The Ubuntu Stories

As I’ve said, my own first resource for my Ubuntu installation is redDEAD’s site. He posted an evaluation on installing the latest Ubuntu on his site, which I’ll paste here, and fill in my comments.

Everything you need to get Ubuntu 8.04 running on your Dell Inspiron 1501.

Installation
Hardy installs with no problems. Whether you’re using the LiveCD, Alternative Install or Wubi.

Wireless
The Restricted Driver Manager can install the Broadcom B43 fireware.
Firmware cutter will not work when used through the Driver Manager. In order to install B43-fwcutter you need to use the terminal.
In a terminal Type:
sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter

Just use the B43-fwcutter. Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT use NDISwrapper: it’s a bitch setting up, and this method will work. And … it’s much faster

ATI Proprietary Driver

This is, perhaps, the point I disagree most on with redDEAD’s explanation. You see, installing the ATi proprietary driver alone is NOT enough to get full 3D acceleration. In fact, it’ll make your laptop run even slower – at least, it did in my case, since Compiz-Fusion is trying to do all kinds of cool stuff, but your card will not have the correct configuration to do so.

What you want to do here, is follow the hard way. It is explained on the Ubuntu-Wiki, but I’ll talk you through it, telling you how to configure your ATi-card. You can just copy (Ctrl+C) the commands (in blue) and paste them into a terminal window (Ctrl+Shift+V).

Method 2: Manual Method

Download the installer: ati-driver-installer-8-4-x86.x86_64.run (this installer is for 32bit and 64bit systems)

Follow These Instructions Carefully

Switch to the directory you downloaded this into and the run the following. (Make sure universe and multiverse are enabled in your repository sources).

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential fakeroot dh-make debhelper debconf libstdc++5 dkms linux-headers-$(uname -r)

This installs the dependencies for the installer.

Using Synaptic, completely remove any packages containing “fglrx” in their name.

Remove any old fglrx .debs:

sudo rm /usr/src/fglrx-kernel*.deb

Now use the following command to create the .deb files you will be using for installation:

sudo sh ati-driver-installer-8-4-x86.x86_64.run –buildpkg Ubuntu/hardy

Now we have to blacklist the driver in Ubuntu’s repository. This is so it doesn’t ever overwrite our installation.

sudo gedit /etc/default/linux-restricted-modules-common

Add “fglrx” to the line “DISABLED_MODULES”

File: /etc/default/linux-restricted-modules-common

DISABLED_MODULES=”fglrx”

Please note that after the modification above, the “Restricted Driver Manager” will signal “ATI accelerated graphics driver” not enabled (unticked). This is perfectly correct. At the end of the installation procedure it will signal in Status: “in use” (green light), but NOT enabled. It simply means that the fglrx module contained in the linux-restricted-modules package is not enabled, but another fglrx module (8.4) is in use.

You may also need to edit the file (if it exists):

sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-restricted

Put a # in front of the line “blacklist fglrx”, if it is present. Otherwise, the kernel module will not load automatically, and you will not get 3D acceleration.

Install .debs:

sudo dpkg -i xorg-driver-fglrx_8.476*.deb fglrx-kernel-source_8.476-0*.deb fglrx-amdcccle_8.476-0*.deb

Finishing the Install: Configuration

Now you’ll have to edit your xorg.conf

sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

and add the following line to the Device section (if it does not already exist – do not add this entire section, just add, if necessary, the line in bold to the Device section):

Section “Device”
[...]
Driver “fglrx”
[...]
EndSection

Save and exit, then run

sudo aticonfig –initial -f

in a terminal. If it does not error you should be fine. Finally, reboot the computer and type

fglrxinfo

into the terminal. If the vendor string contains ATI, you have installed the driver successfully.

If you’ve followed this tutorial completely, you should now have complete 3D acceleration. You want a way to test it? Download the game Planet Pinguin Racer. If you have no 3D acceleration, you’d experience about the same gaming experience of playing Medal Of Honor on a 386 with a 66 MHz processor

Compiz-Fusion
Compiz-Fusion is enabled once you install the ATI Propiety Driver.
To get the most out of Compiz try installing the advanced configuration tool.
In a terminal:
sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager

Media Codecs
Hardy Heron makes codec installation easy mp3, DVD, avi, aac, mpeg, wmv, asf, mov, flv, mp4, flash codecs are installed when you try to play them. If you like to add all the major codecs and make playback easy, check out my codec cheatsheet. The only thing not enabled in Ubuntu is reading encrypted DVDs. To add DVD playback and some other helpful media codecs to Ubuntu follow this guide.

Ethernet
Works out of the box. In order to do any of these guides you’re going to need to plug in your Dell Inspiron 1501. Don’t be cheap, go out and buy an Ethernet cable.

Brightness & Volume
Brightness (Fn Up/Down Arrow) and Volume (Fn Page Up/Page Dn) keyboard shortcuts both work with BIOS 1.70. Please leave a comment letting others know if your BIOS work. You can find a mini guide about BIOS flashing here.

Suspend & Hibernate
Both Suspend and Hibernate work with BIOS 1.70 and the Ubuntu repository ATI 2.1.7281 fglrx driver. Please leave a comment letting others know if your BIOS and/or ATI driver combination work. You can find a mini guide about BIOS flashing here.

Video Out
Works out of the box, Hardy’s Screens and Resolutions (System>Administration>Screens and Resolutions) makes using multiple monitors a breeze. Configuration doesn’t require editing your xorg.conf file.

Again, a point on which I disagree: the video out is still not properly supported in Ubuntu. Yes, you can add multiple monitors, but that’s about as far as it goes. I’m still trying to look for a way for connecting my laptop to my widescreen TV. As soon as I find a solution for this problem (so, using the video out for connection to the TV ànd have a correct resolution (the resolution is slightly different: a bit wider)), I’ll post it to the website.

Modem
The Conexant Modem driver is usually released by Dell once they switch their Linux machines over to the new version of Ubuntu.

Card Reader
Works out of the box.

Overall:
Hardy Heron is the Ubuntu release that Dell Inspiron 1501 owners have been waiting for. Everything works, you only need to install 3 drivers (ATI, wireless and modem). If you were hesitant about trying Ubuntu on your 1501, rest assured, it takes minimal skill and computer knowledge to setup.

I would have to agree that Ubuntu 8.04 is perhaps the easiest installation thusfar, bùt still not good enough to top Windows in every aspect. The thing that frustrates me most, is the video out: I use my laptop on a daily base to watch videos on my TV, and I still have to boot in Windows for that. If I did find a way to circumvent that problem, I’d probably not even look at Windows anymore …