[Question] Subnotebook recommendations?

Message

pau · Post by **pau** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 4:03 pm

knirscher, which stage did you use for the installation? I did a stage 1 on my own Amilo laptop and I have to admit that it was really hard...
How long did it take for you to get to the point of having X working and a minimal system installed?
And... btw... can you post here your boot scheme?

I told them I want a powerbook, but I will not be able to run MacOSX... it puts me on my nerves... Still... I think it was a good idea because, as you said, the hardware is really nice...

knirscher · Post by **knirscher** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 4:35 pm

knirscher, which stage did you use for the installation?

I did a stage 2.

How long did it take for you to get to the point of having X working and a minimal system installed?

Good question. It might have taken me a week or so, but effectively I would say two days. For Xorg I used config files from http://www.aronchi.org/LinuxOnIBookG4.

And... btw... can you post here your boot scheme?

Here is my yaboot.conf:

Code: Select all

boot=/dev/hda2
device=hd:
partition=4
delay=10
timeout=40

install=/usr/lib/yaboot/yaboot
magicboot=/usr/lib/yaboot/ofboot

image=/boot/kernel
	label=Linux
	root=/dev/hda4
	sysmap=/boot/system.map
	read-only

image=/boot/kernel-rescue
	label=rescue
	root=/dev/hda3
	sysmap/boot/system.map-rescue
	read-only

macosx=/dev/hda6

enablecdboot
enableofboot

I cannot remember what exactly caused me problems... I think it might have been because I did not know how to install yaboot to the boot partition and I did not have anything on it, so I had to find out how to boot Linux via OpenFirmware...? Not sure.

hamaker · Post by **hamaker** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 8:54 am

If you do decide to get an Apple (which are, of course, and I hate to admit it, the most sexy laptops on earth) you should look into yellowdog linux, of course depending on your preferences. They claim to get most things working out of the box, but you do loose the Gentoo-wonders. Still, it might be worth looking at.
I don't have any experince with it myself, I have to say.
Good luck!

pau · Post by **pau** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 1:31 pm

what about the wlan? what do the yellowdogs say to that?

Dlareh · Post by **Dlareh** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 1:34 pm

I love my x40. Wish I had an x41 tablet, but I won't have enough money for another generation or two...

knirscher · Post by **knirscher** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 1:58 pm

For the wlan issue take a look at http://linux-bcom4301.sourceforge.net/.

hamaker · Post by **hamaker** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 2:39 pm

About yellowdog and supported Apple hardware:
http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/suppo ... /index.php
Only the Airport, not the Airport Extreme, is supported by them.

pau · Post by **pau** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 7:15 pm

a silly question... what's airport/airport extreme?

Is this related to wlan? I guess so but then, why the difference in name?

knirscher · Post by **knirscher** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 10:15 pm

That is correct. Indeed Airport is the Apple name for wireless capability.

Airport was introduced in 1997. These Airport cards are supported by the Linux kernel, but firstly they "only" support bitrates up to 10mbit and secondly they are only found in outdated hardware and there seems to be no way to wire them into the modern Apple Laptops instead of the new flashy Airport Extreme Card. This card is based on the Broadcom chip, which is not supported by the kernel. Reverse Engineering is in progress, but it may still take some time, before a Linux driver will become available. The Airport Extreme Cards are allegedly mini-pci cards, but the hardware interface in of the Apple Airport Extreme card is completely different from the one used in other mini-pci cards (such as http://www.zdnet.de/i/mb/notebooks/2005 ... -karte.jpg). This makes it impossible to replace the Airport Extreme with another wlan card that would be supported by Linux. It is likely, that the Apple Airport Extreme is the only card, that actually physically fits into modern Apple Laptops.

The Airport Extreme theoretically supports speeds up to 100mbit, the external antenna (it is of course built in the laptop - in the left side of the lid IIRC, but not into the card) provides a very good connection. I have compared it with the D-Link DWL-122 USB Adapter and it is by far superior. The card can, however, not be put into passive mode. I do not know whether this restriction is in the hardware or just in the Apple driver. AFAIK this means you cannot monitor traffic on a wireless network.

What I would like to know, is whether the battery lives longer, if I remove the AEX card?

pau · Post by **pau** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 6:53 pm

Well... it seems that there are good news!

http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-365647.html

Another linux wonder...

the_mgt · Post by **the_mgt** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 7:35 pm

Hi!
I am using a Sony Vaio PCG-SRX41P. It is old by todays standards, but the parts are all known brands with fine working drivers on linux. These Sony Subnotebooks come with lan, wlan,bt. Mine has no cd/dvd drives but thats no problem for me. (I have to say the i810 graphic card sucks a little... but newer laptops have better ones)
And with the laptop_script running it makes no sound at all most of the time. The fan is very quiet, too.
Weight is about 1,3 kg.
So, have a look at the latest sony models, i didn't check them but they are worth a try. Especially when you don't have to worry about money. I was lucky and got an exposition piece, so i saved lots of money.

pau · Post by **pau** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:31 pm

After doing a bit of research, I found out that a lot of people are having problems when conneting the ibm thinkpad x41 to an external screen... somehow, the intel graphics card seems not to achieve a resolution above 1024x768 and the result is an ugly pixelized thing... On the other hand, the ibm is not that quiet... I've read a lot of posts by people and it's a kind of lottery... If you're lucky, then it'll quiet... otherwise... fan, harddisk etc may be a source of noise...

