LinuxQuestions.org - DO NOT REPLY - Desktop 64bit - HP ProBook 4530s i7 Radeon 6490M

This is a draft as I go along from OS to OS, so please ignore it. I need a place to keep good notes and this is as good as any.

Brief: All packages are latest releases downloaded between 3/8/2012 and 3/11/2012 to ISO DVD and installed clean from CD/DVD boot.

Hardware: Notebook - HP ProBook 4530s with 2nd Generation Quad-Core i7-2630QM, Intel HD Graphics 3000 and ATI Radeon HD 6490M w/1GB DDR5. For exact system specifications as purchased, see: Tiger Direct HP ProBook 4530s. After purchase, RAM was upgraded from single 4GB DIMM to matched pair 4GB DIMMs to 8GB.

Operating Systems:
Default Build: MS Windows 7 Professional 64bit. Garbage. Had to go! On the upnote, everything worked and it included less than usual HP crap. Only took 30 minutes to get rid over everything and install tweaks, followed by the normal 6 hours of MS updates upon updates and multiple reboots. Fingerprint functions worked great although no Mozilla support (a real pisser). Have Microsoft Office Professional 2010 Plus and installed and updated that. After full testing was stable and only bad thing I could find was being made by MS and full of security holes. Three weeks of dual booting is enough. Time to wipe and everything must go. Profile backups to cloud. Ready to begin...

Test #1. 12.04 Nightly Build..... 3/6/2012 build fails at network driver install due to not being able to setup for hidden network. If you build without it, you have no network features in Unity following build. Restart build 3rd attempt from 3/9/2012 nightly DVD.

1) Sigh... Ubuntu 12.04. I feel like Ubuntu is going backwards instead of forwards. Complete disappointment. Unity is simply unbearable for anything except a Telephone or Netbook. PERIOD. Tried being fair and giving it a chance for a few days (as I had done with 11.10) and just cannot take it. Too much missing for a full featured Notebook in terms of device and interface management. Lacks latest AMD Radeon HD 6xxxm drivers though better Sandy Bridge integration as a result of 3.2.0 kernel (but not 3.2.2?) Still wants to install legacy AMD Catalyst drivers for 11.10 kernel instead of 12.2 and new 6xxxm drivers. Catalyst won't work after because of Sandy Bridge HD conflicts with no clear path to purge/rebuid under new kernel. Still need gpointing-device-settings to disable/fix touch-pad.

After 3 days, I just can't take Unity any longer and Ubuntu had to go. Really don't want another non-3.2.x kernel because of the lack of Sandy Bridge integration and the new 12.2 Catalyst and NEW Radeon HD 6xxxM driver.

2) OpenSuse 64bit. No minimize/maximize. No recognition of ATI. No disable touch-pad fix. Bad Java. No video spread. Didn't care for the experience, especially software installation/management. No automated printer discovery for LAN. Dumped it after an hour of messing around with it.

2) Fedora Core. Great OS, wrong application for it. Won't cut it for desktop use.

3) Debian. Wow. Nope, just isn't happening. After all of that, I really expected more.

4) Linux Mint 12 Gnome. Based on 11.10 so I should not expect too much. No Radeon function. Black Screens on lock, (search for pointer change box in center of screen and enter password to unlock). Cannot move default screen to external monitor. sudo apt-get install gpointing-device-settings for touch-pad management. Autodiscovered Wireless network Photosmart 5510 with no problems. Looks like it wants to add the same faulty Radeon proprietary drivers. Not going to do that for now. About to do 220+ updates.... hang on.