Linux + Laptop = No No? A question for those who know..

[Adwodon 0]

This is a question out of pure curiosity.I was talking to a friend about linux, and I said I was considering putting it on my laptop, just to see what it was like (alas im not good enough to use linux properly, as much as I wish I was a super programmer :'( )And his immediate reaction was no no no!!He told me that if you mess with linux kernals (i have a vague idea what they are but dont ask me anything haha) that it will screw over the laptops bios chip (I know what that is ) and your lappy will be damned for all eternity....Could anyone confirm / explain this to me?And maybe explain kernals? So I know hehe, im a curious chap I also have some questions about programming but ill leave them for later

[moonwitch1405241479 0]

Well, you can mess up your hardware whether you're on a laptop or a desktop. The only difference is portability of the machine I've ran Linux on both desktops and laptops. The one thing I can add about linux on laptops, is that my IBM Thinkpad 390E runs on battery for 20 min in Win 2000 Pro and for 3 hrs in Linux. In all my years on linux (about 3 or 4) I have never had major issues. And before you dive into kernel work, learn to use the system, learn to love it, read about it, breathe it... And keep cool. It may look a bit overwhelming at first, but it's very ok

[qwijibow 0]

He told me that if you mess with linux kernals (i have a vague idea what they are but dont ask me anything haha) that it will screw over the laptops bios chip (I know what that is tongue.gif) and your lappy will be damned for all eternity....

the most simple explanation would be that your friend has heard the words bios, and kernel, but doesnt actually know what they are.

yuo dont need to be a porgrammer, and you dont need to alter the linux kernel for laptops.

in the oldern days, if you used linux on a laptop, you could kiss goodbye to all those thinks that required special drivers.. like making it shut down automatically when you closed the lid.

but thats not so tru today.

As always, check compatability before you install.

but the worst possable thing that could happen, if you will have an un-supported wireless lan card, which mans no wireless internet in linux.

You may notice linux eats your battery power more quickly too, most linux distro's default to performance settings, rather than powersave.

and just for the fun of it.....

a kernel is the first thing loaded into memory when you boot, it controlls all hardware at the very lowest level, and manages memory. also containss device drivers.

and the bios chip contains a little program that starts the whole boot sequence, it tells your cpu how fast to run, chooses what disks are booted... and if you hit certain keys at the first boot screen (usually the DEL key) you get to have a look around some bios settings.

The bios does lots of hardware stuff.. but linux doesnt touch the bios.

[madcrow 0]

I've NEVER had a problem with Linux on my Laptop. It works fine.

[kaputnik 0]

I've NEVER had a problem with Linux on my Laptop. It works fine.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've been using Windows in a verity of versions through a number of laptops.. and I've always cried bloody murder every time I have to upgrade.. It costs a bomb.. BUT.. more importantly.. there are a lot of products out there that are supposed to be plug and play.. but arn't recognized by Windows OS.. I've just recieved an IrDA dongle attachable through a USB for my laptop and even though I've gone to the supplier's website and downloaded the latest drivers for XP.. the computer still doesn't recognize the hardware.. and its the same deal for my USB multi-card reader.. HORROR...

 

So at the moment... I've got all 7 ISO images for Debian Linux downloading (which should take a bit of a while... BUT, I've finally decided to switch to Linux..

 

So now I'm desperately locating various config settings etc for my Modems.. drivers for my various peripherals.. and keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well..

 

I do suppose I'll be the most frequent visitor to the Linux Forum over the next 2-3 months while I get used to managing my computer..

 

Wish me luck.. !!

[X-Wes 0]

Congratulations on your initiative to switch though!

 

I have to warn ahead of time that Debian can be considered a less candy-coated flavour of Linux. There are several Debian-based distributions that hold the user's hand much more firmly, such as Ubuntu. However, if you do decide to go for Debian, I wish you all the luck, since I may be considering switching to Debian (on a laptop, no less) very soon. Perhaps, if one of us runs into trouble, the other can lend a hand where it's possible. Either that...or we'll both be in this forum soliciting answers to questions

 

If you do run into problems, please take a look at debianHELP, a great community-driven support site. I've been able to work out a few minor issues there in the past; try it out if you like.

 

Other than that, I do hope that you manage to get things rolling. If you run into a situation where you need help with something that's general to all Linuxes, try out the Linux Documentation Project. Lots of great HOWTOs, as well as a few full books--one of which I'm in the process of reading.

 

And of course, as always, best of luck

[qwijibow 0]

Good luck with debian, but be warned, its one of the *power distro's*, it wont hug you just cos youve never used *nix before like some linux distro's will.Wow... 7cd's !Debian has grown a bit since i last used a CD based distro ! (i thought slackware 9 was big.. 4cd's)

[Rhizome21 0]

Well I have read that HP is going to sell some laptops with Linux installed.