So I chose the powerbook 12" with 100GB and ~1.5GB RAM, which is rather light and extremely quiet... I saw also in the powerbook forum that now airport is supported... or partially, so I will give gentoo a chance and install it on the box...

Thanks

Pau

PS: BTW, did you know that apple will switch to intel from next year onwards?!?!? Either this is a very intelligent commercial thing or I don't understand it... in any case it's very risky... People may end up installing windows on their boxes because they're used to...

alhambra · Post by **alhambra** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 5:45 pm

hi,

i'm searching for a light weight laptop (about 2 kg) which i want to use for school/studying.
i want to use gentoo, so it should be hardware which works with linux.
i like these vaio laptops or the apple ibook G4.
so could you give me some expereance you made? and do you recommend a ibook for running linux?

thx
alhambra

Epyon · Post by **Epyon** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 6:28 pm

I have issues with sound and the wireless card on my ibook.

otake-tux · Post by **otake-tux** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 9:00 pm

mine isnt light. but i did manage get everything configured for my laptop. its a compaq presario 2500. right now its not working right because I messed it up but I did have everything working at one point.

Voltago · Post by **Voltago** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 9:09 pm

Lenovo Thinkpad T43. OK, it isn't a subnotebook, but comes pretty close

Weight: 2.3 kg with 1024x764er display, 2.6 kg with 1400x1050er display. All hardware is supported, even the fingerprint scanner works (but still needs more application support). Not the cheapest laptop around though. Stay clear of Sony. These VAIO things are garbage.

Archangel1 · Post by **Archangel1** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 9:14 pm

I've got a Dell Latitude X1, 99% of everything works on it.
It weighs something like 1.1kg so may be a tad lighter than you were thinking of

I ended up passing on the Vaios - one or two models were quite nice, but they seem to mostly be about form over function. They don't work terribly well under Linux from what I've heard.

alhambra · Post by **alhambra** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 7:54 am

thx for your expereance,
the thinkpad T43 is nice but it's a bit costly for me

i also looked for the dell x1, but i have some antipathy for intel
but is there realy a chance to get a laptop without an intel cpu?

gwion · Post by **gwion** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 11:46 am

i am rather happy with my acer travelmate 380. i did not bother to work on the modem and bluetooth connection but apart from that everythings works without any problems. the weight is about 1,5 kg so it is rather light. also the price is not bad (was about 1250 in may).

bLaXe · Post by **bLaXe** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 4:31 pm

I have a ThinkPad T42 which works flawlessly with Gentoo. They're a bit cheaper than the T43 (obviously) but still quite capable.

I'll second the comments about Vaios - they are indeed a bit crap. They look nice, but the seem over priced to me. It seems like you're paying extra 'because it's a vaio'.

Archangel1 · Post by **Archangel1** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 8:50 pm

alhambra wrote:thx for your expereance,
the thinkpad T43 is nice but it's a bit costly for me
i also looked for the dell x1, but i have some antipathy for intel
but is there realy a chance to get a laptop without an intel cpu?

AMD now have a chip called a Turion, which is meant to be sort of similar to a pentium-M.
From what I've heard they're not quite there yet though (correct me if I'm wrong there...).

I know what you mean about intel, but the pentium-M's are nice chips; they perform very much more like an Athlon in regard to clock speed, and draw bugger all power. Intel's got an enormous market share in laptops - much more than it does in desktops - and there's been a good reason for that.

rebach · Post by **rebach** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:54 pm

Days are getting warmer and I'd like to spend more time outside, so I'm looking for a sub-notebook with:
- A good battery
- A screen with enough contrast to work even where there is some sun
- "Ready for Gentoo"

I was looking at the Sony Vaio VGN-TX5XN/B.SW and the ASUS U1F-1P0003E, for neither of those I found reports on successful Linux installation. Does anyone has a recommendation for an ultra-portable gentoo-machine?

cheers,
reto

Roman_Gruber · Post by **Roman_Gruber** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:56 pm

ill go for a magnesium notebook, or mil standard notebook, they are proven to work with sunlight, like: solidbook or RANGER 1500-T

rebach · Post by **rebach** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:22 pm

Both laptops look quite impressive. Just I was thinking to get something lighter, say less than 1.5 Kg,

darkn0th · Post by **darkn0th** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 5:02 am

rebach wrote:Days are getting warmer and I'd like to spend more time outside, so I'm looking for a sub-notebook with:
- A good battery
- A screen with enough contrast to work even where there is some sun
- "Ready for Gentoo"

I was looking at the Sony Vaio VGN-TX5XN/B.SW and the ASUS U1F-1P0003E, for neither of those I found reports on successful Linux installation. Does anyone has a recommendation for an ultra-portable gentoo-machine?

cheers,
reto

I've got a VGN-TX1XP/B and the only difference with a TX5 is the hard disk size. These laptops install perfectly under gentoo, suspend to ram/disk works, everything but the winmodem is recognized and functional, and they have huge autonomy ( 7 hours without wlan, and with the extended battery, 10 hours with wlan!). The weight is great but working out in the sun may be a problem even with brightness at setting 8 (using the sony-acpi kernel module).

[Question] Subnotebook recommendations?

best subnotebook for gentoo

Subnotebooks, any recommendations?

Thanks

Re: Subnotebooks, any recommendations?