Will Ubuntu work on my Dell Inspiron 630m?

Hey Ubuntu-users

I'm very new to Linux and this forum and i really like the idea of a free OS and the community with helping each other. I'm willing to learn and testing in case others will need the information i'll collect. This christmas vacation i have to study, and found my old Dell Inspiron 630m laptop all covered in dust and want it to work again. :grin: I only need it for writing, searching on the web, and listen to some music. I have installed windows several times on a computer, and installing ubuntu won't be a problem.

I've done some research the last few hours if my laptop will run with ubuntu, without any luck so far. I do know that ubuntu works on several Dell computers, but i'm not sure if it will work specifcly on Inspiron 630m. I noticed other OS like xubuntu and kubuntu, and that those OS will work diffrently depending on the computer's setup. I'm not sure which OS i should pick for my laptop and if my hardware will work either. I know that it can be guaranteed that my hardwares will work. I hope any of you could guide me a bit about what OS i should pick? That's my question. I have downloaded the newest version of SIW to collect date of what my laptop might contain. But i'm still not sure what information i should post? I do know what a processor, memory, graphic card, and harddrive is, but other numbers are shown that i'm not familiar with.

I'm still not sure if this threat is placed corretly, please corret me if i've placed it wrong so i can get it transfered. Any help will be much appreciated! :wink:

regards
Kirkis89

Here are the system requirements , you may want to download a live cd and run from the cd to test your hardware prior to installation . There are also minimal installation options if you don't have the system resources and many other Linux distributions.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...emRequirements

ok, here's a quick rundown. Linux in general is known for being able to work very well on older hardware, so your computer being compatible shouldn't be an issue. as to which version of Ubuntu to pick i'd personally suggest Lubuntu if it's running on some pretty modest specs. if it's REALLY old i'd suggest taking a look at this tutorial

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/minimal

i've personally had a Dell Dimension L500cx with a 500 MHz Intel Centrino single core processor and 128 MB of PC100 SDRAM running a minimal install and it was quite responsive. it simply depends on what kind of resources the machine has. typically you'll need around 512 MB of RAM to run the standard Ubuntu, i may be wrong, but i believe Xubuntu has a minimum RAM requirement of around 256 and Lubuntu i believe can run on as little as 128 MB of RAM, and from what i've heard you can get a minimal install running on 64 MB of RAM. i hope this information helps,

Phil

If the specs I found online are correct (1.7 Pentium M, 512MB of RAM and Intel graphics) you would likely be fine with Ubuntu. Although I would recommend using the Alternate installer.

http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ub...ative-download

Or Lubuntu as it tends to work better on machines with limited system resources.

http://lubuntu.net/

Thanks for your fast answers. I'll try the trial version with the usb option of ubuntu and see if it works.

My laptop specs:

Intel Pentium M 2.00Ghz
2GB memory
on-board Intel graphics

According to Frogs Hair's link it should work just fine. ;)

//Kirkis

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kirkis89

Thanks for your fast answers. I'll try the trial version with the usb option of ubuntu and see if it works.

My laptop specs:

Intel Pentium M 2.00Ghz
2GB memory
on-board Intel graphics

According to Frogs Hair's link it should work just fine. ;)

//Kirkis

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With those specs it should run great.

11.04 full installation after live cd try out works great on XPS/Inspiron M140/ 630m with:-

Pentium M 1.7GHz
2 Gb RAM
Intel graphics
Intel Pro Wireless 2200BG
Bluetooth
Sigmatel audio

All hardware seems to be operating normally except bluetooth occasionally stops responding/ greying out during phone photo downloads, cause unknown. OK after kill / restart bluetooth.

Quite new to Ubuntu. Didn't expect the wireles to work so pleasantly surprised, really like the new Unity desktop...

George

I had a few issues installing 12.10 ubuntu and lubuntu - tried from IOSs burned to CDs and also USB sticks. It always failed at the "preparing to install" stage.

I finally succeeded by installing lubuntu 11.10, then upgrading 12.04.

Old thread closed. Please don't bump old threads.