Important websites/newsgroups
Common Problems and Solutions
| Problem |
Solution |
|
No CD-ROM drive
|
Install via network or floppy.
Remove HD and use another machine to install onto it. *
|
Can't boot an installation
CD-ROM or floppy
|
Download a BIOS flash utility from the manufacturer's site.
|
Graphics, sound, or
PCMCIA controller support |
Check the
linux-laptop
site; you may find settings for your model.
(e.g., if you're lucky, you can get the whole XF86Config file.)
|
| Internal modem/network adapter |
Get a real modem/NIC. ;-)
|
* If you have to use this method, make sure you reconfigure X once
the hard drive is back in the laptop. If you use a desktop machine,
you'll probably need to go get the PCMCIA source code package, too.
Before you buy...
Check out the
MobiliX
site. Determine which features your ideal laptop must have.
Look at the
linux-laptop
page to see how tricky the installation and configuration will be.
Try booting the kernel from a floppy disk or CD. See what works
and what hardware is detected. Try the following:
Before you install...
If Windows is installed, use it to gather information about your
video card, monitor settings, sound card, devices on COM ports, etc.;
Autoprobing during the Linux installation may fail, and you will be
glad you did.
See the above note on booting from floppy or CD.
After you install...
You may wish to recompile the kernel. The default kernels
from most distributions are optimized for hardware support, not
performance. If a stable kernel has been recently released, use this
opportunity to upgrade. Be sure to exclude any options you know you
won't need when performing the kernel configuration.