Dell XPS M1530 - DRAFT

<<TableOfContents: execution failed [Too many arguments] (see also the log)>>

1. Hardware Information

1.1. Basic

• 15.4" Widescreen WXGA+ (1440x900) TFT Display with TrueLife

• NVIDIA GeForce Go 8600M GT with 256MB dedicated graphic memory

• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T8300 (2.40 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 3 MB L2 cache)
• 4096MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x2048]
• Western Digital (WD3200BEVT) 320GB (5.400rpm) SATA Hard Drive
• Teac (DVW28SLC) DVD+/-RW Slim Slot Load drive
• Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth 2.0 Module (up to 3Mbps) with Enhanced Data rate

• Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN

• Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet

1.2. Detailed

$ /sbin/lspci

• 00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub (rev 0c)
• 00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 PCI Express Root Port (rev 0c)
• 00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
• 00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 02)
• 00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
• 00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 02)
• 00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
• 00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
• 00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 5 (rev 02)
• 00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
• 00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
• 00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
• 00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
• 00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev f2)
• 00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801HEM (ICH8M) LPC Interface Controller (rev 02)
• 00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) IDE Controller (rev 02)
• 00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA AHCI Controller (rev 02)
• 00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)

• 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce 8600M GT (rev a1)

• 03:09.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 05)

• 03:09.1 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 22)

• 03:09.2 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C843 MMC Host Controller (rev 12)

• 03:09.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter (rev 12)

• 03:09.4 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller (rev 12)
• 09:00.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller (rev 12)
• 0b:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 4965 AG or AGN [Kedron] Network Connection (rev 61)

$ /sbin/lsusb

• Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

• Bus 001 Device 002: ID 05a9:2640 OmniVision Technologies, Inc. OV2640 Webcam

• Bus 005 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
• Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
• Bus 006 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
• Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
• Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
• Bus 003 Device 002: ID 0483:2016 SGS Thomson Microelectronics Fingerprint Reader
• Bus 007 Device 003: ID 0a5c:4502 Broadcom Corp.
• Bus 007 Device 002: ID 0a5c:4500 Broadcom Corp.
• Bus 007 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
• Bus 007 Device 004: ID 0a5c:4503 Broadcom Corp.

2. CentOS-5

2.1. Installation

• Installation of CentOS 5.3 x86_64 was done using a hard disk based install method ie the install ISO (CentOS-5.3-x86_64-bin-DVD.iso) was copied to an external hard disk (Linux ext3 formatted partition).

• The laptop was booted up using a bootable USB stick made using dd from the diskboot.img file which is present in the images folder on the install ISO. This is a destructive method so please backup any material on the USB stick*.

• Alternatively it's possible to use the CentOS-5.3-x86_64-netinstall.iso and burn the image to a CD / CD-RW to boot the laptop and show location of the install ISO.

*An example of how dd could be used for creating a bootable USB stick (sdb): dd if=/<path to file>/diskboot.img of=/dev/sdb.

2.2. Post-installation notes

• CD/DVD read: No problem
• CD/DVD write: No problem
• Hard drive: No problem; by default the laptop BIOS sets hard drive to ACHI mode.

• LAN: The Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8040 requires software available in an external repo; please see ELRepo***. The driver you need is in the kmod-sk98lin RPM -- just download and install this RPM and it should work.

• Wireless**:The Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN required firmware which is not included in CentOS 5.3. Firmware from http://www.intellinuxwireless.org/iwlwifi/downloads/iwlwifi-4965-ucode-228.57.2.23.tgz was downloaded and relevant file copied to /lib/firmware. The file permissions were set appropriately and services changed to enable Network Manager by default.

• Sound: Sound works, however, volume output is very low until about half way up the Master mixer slider even when all relevant outputs are set to max.
• Video: Detailed information below.
• USB: No problem
• Firewire: Untested
• Media card reader: Untested
• Touchpad or other pointing device: The kernel parameters must have the following option added i8042.nomux=1 in order to avoid erratic Touchpad behaviour. This kernel option can be added during the install process to avoid post install Touchpad problems.

• Accelerator buttons (music, DVD, web, other): Buttons required programming which is easily done using Keyboard Shortcuts in GNOME (System menu > Keyboard Shortcuts).

• Adaptive CPU speed: CPU scaling works as expected. However, if a fixed speed is set eg 800MHz it is not possible to set automatic scaling using GNOME's CPU Scaling Monitor. Only option is to restart the cpuspeed service.
• Sense battery level: No problem
• Suspend (manual): No problem
• Suspend (close lid): No problem

2.2.1. NVIDIA GeForce Go 8600M GT**

The free driver does support the GPU / LCD resolution of 1440x900 but the fan(s) tend to run at higher speeds than expected also 3D performance is poor. Both issues are fixed by installing the non-free Nvidia drivers. Since there don't appear to be up to date drivers available in a repository the following manual install process can be used.

• Install CentOS 5.3 x86_64 and apply all updates.
• Switch to root using su - in a terminal and run the following command to install a few key packages needed for Nvidia module build:

  yum install make automake autoconf gcc kernel-devel

• Download the latest Linux AMD64/EM64T driver suitable for the Nvidia GeForce Go 8600M GT from http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html. Be sure to make the download file executable as this will be required in order to start the script later on.

• Reboot the laptop and set CentOS to boot in to runlevel 3 by placing a 3 at the end of the kernel parameters. Again switch to root acount (as above) and start the script installer ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-<Release-Version>-pkg2.run follow wizard but do not download only build modules. If 32 bit applications that require 3D support will be used then it's important to select make / install the 32 bit compatibility libraries.

• Once module compile is complete configure xorg.conf using the Nvidia utility or exit script following wizard and use the RHEL / CentOS system-config-display tool. Remember to make a backup of current xorg.conf eg cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.orig. Then use the following to create a new xorg.conf file system-config-display --set-driver=nvidia --set-resolution=AxC eg 1440x900.

2.2.2. Western Digital (WD3200BEVT) 320GB

Many laptop hard disks are plagued by quickly increasing Load Cycle due to overly aggressive default power management set by hard disk manufacturers. For those of you who are not aware of the Load Cycle issue please refer to the following link from Ubuntu forums which documents the issue really well: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=805570 This issue has also been discussed on the CentOS Hardware forum with possible solutions too: https://www.centos.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=23545

2.3. Issues

2.3.1. OmniVision Technologies, Inc. OV2640 Webcam

Does not appear to function as expected in Skype. Not looked in to issue any further yet.

2.3.2. Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth 2.0 Module (up to 3Mbps) with Enhanced Data rate

To start the device under Linux, use this command:

/usr/sbin/hciconfig hci0 reset

Add this command to /etc/rc.d/rc.local to ensure that the device starts on each boot.

2.3.3. SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822

Host controller supports SD card variants only but when a card is inserted it is not auto mounted. Need to confirm if card can be read if manually mounted.

2.4. Models tested

As above, no others tested.

3. CentOS-4

Not tested with this release; possibly too old for Dell XPS M1530 hardware.

4. Links & Notes

• Dell XPS M1530 Documentation: http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsM1530/

• ** If after an install internet connection is possible; it may be an easier option to get WiFi firmware and GPU drivers from RPMForge.

• Thank you to the CentOS development team and all the forum users who help make the CentOS website one of the best Linux community sites around.

• *** Thank you to Alan Bartlett, Phil Perry, Stephen Tindall and Akemi Yagi who are involved in making software / the ELRepo site which makes use of CentOS easier on hardware that is not supported in a standard install.

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