[3136] in RedHat Linux List
Re: Laptops and Linux ???
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Steve Greene)
Thu Nov 7 09:03:15 1996
Date: Thu, 7 Nov 1996 08:58:25 +0000 ( )
From: Steve Greene <sgreene@washsq.com>
To: Cole Jones <ctjones@kodak.com>
cc: redhat-list@redhat.com
In-Reply-To: <32813116.761@kodak.com>
Resent-From: redhat-list@redhat.com
Reply-To: redhat-list@redhat.com
On Wed, 6 Nov 1996, Cole Jones wrote:
> before I spend ALL that money, does anyone have any personal experiences
> with putting RedHat Linux on a WinBook laptop?
I've been using Linux on an older Winbook XP with great success. There
are a few gotcha's in XWindows setup, but XFree86, Accel-X, and Metro-X
will all work.
The key issue is to find out the video chipset used in the FX and verify
it's support by XFree, Metro-X (bot come on the RH 4 CD-ROM) or Accel-X.
As I recall, the older Winbooks use a Western Digital chipset; their
Pentium models switched to a Chips & Technology video chipset that may
not be supported.
The Linux laptops page (link from www.redhat.com) should have the info
you need. I also know that some of the Winbook tech support staff use
linux, so if you're fortunate, you might be able to find someone there
with 1st-hand experience.
Assuming they're using the same or similar PCMCIA support, you should
have few problems with that aspect. I did discover that the linux pcmcia
driver's config file needs to be set to not grab the interrupt used by
the internal modem, otherwise your internal modem will be inaccessible.
The sound module is SoundBlaster compatible, so it should be supported.
The hard drive is removable, so you can keep the "stock" drive with Win95
and add a second drive for linux. I found I prefer the glide point over
the keyboard joystick; I still prefer an external mouse if I have the
desk space.
> Any reasons why I might want to avoid WinBook?
As a "second tier" vendor, you have to buy most of your accessories from
Winbook, there isn't much of a 3rd party aftermarket. Get as much memory
NOW as you can (even sacrifice CPU speed), it's overpriced when you buy
it later (as I found out the hard way). I am not happy with the battery
life; since their battery technology completely changed with the FX
models, my experience is probably different from what you can expect.
I *would* buy another one, I'd have to price it versus deep discounts on
Toshiba, NEC, and similar vendors. It may help that I can walk in and
get one at the local Micro Center store.
-Steve-
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Stephan A. Greene sgreene@washsq.com
PGP Public Key 0xB96717F5 1996/10/01 at http://www.washsq.com/~sgreene/
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