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LinuxDig.Com : Linux News : Suse 9.1 64 on a Compaq Laptop Presario R3000
Author: HumanX | Monday October 11, 2004
It is always a good day when you come home from the store with a new piece of computer equipment. What could be better then that? Coming home with a laptop with a Hi-Def 15.4 inch screen with an AMD Athlon 64 processor! 32 bit install notes. Updated Oct 2004.
The Laptop
First of all, let me just say this machine was a steal for $1,500. The system includes an AMD 64 Athlon, Nvidia 64 meg, 60 gig hd, Wireless b/g, DVD-CD RW, 15.4â screen (Hi-Def), USB, Firewire and supports about every type of memory card. * Comes with 512 meg or ram and I upgraded to 786 meg.
As a side note, I would recommend this laptop to anyone. It is alot of machine for the price.
Let's Roll
The system comes preinstalled with Microsoft XP Home edition. So, first thing is first, install partition magic and lets get crankin. I tried using NTFSresize to adjust the partition of the hard disk but was running into a great deal of problems. Not because of the software itself, but because NTFSresize will only resize a partition up to the point in which the last piece of data exists. So finding software to do a FULL defrag would have allowed me to use NTFSdefrag, problem was, of the 8 or so defragmentation programs I downloaded, nothing would rearrange the data correctly. Ultimately, Partition Magic did champion the day and helped me split the drive to a 30/30 gig device.
Suse Installation Notes
I have read in various posts that users have had difficulties installing Suse. The 9.1 installation does leave out some important utilities which should be installed, so as part of you installation I recommend you add the above files and take note of some tips.
1. Install Suse using text mode.
2. 1280x800 can be achieved with the binary nvidia driver. I used the below Modeline to get the monitor working in its native resolution. Add or change these lines in the "Monitor" section of you X config. I find these on the web.
Modeline "1280x800@70" 101.92 1280 1312 1696 1728 800 816 825 841
HorizSync 28-96
VertRefresh 50-86
3. Wireless networking was a cinch if you can believe that. The broadcom works and took roughly 5 minutes to install. Add ndiswrappers and source during or after the installation to use the broadcom driver in 32 bit. 64 bit is not available. ndiswrappers allows you to use windows drivers with linux.
4. Also install this software: iputils, procfs, dhcpd, pine, yast-curses (command line yast), kbp (unicode)
5. Sound: run alsoconf and sound will be up and running.
Installing Suse 9.1 32 Bit Edition
* Neither installation were meant to suport all of the devices, they were only meant to compare the speed between 32 and 64 bit modes.
Why would I install Suse 32 on this laptop when I have a 64 bit processor? I wanted to see the difference! I first tried Suse 9.1 Live edition just to make sure I would not run into to many problems, which I did not.
Installation of 9.1 went well and I had the O/S installed relatively quickly. But to my dismay, here were some of my problems which did carry on into the 64 bit version. The screen is a native 1280x800 and the Nvidia driver caused me allot of headaches, so I had to settle for 1024x768. The wireless card did not work, but supposedly would work if I used the NDIS driver from Windows. Suse has this ability compiled into the default kernel. The next problem is the screen looses synchronization when dropping to text mode. Suse is going to require some tweaking to get it working correctly on this laptop, but so far none of the problems are serious.
* Installing the driver from Nvidia makes a world of difference as far as video responsiveness goes. It also gave me 3d and a good game of Chromium!
Aside from the installation issues, Suse ran well on the laptop and I have no complaints. It was fast, as fast as XP I believe.
64 Bit, hit the turbo button
* One issue with 64 bit and Wireless: Supposedly I cannot use the drivers from windows in the Novell Suse 9.1 64 bit version. I have not verified this, but have read that this is an issue because of the 32 bit nature of the windows NDIS driver.
Did someone sneak a turbo button on my laptop? I remember my 286 which had the turbo button which took it to 16mhz (I believe). 64 bit was fast, real fast. Actually, I was stunned. I did not expect it.
After installing Suse 9.1 64 bit, I wanted to run the updates first before getting to the test. Let me tell you, YAST booted 4 times faster then in 32 bit mode, no kidding. That single thing made 64 bit worth it. Yast is a great way to maintain your Suse Linux System, but sometimes it can be really slow. 64 bit made its first showing with yast, now I want to get the updates before I see more. (BTW: Yast jumps to load, under 1 second, before being cached)
Updated... Rebooted.... Let the testing begin.... Thinking back now, I wish I timed some of the opens in 32 bit, maybe I will come back and update this article with that information. I would say overall, that 64 bit mode is probably 3-4 times faster in normal operations. Opening and closing programs, saving files and things of that nature.
I was explaining to a friend the other day what it felt like. I love dual processor systems, I would take a DUAL AMD MP 2600 over a Single AMD 3200 if I were not playing games. The reason is, dual process machines just run much more smoothly. The odd little jerks that you get in single processor boxes do not exist in dual processors.
Enter AMD 64. The AMD Athlon 64 feels like a dual processor machine. The system is extremely smooth with little to no hesitation to speak of. I do not know if it is the speed of the processor that causes this or the 64 bit architecture, but it is a Cadelac when it comes to feel and a Ferrari when it comes to performance.
The AMD 64 and Suse 9.1 are a terrific combination. The fast, smooth nature of the AMD and the Desktop of Suse gives me a laptop with a lifetime of 3+ years. Anyone investing in a laptop today should consider 64 bit, you get a free upgrade as soon as you enter the 64 bit software world. I cannot imagine now going back to 32 bit processors. Sad thing is, buying this laptop just outdated my current desktop.
Information about the Laptop
Firstly, there are quite a few personal pages on the Internet dedicated to Linux for this laptop under a variety of distributions. So when it comes time to tweaking the unit there is quite a bit of support and most of the issues I have, are already addressed. Suse 9.2 is coming out in November, so I also expect more of the devices to be recognized.
What worked OOB (out of box) with Suse.
1.Modem
2.Video Card
3.CD
4.Mouse
5.Network
6.Sound after updating the system. (Run alsaconf)
What Did not Work.
1.The card reader (though I have not invested anytime)
2.Could not get Native 1280x800 (Need more testing time)
3.The mouse has a scollbar which was not recognized. I have read there a drivers available.
4.Wireless did not work.
Closing
Planning on running Linux, need a new machine? One of the things I like about the 64 bit processors is that you basically get a free upgrade when 64 bit operating systems enter the market. Right now, Linux is your best bet, you actually get an operating system that takes advantage of AMD 64 now. The system is stable and smooth and highly recommended.
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