At present, more and more notebook computers become engineers, technicians standard Office configuration. With the impact of Linux operating systems deepening, many Linux users want to be able to run the Linux operating system on their laptops so that they can be used and studied anytime, anywhere.
Installing Linux on a laptop and installing on a desktop are basically the same, according to the author's experience, the difficult place usually has two points: one is the graphics window System configuration, due to the particularity of notebook computer design, graphics cards are often integrated with the motherboard and other components, It is not easy to identify and configure it automatically during the installation process; the other is the PCMCIA card for network adapter: Ethernet card and modem dialing card. This article focuses on these two aspects in the following sections, so this article assumes that the reader already has the experience of installing Linux on the desktop, and has already installed the basic Linux system (without the command line interface of the network interface) on its own laptop, given that Linux has been introduced on the desktop.
As an advice, in the familiar use of Linux system process, must develop the habit of often refer to random help files, this is not only a very good habit, but also a very necessary means, in the following text refers to a lot of help documents in the content. By the way to recommend two document resources: one is installed on the CD with, when the installation of "documentation" installed in the directory/usr/doc/howto/the following help document, from here you can find most of the solution to the problem; the second is the Internet Linux Document project (Linux documentation Project), whose URL is: http://metalab.unc.edu/mdw/index.html
Graphics Window System (X)
As you know, Linux uses the graphics window system called XFREE86 as its own graphical interface (hereinafter referred to as X), and the instructions help document can be found in the following location:/usr/doc/howto/xfree86-howto.
This document is a more common setup documentation description for the X window where XFREE86 server is installed. In addition, the following documentation:
/usr/x11r6/lib/x11/doc/readme.type provides a document description of the settings for different types of graphics cards, where "type" indicates the type of video card, such as: readme.mach64, README.S3, etc. You need to refer frequently to the contents of these two documents when making an X configuration.
I. Determining the type of video card
1. Use the/usr/x11/bin/superprobe command to detect the type of video card used by the portable computer (the use of this command and the typical output results refer to the installation instance later in this article). If the test result is unrecognized or part of the parameter is not recognized, you will need to download the new XFREE86 service program.
2. If you have a Windows 98 system installed, you can also try to find the video card type under Windows 98, and then use the detected parameters when you configure using/usr/x11/bin/xf86config.
For example: If your notebook has Windows 98 installed, open Control Panel → system → Device Manager → display adapter, you can see the type of video card used in your notebook, such as Trident Cyber9525dvd PCI/AGP (W98.22). The next thing to do is to search the Internet to find the driver of the video card in Linux, download and install it.
By the way, as for how to install a Linux on a notebook that has Windows 98 installed, this is done exactly like the desktop.
Two. Download XFree86
If the result of the previous step indicates that the video card is recognized, you can skip two or three or four steps. However, if the above two methods can not make the graphics window system to run beautifully, the more effective way is to upgrade their own XFREE86 package. The author in Compaq Armada1580, Toshiba satellite 4030CDT, Dell latitude and other laptop computer Configuration Linux, the last is through upgrade XFREE86 solution. No way, the use of Linux operating systems often have to face the problem of peripheral support, fortunately, as the impact of Linux continues to expand, now many companies in the provision of drivers, also began to contain the driver under Linux.
Download the latest XFREE86 upgrade package (currently the latest version is 4.0, recommended to use version 3.3.6), you can go to the following URL:
The downloaded binary RPM package can be installed directly with the Rpm-i command, for example:
#rpm-i〈 Download Package name
Of course, it's lucky to have a successful installation. However, for some Linux distributions, it is more time to download their source files and compile the source files. To compile the development packages used, you can install them from the system installation CD by using the Rpm-i command separately.
The general procedure is as follows:
1. Extract the source file:
#gzip-dc *.tgz |tar XVF-
2. Make the necessary modification configuration as requested in the Help document mentioned above.
3. #make world〉&& World.log (pay attention to the case of "world").
4. Enter #tail World.log, if the successfully build is displayed, then success.
5. Install with #make install〉&& Install.log.
6. Install the new Help file with the #make install.man〉&& Man.log.
Four. Run Superprobe again
After upgrading your own XFREE86 program, then run the video card automatic detection program superprobe. If unfortunately still not recognized, it is because the video card is temporarily not supported, you can directly access the card manufacturer's home page to find drivers, or in some news discussion group for help. The sites recommended in this article in the concluding remarks can also be helpful in many cases.
Five. Run Xf86config
Different Linux provides a different text graphics configuration interface, but generally only basic configuration, and may cause panic. The following is an example of an ATI Rage mobility (Port probed) card configuration:
DELL Latitude CPX Portable computer, ATI AGP 8mb,redhat 6.1.
The configuration file that is produced using the xconfigurator command freezes and the Xf86config configuration works fine.
If you enter X Window, you can also use the CTRL + (-) key to select a different resolution.
Configuration of PCMCIA NIC
The most obvious difference between a laptop and a desktop computer is probably the PCMCIA network interface. Notebook computers use PCMCIA cards for LAN connections, network dialing, memory expansion, and so on. PCMCIA run configurations usually need to be done manually. The following is an example of an Ethernet card configuration to describe the usual configuration process. The files involved in the configuration process include:
/etc/sysconfig/pcmcia (direct configuration information about PCMCIA)
/etc/sysconfig/networks (for network configuration information at startup)
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 (configuration information for network ports at startup)
/etc/pcmcia/config (card type that can be supported in the current PCMCIA module)
/sbin/cardmgr (in fact, PCMCIA driver Management program)
/etc/rc.d/rc3.d/s45pcmcia (start at Run Level 3 o'clock start cardmgr in PCMCIA configuration)
/var/log/messages (you can see the error message when you start PCMCIA to analyze the reason)
Modify the contents of the/etc/hosts file accordingly. After the machine is started, view the output of the #/sbin/ifconfig-a, if only lo (loopback) port, then the Ethernet card failed to start, view the file/proc/devices found that there is no device PCMCIA appear, you can view the/var/log/
Messages determine the cause of the error.
If the type of the PCMCIA card is not recognized, the most efficient way to do this is to upgrade your PCMCIA module as well. Software Download Location:
http://metalab.unc.edu/
pub/linux/kernel/pcmcia/and SunSITE mirror sites. The latest version is 3.1.16, and the latest information can be found at the following URLs:
Typically, the version in the Linux distribution package is slightly lower than the current version. Download the release package under the/usr/src/linux directory, unpack, and then compile and install:
#tar ZXVF pcmcia-cs-3.1.16.tar.gz
#cd Pcmcia;make Config
#make All
#make Install
Rerun/etc/rc.d/rc3.d/s45pcmcia to view port information and log information. At this point the port eth0 typically appear, use ping to verify, and then configure the default route, and so on, these are the same as ordinary desktop, no longer repeat.
Conclusion
Currently, there are a lot of websites and news discussion groups about installing Linux operating systems on laptops, and readers are interested in searching for "Linux on laptop" in websites such as Yahoo and Sina to find many valuable web pages. Here, I recommend to you a more comprehensive laptop installed Linux site:
The site collects guidelines, experience, and numerous specific configuration templates for installing Linux operating systems on portable laptops currently on the market. The author has referred to the description, and contact the corresponding Web page of the author received timely help. In addition, I also hope to be able to communicate with you on the installation process of some of the small skills. If you are interested, you can contact us via email (sungaiair@yahoo.com or cybersec@sina.com).
With this article, I hope to be able to help friends who are preparing or are installing Linux on their laptops.
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