FC4 on Laptop, does it work??

[Jeff Vian]

On Tue, 2006-02-21 at 00:38 +0100, M Daniel R M wrote:
> El dom, 19-02-2006 a las 21:13 +0100, Tomas Larsson escribió:
> > >
> > > 
> > > Why don't you go here and have a look:
> > > http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/
> > > Surely there are several docs you are interested.
> > > 
> > Been there, after I got the link yesterday.
> > I could'nt find any FC4 installs though, but others like debian, RH7 and
> > others.
> > 
> 
> Ummm :-(, sorry.
> Anyway, I believe the most important factor would be to see your laptop
> model listed there, in order to make yourself a first impression about
> how difficult could be things later. Then, if someone reported some
> recent FC install, all the better. 
Some models work out of the box, others need serious tweaking for
various pieces. YMMV

FWIW, I have used several different Dell and Compaq models with very
good success on all.  Others have had extremely good success with IBM.

> 
> > The different contributors seems to have different problems, with a few in
> > common.
> > It seems that none have tested pcmia, modem, ir to name few, or had problems
> > with them.
> > 
> Just most people won't use them (modem, infrared, ..) but AFAIK,
> generally everything except modem (win-modem usually) shouldn't be
> problematic. 
> 
Try www.linmodems.org to find assistance with many of the winmodem
chipsets.

> > Anyway I would probably do it, just need to get all data of the box first so
> > I can wipe it.
> > Will try with the stock FC4 cd's I got and see what happens.
> > 
> Go ahead.
> Advice: Prior, you may want to "prepare" the hard disk, I mean
> partitioning, with some Linux CD/Live like _Linux System Rescue CD_,
> also useful to test hw (HD, memory,..), collect hw data, etc...
> 

One thing that often surprises people about the IBM laptops is the
"hidden" recovery partition.
The system only shows one partition, but the drive actually contains a
second that is used for recovery in the case of a system thrashing the
filesystem.
Using a live cd or booting to rescue mode then using fdisk allows you to
get the partition structure you want and avoid the surprises the OP had
with the first install attempt.

> 
> 
> > With best regards
> > 
> > Tomas Larsson
> > Sweden
> > 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Daniel
>