Hi,

I'm happy to report that I've just purchased a Toshiba Satellite 2410 preinstalled with Mandrake 9.1 (the only OS, not dual boot) from a small company in Melbourne, Australia. Some basic specs:

Pentium 4 M 2GHz
256 Mb RAM, upgraded to 512 Mb
30GB HDD
NVIDIA GeForce4 420 Go
14.1" screen
DVD-ROM + floppy

Because Mandrake came preinstalled, I can't tell you the installation steps, other than I'm quite happy with the results. The shop told me that they used the standard Mandrake 9.1 kernel, not a custom compiled one. They only had to install the NVidia and modem drivers.

The NVidia driver works great, including 3D. Tuxracer flies! glxgears reports ~1100 fps. I compiled ALSA and got it working with its Intel 810 based sound system.

Mouse, DVD, ACPI, APM, Ethernet, USB ports work.

Things that should work but I have not tested yet (will do so this weekend):
- Modem
- Printing to my HP inkjet

Things that don't work yet (but I have no use for):
- infrared
- SD slot

Minor irritants, none related to Linux:
- Its a bit bulky and heavy (but no problem for me)
- Fan gets a bit noisy once in a while
- Screen resolution only 1024x768.

Overall, I recommend this laptop, especially if you can get Linux reinstalled.

Alexander Yap
Melbourne, Australia

Hi,

BTW, one of the reasons I chose this laptop was because Toshiba web site has a section for Linux laptops, including details of the 2410.

http://linux.toshiba-dme.co.jp/linux...410_report.htm

Alexander Yap
Melbourne, Australia

Hi,

More on my new Toshiba Satellite 2410 laptop. I've tested the following and they work:

1. Printing to my HP deskjet 3325 using CUPS

2. Dialling up my ISP using 56Kbps internal modem ( Soft Link Modem driver).

Alex.

Hi Alex,

I also live in Melbourne, Australia and just bought a new laptop as well. I was going to buy the Toshiba A10, which supersedes the 2410 but instead I went for the Satellite Pro TE2300.

I'm hoping to get RH9 working on it, but have to find a way to partition the drive properly.

But now that I know someone has actually sucessfully installed linux on a toshiba laptop, this makes the task seem a little bit easier

Hi, I'm a Melbournite also. Could you please tell me where this Linux friendly shop is?
Regards
Renato

Hi alexycyap.
I just installed Mandrake 9.1 in my Toshiba Satellite 2410 and TouchPad Scroll doesn't work.

Help me please

Hi Renato57,

I got my laptop from www.vgcomputing.com.au

I don't know if they have a shop front or not. I just phoned up, placed my order, emailed my desired HDD partitions, distribution and packages to install. Six days later, the guy delivered the laptop (with full packaging/box/warranty papers from Toshiba, etc) to my house all set up (Mandrake 9.1) and ready to go.

Initially I was a bit uneasy about paying upfront (I used direct bank transfer), but I checked the ABN in the ATO Web site and they looked legit. I reckon its no more risky than ordering from an online shopping Web site with credit card.

Overall, I'm happy with the purchase. Normally, I would love to spend weeks installing everything myself, but I'm way too busy with work these days. They charge extra $50 for installing the OS (with all the latest updates), make sure the hardware work, and free delivery. I reckon its worth it.

Hi amartinr,

Never realized there is a touchpad scroll because I just plug in a USB scroll mouse. The touchpad works though.

I don't have the laptop with me right now. I'll check tomorrow and tell you if the touchpad scroll works.

Actually, I can't tell you anything about the installation procedures because I got it preinstalled. Maybe you can look at :

http://www.thorstenhaas.de/toshiba2410

When Mandrake 9.2 comes out, I'll have fun installing it myself.

Hi amartinr,

You're right, touchpad scroll doesn't work. Don't know if it can be activated or not.

Anyway, this is not important to me. Its too difficult to use the touchpad scroll anyway.

Alex

Thank you Alex. It's curious, but know the scroll of the touchpad works. It must be on restart the laptop.

Ana

Thanks very much for that Alexander. I'm wondering what it would be like to have a laptop with Linux which worked without a hitch.
Renato