LINUX, laptops, and the future


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Thread: LINUX, laptops, and the future

  1. #1
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    LINUX, laptops, and the future

    I started to post this in the mobile computing forum, but then decided that wasn't appropriate because this is less about asking for tech help than about rant/observations concerning LINUX and notebooks generally both now and in the future.

    When I first started working with LINUX on a desktop system about 6-7 years ago (Red Hat / Caldera OpenLINUX), I worked through all the issues common at the time such as pre-install HD partitioning, using an editor to hack a file or two, etc. Given that I remembered life before IDE drives and had written config.sys files to exclude memory ranges, it didn't seem like an impossible challenge. I finally ended up with a dual-boot LINUX/WIN-98SE that was fun to play with.

    However, I ended up returning to straight WIN for a number of common reasons; (remember this was 6-7 years ago) lack of applications (accounting), ISP support, problems with WIN emulators, and the slow adoption of LINUX by the corporate world where I was trying to make living.

    Recently, encouraged by WiFi speeds on my laptop and my reading about what was available on various distros with the 2.6.x kernel, I started looking again. I have dl'd at least 6 different ISO's for live cd and tried them all. One, KANOTIX, actually seemed to see both the Centrino circuitry on my laptop as well as the winmodem (at least it seems to respond to the AT command series on query although I haven't yet been able to get it to dial out).

    I say "laptop" because it would be impossible for me to run my business (accounting consulting) off a desktop system as I travel to clients' businesses, many in rural areas where dialup is the only internet access available. I say "winmodem" because laptops ceased offering serial ports some time ago and even some desktop systems haven't that capability out of the box.

    My discussions with some knowledgeable sales people (yes, there are some out there) point to a not-too-distant future where RJ-11, PCMCIA, and serial ports disappear from laptops and desktops to be replaced by various USB devices in the same way parallel ports have become "legacy" components. As any number of us now know, the average USB modem on the shelf lists WIN variants on the box as its operating environment without a mention of alternatives. I found those discussions even more interesting when I visited a site selling a LINUX laptop which specifically stated that the modem in the system wouldn't work under LINUX. At least they put that out up front.

    HP won't even acknowledge the possibility of running LINUX on my laptop (their response to my email) even though they link to SUSE on their website. SUSE (and many other distributions) gloss over the winmodem issue by essentially saying that winmodems aren't real modems and besides the chipset folks aren't forthcoming with driver information and etc. I've run into the same perspective trying to follow up on PCMCIA modem cards although I at least found one that advertises a LINUX driver.

    I may be able to solve this for now with some luck and a few bucks, but I'm just not sure and my risk tolerance where my business is concerned is way, way low. Worse, what does tomorrow hold for LINUX on laptops outside of the wireless loop where a great number of people still live and do business?
    We have met the enemy and he is us.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 1999
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    On the other hand, shop with a copy of the hardware howto and you'll be fine. For example, I got my wife a new laptop for Mothers Day. Dell Lattitude D520, came with XP. Only hardware changes I made were upping the RAM to 1gb, upping the screen to 15", and changed the known-not-to-work-in-Linux Dell/Broadcom wireless chipset for the known-to-work-really-really-well Intel based chipset.

    Got the machine, wiped the came-with XP, put XP Pro on from fresh/scratch without the extra Dell stuff. Then put Ubuntu 7.04 on . Laptop was 100% plug-n-play with Ubuntu - one reboot and it was fine. XP on the other hand....

  3. #3
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    Thanks for the thoughts, ph34r.

    I was aware of some of the chipset issues, but I'd also be interested to know if Feisty Fawn found the internal modem in the D520 and you were able to do dialup easily. I saw that the system specs list a serial port and an RJ-11; if that's so, are you doing dialup with an external modem and skipping the internal modem?

    Thanks again for the input.
    We have met the enemy and he is us.

  4. #4
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    Found the modem no problem, but we've never used it. DSL at home, massive phat pipe at work...

  5. #5
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    Hmm - about that modem

    Yah - thanks. I was curious because I've found distros that see the winmodem in my HP right off the bat (as in I get responses to ATi commands in query modem under kppp), but haven't been able as of yet to work out getting the little beast to actually do the dialup I need. Now, if I actually had a real serial port . . .
    We have met the enemy and he is us.

  6. #6
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    I'll take a closer look tonite and post output from lspci and such....

  7. #7
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    I know lots of people make USB->serial converters (and even hub-type devices, where you can have 4 serial ports connected to one USB port). There's a USB standard for serial bridging like that (at least, when one serial port is active), and there's also a usb-serial driver in the kernel. So that may be an option. Point your dialing software to /dev/ttyUSB<X> if you go that route.

    Otherwise, I have a feeling modem support is crappy because not many people seem to use modems anymore. Doesn't help you much, though...

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