Ubuntu 9.04 and HP Mini 311 with nVidia Ion LE

[mocha]

This sounds really nice, I've been waiting a long time for a netbook with nvidia ION that I can install Linux on. So is everything else working OK? Wireless, sound, input devices, etc? I wonder how ubuntu netbook remix or crunchbang would run on this. Do you feel the stock Karmic installation to be slow or struggling along with the Atom processor? I assume your using Gnome.

[demonfoo]

This sounds really nice, I've been waiting a long time for a netbook with nvidia ION that I can install Linux on. So is everything else working OK? Wireless, sound, input devices, etc?

Everything works 100%. Bluetooth (paired with my BlackBerry 8830), WiFi (after messing with the drivers, the only thing I had trouble with), keyboard, touchpad, all USB ports, card slot (tried with SD and MS/MSPro), HDMI (including audio out), 3D graphics (tried with several Telltale Games titles via Wine), suspend, webcam (works perfectly with the Linux version of Skype). It almost completely worked out of the box, and the WiFi issue appears to be a known thing with karmic.

I wonder how ubuntu netbook remix or crunchbang would run on this. Do you feel the stock Karmic installation to be slow or struggling along with the Atom processor? I assume your using Gnome.

I don't find it to be particularly slow, no, the responsiveness seems reasonable for an Atom CPU. Yes, I'm using the Gnome desktop on mine. Firefox does seem a little slower than on my desktop system (still running Jaunty), but considering I only have 1 GB of RAM in it, and the CPU, it doesn't seem too out of line for what it is. I'm very pleased with it, and if anyone's looking for a netbook with good Linux compatibility, this would be a great choice.

Edit: Keep in mind that I got the unit with the N280 processor (1.66 GHz core speed, 667 MHz FSB), so the N270-based units are probably a bit slower than what I have...

[mocha]

Thanks for the comments. What about the headphone/mic jack? Is it a combined type? Does it work properly?

Where did you purchase yours. All the ones I see online are N270.

[demonfoo]

Thanks for the comments. What about the headphone/mic jack? Is it a combined type? Does it work properly?

Hadn't tried it till just now. Yes, it works fine, and yes, it's a combined port - apparently for the headsets with an integrated mic with a 4-conductor 1/8" headphone connector.

Where did you purchase yours. All the ones I see online are N270.

I purchased one direct from HP's web site - I got the N280 with 802.11n and Bluetooth, the stock unit (as you've no doubt noticed) has the N270 and 802.11g without Bluetooth support. It was only an extra $75 for the upgrades I got, so I figured why not...

[rvugts]

I can confirm that Ubuntu 9.04 Remix works fine on the HP Mini 311c too.

I installed from a Live CD using a 1GB USB stick.

No special steps were required to make wifi work, it worked right out of the box for me.

Installing the NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (version 180) is required to be able to use the correct screen resolution and experience decent graphics performance.

The only flaws are the already mentioned suspend and sound problems. As mentioned earlier in this thread, powering down bluetooth/wifi via the on/off button before initiating suspend fixes the suspend problem.

Having used the netbook for only a few days I get the impression that battery life under Ubuntu Remix is not as good as under Windows XP (I have not properly tested this though!). Turning off bluetooth/wifi when not needed makes quite a difference.

I'm very pleased with the Mini + Ubuntu Remix combination. The Mini has a stylish design, but the shiny shell is very sensitive to scratches and collects fingerprints very easily.

Regards,
Rob

[dhahn]

I got my mini 311 yesterday. I tried installing ubuntu-9.10-rc-desktop-i386.iso .

My system would get the initial splashscreen, but when I selected 'run ubuntu without installing' there would be a flash of USB activity and then a blank screen with a blinking cursor. I tried this many times, occasionally it would boot and work perfectly. I was even able to do a full install (thereby wiping XP and no going back).

Booting from the installed 9.10 had the same problem. It would normally just go to a blank screen with a blinking cursor, sometimes I would get grub before the blank screen, rarely it would boot and work.

I tried ubuntu-9.10-rc-netbook-remix-i386.iso with the same results.
MD5 hash was fine. Any suggestions for finding a log of what is happening?

Any ideas?
1) HW problem with the 311.
2) Bad USB stick.
3) Need to update the BIOS.
4) 9.10 not ready (I'll try 9.04 next). 9.10 worked great, I could use wifi from the live boot.
5) ???????

[dhahn]

My problem (boot to blank screen) seems to be related to acpi/grub.
Investigating and I'll post when I've fully debugged.

[unsungboxer]

Thank you everyone for your work on this. I am ordering my HP 311 right now, and hope to load ubuntu 9.10 the moment it hits my doorstep.

[rvugts]

I was unable to get the live CD of Remix 9.10 to boot properly. You might be better off installing 9.04 first.

[JoeMac42]

I just upgraded my mini 311 from Jaunty to Koala. It took awhile, but pretty much went without a hitch. Now the fn-f10 and fn-f11 actually work for turning the sound up and down rather than just "acting" like it did by moving the bar graphic. Lotus Notes 8.5 broke with Koala, but there are workarounds for the few poor souls like me that need it for enterprise e-mail.

The Kingston memory upgrade worked great. Everything seems happier with the extra 2GB of RAM. It's probably completely psychological, but I was occasionally freezing X under Jaunty - so far not at all with Koala. I realise the beta has 5 more days to go until the public release, but Koala seems like the way to go for the mini 311.