I want to take the leap and go Linux Ubuntu

ses6jwg

Hello all.

I need some advice on two things:

I currently have a 4-year old HP Pavillion DV5201eu laptop. It has an AMD Sempron 3100+ 1.8GHZ processor and ATI 128mb graphics.

It came with a 60gb hard drive, which blew up 2 years ago and was replaced with an 80gb model.

It also came with 512mb of RAM, which I have now upgraded to 2 GB and this has made a noticable difference.

I don't really want to buy a new laptop, as this one works perfectly in most regards.

I use it for email, internet browsing, word processing and as a media server for my PS3.

I would however, like to do 2 things

1) I want to upgrade the hard drive again, to a larger capacity. The current file system is NTFS. However I am not sure what size will work in my laptop, I was hoping for around 250gb. Will there be any issues with regard to cooling with the larger size? Would it be easy to replace myself? I have changed the RAM and although not strictly a "techie" I pick up PC things easily and always willing to have a go.

2) I recently downloaded Linux Ubuntu and installed it onto CD and ran it.
I pretty much fell in love straight away as it ran so quickly. Would I be able to do everything I currently use the laptop for on Linux, and do away with MICROSOFT XP completely? LEAVING ONLY LINUX.

The only issue I found was I could not connect to my home WIFI network. I think it lacked the drivers for my Broadcom WIFI unit - and as I could not connect to the net, I could not download the drivers :rotfl: I am guessing I would have to downlaod them on my desktop and USB drive them over to my Linux laptop?

Any advice appreciated

Donnie

No issues with cooling.

If you've tried Ubuntu, then you are best qualified to answer your own question.

Apparently Broadcam don't support Linux, but there are guides to enabling wireless by doing a search online(just looked myself).

ses6jwg

Hi there, thanks for the reply.

Yes I believe I need to install the B43 Broadcom Firmware for Linux, this is what came up in the box to "activate" when I first tried it - however as I could not get internet access it could not be downloaded!

I would not want to go Linux if I could not get wireless as this is the main use of the laptop.

Can you point me in the direction of some reliable and well-priced 250gb laptop hard drives?

As for installation... I am guessing I just remove the cover and caddy, unscrew the old drive, plug the new one in... then I am guessing I just put the Ubuntu CD in the drive, power the laptop on and it should install from the CD.

Is this right?

djheath

I use a program called wicd which manages my wirless on ubuntu. It's very easy to use and works. It's the only thing I have found that allows me to use wireless effectively.

To get the hardware working have a look for ndiswrapper which uses windows drivers to get the hardware working on the linux system.

JasX

yep replacing the hard disk on a laptop is very easy and its difficult to go far wrong (just make sure you know weather the one you have has an IDE or SATA connector and buy the correct type of drive) recently upgraded OHs laptop to a 250GB 7200rpm (ie faster than 5400 drives) 32MB buffer (bigger the better) drive it cost about £40 from ebuyer but was SATA type. Swapping it involved about 6 screws.

given you're replacing the hard disk you will make moving to linux very easy -you can keep your old drive you take out 'as is' and if you ever need to go back to XP you can just pop it back in. for the upgrade you can start with your blank brand new hard disk and just install linux straight off without letting XP anywhere near the machine

if you splash out £10 on a drive case from ebuyer can even use the old drive as 80GB of portable/extra storage

elvch01

you're right about the disk install - it should be very easy to do

Donnie

I bought mine from ebuyer. I'm sure others will have their suggestions.

As long as the HDD is recognised in the BIOS, all should be fine.

Take a look for any BIOS updates to see if they add functionality.

ses6jwg

Where can I find what drive I require?

In Device Manager?

BillScarab

You can check what it is in device manager or in exlorer. Either should give you the model number of your disc. Then you cna google it to get the exact spec. Then just make sure the one you buy is the same spec but bigger and/or faster.

ses6jwg

I am on another computer ATM, but tracking down the manual it appears to be an ATA-5 interface 4200rpm

BillScarab

In that case it's an IDE (aka EIDE) drive.