Hi

I am trying to find a distro which will work on my Dell Inspiron 510M 1.4gHz Centrino, which has the Intel 855 graphics card. Mandrake don't, suse 9.2 don't, will Ubuntu?

Total newbie, would be less so if I could install Linux...I live in hope

Thanks

Try Gentoo.

It'll own you during the install [ READ... THE.. .MANUAL!] but it seems to handle most everything I've thrown at it.

Ubuntu works perfectly for me (well, one small problem related to sound and DVDs, but it's pretty well documented) in the Hoary distribution. I have an Inspiron 8600 with a Pentium M 2.0ghz, Nvidia graphics, and an IPW2200 for wireless. Ubuntu autodetected everything the first time I installed it. Ubuntu is very newbie friendly, I highly recommend it.

Thanks but my problem is that the Dell Inspiron 510 has the Intel 855 Graphics card, not the Nvidia, and until now there has not been a distro of Linux able to handle it

I have the same Dell Notebook( Inspiron 510M ), all my hardware are
perfectly working from video (Intel 855) to wireless adapter(Intel also).

I'm running Fedora Core 3, and using a video patch 855resolution.
Maybe you can give it a try (855resolution). Simply compile the source,
(make-> make install) then run the executable like an ordinary Linux command or you can add a line on your /etc/rc.local file so that everytime you
reboot your system you don't have to run the 855resolution manually.

/etc/rc.local file

#855 resolution
855resolution X horizontal vertical


855resolution link :
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/apoirier/

Hope it helps.

filtecuk, have you tried any liveCDs? The new Ubuntu live CD gives a very accurate test of which hardware is/isn't supported. If it works on the liveCD, it should work if you do a full install.

PS: Ubuntu works perfectly on my Dell (though I do have a different graphics card!)

Thanks achiles

I have read about the Poirer patch - but unfortunately as I have been unable to install a usable version of Linux on my computer I am a newbie in the total sense of the word -
i.e. I haven't the foggiest what you are on about...anyway, how do I do those things if I don't have a working version of linux installed? (please don't suggest text only as I wouldn't know what to do with it)

Thanks for your help anyway. I have copied it and saved it in case I get to the stage I can use it.

Chris the Greek - yes, tried Knoppix LiveCD, no joy, will try Ubuntu - bought a linux mag recently with Ubuntu on the cover CD but it wasn't 'live'. WIll try and get hold of one. Thanks for the tip.

Sorry Chris, you are a Geek, not (to my knowledge) Greek

Must have got confused by Achiles

If ubuntu isn't autodetecting something, try mepis or knoppix. They are also live evaluation CD's, and being debian-based, are great. Mepis has the easiest installation routine I have ever seen (desktop icon to install, four clicks total for sole boot, not much more for dual boot). It is an easier install than ubuntu, which uses the installation routine of debian sarge.

Hi filtecuk.
I just changed my notebook's(Inspiron 510M) OS from Fedora Core 3 to Ubuntu Hoary(5.04).
It didn't have any issue at all. I was able to install Ubuntu 5.04 with ease on my notebook.
Since we have the same notebook, probably you won't have any problem installing Ubuntu on you notebook too.

And about the onboard Intel 855 graphics, in order for you to get your desired resolution
( XGA 1024x768 and SXGA+ 1400x1050), just what I just said before, you can use the
855resolution patch. Good thing is that there is an 855resolution debian package.
Simply read the how-to of the debian 855resolution patch and you can easily configure your display with ease. You just can't really escape doing some task requiring you to do text base command and file editing. You'll just edit a single file for you to specify your display's X and Y res and reboot your system.

Ubuntu comes on a single CD distro, which means, it comes with the very basic
packages. After installation you can run synaptic and download other applications,
libraries and utilities from the repository. By the way synaptic has a very user friendly
interface(GUI), you can select from different install categories( from development to applications). It also had an updater, to update some old packages installed on your system.

You can also try Kubuntu(KDE Version of Ubuntu) for a more Windows like interface if your a newbie to the Linux world. They (Ubuntu/Kubuntu) shared the same structure.

Ubuntu's getting amazing with hardware support for laptops. Almost any laptop you throw Ubuntu on will work [practically] perfectly. I had a special compaq model that no distro would support fully, but Ubuntu was the one exception

I tried installing Kubuntu 5.0.1 on my new Inspiron 6000, but the installation screen started flickering like crazy, so I couldn't see anything. Anyone else have this problem?

Not quite, the hardware detection on the Ubuntu LiveCD is based on Knoppix, it differs from the installation hardware detection. The are planning to unify both in the upcoming Breezy release though.