[jonypawks 0]

I remembered when I was thinking of buying a laptop I was trying to find out which laptops had the best supported hardware. I found linux laptops to be extremely helpful. Maybe this is what you need, but if you're installing debian I think you'll be okay, it looks like it'll go on anything.

[marijnnn 0]

never had problems with linux on my laptop. oh, one thing maybe: if i change the cd, it won't mount but that's more a problem with my laptop than with linux.really, go for it. if you're doubting, backup your files before you do. it won't kill your computer. in the worst case scenario, you'll **** up and loose your windows installation (you just have to be carefull when you're asked about where it should be put and partition info), but if you make the right choices, all will be fine. and if it isn't, it won't kill your computer. a simple windows re-installation or a format should do the trick.beginners, you might wanna try out mandrake linux. it has a nice configuration panel that looks just like the windows one. it's like linux power for windows kiddo's. linux, you gotta love it

[kaputnik 0]

beginners, you might wanna try out mandrake linux. it has a nice configuration panel that looks just like the windows one. it's like linux power for windows kiddo's.

 

linux, you gotta love it

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well just as a multiple redundency .. I'm also getting ahold of Mandrake...

lol.. its soon getting to the point where I'll be taking the leap.. and I'm making very sure there'll be no looking back..

What I really did want to know is that.. is it possible to format my HDD before I install Linux.. ie.. to remove the windows installation as well as all the junk I've accumulated on my drive over the last 3 years...??

 

Also... is it very difficult getting hold of drivers for the more older products.. like my IBM 8 GB external HDD ...

[marijnnn 0]

don't worry about your drive, it'll work!if you're really sure about completely switching to windows, do this:when asked about partition info, just say you want to do it yourself (advanced mode or something)then, delete all partitions.make one swap partition, about the same size of the amount of ram memory you have. if you have 512mb ram, make one of at least 512mb. then, the choice is yours. best idea would be to create 2 partitions:one ext3 filesystem partition, which has mountpoint "/" (that's where linux will be), and another one, that could be win95 fat32 (if you want to be able to easily access it from windows), or ext3(if you're sure you don't want to use windows anymore) for documents, movies,...i'd advise you to keep windows though.howto? first, setup windows. in the beginning of the installation, delete all current partitions and make one for your windows system. leave the rest of your drive like it is. install windows. then install linux. do the same as said above. only, don't delete the current partitions or you'll loose your fresh windows installation.the fat32 disk will alow you to access movies, music & documents from both os, which is nice!i still use xp for things like photoshop, some games, and some tools i got used to over the years.however, mandrake has a great software manager.once you installed it, go on the net and search info about urpmi mandrake. you'll learn how to add sources for software, updates,...then, in control panel, go for software and go for "install software"there you can search through the descriptionsfor instance, if you look for a mysql gui client, just type mysql and search. you'll find mysqlcc. press install, it'll be installed in a minute.you can manually update your start-menu (in prompt: udate-menus)or just wait after a reboot. this is just one example. there's a lot of software available like that (5000+ packages)the update thing is also cool. just choose what you want to update (everything is the easiest thing and press install. it'll take a while if you run it the first time, but afterwards, it's quite fast.really mandrake is soooo easy and still has the linux power. big recommendation, especially for beginners.! it became mandriva linux now!as for now, there's no free edition (maybe on some ftp servers, and bittorrent, but you'll have to search for that). free edition will be available on the offical site as from may 1st if all goes well.

[jedipi 0]

I just found a very good website for those who want to install linux in their laptop.

here you go: http://www.linux-laptop.net/

it is an index of information and documentation for installing
Linux operating system on a notebook or laptop computer.

You also can contribute, and publish your information for document to the web page,

[ihope1405241495 0]

And his immediate reaction was no no no!!
He told me that if you mess with linux kernals (i have a vague idea what they are but dont ask me anything haha) that it will screw over the laptops bios chip (I know what that is ) and your lappy will be damned for all eternity....

In short: your friend is wrong.

As someone else said, it looks like your friend decided to look smart by making a coherent yet meaningless sentence out of 'linux', 'kernel', 'bios' and 'screw'.

And as for the kernel: imagine your computer is a long strip of land. The kernel would be the North Pole, and there resides the Church of the Keylord. There's a magical tower there, and whenever you press a key it makes the Kernel Kart ride over to a different spot and do something else.

[remy 0]

If youre worried about the installation process of a linux os on a laptop, and dont mind working with a Debian based os you should check out ubuntu. Its a 'breadth' of Debian that automatically checks your hardware and stuff, i use it on my laptop. Its a brease to install and is great if youre worried about messing up your hardware by accidentally setting something wrong.

Ubuntu // Linux