouse is a pain. so is the x server hack with holding down both mouse buttons to emulate the one in the middle. a notebook really made for use with X would have a 3 button pointer.

    the only notebook i know of which has 3 button mice and are still affordable by most of us are thinkpads (yes, i know of tadpole and RDI, i said affordable by most of us) but they have thier own support problems when it comes to linux. like the modem support, and i think sound card support too. dont know if thats been solved yet.
  • My Latitude CP runs RedHat without any help from Dell

    Not if you are using sound. Dell sent hardware and provided assistance in getting programming information for the Maestro audio chipset. So, while Red Hat developed the Maestro driver, Dell certainly did help.

    FWIW

  • Dell is providing some hardware for ACPI work.

    APM is a horribly broken thing (calling it a standard is suggesting too much); ACPI, while not perfect, does push policy and most implementation into the OS, so we will be less dependent on BIOS implementation quality, and better able to work around bugs.

  • Hi,
    I have one (an I3k 266mhz PI) that's basically been mangled to death. However, I have a bunch of bits for it I quite like (2 64MB SIMMs, 6.4gb HDD never stained by M$ (built the ftp install disk on a SPARC and bought the unformatted HDD from MegaHaus)), so the question is...

    Any other boxes use Inspiron 3000 SIMMS? The HDD is IIRC either 6mm or 9mm, and I assume I can just bolt it into a bracket..

    (Then again, I can sitll use the thing as a battery-backed server ;)

    Your Working Boy,
  • Firstly, Dell doesn't support Linux on their laptops; they just have a couple of useful files available for download. I haven't found one of their laptops yet that you can order with Linux (somebody please prove me wrong, that'd make me happy.)

    Secondly, Dell solves the problem by not building in modems. You buy a PC card. The cheapest one is a Winmodem, but there are other choices.

    And then there's the whole DVD mess. :-)
  • Yep, I see it. Thanks for finding it.

    Unfortunately, it's still half-ass. They only offer the Pentium III 500Mhz with 15" XGA screen, as if Linux won't run with less and NT will. :-)

    Also, they say they offer "Linux V6.1". There's no such animal. :-)

    They need to offer one of the Celeron 433 with 12.1" display; that'd give us better battery life, and outperform a PIII 500 running NT.

    But, all in all, at least they're trying. It's easier to convince an OEM to do a better job than to convince them to start doing the job in the first place.

    Dell, I give you a B-. Offer Linux on all your Inspirons, and stop violating both Linus' and whatever distro you're using (presumably Red Hat)'s trademarks, and I'll raise it.

    Offer it on the Latitude's too, all of them, and I'll give you at least an A-.
  • hell, I think the X video driver that whoever wrote for the Neomagic in the Dell is better than the Windows driver.

    Mine (on a Viao) suffers from scramblitus when the destination of full width bit block move is exactly the edge of the screen. Does yours? I've been meaning to track this down - surely I can't be the only one. Is it a hardware, firmware or driver bug? No clue yet.

    It's ****fast**** though.
  • You should be aware of their displays. I have two dead pixels on the screen. Dell claim that it's within their manufacturing tolerance, which
    happens to be 5 dead 'uns with 1 square inch! Odd that magazines never tell you this.


    well, actually(or at least when i worked for them a few months ago) the tolerance was 3 within a square inch or five total throughout the screen. if you bitch and complain enough you could probably get it replaced for 2, just be aware that it would be replaced with a refurb part and the problem could be worse than before.
  • Check out Dell's I7500 sales page [dell.com] to order with RH 6.1 preinstlled
  • Damn it, users should have to scour the net looking for drivers, like in the old days!

    heaven forbid a manufacturer should not only officially support an OS but provide all the drivers for your hardware in one place.
  • I know that most laptops these days have built-in modems, and most of them are Winmodems. Is Dell any exception?

    We'll know Dell is serious about doing more than give lip service to Linux when they make sure that the modems are supported by Linux.

    (And of course, there's the whole DVD mess for the high-end laptops.)
  • This looks very encouraging! I can't wait to see the prices, but the specifity of support might be enough to win me over in any case.

    Chris
  • It's a bit premature, but I'm part of a startup that's working on providing real linux on laptop solutions. It's cool that dell is doing something, but our goals are very different than what theirs will be. We really want to make linux into the premier OS for laptops, and do things like write drivers and software to support a lot of the tricky things (like the strange monitor types you get, sound, suspend/resume, power management, mobile network configuration managers, and stuff like that.) Which is something Dell will never care about doing, and companies that would (such as VALinux or RedHat) aren't focused on the needs of the laptop. We believe this is a real niche that the linux community needs filled, and by people who understand open source software. We plan on doing product launch at linux world expo, the first week in February. Online ordering should be up right around then. The company name is Tuxtops [tuxtops.com]. I'd, of course, love it if people who wanted Linux Laptops waited eagerly until we open our doors. :-) We're busy getting our first set of laptops configured right now. Yes, this is a blatent commercial plug, albeit relevant to the topic at hand. We might be hiring people in the near future, if anyone has particular expertise in linux on the laptop, particularly in device drivers, feel free to send resumes to info@tuxtops.com. Stop by our boot at Linux World Expo, if you can.
  • What I find particularly bothersome is that even something as simple as an XF86Config file is packed up in an RPM and thus Red Hat specific. I know that it's the same file that I'd need in Debian, but how many first-timers would? Plus, it's not exactly easy to get a file out of an RPM in non-PRM distributions.

    I must say, though, that I like the idea of OEMs providing an XF86Config file. These can be a hassle to put together, especially for those new to Linux. Kudos to Dell on that. (but just give us a text file next time, eh?)

