hey, does anyone know if linux will run on the bew gateway M305 notebook ? ive google searched it with no results. ive checked the linux laptop websites, and no results either.

i just want to know if it will wotk with all the hardware on it, except maybe the modem, dont care about that.

yup, time to get a new laptop, old one just died.

O, BTW, couldnt find the hardware list for it. anyone with experince ?

I just got the m305xb, it was 800 and I am having no problems running linux on the notebook. I'm using slackware 9.1. I'd suggest using the acpi kernel unless you like the sound of the fan which on the m305 is very loud, you can also try to set up the other features of ACPI but as for myself i'm feeling lazy at the moment. X sets up just fine, use the i810 drivers. I'm using a cisco aironet 350 card so I can tell you that the pcmcia options work just fine, not sure about the modem, but the system does recognize the ethernet port. Sound works, speakers are weak. Hope this helped a little, although its been a while since you posted.

yeah, only problem im having is the 800x600 resolution thing, and no ACPI. other than that everything works 100% (in SuSE, even my winmodem). i think ill grab a copy of slackware 9.1. ive wanted to try it since its 8.0 release, but heard it was one of the harder distros. ill grab a copy from almostfreelinux.com, and see if it works better.

thanks for the reply.

BTW, forgot to post. mines a gateway M305X, not M305XB, they must've changed some things since the X version, like gfx card update and maybe the ACPI thing. but anyways, im trying slackware 9.1.

did slackwar autoconfigure and detect everything, or did you?

I havent had to configure anything outside of the acpi and that was simply selecting a different kernel during installation. X set up as 1024 for me which is the highest the system can supposedly handle according to gateway's site. As far as the numbering of models go, I'm pretty sure the B in my m305xb means basic because this thing is bare compared to the specs you posted.

hmm, could be. mine is the "premium" one, dvd player, cd-rw, celeron 2.2 Ghz, 256 MB ram (went to crucial.com and upgraded to 816MB). but, anyways, im giving slackware a try.

also, is it possible to add RPM/APT support to it?

almostfreelinux.com only sells 1 cd, but linuxiso.org has 2 cds up for download. what's on the second cd? i cant download it, since i have 56k still (winmodem...windows for internet only tough).

so, there's a 4 cd set, what's on that? there's also the 2 cds on linuxiso.org, what's the second cd? and there's the one cd set, does that have stuff like kde, gnome, blender, gimp, kernel sources, etc...?



and, once i get slackware, what do i do acfter its booted? you mentioned selecting the right kernel once booted with the ACPI enabled. how do i do that? ill post back once my cds come in the mail if i need help after this.

been a week since i ordered the cd (last friday). before i install over suse 9, i need a few questions answered.

1: what does slackware 9.1 have that suse 9.0, which is newer, doesnt have?

2: how can i add RPM support (to install Maya) to slackware?

3: if i already have linux partitions, can i just reformat them in the slackware installer, so i dont need to "custom partition" my system?


akronbob: can you please send me your XFree86 config file and kernel config file (assuming you've already built your own custom kernel)?

got slackware the day i posted this. installed bad the first time, went in again and re-installed it. everything ok, except no sound, and still no 1024x768.

why isnt my sound working? nothing while or after installing slackware asked me to configure the sound card. in XMMS, the mp3 looks like its playing, but no sound, even on full volume, and aumix is on full volume.

Some bad news on the xconfig, turns out i have things running in 800 x 600, i must of not been paying attention, i'll get it set up sooner or later here. As far as your sound problems go, you may not have ARTS set up correctly or maybe you're having problems because its not being ran setuid root. I'd check out the slackware forumns if you have more questions on that. If you get anywhere with configuring X let me know, I'll do the same.

yeah, i thought something was funny. there's a way to fix the bug though to get 1024x768. i have a whole post about it, just search for "i810 vs vesa". i started it and got many good replies and links to at least 3 different patches. but i havent gotten any of them working.

for now, ive gone back to suse, where everything it automated, which i like. someday ill go back to slackware...maybe.

do you have a kernel config file i could use? ive been trying to build the new 2.6.0 kernel, but have been unsucessful in compiling my own kernel.

do you have a kernel config file?

other than your 800x600 problems, like, me, does your ACPI work? SuSE 9 detects no ACPI in the laptop, and i dont think slackware 9.1 does either. i reinstalled suse 9, but im going back to slackware 9.1 later, when im more prepared.