Dell Inspiron 1300

Tuesday, 23. May 2006, 13:53:50

Got myself my first laptop. The CPU Pentium M 740 1.73 GHz 2 MB SLC, TFT 15.4" WXGA (1280x800), 512MB DDR2, 60GB HDD 5400RPM, 8x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer, LAN, WLAN Dell™Wireless 1370 (802.11b/g, 54Mbps), Modem, Free DOS-type Dell Inspiron 1300

This entry is to document my attempts to get Linux Ubuntu running as smoothly as possible on it.

So I got the Ubuntu 5.10 Breezy Badger CDs (install & live) from the closest mirror. Yes, I know 6.10 is less than 2 weeks away. And no, I don't want the K Desktop Environment. Burn. Install (I chose the en_US layout). Update packages.

Problem	Solution	Comments
Install Opera	Steps	Motif dependence for Opera 8.54
No wireless interface detected	Attempts	Autodetection fails. The same happens for Debian-based Knoppix distro.
Install Fluxbox WM	Instructions	when trying the DEB package, I got "MENU package is no longer supported"
See 1280x800 @60Hz	there's hope	Default (and only option) is 1024x768 @60Hz
Type Romanian characters	Steps	Can't see/switch keyboard layouts by default
See Romanian characters on webpages	Steps	Just ă ţ are badly rendered, not â î ş
Setup Samba file sharing	A combination of this tutorial (without accessible /home), and Systems \| Administration \| Shared Folders	easy
Manage USB-connected Motorola C650	There's hope	Details
Presumptive DVD writer problems	Steps	DMA has to be activated to burn without problem.
Audio/Video (codecs)	-	-

So much to read, so little time.
http://linux-on-laptops.com/
http://ubuntuforums.org/
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/
http://tuxmobil.org/

Update (2007-Oct-18): Most issues fixed in Ubuntu 7.10

napred-nazad u Balkanianapred-nazad u Balkania. 2

Comments

Install Opera, method 1

$ sudo apt-get update
Password:
Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com breezy Release.gpg [189B]
[...]
Get:18 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com breezy-updates/restricted Sources [14B]
Fetched 1054kB in 18s (58.1kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done
$ apt-cache search opera
[...]
opera - The Opera Web Browser
$ sudo apt-get install opera
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
opera is already the newest version.
You might want to run `apt-get -f install' to correct these:
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
  opera: Depends: xlib6g (>= 3.3.6) but it is not installable or
                  xlibs but it is not going to be installed
         Depends: libqt3-mt (>= 3.3.4) but it is not going to be installed or
                  libqt3c102-mt (>= 3.3.4) but it is not installable
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify a solution).
$ sudo apt-get -f install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Correcting dependencies... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
  libqt3-mt xlibs
Suggested packages:
  libqt3-mt-psql libqt3-mt-mysql libqt3-mt-odbc
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  libqt3-mt xlibs
0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 3382kB of archives.
After unpacking 9544kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com breezy/main libqt3-mt 3:3.3.4-8ubuntu5 [3290kB]
Get:2 http://security.ubuntu.com breezy-security/main xlibs 6.8.2-77.1 [91.9kB]
Fetched 3382kB in 57s (59.2kB/s)

Preconfiguring packages ...
Selecting previously deselected package xlibs.
(Reading database ... 61495 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking xlibs (from .../xlibs_6.8.2-77.1_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libqt3-mt.
Unpacking libqt3-mt (from .../libqt3-mt_3%3a3.3.4-8ubuntu5_i386.deb) ...
Setting up xlibs (6.8.2-77.1) ...
Setting up libqt3-mt (3.3.4-8ubuntu5) ...

Setting up opera (8.54-20060330.6) ...

By dantesoft, # 24. May 2006, 07:59:50

Install Opera, alternate
Download from Opera the DEB package for Ubuntu 5.10 Breezy Badger.

$ sudo dpkg -i opera_8.54-20060330.6-shared-qt_en_etch_i386.deb

Install Opera, alternate
Download from Opera the package in TAR.GZ format. Extract it with Archive Manager and run the install.sh script

By dantesoft, # 24. May 2006, 08:02:50

Wireless device: WLAN Dell™Wireless 1370 (802.11b/g, 54Mbps)

$ lspci
[...]
Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX (rev 02)
Network controller: Broadcom Corporation: Unknown device 4318 (rev 02)

Install Attempt 1
Found hope (D49, Chipset: Broadcom BCM4318, rev 02) as a NDIS Linux wrapper for the Win driver.
Followed the instructions to some success

