Note: For some reason Google Search often links to this post that is not the most appropriate one. To find better suggestion use the blog search function.Suse 9.0: (2004-2005)
An ancient distribution nowadays. nVidia drivers were not included, difficulties to mount USB drives etc.
Debian (Sarge): (2005-2006)
It was quite an improvement compared to the previous Suse 9.0 but didn't work with my PCMCIA wireless.
Gentoo: (2 days)
I use KDE. After 5 hours of compilation (kernel and kdebase) I tried to compile k3b - it was not enough so it asked for more - got a format... The installer was not clever enough to configure GRUB to coop with my Windows... took me me lot of nerves to find out the reason and fix it.
Kubuntu 6.06 (Dapper): (2006 - )
It is a pleasure to install and work with this distribution. There was a problem installing from the LiveCD desktop edition so I have done it from the text based alternate edition. Later 6.06.1 version probably fixes that issue. In both cases the initial hardware recognition reports that the BIOS has a well known bug! The guys implementing the KDE have managed to screw up the upgrading capability of this version so... I am stuck with t 6.06 for now.
nVidia drivers are included as restricted modules. Kernel updates are almost flawless. I have 386 & 686 kernels as options. Minor upgrades replaces the old kernels, but in case of major changes you get the new kernel while keeping the old intact and still functional!
USB mass storage works fine - it doesn't sync properly but I can live with it. Wireless is OK. Latest Skype 1.3.053 works excellent with the arts daemon.
You can control the brightness of the screen from KDE - there is a module for SONY laptops that works fine with the model. Volume and brightness buttons are not recognized (not bounded to any events - i did not bother to fix it since I don't use it that often). The special function keys are misaligned and not fully functional but better that any previous distribution.
If you change to powersaved daemon you will be able to change manually the performance profiles from the system tray where the battery information appears or automatically depending on the situation AC/battery power supply. You can even play with the HDD performance - if you have time to waste playing with the config files.
I have never managed to properly suspend or hibernate the computer (nVidia causes enough troubles). There are long guides how to shut down some services and restart them later, but if the only way to hibernate or suspend is to exit the X server (because of the nVidia) - I will rather turn off the computer. I have never found a way to switch or bring the signal to the external monitor after the X server is started (nVidia drivers and tools related problems).
Knoppix:
There was a problem with the version prior 3.5 that one must disable the ACPI support. Latest version 5.0.1 works like a charm - network, hot plugs... The DVD drive is not the fastest and it takes some time to boot and run programs. I have tried poor's man installation by copying the KNOPPIX folder on some of the partitions on the hard disk or on an external USB disk and then it flies. The internal HDD is not that fast so the option on the external USB works faster. The images for the DVD version are splited on files up to 2GB (it is actually DVD iso format restriction) so you can easily "install" it on FAT32. You can go further and copy the kernel files and put a option in the GRUB menu and then you can boot even without the CD/DVD. Having the Knoppix image on the disk is not only faster to run but you get your DVD device free for whatever reason you will need it.
Using GRUB to boot Knoppix images.
(I don't take any responsibility for any damage or etc. that your attempts might cause)
First copy the contents of /boot of the Knoppix CD-ROM to a boot partition on your hard drive, for example "/boot.knoppix". This partition may be ext2/3, reiserfs or even a vfat partition, all of which are supported by grub.
Copy the /KNOPPIX directory from the Knoppix CD-ROM to the top level (root, "/") directory of the file system on any hard disk or partition on your system.
Add and change accordingly the following to your /boot/grub/menu.lst :
Note: The parameter "fromhd=" is used to specify the disk location of the file system where you previously copied the /KNOPPIX directory.
I have never managed to properly suspend or hibernate the computer (nVidia causes enough troubles). There are long guides how to shut down some services and restart them later, but if the only way to hibernate or suspend is to exit the X server (because of the nVidia) - I will rather turn off the computer. I have never found a way to switch or bring the signal to the external monitor after the X server is started (nVidia drivers and tools related problems).
Knoppix:
There was a problem with the version prior 3.5 that one must disable the ACPI support. Latest version 5.0.1 works like a charm - network, hot plugs... The DVD drive is not the fastest and it takes some time to boot and run programs. I have tried poor's man installation by copying the KNOPPIX folder on some of the partitions on the hard disk or on an external USB disk and then it flies. The internal HDD is not that fast so the option on the external USB works faster. The images for the DVD version are splited on files up to 2GB (it is actually DVD iso format restriction) so you can easily "install" it on FAT32. You can go further and copy the kernel files and put a option in the GRUB menu and then you can boot even without the CD/DVD. Having the Knoppix image on the disk is not only faster to run but you get your DVD device free for whatever reason you will need it.
Using GRUB to boot Knoppix images.
(I don't take any responsibility for any damage or etc. that your attempts might cause)
First copy the contents of /boot of the Knoppix CD-ROM to a boot partition on your hard drive, for example "/boot.knoppix". This partition may be ext2/3, reiserfs or even a vfat partition, all of which are supported by grub.
Copy the /KNOPPIX directory from the Knoppix CD-ROM to the top level (root, "/") directory of the file system on any hard disk or partition on your system.
Add and change accordingly the following to your /boot/grub/menu.lst :
title KNOPPIX 3.7 kernel 2.4
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/knoppix37/linux24 ramdisk_size=100000 apm=power-off vga=791 from=/dev/hda6 lang=us keyboard=us home=scan
initrd /boot/knoppix37/minirt24.gz
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/knoppix37/linux24 ramdisk_size=100000 apm=power-off vga=791 from=/dev/hda6 lang=us keyboard=us home=scan
initrd /boot/knoppix37/minirt24.gz
Note: The parameter "fromhd=" is used to specify the disk location of the file system where you previously copied the /KNOPPIX directory.
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