FAQ: Common Linux Laptop Problems

King_Ice_Flash · 04-26-2004

Q: On my Dell laptop, Linux only shows up on part of the screen. How do I fix this?
A: Press Fn + F7

Q: On my Dell laptop, when I switch to a text terminal, I can't see anything. How do I fix this?
A: In the BIOS change the display mode from Simil to LCD Only

Q: On my dell laptop, when I boot off of knoppix, it freezes on detecting SCSI devices. What can I do about it?
A: Just type "Knoppix noscsi" at the boot

Q: On my Sony Laptop using the Sony PCMCIA CD-ROM drive, I can't get linux to install, it keeps asking for a driver disk. How do I fix this?
A: On Fedora or newer Redhat versions, type "linux pci=off ide1=0x180,0x386"
On Knoppix, type "knoppix nopcmcia ide2=0x180,0x386" and maybe add "noscsi"
On older redhats, type "linux ide2=0x180,0x386" You also have to edit the CDROM SymLink to this path.

Redman247 · 06-01-2004

Q: When booting my Linux Distro for the first time it hangs at the part when it is starting the PCMCIA II card services on my Dell (whatever series) Laptop.

A: Many distributions come with a PCMCIA card services package that isn't
compatible with many of the Dell's (the Inspiron 8000 has this problem for one). The three things you need to do to try and fix it are (do them in this order):

1) Edit your /etc/pcmcia/config.opts and change the "include port" line to read as follows:
include port 0x100-0x4ff, port 0xc00-0xcff
(i.e.: remove the range 0x800-0x8ff). This should cause the lock-up to go away. (Thanks to Marc Swanson for this one)

2) Download the source for pcmcia-cs and recompile it, making sure you answer Yes to the PnP Bios resource checking question

3) If THIS isn't helping you fix it, and your PCMCIA configuration file (under Red Hat this is in: /etc/sysconfig/pcmcia, under Debian it's: /etc/pcmcia.conf) has a line that says "PCIC=i82365", then try changing it to say "PCIC=yenta_socket"

Complete credit for this bit or information and more can be found here. Thanks to whacked.net, I had been banging my head with this one for awhile.

theurgy · 06-29-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redman247

2) Download the source for pcmcia-cs and recompile it, making sure you answer Yes to the PnP Bios resource checking question

Alternatively you can manually set the PCMCIA socket configurations in the BIOS and add the line pci=biosirq to lilo.conf
This fixes alot of PCMCIA detection issues with older Toshiba Satellites and forces detection of the IRQ from the BIOS instead of using the preconfigured files.

04-26-2004	#1 (permalink)
King_Ice_Flash Alien Paranoid Stumbler Join Date: May 2003 Location: WI Posts: 2,688	FAQ: Common Linux Laptop Problems Q: On my Dell laptop, Linux only shows up on part of the screen. How do I fix this? A: Press Fn + F7 Q: On my Dell laptop, when I switch to a text terminal, I can't see anything. How do I fix this? A: In the BIOS change the display mode from Simil to LCD Only Q: On my dell laptop, when I boot off of knoppix, it freezes on detecting SCSI devices. What can I do about it? A: Just type "Knoppix noscsi" at the boot Q: On my Sony Laptop using the Sony PCMCIA CD-ROM drive, I can't get linux to install, it keeps asking for a driver disk. How do I fix this? A: On Fedora or newer Redhat versions, type "linux pci=off ide1=0x180,0x386" On Knoppix, type "knoppix nopcmcia ide2=0x180,0x386" and maybe add "noscsi" On older redhats, type "linux ide2=0x180,0x386" You also have to edit the CDROM SymLink to this path. __________________ "Yeah," said a voice from under the table, "you go to pieces so fast people get hit by the shrapnel."

06-01-2004	#2 (permalink)
Redman247 Decibel Disseminator Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Mannhiem, Germany Posts: 47	Q: When booting my Linux Distro for the first time it hangs at the part when it is starting the PCMCIA II card services on my Dell (whatever series) Laptop. A: Many distributions come with a PCMCIA card services package that isn't compatible with many of the Dell's (the Inspiron 8000 has this problem for one). The three things you need to do to try and fix it are (do them in this order): 1) Edit your /etc/pcmcia/config.opts and change the "include port" line to read as follows: include port 0x100-0x4ff, port 0xc00-0xcff (i.e.: remove the range 0x800-0x8ff). This should cause the lock-up to go away. (Thanks to Marc Swanson for this one) 2) Download the source for pcmcia-cs and recompile it, making sure you answer Yes to the PnP Bios resource checking question 3) If THIS isn't helping you fix it, and your PCMCIA configuration file (under Red Hat this is in: /etc/sysconfig/pcmcia, under Debian it's: /etc/pcmcia.conf) has a line that says "PCIC=i82365", then try changing it to say "PCIC=yenta_socket" Complete credit for this bit or information and more can be found here. Thanks to whacked.net, I had been banging my head with this one for awhile. __________________ BastardCard Bastardize the possibilities.... Accepted in over 187 countries as a way to tell others to shut the hell up! BastardCard, not just another card, it's a way of life!

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