I know this list is committed to debian on laptops, but see quite a few references to debian derivatives, so perhaps this is not entirely OT.
When I install on a desktop box, I can be reasonably sure to get most of a working system. Sound sometimes needs a tweak, but generally everything is at least useable. Not so on laptops. I have been using a couple of older thinkpads (560 and 600E) for some time, but never been able to get sound, modem, etc working, and sometimes when I close the lid, applications are frozen when I re-open it. I have now inherited from my son this Dell Inspiron 8200. The same issues apply, and the system freezes if I close the lid. I am sure I could overcome many of these problems if I dedicate two or three days to each, but I don't have enough time for that. So the question is this: Are there distros that install on laptops with as much success as standard net-install does on a desktop? I know that some live cd's overcome hardware issues better than the normal install. I originally arrived at debian via knoppix3.1, for example. I keep seeing ubuntu mentioned here. I have reached the point when I would settle for a derived system that worked even against my preference to keep all machines on debian. Alternatively/additionally, should I backtrack to a 2.4 kernel? udev seems to require a huge amount of tailoring of things that used to happen automatically, and again, I don't really have time to learn a whole new set of manual configurations -- in fact it seems to me like a step backwards to have to write a configuration for every device by hand (or perhaps I've misunderstood how udev works). Any guidance would be welcome. TIA -- richard -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
