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Linux on uniwill 223II0

post #1 of 38
9/10/04 at 3:05pm
Thread Starter 
Hi...just got my lovely 223II0. Can't wait to get linux on it eventhough it already comes with a small linux distro (Cyberlink Powercinema linux)

My Specs:

1.7Ghz dothan
1x512MB Kingston pc2700
40GB 4200rpm Hitachi
DVD/CDR-W combo
Intel ipw2100 wifi card

I personally run gentoo linux on all my desktops and laptops, only my ultra sparc5 runs solaris9. Currently my 223 runs on windows xp pro and powercinema linux. I am going to install gentoo linux and dual boot with windows xp pro. I have booted the 223 with knoppix 3.6 with 2.6.8 kernel and it works like a charm. Everything (ACPI,i810 graphics, sound, USB, firewire, PCMCIA, ethernet) was detected except for centrino-speedstep. I havent tried the card reader yet.

Currently I think only gentoo linux is using the lastest gcc 3.4 which supports the CFLAG: pentium-m. I think the laptopkernel project patch is already integrated with the 2.6.x kernel. I am still looking for a patch for latest 2.6.x patch to recognise dothan's 2MB cache. Now it only recognise 64KB but I was told that it does utilise the 2MB cache. I am planning to maintain a centrino kernel patchset with lastest acpi, speedstep patches.

My machine did not come with the powercinema linux cd. Does anyone know where I can get hold of one? I am going to install my OS into this partitions:

/dev/hda1 20GB NTFS winxp
/dev/hda2 512MB ext2 linux boot partition
/dev/hda3 1GB linux swap partition
/dev/hda4 18GB reiserfs4 root partition
/dev/hda5 540MB powercinema partition

I read the manual that comes with the machine that powercinema have to be on the fourth partition and some forums say that it must be atleast 540MB. Will the bios boot /dev/hda5 when I press the 'P' button? or should I move the powercinema partition to /dev/hda4? Wouldn't it be great to have a bios setting where I can boot into which ever partition when I press the 'P' button. Maybe uniwill will release a bios able to do that if enough ppl request it. checkout http://www.uniwill.com/forums
I mounted the powercinema partition and notice that it contains lots of unneeded stuff to be able to play dvd/divx/mp3. Maybe I can hack powercinema linux and save some MBs and add some extra features(anyone like to have a PVR linux laptop? a portable tiVO!!), 500MB seems a bit too large for a media player partition.

Anyways, I am going to install gentoo linux and write up a HOWTO for whoever is interested.

ps: linuxcertified.com sells the 223II0 preloaded with your choice of linux.

regards,
Lenk
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post #2 of 38
9/21/04 at 4:45pm

N223II0 1280x800 support in linux

Hi,

I've been inspired by your post.

After battling with SuSe 9.1 for a while, I gave up and tried Mandrake. It's actually working quite well so far. I'm just havingtrouble getting the native 1280x800 supported.

What did you have to do (if anything) to your XF86Config file? I've tried a million things, and I can't get it right. Might you send me a copy??

Thanks in advance.
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post #3 of 38
10/25/04 at 9:20pm
Thread Starter 
http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.p...highlight=wxga

Read this post and it will solve your problem.

regards,
Lenk
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post #4 of 38
10/31/04 at 9:53pm
Lenk, I'm eagerly looking forward to your Gentoo install howto. Please let us know when it's up.

My uniwill 223II arrived two days ago. I tried without success to install Fedora Core 2, and Fedora Core 3 test3. Both installs hung when they got to /sbin/loader (froze with no disk activity). Searching the web revealed that many people have had the same problem on different laptops. The most common explaination seems to be a failure with hardware detection, either DVD drive or USB. I tried without success installing using:
linux hdc=none nousb skipddc
and:
linux noprobe

The same Fedora CD install would get past /sbin/loader when I tried it on a Dell Inspiron 4150 laptop. So the CD burn seems ok.

If anyone has got Fedora Core 2 or Core 3 installed on the uniwill 223ii please let me know. In the meantime I'd be interested to try installing Gentoo, especially if Lenk has a howto available.

