Linux Distro for Notebook? - DPChallenge Forums

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

06/27/2006 04:08:18 PM · #1

I'm debating on putting Linux on my Sony Vaio notebook and am wondering which distros experienced Linux users would reccomend.

I think Slackware looks good, but not sure. I do prefer KDE over GNome.

Mostly I use the notebook as a web browser and DVD player and for image storage on trips. Other tahn that, I mostly just play around on it.

My only real concern with hardware are the function keys for things such as brightness contrast and volume.

Apple iPhone 5

06/27/2006 04:46:22 PM · #2

Try Ubuntu. Or one of the other distros which let you boot from the CD. That way you can test it out before installing it.

They're all here: //distrowatch.com/

And Ubuntu is here: //www.ubuntu.com/

KiwiChris

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

06/27/2006 04:47:12 PM · #3

Hi-ho,

I've got Debian sarge on a couple of Toshiba laptops using the 2.6 kernel everything works fine, although if I can't use the internal modem ias it's an infernal winmodem of some kind.

What model Sony have you got? Google might be your friend, before I did the newer toshiba I googled 'Tecra Toshiba Linux install' or something like that and found a list of what drivers worked with which laptops..

//www.sony.com/linux dosn't mention their Laptops, but they do support open source, so you might find searching around their mamoth websites might get results as well..

Cheers, Me.

Dr.Confuser

Nikon D800

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

06/27/2006 05:02:16 PM · #4

Suggest checking w/ Sony to see whether they will provide support (and the nature of the support) w/o the OS image they provide. I have found them to be picky about such things and to respond with the equivelant of, "Not my problem, mon" if the PC is other than standard image.

Maybe Sony support isn't important, but it could be if it's under warranty and you need to replace a failed component.

Just another thing to consider. Good luck. If you switch, keep us posted on how it works out.

DjFenzl

06/27/2006 05:14:24 PM · #5

I'm running Suse 10.1 on my laptop. I'm happy with it. I rean Ubuntu for a while but ultimately decided I liked Suse better.

bod

06/27/2006 05:41:34 PM · #6

Whichever distro you settle on, you'll find Linux on Laptops an invaluable resource. The live CD route is definitely a good idea to see if you're likely to run into any major issues.

jent

Canon EOS-90D

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

06/27/2006 06:18:19 PM · #7

personally I have had good experinces with the hardware support Fedora Core offers ( //fedora.redhat.com )...For me this would be a good starting place. I run core 5 on my IBM laptop without any issues (except a slight kernel module I have to add for wifi).

I would check here:
//tuxmobil.org/

Similar to linux laptop. Just a link to people who have writen how the install went on there laptop. You can find info about the exact laptop you have, and what distro they choose to use. Keep in mind that many of these post are old, and some things may be easier than they seem.

If it were me I would just read over some of that stuff, and just dive in and see what you can/can't do. But I am a linux guru and feel pretty at home with this kind of stuff too.

As far as your function keys with my IBM those were tied directly into the hardware itself without software intervention. So I did not have to do anything to those for them to work. Although I have seen it where they are dependent on a software component, so you should check.

hope that helps

tmhalling

Nikon D200

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

06/27/2006 06:26:57 PM · #8

Originally posted by fotomann_forever:

I was using Simply Mepis 3.3 as it detected my wireless but with the latest updates 6.0 I can't use it easily so I am holding on. They are using an Ubuntu core now and I think that is part of the problem.

Message edited by author 2006-06-27 18:27:21.

06/27/2006 06:33:37 PM · #9

As previously mentioned, Ubuntu is a great distro to run on a laptop. Not only does it have great hardware support, but is very stable (especially the latest release, Dapper Drake). Not only that, but its Debian roots mean that you get the benefits of apt-get as well. :) And trust me, after messing around with package "management" in others distros (*cough YUM *cough RPMs *cough), you'll be VERY glad that you have apt-get. My personal favorite as far as distros go is still Gentoo, but it can be a bit tedious for some people to set up at first. Portage offers great package management, but the 10-12 hours minimum that it takes to compile OpenOffice from source starts to get a bit old after awhile. ;) So if you want a rock-solid distro that is easy to use, and easy to maintain - Ubuntu all the way. :D

06/27/2006 10:09:11 PM · #10

I like what I see as far as Unbuntu goes. Looks like a good distro.

Canon EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM

06/27/2006 10:36:35 PM · #11

As far as support goes, the Vaio is an older laptop P3 processor. Model is PCG-861A. I haven't found anything about that specific model on Laptop Linux. Sony does support Xp upgrades (it came with Windows ME), but I have seen no support for Linux.

Mostly I want to tinker with a dedicated Linux system. I've run Mandrake (Mandriva) on my desktop before, but found it a bit slow, even compared to Windoze.

Nelzie

Canon EOS-30D

06/27/2006 10:39:26 PM · #12

SuSe is a good all around distro for beginners and tends to have really good laptop support. I use it on my own laptop and have been quite happy with it.

alpharich

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85 (Lumix DMC-G80)

Panasonic Lumix G Vario 12-60 mm

06/27/2006 10:59:50 PM · #13

i like suse as well and have been using it for years, very stable and loads of stuff on the disk.

agenkin

Mattel Barbie Photo Designer Digital Camera

Nikon MF Nikkor 20mm f/3.5 AIS

06/27/2006 11:18:45 PM · #14

My favourite laptop Linux distro is... FreeBSD. :) Seriously, FreeBSD is very lightweight, has great power management support, and, from your post, it looks like it will do the job. I'm a Linux sysadmin for my day job, and I am not liking how fat the Linux kernel and the distributions have grown lately. This especially worries me on a laptop, where you want to keep the number of running processes minimal for the obvious reason of power consumption.

