Linux Installation on Gateway MT6821?

spikefromnyc · 02-10-2010, 02:23 PM

Hi from NYC...

Yeah, I am totally lost in the Linux World and will be needing as many "hand-holding" tutorials as possible!

I had purchased an Apple Mac Mini 2 months ago, but after 10 days of use,I returned it back for a refund, and recently tried to perform a Linux Mint 8 install on my Gateway MT6821 laptop with "crap-sta" installed, and was completely intimidated and unable to connect to the Internet..and had to do a FULL Factory re-install of "crap-sta" just to be able too feel comfortable computing again!

Having NO LUCK in finding a newbie tutorial on "experimental" Linux Installation on this Gateway MT6821 (before putting it onto desktop PC)...any help in here for me, PLEASE??!

Thanks for listening...

Spike~

reed9 · 02-10-2010, 03:47 PM

Regarding the internet connection, are you using wired or wireless? If the latter, do you have access to a wired connection? Most wireless issues are easily resolved. There are a number of wireless cards that require extra non-free firmware to work. If you have a wired connection, it's usually a quick fix to install.

To help troubleshoot that, we need more info on the exact chipset of the card. From a linux live CD or install, open a terminal and type

Code:

lspci -vnn

Post the output.

Otherwise, here is a very thorough guide to install Linux Mint 8. My only issue with it, is that the author recommends installing a huge amount of redundant software. Multiple media players, CD/DVD burning programs, etc. A bit of overkill, in my opinion.

spikefromnyc · 02-10-2010, 09:48 PM

Thanks Reed9

..for taking the time too add a reply~!

I will definitely give your suggestion a go on my MT6821, meanwhile, I posted the Gateway's specifications under my forum signature box and hope that info is of some help.

Again, thanks for the quick reply~!

Spike~

reed9 · 02-11-2010, 06:43 AM

Quote:

802.11a/b/g Wireless LAN

Unfortunately, most of the specs published by manufacturers or advertised for computers are completely generic and near useless for troubleshooting.

This is the kind of information that is helpful, as an example output from my laptop.

Code:

04:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG [Golan] Network Connection [8086:4222] (rev 02)
	Subsystem: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection [8086:1000]
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 30
	Memory at f1000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: iwl3945
	Kernel modules: iwl3945

spikefromnyc · 02-12-2010, 10:04 AM

Reed9...

How can I get "detailed" specs like that, from my PC or Laptop?!

Is there an application you use?

reed9 · 02-12-2010, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spikefromnyc

Reed9...

How can I get "detailed" specs like that, from my PC or Laptop?!

Is there an application you use?

As I said in my first post, open a terminal and enter

Code:

lspci -vnn

It will list detailed info for all of your pci devices. Post the whole thing or if you can locate which entry is your wireless yourself, just post that.