---
Uniwill 223II, 2.0Ghz Centrino, 1x1GB Samsung
60GB 7200rpm Hitachi, Intel pro 2200 wifi, 24xDVD/CD+RW
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post #5 of 38
11/2/04 at 1:37am
After flashing the bios on my new Uniwill 223II0, I'm able to get past /sbin/loader on the Fedora Core 3 test3 install CD. I haven't had time to do the install, but at least I've made some progress.

---
Uniwill 223II, 2.0Ghz Centrino, 1x1GB Samsung
60GB 7200rpm Hitachi, Intel pro 2200 wifi, 24xDVD/CD+RW
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post #6 of 38
3/9/05 at 4:34pm
I recently purchsed this laptop, and I have to say I am very pleased with it's performance and portability.

It came with XP Pro, but I have decided to install Fedora C3.

I have heard a lot about Gentoo and Debian, and may also try those 2 flavours.

My only issue right now is getting the Intel 2200 WiFi to connect to my AP.

lenk, I have a similar setup on my 223, and can't wait for your walk through. I think my only concern is how easy/well the WiFi install goes.

As far as the PowerCinema/Instantplay feature I left the original partitian. I would like to see how far you get with a custm config. I agree, it is a awful lot of space for the simple functions that software provides.


^_^_^
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post #7 of 38
3/10/05 at 4:21am
I just finished installing Ubuntu on my 223. Fedora was nice, but I think this fits a bit better. Ubuntu found everything right away, and even the WiFi came right up.

When I have more time to mess around, I want to try out Fedora C3 again on this lappy. I'm also looking to try out Gentoo, so maybe in a few weeks I will reinstall.


^_^_^
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post #8 of 38
3/10/05 at 4:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by xemplify
Lenk, I'm eagerly looking forward to your Gentoo install howto. Please let us know when it's up.

My uniwill 223II arrived two days ago. I tried without success to install Fedora Core 2, and Fedora Core 3 test3. Both installs hung when they got to /sbin/loader (froze with no disk activity). Searching the web revealed that many people have had the same problem on different laptops. The most common explaination seems to be a failure with hardware detection, either DVD drive or USB. I tried without success installing using:
linux hdc=none nousb skipddc
and:
linux noprobe

The same Fedora CD install would get past /sbin/loader when I tried it on a Dell Inspiron 4150 laptop. So the CD burn seems ok.

If anyone has got Fedora Core 2 or Core 3 installed on the uniwill 223ii please let me know. In the meantime I'd be interested to try installing Gentoo, especially if Lenk has a howto available.

---
Uniwill 223II, 2.0Ghz Centrino, 1x1GB Samsung
60GB 7200rpm Hitachi, Intel pro 2200 wifi, 24xDVD/CD+RW
I was able to successfully install Fedora C3 on my 223. I didn't run into any problems, except I could not get my WiFi card to grab an IP. Fedora looks great, and I think is a very good fit on any laptop.


^_^_^
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post #9 of 38
4/10/05 at 1:14pm
Hi Lenk!
I am new to this forum.

I am also considering to buy uniwill 223II0 and to install Linux on it.
Thanks for opening this useful topic.

I found another useful link treating this issue:
22 November 04. Linux on the Alienware Sentia, Asus M5N, or Uniwill 223II0
http://fluff.info/blog/arch/archive-112004.html

I never installed anything myself being a user at the university linux network managed by the administrator. So all this sounds scary to me. However, it's time to go through it.

I will be very much interested to read your HOWTO.

This model is being sold in Germany as NEXOC Osiris S602 produced by www.nexoc.de
I am going to purchase it here: http://notebookzentrale.de/product_i...products_id=54
which appears to be the best offer in Germany.
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post #10 of 38
4/12/05 at 10:27am

Dual Booting

I'm currently running WinXP SP2 on this notebook, and it is pretty stable. I'm throwing around the idea of dual booting, Win/*nix but unsure on what flavour to use.

I really like Ubuntu, the install went well and it configured everything. I'm still trying to figure out why the WiFi was giving me trouble under FC3.