The Linux distros include more and more cruft, which causes more time trying to figure out how to fix a disable some software system that you didn't want or need installed in the first place. I think that this is where the Bazaar system starts to decay, gradually. I really think that the *BSD distributions don't get the attention they deserve.

If you were to go with Linux, I would recommend Debian or a Debian derrivative, such as Ubuntu. IMO nothing in the Linux world beats the ease of Debian's package management, and the thoughtful, logical way in which the files and directories are organised.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

06/27/2006 11:28:58 PM · #15

Originally posted by fotomann_forever:

Most distros now are pretty good about legacy hardware support and auto-detecting said hardware. Mandrake/Mandriva is a nice beginner distro, but it tries to load EVERYTHING you might ever need and therefore usually bloats the system a bit. Ubuntu will also let you run KDE or Gnome, but tends to be better about not installing many things that you don't need. Both aforementioned window managers are great, but you have to realize that either will take up a decent amount of resources to give you all those nice GUI menus.

Once you get to a point where you're more comfortable custom configuring your Linux box (no matter what distro you go with), I highly recommend Blackbox or one of its derivatives (Fluxbox and Openbox) as a window manager. All three require that you setup your own menu items, etc., but it's amazing how much you can speed up your machine that way. :D I personally prefer Openbox. It's config file is a very simple layout (all XML-based) and Openbox loads completely in damn near an instant. Getting to everything through right-click-on-the-desktop menus takes a little getting used to if you're used to KDE or Gnome, but it's definitely faster. It's especially a nice window manager to use if you're already comfortable doing most things in a shell.

As mentioned, SUSE is also an excellent distro (I ran it on my home server for awhile). The only problems I personally ran into after awhile were some dependency issues when attempting to upgrade or remove software. SUSE's update manager is cleaner than Red Hat RPMs, but still hits snags sometimes. Aside from Portage (Gentoo's package management system), I think apt-get (on any Debian-based distros) is one of the best package management systems out there. You will seldom run into dependency problems with apt-get. Just my $.02... :D

thegrandwazoo

Nikon D750

06/27/2006 11:42:38 PM · #16

I found most dependencies can be solved through CPAN.

And since you a gonna blow up your laptop to install a distro, pick BSD and a Linux distro try one then the other. Or even another! :-P

Message edited by author 2006-06-27 23:42:51.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

06/27/2006 11:54:22 PM · #17

Originally posted by thegrandwazoo:

I found most dependencies can be solved through CPAN.

And since you a gonna blow up your laptop to install a distro, pick BSD and a Linux distro try one then the other. Or even another! :-P

I don't want to break it permanently :-P I would actually like to be able to use the darn thing. I've always found Linux and open source in general to be a great idea.

Since, I really am not dependent on specific software on my notebook (like I am on my desktop), I'd like to have an open source OS on it, but I do want it to function properly in a relatively short period of time.

I'm downloading Ubuntu now. Seems like a good distro and I do like the LiveCD option.

thegrandwazoo

Nikon D750

06/27/2006 11:56:35 PM · #18

Cool! I am sure you have been here but if not //www.linuxiso.org/

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

06/28/2006 07:39:10 PM · #19

I got Unbuntu installed with no issues with other hardware, excepts for my Belkin Wireless G network adapter. Belkin doesn't support Linux for that card as far as I can tell. I can get the card to work at times, but can't get authentification with my router WEP-encrypted.

I'm gonna try SuSE. I may have to end up buying another wireless card. Even wuth Windows this Belkin card requires an application to run to manage it.

_eug

Nikon D50

06/28/2006 07:48:58 PM · #20

Damn I really should have poked my head in over here sooner...

My distro of choice is Debian, but I've had issue with Debian and wireless. I might try Kubuntu or Mepis soon, both which I hear good things about.

Cutting edge technology is always a pain in the ass when it comes to Linux. I have a 3 y/o Dell laptop that I have issues installing certain distros on. Example: I can run Knoppix off the CD, but can't run it from the HD to save my life. Oh well. My fileserver is a rock solid Debian system so I won't complain.

06/28/2006 10:29:30 PM · #21

Originally posted by fotomann_forever:

Belkin cards are notorious for being a pain-in-the-ass to use in Linux. Most people I know who have that setup have to use ndiswrapper to get the card to run in Linux...

06/28/2006 10:57:31 PM · #22

I got it up. Using Ubuntu. I have to manually start the card, but it does work. Still no WEP, but oh well, I don't live in a highly populated area. I'llworkon that later or get a D-Link wireless card.

I'm trying tofind libdvdcss right now. Got toget my DVD workng :-)

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

06/29/2006 11:43:17 AM · #23

Woohoo.. I've got everything working now. DVD, wireless network (starting at boot now), everything. And for those of you that suggested Debian-based distros, you were right. Debian package management ROCKS!

tmhalling

Nikon D200

06/29/2006 11:54:33 AM · #24

Originally posted by fotomann_forever:

How did you get the card working? Are you using NDIS wrapper? I am having a hell of a time with SimplyMepis - about to give and switch to Ubuntu.