Dell Inspiron 1000

reillyeon · n00b Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 44 Location: Boston (ish)

Dell has done it again with this new ultra-cheap laptop. I am thinking of buying one. (Gotta get off my Celeron 433!) I'd like to know what people think about that laptop in perticular and just Dell laptops in general. I've taken a look at tuxmobile.org and people there seem to get theirs working but this model is too new for there to be any info on Linux support.

X problems seem to be the main issue on Dell laptops from the research I've done. Unlike the other ones they sell this has a SiS G650 which according to what I've seen is will supported in both framebuffer and X.

I just love Gentoo and if the thing can't run Linux then I need something else. What do you guys think?
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LordPov · Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2004 12:12 am Post subject: Inspiron 8100 & 8600

I'm afraid I don't have any experience with the 1000, but I'm running Gentoo on my 8600 at the moment (and have previously run RedHat on my old 8100).
I've got everything working, from hardware accelerated X (once I figured out to set hsync to 60Hz) as well as all its devices, such as irda, acpi, modem, sound, etc.
Knoppix is probably handy to figure out what modules you'll need in your kernel.

Good luck!

nyteryda · Guru Joined: 26 Jul 2003 Posts: 337 Location: London

I think Dell is one of the few PC companies that might be able to tell you how well it supports linux if you ask them...
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diebels · Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2004 12:15 am Post subject:

I've been running linux on my inspiron 8100 for a couple of years. Never got everything working before installing gentoo and learning how to patch and compile my own kernel. Now everything has been running smooth and rock stable for months.

Guess the first distribution to support it will be gentoo. If you have checked for hardware support, give it a go.
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Anders
http://anders.arendal.no

XeonTux. · n00b Joined: 08 May 2004 Posts: 52

I think the next thing you need to look into is support for power management. I've seen some amazing Dell laptop deals in the past over in anand's hot deals forums, but the big turnoff was usually power management. Its easy to overlook a crappy winmodem, or nic, etc, but a laptop that can't suspend just plain sucks ass.

(Note there are software suspend solutions tho. And I admit I haven't researched linux compatibility on any laptops in a while...)

reillyeon · n00b Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 44 Location: Boston (ish)

Thanks for giving me some confidence, I've been running Gentoo on my desktop for about a year and learned all about building a custom kernel. As XeonTux says it is very nice to have power managment and that's something I've never delt with before (Why turn a desktop off when you can leave it on?). From what I've heard most people try to use software suspend on their laptops and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Has anyone actually gotten BIOS suspend working or is it a lost cause?
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reillyeon · n00b Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 44 Location: Boston (ish)

I've ordered the laptop and look forward to lots of fun installing. This will be my 8th Gentoo system, and by far the most challenging.

Wish me luck, go Gentoo!
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Linux user #309501