Advice whether I should buy a more Linux friendly laptop.

edbarx · 05-18-2012, 12:10 PM

I have an Acer Aspire 7715z laptop which has a BIOS bug affecting video modesetting. I reported the bug through a local Acer agent and I know it was forwarded so that Acer would provide a BIOS fix. However, this fix did not materialise and I am still experiencing problems running the new versions of the Linux kernel (>= 2.6.37).

To workaround the modesetting bug I have to run the setpci -s command as root as soon as the system boots. I am doing that automatically through rc.local. The bug also effectively prevents the laptop from sleeping. Instead, it prepares for sleep but at the end, turn off the power.

Do you think, I should sell this laptop with Linux removed and Windows 7 installed to buy another one which properly supports Linux?

Some useful information:

Code:

vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 23
model name      : Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU       T4400  @ 2.20GHz
stepping        : 10
microcode       : 0xa07
cpu MHz         : 1200.000
cache size      : 1024 KB

Code:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Memory Controller Hub (rev 09)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 03)
00:1a.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 03)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 03)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 03)
00:1d.3 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6 (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 93)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation ICH9M LPC Interface Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801IBM/IEM (ICH9M/ICH9M-E) 4 port SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
04:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM43225 802.11b/g/n (rev 01)
05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR8132 Fast Ethernet (rev c0)

Loaded Kernels Modules:

Code:

Module                  Size  Used by
acpi_cpufreq           12935  0 
mperf                  12453  1 acpi_cpufreq
cpufreq_powersave      12454  0 
cpufreq_conservative    13147  0 
cpufreq_stats          12866  0 
cpufreq_userspace      12576  0 
parport_pc             22364  0 
ppdev                  12763  0 
lp                     17149  0 
parport                31858  3 parport_pc,ppdev,lp
bnep                   17567  2 
rfcomm                 33656  0 
bluetooth             119406  10 bnep,rfcomm
uinput                 17440  1 
fuse                   61981  1 
xt_tcpudp              12570  50 
ip6table_mangle        12540  0 
iptable_nat            12928  1 
nf_nat                 18242  1 iptable_nat
nf_conntrack_ipv4      14078  19 iptable_nat,nf_nat
nf_defrag_ipv4         12483  1 nf_conntrack_ipv4
xt_TCPMSS              12670  4 
ipt_LOG                12605  45 
ipt_REJECT             12502  0 
iptable_mangle         12536  0 
xt_multiport           12548  0 
xt_state               12503  16 
xt_limit               12638  47 
xt_conntrack           12681  0 
nf_conntrack_ftp       12605  0 
nf_conntrack           52720  6 iptable_nat,nf_nat,nf_conntrack_ipv4,xt_state,xt_conntrack,nf_conntrack_ftp
ip6table_filter        12540  1 
ip6_tables             22175  2 ip6table_mangle,ip6table_filter
iptable_filter         12536  1 
ip_tables              22042  3 iptable_nat,iptable_mangle,iptable_filter
x_tables               19073  15 xt_tcpudp,ip6table_mangle,iptable_nat,xt_TCPMSS,ipt_LOG,ipt_REJECT,iptable_mangle,xt_multiport,xt_state,xt_limit,xt_conntrack,ip6table_filter,ip6_tables,iptable_filter,ip_tables
nfsd                  211858  2 
nfs                   312191  0 
lockd                  67328  2 nfsd,nfs
fscache                36739  1 nfs
auth_rpcgss            37143  2 nfsd,nfs
nfs_acl                12511  2 nfsd,nfs
sunrpc                173671  6 nfsd,nfs,lockd,auth_rpcgss,nfs_acl
loop                   22641  0 
snd_hda_codec_realtek   188748  1 
snd_hda_intel          26345  2 
snd_hda_codec          78031  2 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep              13186  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm_oss            41081  0 
snd_mixer_oss          17916  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm                63900  3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_midi           12848  0 
snd_rawmidi            23060  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event     13316  1 snd_seq_midi
arc4                   12458  2 
snd_seq                45093  2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer              22917  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device         13176  3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
brcmsmac              473849  0 
mac80211              192768  1 brcmsmac
uvcvideo               57744  0 
videodev               70889  1 uvcvideo
i915                  355983  3 
media                  18148  2 uvcvideo,videodev
v4l2_compat_ioctl32    16655  1 videodev
snd                    52850  15 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
brcmutil               12905  1 brcmsmac
cfg80211              137140  2 brcmsmac,mac80211
drm_kms_helper         27227  1 i915
crc8                   12426  1 brcmsmac
soundcore              13065  1 snd
drm                   167670  4 i915,drm_kms_helper
joydev                 17266  0 
i2c_i801               16870  0 
i2c_algo_bit           12841  1 i915
i2c_core               23876  6 videodev,i915,drm_kms_helper,drm,i2c_i801,i2c_algo_bit
snd_page_alloc         13003  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
cordic                 12313  1 brcmsmac
iTCO_wdt               17081  0 
ac                     12624  0 
battery                13109  0 
iTCO_vendor_support    12704  1 iTCO_wdt
acer_wmi               26081  0 
mxm_wmi                12473  0 
pcspkr                 12579  0 
psmouse                64455  0 
evdev                  17562  18 
power_supply           13475  2 ac,battery
sparse_keymap          12760  1 acer_wmi
button                 12937  1 i915
serio_raw              12931  0 
rfkill                 19012  4 bluetooth,cfg80211,acer_wmi
wmi                    13243  2 acer_wmi,mxm_wmi
video                  17628  1 i915
processor              28106  3 acpi_cpufreq
ext4                  350411  1 
mbcache                13065  1 ext4
jbd2                   62015  1 ext4
crc16                  12343  2 bluetooth,ext4
sd_mod                 36136  3 
crc_t10dif             12348  1 sd_mod
sr_mod                 21899  0 
cdrom                  35401  1 sr_mod
usbhid                 36379  0 
hid                    81288  1 usbhid
uhci_hcd               26865  0 
ahci                   24997  2 
libahci                22860  1 ahci
libata                140589  2 ahci,libahci
scsi_mod              162458  3 sd_mod,sr_mod,libata
ehci_hcd               40215  0 
thermal                17383  0 
thermal_sys            18040  3 video,processor,thermal
atl1c                  32258  0 
usbcore               128498  5 uvcvideo,usbhid,uhci_hcd,ehci_hcd
usb_common             12354  1 usbcore

tronayne · 05-19-2012, 07:24 AM

Tough question, no easy answer but my experience with Dell laptops has been without grief (with Slackware) -- everything works like it ought to.

You probably already know that a used laptop isn't going to have much value (new laptop prices falling as they have been) so it's a hard call whether to sell it and get a new one or simply wait for a fix (or get a new one and put the old one on the shelf awaiting a fix).

Best of luck with it.

Hope this helps some.