Dell Inspiron 1520 with Ubuntu-7.04

[pacut]

For those you might be interested on: modem works 100% with 7.04 and KPPP

Do you think it would work even under Gutsy ?
Ciao !

[verbero]

I'll admit to not having read the 50 pages of this thread, so flame away if its already been said, but can I get a confirmation that an Ubuntu 7.10 install over Windows on a Dell 1520 will have *everything* working ? Or are there still issues with the nvidia 8600 ?

As soon as I get a couple of +ve replies the beast will be ordered.

[linux23dragon]

Originally Posted by verbero I'll admit to not having read the 50 pages of this thread, so flame away if its already been said, but can I get a confirmation that an Ubuntu 7.10 install over Windows on a Dell 1520 will have *everything* working ? Or are there still issues with the nvidia 8600 ? As soon as I get a couple of +ve replies the beast will be ordered.

Gusty 32bit is the way to go.
Intel IPW3945ABG pro WiFi works ok, and the drivers are getting better. You might have WiFi connection issues with the 3945ABG pro (for now). Nvidia 8600 is a good choice.

Anyone have anything to say about other hardware configurations with the 1520?

[frogface]

Originally Posted by dumbmatter Yes, it might be very bad for the drive. I'm no expert, but when I was investigating the same problem, some people were saying that it might result in the drive wearing out in about a year. I fixed it with this command: sudo hdparm -B 254 /dev/sda If that fixes it, you can edit /etc/hdparm.conf to have it automatically set the -B parameter. Or just put that command in your /etc/rc.local file. To check on the problem, you can run this command: sudo smartctl -d ata -a /dev/sda and find the RAW_VALUE for Load_Cycle_count. I remember finding somewhere that it was supposed to be able to handle... something in the hundreds of thousands, or maybe millions. I forget.

Does anyone know, for a Dell Inspiron 1520, if it is appropriate to change hdparm like this in order to fix the bug https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...ort/+bug/59695

When I'm using my machine calculate the LOAD CYCLE COUNT on my machine it reports a healthy ~14 cycles/hr but when I just sit there and monitor it using sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda | grep Load_Cycle_Count I get the general impression that it's increasing at a rate of 100's per hour? (question: I dual boot with Windows - does smartctl add in the time I spent in Vista to it's figures - ie. does it physically poll the drive?)

I have looked at this fix http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...0&postcount=26 and am tempted to implement it. However, I'm also concerned about HD temperature and what these changes might do. Can someone advise what's the correct solution?

Any help greatly appreciated,
FF

[tedk89]

First I gotta say thanks because I am a linux newb and your guide helped me setup my fancy laptop but I have a question, I know that this laptop has several I believe four temperature sensors hd, cpu1, cpu2, and video card for nvidia 8600m gt.... I have been running my computer pretty hard and its been getting very hot.. Just wondering if you know how I can get the values from these temperature sensors to make sure I am not killing anything.

[linux23dragon]

Originally Posted by tedk89 First I gotta say thanks because I am a linux newb and your guide helped me setup my fancy laptop but I have a question, I know that this laptop has several I believe four temperature sensors hd, cpu1, cpu2, and video card for nvidia 8600m gt.... I have been running my computer pretty hard and its been getting very hot.. Just wondering if you know how I can get the values from these temperature sensors to make sure I am not killing anything.

Hi tedk89

There seems to be GUI tools around for system temperatures found at gnome-look.org

Have a look here

[toorima]

gkrellm is another good option, shows gpu, cpu and hdd temp among other things

[solamanda]

Hi all, I've been running ubuntu for the last few months with much success on my desktop. I'm about to order a new laptop but would like some reassurance.

I'm going to order a 1520 with a T7250 and Intel X3100 graphics running Windows XP SP2. I want to run it dual booting, is this all going to work? (minus the 56k Modem issue)

Many thanks!

[linux23dragon]

Originally Posted by linux23dragon I've been havening issues with WiFi myself with my sisters boyfriends Dell 1520, after I upgraded to Gutsy. I'm now going to try this driver swap around. It looks easy enough. UPDATE: Well the good news is that the driver swap works (apart form the ieee80211_crypt in use issue), but I'm still yet to test if it will work every time I turn on the Notebook.

OK.
Dell is now supporting the new driver option. So Its worth trying the idea out.
You will find the information about it on the Dell Wiki support here

Please report if the WiFi driver swap works O.K or not for you.

[DarthTibault]

Originally Posted by linux23dragon OK. Dell is now supporting the new driver option. So Its worth trying the idea out. You will find the information about it on the Dell Wiki support here Please report if the WiFi driver swap works O.K or not for you.

Ah yes, I did that as well: before my wifi connection would just drop and make my whole system hang... really annoying. The fix Dell suggests is real easy, and so far everything has been working perfectly.
However: loading the new driver will bring a (small) issue with it: at some point it fails (though you won't notice it) and your card will be called "wifi0_rename". Don't get me wrong: everything still works, it's just that the silly name bothers me.
Here's how you fix it (also very easy):

sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules

The bottem line should be something like:

# PCI device 0x8086:0x4222 (ipw3945)
SUBSYSTEM=="net", DRIVERS=="?*", ATTRS{address}=="00:1b:77:c7:9a:27", NAME="eth$"

which, as you can see, still belongs to the ipw3945 driver. Remove that line, save and exit.
Now run:

sudo rmmod iwl3945
sudo modprobe iwl3945

And you're done! The rules file should contain the right line now (you can check if you want).
It may be coincidence, but this seems to fix the problem I had with the driver not working after a suspend as well. (You can find the fix to make suspend work on the Dell wiki as well).