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Last Review by ta0kira - posted: 07-18-2010 03:54 PM [ Post a Review ] 


Views: 47629

 This is my first Mac computer. I went with Mac this time because they have a reputation for quality hardware and they're comparatively consistent with their hardware choices: they don't just throw in whatever fell off a truck and there isn't a lot of variety, both in number of models and between models. The most difficulty I had during installation came from trying to dual-boot with OS X because of GUID partitioning and booting. rEFIt boots both the OS X and Kubuntu partitions if GRUB is installed on the Kubuntu partition. Here are the things that work: 1680x1050 Display - No configuration required for 1680x1050. The Nvidia driver (downloaded and installed manually rather than via the update manager) works well, although it takes some work to get Kubuntu to proper runlevel 3 without video drivers loaded (more of a distro problem.) Ethernet - no configuration required Built-in Sound
  1. add option snd-hda-intel model=mbp55 to /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf (good enough to stop here)
  2. install pulseaudio and padevchooser
  3. add users to "pulse-access" group
  4. move pulseaudio to the top in sound settings (make it the primary sound device for everything)
  5. mess with padevchooser to manage input and output
    6. Built-in Mic - I needed to do the pulseaudio steps above, plus it took a lot of mixer tweaking. You can adjust the gain with PulseAudio Manager (padevchooser) -[noparse]>[/noparse] Devices -[noparse]>[/noparse] Sources -[noparse]>[/noparse] alsa_input.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo (increase volume to 300%) Built-in Camera - no configuration required Wireless - install Linux STA Driver (follow the directions!), or search for "broadcom wireless driver" (provided by Broadcom) power button - no configuration required Sort-of working: Keyboard
    • sound buttons work
    • eject (^) does't work (I think I just need to set a keyboard shortcut to eject)
    • screen brightness buttons are detected but don't change brightness
    • keyboard-backlight brightness buttons don't do anything (but brightness is accessible via /sys)
    • "proper" [delete] is available with [fn]+[delete]
    IR receiver - has a LIRC driver (Apple USB,) but I haven't messed with it enough to get my remote to do anything (already paired the two from OS X) touchpad - works like a PC touchpad, but I haven't set up multi-touch Over all this has been my easiest *nix install yet. Dual-booting with OS X is easy as long as you partition via OS X (gparted won't do,) boot with rEFIt (don't bother with Boot Camp,) and avoid MBR tools (like cfdisk and the FreeBSD installer.) If you want to share a partition for data between the two, format one with "something extended (case-sensitive)" (not journaled!) in OS X and mount it with hfsplus in Linux. Kevin Barry

    Rating: 9
Product Details: "MacBook Pro 15" Intel i7 (2010, 6,2)" by ta0kira - posted: 07-18-2010 - Rating: ********* 9.00

Last Review by ta0kira - posted: 04-08-2009 05:04 PM [ Post a Review ] 


Views: 46600

 Over all, this machine runs Linux extremely well. Sure it took quite a while to install Linux without an optical drive connected, but it can be done, and it doesn't have to be an ISO or FAT based installation like most of the solutions posted around the web require. I'll be posting a tutorial sometime later. The only problem I'm having right now is finding a way to calibrate the touch screen. I'm sure it can be done, but I haven't figured out how yet. That said, it works just like a mouse without doing anything (though grossly inaccurate.) Even though I ordered this computer sans-OS, it had XP installed on it already but no CD. That was fine; XP never booted all the way and I erased it. I'm running slamd64 from an SD card and I'm using the hard drive strictly for data (with encryption.) The screen is amazingly clear for a touch screen with high DPI. The keyboard takes a little getting used to, but it is a 7" notebook. Some of the keys are in strange places, making passwords remembered with tactile or spatial memory very difficult to reproduce. Not a huge problem. I could use a caps indicator LED, a "print screen" button, and a "scroll lock" button. I'm pretty sure they can be emulated, but I haven't gotten that far. The wifi requires a firmware download, which isn't too difficult. It holds a connection at -85dBm (haven't tried anything less than that.) I also got the portable charger/ethernet peripheral. The ethernet works with the mcs7830 driver included with the kernel. Take a look here for more information (JS seems to mess up the link; replace the & with the ampersand sign): http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?viewmode=thread&topic_id=5032&forum=18 The vendor is Korean, which provides a nice change over American and Japanese; however, they seem to be a small company with very little information on their site. That's a fair trade-off for the system they provide and their explicit support for Linux, however. I'll post my slamd64 tutorial in the near future. Kevin Barry edit: Here is the slamd64 tutorial.

Rating: 9
Product Details: "Everun Note (D60H, no OS)" by ta0kira - posted: 04-08-2009 - Rating: ********* 9.00



  



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