Since HP is so notorious for using proprietary hardware, which really screws a lot of linux would-be users over, maybe HP should create a distro!

I purchased an HP Pavilion ze4145 about a year ago, and have never been able to get any distro of linux to install and function completely on it. I've read about many others with HP notebooks having the same problems.

I'm fed up with HP's lack of interest in the linux user market. I'm fed up with being unable to start learning linux, because I can't get it to function properly on my current computers. I think HP needs to release a distro, or work with somebody to release a distro which would work with all HP products especially.

I realise this probably isn't too likely.. but hey, something has to be done. I'd like to hear your takes on this.

HP are focusing pretty hard on Linux but it might not show in the laptop segment. They work with Alias Wavefront to create machines tailored to run Maya 3D for modelling and rendering (I think they usually come with RedHat preinstalled), and they have servers running Linux as well.

I don't see what good creating another Linux distribution would do. There are others who have been in the game for a while now that probably beat HP in every aspect of creating linux distros (SuSE, Redhat, et al). But if HP could provide completely open drivers for their hardware and would be a little more helping towards the laptop Linux community (and there are a lot of us!) it wouldn't hurt.

Håkan

That would work too, I suppose. I think it's just wrong that they haven't already done that.

My HP Pavilion ze4230 runs Redhat 9 flawlessly. What problem did you encounter when you tried to install?

It locks up while detecting pcmcia devices. I was able to boot up with Knoppix, but it wouldn't connect to the internet. RH 7, 7.3, 8, 9 all lock up during install, usually giving a kernel panick error. Most other distros do the same or similar. The cds were burned correctly too.

Redhat 9.0 loads with out a problem on my ze4125. Getting acpi straighten out is an adventure, though. I could not get the modem to work, even using the drivers found thru the linux on laptops website. I solved that problem with an external modem.

I was able to get Mandrake9.1 installed but had to use a boot floppy made with an older kernal. I will look up the correct image to use if you need me to do so. I was able to get the modem working using additional drivers.


I know that you must select the vesa drivers for Mandrake 9.1. I don't think I had to use them for Redhat 9.0


Michael

I don't know how much of this applies to your laptop but you can have a look here http://c133.org/ze4420/index.php
Warning:the color layout of the site will make your eyes bleed.
I thought about getting one of those but HP wouldn't sell it w/o winxp.

It would also be nice to see a little-linux distro for the iPaqs that are not supported by Familiar Linux.

I have an iPaq 1910 and I am forced to keep Win CE on it, as Familiar Linux have not yet gotten their distro to run on it.

I would love to use opie on my iPaq and some love from HP would be cool...

Hi, I would like to answer about the post of HP making their own distro :
I don't think it would be such a bad idea, especially since redhat is getting out of the game now, and SuSE is being bought by Novell. The least would be open-source drivers for their hardware, but they're not there yet, the RedHat CEO openly said that for home-users windows is still the OS of choice... what linux support is that? It's just a way of shoving it down the toilets... If I didn't have problems with installing other distros, I'd switch right now... Unfortunately, my ze4400 won't really run well with any distro, the only one I've been able to configure so far was the redhat 9.0. And I can't use the DRM because of that damned ATI radeon mobility u1. I'm using the VESA driver... Neither ATI nor HP have yet come up with drivers for it... not under linux, and there's no update under windows, even though I'm having a number of crashes in XP because of it!! So basically, HP isn't supporting laptop users hardly at all... neither under windows or linux. They'd better catch up on that, or else they're gonna lose customers soon. By the way, if any of you know a distribution easy to install and maintain on a laptop, where it will be easy to install a customized the kernel and XFree 4.4 once it gets released, please let me know.
That's all I had to say for now, thanks for reading.

I just tried the SUSE 9 live eval disk in my ze4230 and everything worked the first time I booted. Outstanding support for my hardware, even the ACPI was working perfectly. I would try out Suse on your machine and see if it works.

I also had problems with different distros. The only one that installed with no extra configuration was the one the only Slackware 9.1

And now it runs like a champ.

Dump RedHat and go for the real man's OS! SLACKWARE

Hello everybody,

I am a newbie to linux but I am getting better. I installed RH9 on my ze4400 and it works fine. I even managed to patch my Kernel with ACPI and when I check if all modules are loaded I get a psoitive feedback.
I read a HowTo to install ACPID and I even managed that but when I want to edit the event file with the command acpid event (Right now I don't know it by heart but it is definitely the correct command) it says something like file not found or busy. When I browse to the specific folder I see the file but on double clicking it gives me an error (it's not there) I even can't create a new file.
Well anyway, I don't realy care about the power issue and the on/off Button etc. aswell as the suspend mode. What is more important to me is the fan issue. On starting linux it starts running but it never stops. In the beginning I thought: "Who cares?!" But now it is running on my nervs.
Can anybody help me to fix this problem. Thanks in advance,

Erik

I have a HP Pavilion zv5034us running Gentoo just fine. I have a few issues with ATI driver but thats what happens when you buy cutting tech (7 months ago ) I would say your doing something wrong
try Gentoo it will load.

You could also try MEPIS or Slackware 10, both of which ran on my ze5354. straight away

I also had the firewire problem with redhat and mandrake, I have read of ppl using the cheats of "nomce" "noauto" and "noieee1394" with good results, I myself used noauto and it was fine but I had to install pcmcia services later.

Good Luck

BP

ok well here i go

http://www.albumtown.com/showpic.php...260&pid=364371

i wonder if this picture is visible