Any one else here have FC3 running on the 223II?


^_^_^
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post #11 of 38
4/21/05 at 6:31pm
Hi all, nice topic!
I´ve also just ordered myself a 223 lappy. I´m planning on installing the newest Suse 9.3 on it. I´m a bit suprised noone has tried it, since it is supposed to work very well with laptops. Also Mandriva (Mandrake) is supposed to work very well with this laptop. But really, no worries if you have it running Fedora and Ubuntu without problems.

How is the ACPI by the way, I´ve heard it takes some doing to get it to work.

Waiting for your HOWTO also
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post #12 of 38
4/25/05 at 6:54pm
No one really has tried Suse on this machine? Well I´ll guess I´ll be the first one. I´m getting really anxious about getting the laptop, taking too long
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post #13 of 38
4/25/05 at 6:55pm
Also if anyone has any helpful links about this laptop or about installing linux on it, this would be great place to post them. One that I found was this http://fluff.info/blog/arch/archive-112004.html .
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post #14 of 38
5/5/05 at 11:10am
Hi!

I got my uniwill 223ii0 (as Nexoc Osiris S602).
Ubuntu linux was installed without any problem.
WiFi was recognized but I did not have opportunity to check if it works.

I am not happy with the keyboard (caves in in the left hand side)
and with the rather loud fan. Both problems contradict to what I heard from the reseller,
but he is currently in contact with the assembler to fix it for me.

After I get my lappy back I also plan to install Suse 9.3. Your hints will be valuable, guys!
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post #15 of 38
5/16/05 at 11:58am

acpi support

Ok... this sound pretty good, but what about the ACPI support?

In german c't I read that the processor states c2 /c3 are not supported... and this affects the battery life...

maybe you have a look at your /proc/acpi/.../processor/.../power file, since I don't know if there was any change with the recent bios versions
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post #16 of 38
5/21/05 at 2:02am
Hi all, I'm thinking of buying a Uniwill 223II, but I can't figure out where to buy it. Can I have everyones' experiences and a web address where they bought the notebook from?

Also, I have a few questions:

how has battery life been (if you give this info, plz tell me your CPU and HDD speeds)?

is there only one standard battery, or need I watch for screwy 3rd party batteries?

anyone recommend that I build it myself?

any other pitfalls i should watch for?

PS I'll be running ubuntu on it

Thanks!!
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post #17 of 38
5/21/05 at 6:20am
Hey gang,
I got mine finally yesterday. Now it's running Suse 9.3, sweet. Works real nice, although Suspend to RAM and Suspend to HDD don't work correctly for me now. I've to find out why the monitor does wake up with the rest of the computer from the sleep. Also other problem with ACPI is that it will not underclock my 1.6ghz any lower than 600mhz, I think I've read somewhere that it could go as low as 200mhz.

Besides those to minor problems, which I'm quite confident I'll find solution for, this laptop runs linux very nicely.

Oh yes, I got much help from this site http://fluff.info/blog/arch/00000099.htm . When you want to setup your montitor correctly, follow the advice there. I had mine working in Xorg with the line:
ModeLine "1280x800" 83.91 1280 1312 1624 1656 800 816 824 841
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post #18 of 38
5/22/05 at 10:24am
Anyone have any advice on my ACPI problems? I´m using BIOS 1.08 which came with the machine. The readme in uniwills site is bit cryptic and talks about some disabled ACPI features. Would some other BIOS work any better?
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post #19 of 38
5/24/05 at 10:57am
Even risking monologue, I need to ask you guys. How hot does your sentia/uniwill223 run? And has anyone managed to get the tempererature sensor working under linux and how? Mine runs quite hot, I´d like it to use more fan, so it wont overheat.
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post #20 of 38
5/25/05 at 2:02pm
Hi,

I installed Ubuntu linux on this model without any problem.
Live CD of SUSE 9.3 also was working well, though I had no
time yet to play more with it.

Meanwhile I sent my notebook back to the assembler because of keyboard and loud fan problems. When I have it back, I will be able to tell more about linux on uniwill 223ii0.

Under which brand name this model is sold in Finnland?
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