[sf-lug] Ubuntu User wannabe!

[Rick Moen]

Quoting jim (jim at systemateka.com):

> rick's _very_ generous infodump may be a little 
> too much for some, but it's valuable and worth 
> figuring out. if you want translation or hand-
> holding, ask. 

I see I forgot to include the link about how to burn or order 'Windows 7
recovery discs' for the HP Mini 110-3100.  It's here:

http://bizsupport1.austin.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=115&prodSeriesId=4247541&prodTypeId=321957&objectID=c00810334

To further explain the first part of my post:  For a Linux distro to
support a given set of hardware, the distro's kernel, X11 software,
printer drivers, etc. must include drivers that can auto-recognise and
successfully communicate with the hardware's underlying chipsets.  Thus, 
the best way to determine a unit's distro support status is to first
identify its chipsets, then determine what drivers/revisions know about
those chipsets, then find out if distro Foo has recent enough drivers.

So, I did my best to research and inventory what chipsets an HP Mini
110-3100 uses, in each major area.  Generally, what you care about is
the motherboard Southbridge chip (which covers most I/O), the ethernet
chip (if it's separate), the sound chip (if it's separate), the wireless
chip, and the video graphics chip.  The usual problem areas are wireless
and video, especially on brand-new machine models, and especially if the
chips are from the major horse's-rear-end manufacturers (Broadcom,
Nvidia, Marvell).

The bit about partitions was to make the point that the usual LUG
strategy of making one existing partition smaller using some
non-destructive partition tool and then shoehorning in a Linux-native
partition and a swap partition isn't going to work.  So, either blowing
everything away or using a workaround becomes necessary.

(An SF-LUG member wrote me offlist to suggest VirtualBox would also
work.  Sure, that or anything similar.  Depends on what the machine
owner wants to do.)