Installing Debian Sid from Live Net (110MB) CD took 30min to get into KDE :-)

Laptop Pictures

Hardware, Device drivers (modules) and Configurations

Hardware Components
Status under Linux
Notes
Pentium 4 Processor, 2.2 GHz Works No special procedure required during installation.
14.1 SXGA+ TFT Display Works Select Generic LCD Display in Installer
SIS 650M, 64MB Video (Uses Main computer's RAM)
 Works X11 with sis650 graphic controller : xorg.conf
512MB, SDRAM, 2DIMMs Works No special procedure required during installation
40 GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive Works No special procedure required during installation
SIS AC97 sound card
 works
Integrated Network Card + EdiMax Wireless 54M pcmcia
both work
 i had to compile from source the rt2500 module (main site for rt2500)
Internal 56k Modem Works
 had to install software AC97 codecs for it to work. (apt-get install sl-modem-source sl-modem-daemon )
24X Max Variable CD-RW Drive Combo + DVD-ROM 16
 Works No special procedure required during installation
59 WHr Lithium-Ion Battery Works good for 2 hours


This laptop is currently operating under Kernel version 2.6.18-1-686

 
Basic Installation of Debian Sid from Net install:
  • Why to use Debian... 
    • it's all about Community ( and it also had the wireless, modem and sound modules working ;-)
  • Obtaining Debian Sid NetInstall : http://www.debian.org/CD/netinst/
  • Installing : just boot the CD (make sure your laptop connected to the Internet through Ethernet hub) and answer the installation CD's questions as they come on the screen ;-)
  • sysv init process as logged by bootchart (png format) 
  • Post-Install modifications/tweaks...

Manual addons...

Compiling and loading rt2500 - wireless pcmcia 

 i use Edimax (EW-7108PCg) wireless nic, whic was not pre-compiled with debian, so i "had" to compile the sources of the rt2500 module like this... compiling ( the main site for rt2500 linux module development)

setup hotkeys : 

i could only recognise one of the special keyboard keys, the right key with the circle logo on it. (out of three special keys, next to the power key).

pressing it yelds the system message:

atkbd.c: Unknown key pressed (translated set 2, code 0x81 on isa0060/serio0).
atkbd.c: Use 'setkeycodes e001 <keycode>' to make it known.

so i opened /usr/share/hotkey-setup/generic.hk and added my own definitions after looking at the dumpkeys output and the /usr/share/hotkey-setup/key-constants file to see what is available.

here is the content of the "/usr/share/hotkey-setup/generic.hk" :

# All laptops
#
# Clevo D631S
setkeycodes     e001     $KEY_KPENTER     #start konqueror apps after setting kde's keyboard shortcuts

and then restarting the hotkey-setup service by doing a:
$sudo /etc/init.d/hotkey-setup restart

later, i used kde's "keyboard shortcuts" in kcontrol to set this key and connect it to the command konqueror (for example).

 unable to detect BIOS DMI:

dmidecode
# dmidecode 2.8
# No SMBIOS nor DMI entry point found, sorry.

 Switching Graphic Modes and using the TV:

i use SisCtrl application to fine tune each video mode and especially to switch from TV view to Laptop View

here is some hardware info

dmesg output just after boot finishes and i find myself in KDE's desktop mode

laptop:~#  lspci

00:00.0 Host bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 650/M650 Host (rev 01)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] Virtual PCI-to-PCI bridge (AGP)
00:02.0 ISA bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS961 [MuTIOL Media IO]
00:02.1 SMBus: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS961/2 SMBus Controller
00:02.2 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.0 Controller (rev 07)
00:02.3 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.0 Controller (rev 07)
00:02.5 IDE interface: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 5513 [IDE] (rev d0)
00:02.6 Modem: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] AC'97 Modem Controller (rev a0)
00:02.7 Multimedia audio controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] AC'97 Sound Controller (rev a0)
00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
00:0b.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB43AB21 IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link)
00:0c.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1410 PC card Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 65x/M650/740 PCI/AGP VGA Display Adapter
02:00.0 Network controller: RaLink RT2500 802.11g Cardbus/mini-PCI (rev 01)

laptop:~# lsmod
Module Size Used by
acpi_cpufreq 7108 0
speedstep_lib 4580 0
freq_table 4576 1 acpi_cpufreq
ipv6 226016 10
ppdev 8676 0
parport_pc 32132 0
lp 11012 0
parport 33256 3 ppdev,parport_pc,lp
button 6672 0
ac 5188 0
battery 9636 0
dm_snapshot 15520 0
dm_mirror 19152 0
dm_mod 50232 2 dm_snapshot,dm_mirror
sisfb 203988 1
sis 9632 0
drm 61332 1 sis
sbp2 20840 0
scsi_mod 124168 1 sbp2
loop 15048 0
rt2500 150116 1
joydev 9088 0
pcmcia 34108 0
firmware_class 9600 1 pcmcia
snd_intel8x0 30332 1
snd_intel8x0m 15980 1
snd_ac97_codec 83104 2 snd_intel8x0,snd_intel8x0m
snd_ac97_bus 2400 1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm_oss 38368 0
snd_mixer_oss 15200 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 68676 4 snd_intel8x0,snd_intel8x0m,snd
_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
shpchp 33024 0
pci_hotplug 28704 1 shpchp
yenta_socket 24460 2
i2c_sis96x 5380 0
i2c_core 19680 1 i2c_sis96x
eth1394 18212 0
sis_agp 8420 1
agpgart 29896 2 drm,sis_agp
tsdev 7520 0
rsrc_nonstatic 11840 1 yenta_socket
pcmcia_core 36852 3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,rsrc_nonst
atic
psmouse 35016 0
serio_raw 6660 0
snd_timer 20996 1 snd_pcm
snd 47012 11 snd_intel8x0,snd_intel8x0m,sn
d_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer
soundcore 9248 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 9640 3 snd_intel8x0,snd_intel8x0m,snd
_pcm
pcspkr 3072 0
evdev 9088 1
rtc 12372 0
usbhid 37152 0
ext3 119048 1
jbd 52456 1 ext3
mbcache 8356 1 ext3
8139cp 21920 0
ide_cd 36064 0
cdrom 32544 1 ide_cd
ide_disk 14848 3
8139too 25120 0
mii 5344 2 8139cp,8139too
ohci_hcd 18276 0
ohci1394 30800 0
usbcore 112580 3 usbhid,ohci_hcd
sis5513 12360 0 [permanent]
generic 5028 0 [permanent]
ide_core 110504 4 ide_cd,ide_disk,sis5513,generi c
ieee1394 86904 3 sbp2,eth1394,ohci1394
thermal 13608 0
processor 28840 2 acpi_cpufreq,thermal
fan 4804 0 

 

Extra Links 

Linux On Laptop : http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/