Windows Vista Destop

Well, I went ahead and installed Linux on the laptop, on a partition. Kubuntu does EXACTLY the same thing that SuSE did: It was willing to go on-line to fetch updates, but the web browser (konqueror in this case, Firefox in SuSE) refuses to connect to the web.

The distro recognizes the network card, or it could not have fetched the updates. (Though it was very slow with kubuntu, probably because it's free, and does not have a lot of bandwitch on the servers.)

I've sent an email to Novell support, asking if they have a list of laptops guaranteed to install and run SuSE without arcane hardware/driver workarounds. If they do, I might consider buying one just for that. Maybe. Otherwise I might just pack it in and wait another few years for Linux to mature to the point where it actually installs and runs without a systems expert to tweak it.

I'm feeling pretty frustrated.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(seeh2o @ Jun 25 2006, 09:38 PM) [snapback]276706[/snapback]</div>

My 10 hour horror story from yesterday:

I have brand new Dell Laptop, came Thursday. 1.83 Ghz Duo core, 1 Gb memory. good video card.

I have gotten burned in the past screwing around with laptops and beta versions of software. I should have listened to that little bird on my shoulder that I should not screw around with a laptop. Desktop yes, laptop let it be. I did not listen to the bird.

I ran the system compatibility check before installing. Everything checked out ok except for bluetooth card. I figured I could live without that for a few months until driver came out. I installed Vista. Install took over an hour, I came up just fine, it looked and performed really nicely. The install said my system could handle the ultimate version. Again performance ok.

However, my Sony DVD was not compatible. No ability to read CD DVD. Nor was my sound card. I could not hear a think. Bluetooth did not work as expected.

I really liked the feel of Vista, but I decided that I had to go back to XP, too much stuff incompatible. No big deal, I'd use the Dell built in Ghost partition to restore the old OS and drivers. I had not installed much, so no big deal starting from scratch.

I followed the directions to boot up in Dells special restore mode. It did not work. Vista had written over the master boot record and I could not switch in any fashion! I hunted around internet and it turns out some dude had written a program to restore the MBR. I had to create a bootable USB flash card and set up the programs on it. I booted of the USB, ran the utility and it appeared to have restored the MBR. Whew!

However, I ran the Ghost restore procedure, and it bombed, saying it had no write permissions to the first partition. I tried to reboot the system and Vista would not reboot. Nor would XP. Nor would the restore program. I was screwed, Dell tech support (both of them) said I was screwed. I had no laptop any more. 2 days old.

I finally figured that I had a XP pro cd laying around, so maybe I could simply use that to restore some sort of XP system. I formatted the first partition, reinstalled XP pro (non oem) and got a runnable but crappy version of XP, non of Dells drivers were available, the capabilities of the wireless, bluetooth, screen, audio were barely funtional.

I finally thought that maybe since I reformatted the 1st partition, maybe I could try the ghost restore function one more time. I had to run DSRFix again (cause XP destroyed the MBR as well). I ran Ghost restore, and lo and behold I had an out of the box 1st partition again! I was able to start and get into XP as if I had just opened it the delivery box.

2 days behind. 10 hours of screwing around, sweating most of the time that I had wasted a bucket of money. I'm going to listen to that little bird next time. I hope.

If you want Vista on a laptop, wait until it comes bundled with a new one you buy.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Jun 30 2006, 12:44 PM) [snapback]279168[/snapback]</div>

Look into it, but don't install it on that laptop. System you have is OK, many drivers not compatible.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bigdaddy @ Sep 3 2006, 06:03 PM) [snapback]313617[/snapback]</div>

whoa! glad it all worked out. sounds like you've got the same system i have... so i'm not even gonna think about it.

 

I had a chance to try out the wireless on my Compaq Presario laptop running Linspire. At first I had a terrible time. But once it decided to work, no further problems. However, research has turned up no way to buy content from audible-dot-com and put it on my iPod. That may be the thing that prevents my going 100% Linux.