    Greg

  • The Dell latitude series works very well with Linux. I don't know if they'll pre-install, but my latitude works great with the Redhat 6.0 installer and GNOME. Plus, the hard drive is 6GB (they do at least 10GB now), so I have enough room to dual boot. Also, I've got 64MB RAM.



  • My Inspiron (bought in Jan/98) has been falling apart for years, too. Had to get new LCD, floppy driver, keyboard, etc. They're usually good with getting you a new part.

    It seems Dell uses standard parts because I've never had a problem running Linux. Glad to see them officially support Linux on the laptops, though.

  • ...one that still has its nose firmly implanted in Bill Gates' arse. I've written extensively [unquietmind.com] about some of my company's experiences with Micro$oft, and it sickens me. I wish my corporate masters would figure out where the future lies, like Dell has.

    Good for Dell -- and it's customers. My next new consumer computer purchase will probably be from them, just as a matter of principle.

  • 2000 is shaping up to be a good year for Linux. A new version of X, IBM's seemingly newfound support for Linux, and now Dell. With 2.4 and XFree86 4.0 on the way (not to mention KDE 2.0, and other cool stuff), this year looks like it will be good for Linux and Linux users.

    Dell is one of the largest computer makers in the world right now, so it is definately a good thing that they are coming out and saying that they support Linux.

    Hopefully this move will cause others to follow suit. Of course, a good goal to push for is to have all the major manufacturers offer Linux preinstalled with the sale of a new computer, instead of just Windows.

    "You ever have that feeling where you're not sure if you're dreaming or awake?"

  • Check the vendors' list at linux.org [linux.org], and Alt-F for laptops. There are a couple of them, and not only in US: Hong [linux.com.hk], Malaysia [mail22.com], US (1 [emperorlinux.com], 2 [jpassociates.com], 3 [linux-hw.com]).

  • I got a Dell Inspiron 7500 (with the 15.4" screen) for XMas. Just last night I got it all running very smoothly. Dell's info is pointing at the Mach64 X server (though they indicate that "1024x768" is the mode their supporting when it should be able to do 1280x1204). Last night I got the Frame-Buffer X-server (FBDev) running in 1280x1024 (it's not accelerated, but it seems OK to me).

    I also had a good experience with my PCMCIA etherent cards (a regular 3COM wired card) and a Wavelan card (wireless rocks!) - both are working great under Linux on my Dell.

    Beyond that, I didn't find much need for Linux support from Dell. Linux just works for the most part.

    This page was useful: http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~steveh/inspi ron/ [umich.edu] I used it to get the FBDev X server running, though it could use some improvements (I plan to mail the author). Basically, use vga=794 (or 795) in your lilo.conf to get 1280x1024.

  • I'd love to know what went on behind the scenes at Dell to make this decision. It would be really cool if Dell chose to do this, resisting MSWindows-only pressure from Microsoft, but the realist in me suspects that the DOJ case has Microsoft laying low, or even encouraging "competition".

    None of that changes the reality of course: as an OS, Linux was "real" years ago, even on laptops. What's nice to see, now and for whatever reason, is the increasing "corporate" acceptence of Linux which will lead to more apps and options for users, and more interesting and rewarding work for developers.

    Still, though, I want to know: is Micros~1 still trying for exclusivity, are they neutral, or are they encouraging at least the appearance of competition?

  • Giga slammed Dell last month, putting them on the "not recommended" list. In part :

    Giga Vice President Rob Enderle said in late September that Dell had made mistakes on orders, missed delivery dates, failed to fulfill terms of agreements and showed "arrogant disregard" for some newer customers. "

    The story from Nov. is here [google.com], and some Zdnet follow-up here [http].

    With their support being so poor across the board, I don't know if I would purchase again from them. Good for Linux exposure, but I don't think it will be all that good for Dell.

  • Everyone always claims company xyz has poor support and htey wont buy from them again? I heard this for Dell, Gateway, Compaq and a number of other companies. Its not that bad.. One of our Dell's (one of 20) and the guy was out the next day it was fixed and life was happy. We have a couple Compaq Proliant's as well. One of the power supplies went. Compaq had it fixed within a day. These people dont get a good reputation and make a lot of money by a poor service/support model.

    JA

  • Linux on laptops (Score:3)

    by joshamania ( 32599 ) <jggramlich.yahoo@com> on Monday January 10, 2000 @07:46AM (#1386541) Homepage
    I've had wonderful experience with dell laptops and linux. I've had a Latitude CPi and now a CPia and have had no trouble whatsoever with the laptop itself. It sets up fairly easily for X, and the Redhat installer picked just about everything up on it's own. Hell, I think the X video driver that whoever wrote for the Neomagic in the Dell is better than the Windows driver.

    For you other laptop users:

    http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/linux-lap top/mirrors.html

  • Re:-NOT ALL DELL LAPTOPS SUPPORTED- (Score:4)

    by kzinti ( 9651 ) on Monday January 10, 2000 @08:25AM (#1386542) Homepage Journal
    My brand-new Inspiron 3700 doesn't have any Linux patches listed, thank you Dell.

    The I3700 is very similar component-wise to the I7500, so the linux stuff posted there might work for your I3700. I plan to at least try the sound driver.

    For more information on configuring linux for the I3700, see my page Linux on the Dell Inspiron 3700 [jimthompson.org]. Much of this information was gleaned from pages about the I7500: Jim Frost's page Linux on the Inspiron 7500 [mediaone.net] and Steve Hsieh's page Linux on a Dell Inspiron 7000/7500 Laptop [umich.edu]. (I see on checking Steve Hsieh's page that he's now added "3700" to the title, so he may have additional information about the I3700.)

    --Jim

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