page under construction -- Seite im Aufbau mobile computing + laptop info ...
| model | Dell Inspiron 8000 |
| CPU | Intel Mobile Pentium III 700 MHz |
| memory | 256 MB 100 MHz SDRAM (2 x 128 MB) |
| hard drive | 30 GB EIDE |
| screen | 15" UXGA active matrix TFT, max. 1 600 x 1 200 @ 2^24 colours incredible resolution (possibly the highest you can currently get in a laptop panel) though very limited viewing angle — contrast + colours decrease drastically when viewed from a small angle, e. g. several people watching a DVD movie |
| graphics card | ATI Rage Mobility M4, 4 x AGP, 2D/3D, 32 MB SGRAM,
OpenGL, multi monitor multi-desktop software available? |
| fixed drive | DVD |
| module bay | floppy drive, CD-burner, second LiIon battery second battery allows for 6 – 8 hours of continuous operation (approx. 2 – 3 hours with DVD playback) |
| network | 3COM Ethernet/56K V.90 modem combo |
| ports | 2 x USB, 1 x parallel, 1 x serial, 1 x fast IrDA infrared, 1 x PS/2, 3 x audio (+ built-in microphone and speakers), 1 x S-VHS TV output, 1 x digital audio output (S/PDIF), 1 x port replicator, 1 x IEEE 1394 firewire |
| misc. | 1 x PCMCIA type III or 2 x type II, touchpad and trackstick, 5 x coloured handrests, 1 x integrated antenna for wireless LAN |
| accessories | external keyboard (PS/2), external Logitech optical mouse (USB), 4 port USB hub, Handspring Visor Deluxe Ice/black PDAs (USB), CompactFlash PCMCIA adapter, Nikon Coolpix digital camera, Altec Lansing ATP-3 subwoofer system, ... |
There seems to be a restriction of some Linux fdisks (e. g. in RedHat 6.2) who refuse to create partitions exceeding 1 024 cylinders. Win2KPro does not have problems booting from higher cylinder addresses.
For selecting a partition, see the section on Boot Managers.
PCMCIA CompactFlash card was detected as drive c: (and suggested for installation target), hard disk as drive d:. Had to shut down, remove card, reboot, otherwise drive would afterwards have been known as d: and could not be renamed.
Drivers from shipped CDs installed without problems (though first I was not sure about the brand of my ethernet/modem combo — it's a 3COM, and the Intel Mini-PCI driver has to be installed first). Ethernet + internet connection/modem sharing works, though one might have to reboot to get the proper network configuration.
When I hot-plugged my ZIP USB CD-Writer
during installation of Adaptec's burner software,
it triggered a new hardware found event
+ caused instant blue screen + machine reboot.
Machine hung. Tried rebooting in save mode. Save mode no longer worked — machine hung.
Removed all unnecessary devices (including the burner). No way.
Fell back to last known good configuration. Could then boot again.
Uninstalled and reinstalled burner software.
Am able to use both (internal + external) burners with Easy CD Creator, DirectCD, etc.
Together with the DVD + the CompactFlash PCMCIA adapter this is a total of four mass storage devices!
Have slight problems with detection of DVD disks. Might require a machine reboot before DVDs are playable. Inserting a DVD and closing the door can cause a blue screen + machine reboot.
I tried several Linux distributions + LILOs:
... WinNT boot loader: bootpart??? ... (to come soon)
The following section explains how to install SuSE Linux 7.1 Professional.
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... (more info to appear soon) linux reads NTFS + FAT-32 filesystems ftp pcmcia.sourceforge.net cd /pub/pcmcia-cs dir binary hash get pcmcia-cs-3.1.25.tar.gz - /etc/init.rd patch; PCMCIA download/install - /etc/lilo.conf: adding "lba32" (not necessary) + other boot prompts configuring Logitech optical USB mouse wheel press Fn-F1 any time! (as told by ...)