Dell 5150 Kernel 2.6.x

sevrin · n00b Joined: 21 Aug 2003 Posts: 12

Hello, Gentoo people.

I am getting a shiny new Dell 5150 in a few days, and I am going to install Gentoo on it. I would like to use the latest and greatest kernel, so that means the 2.6 series. It's my understanding that there are handy features in 2.6 -- ACPI and Broadcom support come to mind -- that I will want.

I plan on doing a Stage 1 install, and was wondering if anyone had sage wisdom to impart. Specifically, I am looking for kernal compile options that will ease the pain, and also gotchas that I'd be better off knowing before I begin the install.

Thanks in advance for all of your wonderful posts which I am sure will follow this subject.

/Scott

aman · Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2004 3:11 am Post subject:

I have used 2.6.2-rc2-gentoo and 2.4.22.r5-gentoo and had good outcomes with both. The net has been a little buggy for me, but otherwise everything on my 5150 is running great. ACPI has only worked in 2.4.22 for me so far. But Im sure you can get it to work in 2.6 with some meddling.
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sevrin · n00b Joined: 21 Aug 2003 Posts: 12

Aman,

What sort of ACPI functions were working for you?

/Scott

karl420 · Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2004 1:29 pm Post subject:

On my 8100 I have more luck with APM (console blanking, etc) -- yet even that I got suspend to work (which would not work with ACPI), the APM suspend would suspend perfectly, but when it tried to load back from memory it was a crash all of the time.

I replied to this message because I was ALSO planning on getting a dell 5150 very soon, and I really would like a loptop that works well with Linux, so if anyone has any input of the:

ACPI-VS-APM issues, please help me out here. (Current laptop is Dell Inspiron 8100, p3m 1.2ghz)

I've noticed that ACPI looks like its taking over in 2.6 and APM is depricated, is this true? Get back to me if anyone has any suggestions about a good comatible (but nice) laptop to buy or have a good solution worked out for an 8100 (case i suppose i could get an 8500, who knows).

Thanks in advance for any advice,
Karl Haines

theonlymcc · Apprentice Joined: 16 Sep 2003 Posts: 274 Location: NC

From what I have read and read, the 5150 like most Dells have a broken DSDT. This has a lot to do with how ACPI works. So far, there hasn't been a fix for the 5150. There is one however for the 5100. I personally don't care if my 5150 suspends or not.

I have noticed a few things though. I have a 3.06GHz w/ HT 5150. I noticed that if I didn't compile my kernel with SMP support in 2.6 series, PCMCIA and ethernet didn't work correctly. The whole system was very unstable, until I recompiled the kernel w/ SMP.

dvc5 · Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2004 5:21 pm Post subject:

As mentioned before, your problem might be with a buggy DSDT. If you're up for an adventure, you can try these tips. I fixed the DSDT on my Thinkpad, and it's not very complicated at all, if you're a little familiar w/ a programming language and follow the instructions posted above EXACTLY. :lol:

-Loz

aman · Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2004 6:33 pm Post subject:

Ya, if your not worried about suspending etc., this computer is the greatest. Your drive will spin down with hdparm, and the cpu throttling works, so your computer is fine to sit when the screen turns off. I love this laptop, how could you not when it takes 9 min or less to compile a kernel.
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theonlymcc · Apprentice Joined: 16 Sep 2003 Posts: 274 Location: NC

I tried fixing the errors/warnings from the DSDT and compiled using intels compiler. Got a warning/error free compile but it fixes nothing. More to it than just fixing the errors on this machine. Oh well. I hope someone can fix it soon. I would like to hit the power button with 2.6 kernel and have the machine power off.

krunk · Guru Joined: 27 Jul 2003 Posts: 316

I've had a 5150 for a while now.

ACPI support is spotty. Power Button and Lid events are not detected. As the poster above mentioned, I too decompiled my DSDT tables, fixed errors and recompiled the new DSDT into my kernel and it didn't fix anything. However, I can manually suspend to disk: echo 4 > /proc/acpi/sleep

and it works about 75% of the time or more (exiting X first increases success quite a bit). My clock is usually quite off after this (apparently "suspended" along with the system) and needs to be manually reset though. Sleep states 1, 2, 3, and 5 <to ram...probably the one you think of when you want suspend> do not function properly.

On a side note, I have not been able to get SMP to work on mine, but experience no problems due to this. I have compiled smp into the kernel etc, etc. If someone above who has smp working on the 2.6 kernel would like to post or pm me with .config, I'd be grateful.

That being said the system itself is great. But I would still NOT recommend purchasing anything from Dell. I have had extended, persistent, and incredibly annoying interactions with their customer support. It took them over 2 1/2 months to do a simple screen replacement. Repetively cancelled work orders without explanation. Gave false customer service I.D's and extensions. Offered compensatory "gifts" than never sent or made record of them. Granted extensions on bill due dates, than charged me anyway. Had to replace the whole laptop, had me send my old laptop and parts but did not send me a replacement for all parts sent them. I could go on and on. I know many others that have had these problems as well and more. YMMV

My recommendation: IBM. There laptops are bar none and well supported in linux (ever seen an IBM laptop commercial? Why? Because they don't need them.) They finance and are big OSS and Linux supporters as well (Dell is very tongue in cheek with their unix support). My dealings with IBM support in the past have been nothing but amazing. Period.

BUT do yourself a favor. There are tons and tons of laptops out there that are 100% supported. The couple of hundred dollars you save will pale in comparison to the convenience you buy yourself by planning ahead and buying something that "just works" ....where EVERYTHING "just works". I tried to get the most bang for the buck this round and believed all the "award winning customer service" hype and sorely regret it.
Don't take my opinion only though, check out their resellerratings rank:

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1867.html

Here's a good place to start looking for the best option:

www.linux-on-laptops.com
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