Toshiba Portege R705-P35 linux compatibility? [Solved]

[helio]

Has anyone here had experience installing gentoo or other distribution of linux on the Toshiba Portege R705-P35 laptop?

[DONAHUE]

download and make an ubuntu livecd and try it. best of the auto installs. least painful way to test compatibility.
_________________
Defund the FCC.

[helio]

Thanks for suggestion. I don't have the laptop now. I need to know the linux compatibility before knowing whether I should buy it or not.

[forkbomb]

Then contact the vendor and ask for a detailed hardware list, including chipsets. Once acquired start googling individual components or check menuconfig to see if there are drivers.

Unless you're lucky enough that somebody who has the laptop sees this thread, the best you're likely to get here on this forum is a lot of guessing.

That said, check other distros' forums, too. Very little hardware support is distribution-specific since most hardware compatibility comes from the kernel directly. Variations from distro to distro are almost always because distros have differing criteria for what they include in their in-repo stock kernel builds.

[DONAHUE]

if plan is to buy from a store (or not), take in an ubuntu cd and ask for a trial run.
It runs from the cd, does not install unless you tell it to.
_________________
Defund the FCC.

[helio]

That's a good idea. I should give it a try.

[forrestfunk81]

Maybe this helps.

I own a Toshiba Satellite r630 and gentoo works like a charm. Also the battery status is correctly reported here unlike the ubuntu guy posted.
_________________
# cd /pub/
# more beer

[helio]

Thanks for the link and info. Very helpful to know. As forkbomb said, hardware support shouldn't be distribution-specific.

[helio]

I ended up buying and installing gentoo on a Sony Vaio instead. I'll mark this thread as "solved" anyway.