Linux on Laptops

This guide written and hosted by Devin Lussier and Scalifash Networks.

Installing Ubuntu 5.10 on Toshiba P15-S479

Last updated: September 23rd, 2005

Installing and running Ubuntu on the Toshiba Satellite P15-S479 is surprisingly very easy. Most things work right out of the box, and installation is quick and painless. Currently I have it setup to dual-boot with Windows XP Media Centre Edition and Grub handles that flawlessly. I started with a fresh hard drive, partitioned with the Ubuntu installer, and continued to install Ubuntu first. Afterwards, I used the Toshiba recovery DVD to load in Windows XP. It worked very well. One tip is to make sure when you do your partitions that you make a FAT32 partition first, as the #1 partition on the drive. The Toshiba recovery disc will take that and turn it into NTFS and put Windows on it for you. If you setup your Linux partitions first it will attempt to go for the first partition and ask you if you want to overwrite it. At this point, click no, and go back and do your partitioning again. I got my paritioning right on the second try, hopefully with these tips you'll get your right on the second try.

General Hardware Specifications of "Robin":

Hardware Components	Status under Linux	Notes
Pentium IV Processor, 2.8 GHz	Works	No special procedure required during installation
15.4 Wide Screen 1280x800 Display	Works	No special procedure required during installation. (Resolution is automatically detected properly)
nVidia GeForce FX5200 Go 64MB	Works	No special procedure required during installation
1024MB, SDRAM, 2DIMMs (Upgraded from 512MB)	Works	No special procedure required during installation
100 GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive (Upgraded from 60GB)	Works	No special procedure required during installation
Toshiba Integrated SD Card Slot	Doesn't Work	In progress
Integrated Atheros 802.11A/B/G WiFi Card	Works	No special procedure required during installation
Integrated 10/100 Ethernet Card	Works	No special procedure required during installation
Internal 56k Modem	Doesn't Work	In progress
DVD-R/RW/RAM/ROM Drive	Works	No special procedure required during installation
Lithium-Ion Battery	Works	No special procedure required during installation
PCTel AC'97 Sound Card	Works	No special procedure required during installation

This laptop is operating under Kernel version 2.6.12-8-386

Basic Installation of Ubuntu:

Ubuntu is easy to use and install, and very compatible with this laptop by default.
Download Ubuntu from ubuntu.org or request a free CD from that website.
Insert the bootable installation CD and follow the installation wizard. It's not graphical, but don't let that frighten you because it's really quite simple if you read everything.
No post-install tweaks required as of yet, currently researching the SD card reader and modem.

Unresolved issues

SD card slot currently unavailable.

Configuration Files

No configuration files need to be modified in order to run Ubuntu on the P15-S479. Use the "Synaptic Package Manager" for additional installations and upgrades.

Contact Information (Optional)

My email address is i d e v i n [a t] g m a i l [d o t] c o m
AIM screen name is ev1lcanuck, and GoogleTalk screen name is email address

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