$ sudo ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5.inf
[...]
$ ndiswrapper -l
Installed ndis drivers:
bcmwl5  driver present, hardware present
$ sudo depmod -a
$ sudo modprobe ndiswrapper
$ dmesg | tail
[4297908.408000] ndiswrapper version 1.1 loaded (preempt=no,smp=no)
[4297908.415000] ndiswrapper: driver bcmwl5 (Broadcom,05/26/2005, 3.120.27.0) loaded
[4297908.415000] ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:02:03.0[A] -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
[4297908.423000] ndiswrapper: using irq 17
[4297909.069000] wlan0: ndiswrapper ethernet device xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx using driver bcmwl5, configuration file 14E4:4318.5.conf
[4297909.069000] wlan0: encryption modes supported: WEP, WPA with TKIP, WPA with AES/CCMP
$ iwconfig
[...]
wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:off/any
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: 00:00:00:00:00:00
          Bit Rate:54 Mb/s   Tx-Power:25 dBm
          RTS thr:2347 B   Fragment thr:2346 B
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:100/100  Signal level:-10 dBm  Noise level:-256 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

After activating the Wireless connection in System | Administration | Networking with DHCP/ASCII key (the right ESSID was autodetected, and the wireless led turn on) I still had no valid connection.

I assume because the Wireless router required a WPA-PSK key. So I downloaded wpa_supplicant-0.4.9.tar.gz but it just wouldn't compile (sources referenced wpagui.h when only wpagui.ui.h was present)

Install Attempt 2
As per Claudio's suggestion, I downloaded a linux-2.6.16.18 kernel. Results pending.

By dantesoft, # 24. May 2006, 10:19:45

USB device: Motorola C650

$ lsusb
[...]
Bus 003 Device 003: ID 22b8:4902 Motorola PCS E398 GSM Phone

By dantesoft, # 24. May 2006, 10:35:18

No wireless interface detected

You might want to give a newer kernel a shot - 2.6.17 release candidates have support for the Broadcom bcm43xx wireless chips. Note that 2.6.17 is not final yet, but you might be lucky...

By csant, # 24. May 2006, 18:25:29

Can't switch keyboard layouts

$ setxkbmap ro

not working?

Else you might give xmodmap a shot - or the much more usable XKeyCaps, which is a GUI for xmodmap.

By csant, # 24. May 2006, 18:30:59

Install Fluxbox WM

Just grab the source and compile it, really - and go for the 0.9 version: they claim it to be a devel version, but you might be much better off than the "stable" (which is about 2 years old...).

See Romanian characters on webpages

This depends on the installed fonts. A reccomendation would be to grab the Microsoft core fonts (sigh, I know - you wouldn't have expected me to write that, but - hey! they are good fonts) and also give the Dejavu fonts a chance.

Then enable smooth fonts in Opera.

By csant, # 24. May 2006, 18:39:14

Even though

$ setxkbmap ro

works,

$ setxkbmap en

doesn't (nor en_US etc.). Besides, I needed a way to switch fast between the two layouts.

Taking advantage of the Gnome environment, the steps are

Enable the Keyboard Indicator

Right click on panel
Choose Add to Panel...
Choose Keyboard Indicator from Utilities
Click Add

Add Romanian as one of the layouts

Right click on Keyboard Indicator
Choose Open Keyboard Preferences
Choose Layouts tab
Click Add
Select "Romania Romanian keyboard with German layout" in Available Layouts list
Click OK

Assign a shortcut to switching between US and RO keyboard layouts.

Right click on the Keyboard Indicator
Choose Open Keyboard Preferences
Choose Layout Options tab
Select an option from Group Shift/Lock Behaviour category in Avaiable Options list (e.g. "Left Win-key changes group")

By dantesoft, # 25. May 2006, 13:11:05

As per Claudio's suggestion, I have installed ttf-dejavu-1.11-1 (from the package manager) and set this as the default rendering font in Opera.. Results improved instantly.

And for those pages that insisted on Georgia or other fonts that pixelize a lot of non-English characters, I activated smooth fonts in Opera, for all users.

Smooth.

And since wine depends on msttcorefonts, I think I will install MS fonts eventually, too.

By dantesoft, # 25. May 2006, 13:21:24

Fluxbox lives.

I tried its compiled DEB version before and it was impossible to install. I fear the power of make and dependant packages no more.

As per Claudio's suggestion simply compiling Fluxbox v9 (see instructions) and a little configurating has Fluxbox replacing Gnome.

Not irreversibly: Fluxbox menu | Window | Gnome

By dantesoft, # 25. May 2006, 13:53:29

I downloaded a linux-2.6.16.18 kernel

You need a 2.6.17 rc kernel, not 2.6.16.x - but it still is a release candidate, so YMMV

(and, to be honest, I know at least one person not so successfull with the wireless, IIANM…)

By csant, # 25. May 2006, 17:17:15

Hi there!

You've helped me a lot with setting up some stuff on my Debian Sarge

Especially, the link for 1280x800 ("there's hope") helped me. As I don't speak french, I went to Google's Language Tools and translated it:

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdoc.ubuntu-fr.org%2Fmateriel%2Fportable%2Finspiron_1300%23configuration_de_l_ecran&langpair=fr%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools

Command line instructions are, of course, "translated" so you'll need to look at original site too. What can I tell you is that the instructions helped, and it works now as I'm typing this post in brand-new 1280x800 resolution!

Thanks a lot!

By ivucica, # 23. June 2006, 14:33:22