[conspire] (forw) Re: Linux install at CABAL meeting

Fri Nov 6 15:57:19 PST 2015

----- Forwarded message from John Dwyer <juanito101 at gmail.com> -----

Date: Fri, 6 Nov 2015 10:30:08 -0800
From: John Dwyer <juanito101 at gmail.com>
To: installers at linuxmafia.com
Subject: Linux install at CABAL meeting

Hi,

I read about "installfests" online, and found a local one and your
website...

I would like some help in installing Linux on my old laptop...

It's a Dell Inspiron 1520 with 4GB RAM, 160 GB HD.

I was able to successfully download the Ubuntu 14.04 iso 64 bit and install
on the laptop.

The main problem is that it doesn't recognize either the ethernet or
wireless, so no network connections. From Googling, I think it's probably
related to the drivers. (Broadcomm?)

However, a lot of the explanations were beyond me, as a Linux newbie.

I tried some of the solutions, which meant going to another PC and
downloading stuff on to a USB and using the USB to load the files on the
laptop, but alas, didn't work.

I'm planning on attending the next meeting (Sat 11/14, 4:00pm ?), so
perhaps I could get some tips and help. (The Desktop is quite confusing to
me as well, quite a bit different from what I've used in other Linux GUIs,
like for Mint or Fedora that I had poked around before. Seems different
than what I had seen from Ubuntu as well, it sounds like there was some
type of change in philosophy in the Ubuntu fork)

thanks,
john dwyer
e-mail: juanito101 at gmail.com

----- End forwarded message -----
----- Forwarded message from Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> -----

Date: Fri, 6 Nov 2015 15:55:54 -0800
From: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>
To: John Dwyer <juanito101 at gmail.com>
Cc: installers at linuxmafia.com
Subject: Re: Linux install at CABAL meeting
Reply-To: installers at linuxmafia.com
Organization: If you lived here, you'd be $HOME already.

Quoting John Dwyer (juanito101 at gmail.com):

> I read about "installfests" online, and found a local one and your
> website...
> 
> I would like some help in installing Linux on my old laptop...
> 
> It's a Dell Inspiron 1520 with 4GB RAM, 160 GB HD.
> 
> I was able to successfully download the Ubuntu 14.04 iso 64 bit and install
> on the laptop.

Looks like Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS currently the preferred installation.  
Is that what you have?

> The main problem is that it doesn't recognize either the ethernet or
> wireless, so no network connections. From Googling, I think it's probably
> related to the drivers. (Broadcomm?)

Some initial comments, and this is not intended to discourage you, but 
rather as background information.  Dell Computer is probably the worst
practitioner today of what I call the 'chipset du jour problem'.  
Because they promote the 'Dell' branding as the information the customer
is intended to rely on, they feel free to alter without notice what 
subassemblies and chips comprise each of their models.  Two Inspiron
1520 units may have very different subassemblies, and Dell is very 
vague about public information concerning the chipsets it uses.

Anyway, my compliments for having googled to investigate.  In these
cases, Web-searching on your make & model of laptop with the word
'linux' is invariably your first step.  In doing that myself, and
digging a bit further to find the specific chipsets Dell used in
designing your laptop, I come up with this brief... dossier, which I
offer for your information:

Ethernet chip:  Broadcom BCM4401-B0 chip compatible with the b44 kernel module.
Wireless chip:  Like most laptop manufacturers, Dell uses a miniPCI
   card in the laptop's miniPCI slot, where the slot is
   customer-accessible and cards are in general quite cheap and 
   easy to swap in and out.  Accordingly, if the bundled miniPCI 
   card gives you problems, you _can_ end-run the problem by buying
   one with better Linux support and selling off the original.
   o  Intel 3945ABG.  Easiest, preferred.  Use ipw3945 module.
   o  Intel 4965AGN
   Drivers for these two Intel chips require installation of firmware BLOBs.
   o  Dell 1390
   o  Dell 1490
   o  Broadcom BCM4311 chip requires the b43 kernel module.
   o  Some other Broadcom chips required the b43legacy driver.
   Both the b43 and b43legacy drivers require installation of 
   firmware BLOBs.  
   https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43
   https://wiki.debian.org/bcm43xx

Stuff that won't matter but may be of interest to you:
CPU:  Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 1.8GHz 
Motherboard SoC:  Intel GM965
DVD-RW: TSSTcorp DVD+/-RW TS-L632H 8X
USB:  Intel 82801 UHCI, EHCI
Bluetooth:  Broadom BCM2045
Sound:   Intel ICH8 HD Audio - intel8x0 (Sigmatel)
Graphics chip:  NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS.  Install the synaptic
   package for the touchpad. 
   https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Dell_Inspiron_1520
SATA chip:  Intel 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E family) 
Firewire:  Ricoh Co Ltd R5C83 controller 
SD card slot:  Ricoh R5C843 MMC Host controller, R5C592 Memory Stick Bus
   Host Adapter, xD-Picture Card Controller
HDD: Fujitsu MHW2160BH 160GB SATA
Internal modem:  ?  (I'm not sure there always is one, and this 
   may depend on options selected at purchase time.)

Useful pages:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2154459
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1974006
http://drwho.virtadpt.net/archive/2008/02/19/linux-on-the-dell-inspiron-1520

The first of those links has what is _prboably_ the solution to your 
problem.  It would be good to know from you what specific chips you 
have.   Please open a terminal console and get the results of these
commands, and send that back to me.  (To do that, you can copy and paste
from the terminal console into a text editor, save that to a file, then
put that file on a USB flash drive.  If you cannot do that, and it's too
many lines to transcribe accurately, take a photo of the screen and send
me that.)

lspci -nnk | grep -iA2 net
lsusb
lsmod
ifconfig -a
iwconfig
rfkill list

Of those, the first three commands are the most important.

Anyway, sure we can help you at the CABAL meeting.  Advance preparation
always helps, though.

> I'm planning on attending the next meeting (Sat 11/14, 4:00pm ?), so
> perhaps I could get some tips and help. (The Desktop is quite confusing to
> me as well, quite a bit different from what I've used in other Linux GUIs,
> like for Mint or Fedora that I had poked around before. Seems different
> than what I had seen from Ubuntu as well, it sounds like there was some
> type of change in philosophy in the Ubuntu fork)

Yeah, I'm personally just not an Ubuntu fan in general, and think the
Linux Mint variants are better options for people inclined towards
Ubuntu for some reason.

----- End forwarded message -----