Linux For Laptop

[catacon]

Hey Everybody,

I just purchased an older Toshiba Satellite 3005-S403 and was wanting to put Linux on it. I have a few questions before I do so, though.

1) What is the best distro for laptops? I have heard that Ubuntu is good. Are there any others?

2) Is it safe to reformat the HD? I have heard that some laptops have a boot sector on the hard drive and if it is removed (after a reformat or whatever) the laptop can not boot. Is this an issue with my laptop?

3) This laptop has buttons that allow you to start playing CD's or MP3's without having to start the laptop. Will reformatting remove these functions?

I'm sure I will have more questions later, but that's it for now.

Thanks!

[LocoCoyote]

Lets see........

1) I always use Knoppix first. If I can get it to boot and all the hardware is fine, then just about any distro will work on your laptop. If there are hardware issues, then you need to do some google work to see if a fix is currently possible

2) In most cases it is safe to reformat your HD. Aside from size, the is little functional differeance between a laptop HD and a dsektop HD. All HDs have a boot sector.

3) You will most likely be out of luck. These buttons tend to be OS driven..meaning Windoze and few have Linux alternatives. But again, google it and do some research.
here are a couple to get you started:

http://gentoo-wiki.com/HARDWARE_Gent...lite_3005-S403

http://linux.toshiba-dme.co.jp/linux/eng/speclist.php3

[catacon]

Well, I installed Debian and it seems to work fine. It detected the hardware and everything and runs nice. The only problem is I need a battery monitoring tool. Know of any?

[rightcoast]

I haven't ever worked with Debian on a Toshiba, but what you are looking for is ACPI. Look around and there may be a guide somewhere on getting it to work correctly on your laptop. Good Luck. HTH.

[catacon]

I tried Ubuntu (after Debian got on my nerves) and it works even better. It detected everything and works with the battery fine. The battery life seems fairly good and my battery isn't the best, either. So even though Debian worked nice, I would recommened Ubuntu. Plus, Ubuntu has a new version more than once a decade.

[glc]

Ubuntu is just a customized Debian.

[MichaelS]

For what it's worth, I have a Toshiba Satellite 5200 that's used with Slackware Linux.

I found that once I enabled ACPI for Toshiba in the kernel, recompiled it, and used it, I had access to a whole other host of features.

You can view the Battery status in your favourite X Windows manager, in particular, KDE, by right clicking on the system tray area, click on Add to Panel, Applet, and then I think it was Battery.

You can also do some fun stuff like control the fan, control the screen brightness, control outputs via the /proc/acpi/toshiba area

Mike