9860 + WindowsXP + Fedora 3 Linux == PURE JOY

Hello All,

I've configured my 9860 to dual-boot WindowsXP and Fedora 3, and after a little bit of pain the system is running very well. I wanted to share the wealth and help anyone else with what I've learned.

Overall the process was very easy once I figured out a couple of simple things. I will note that at this point a few of my devices aren't working under Linux, however I haven't tried very hard to get them working yet, only what Fedora 3 found automatically is working right now.

What's working: 1680x1060 with nVidia video drivers, Firewire Drives, 1000Mbps networking, CD/DVD reading, Standard single processor kernel, Synaptics touch pad, external keyboard, external usb mouse

What's not working: Sound, Wireless networking, Bluetooth, SMP Kernel

What I haven't tried yet: CD Writing, DVD Writing, video confrencing, video capture, card reader, PCMCIA device

note: something is showing up in the HardwareBrowser Capture Device called "Philips Semiconductor SAA713X", also a "Promise Technology PDC20378 (FastTrak 378/SATA 378)"

NeverWinter Nights (game) is working great under Linux. I haven't tried Quake 3, Doom 3, or any others yet, but will soon.



My laptop was shipped with WindowsXP with two SATA drives configured in RAID 0 Data Stripe mode. It turns out that none of the major distros I checked out has support for the Promise raid driver built in, so I had to destroy the raid and change the BIOS to ATA mode. Once I did this Fedora 3 was able to regonize and utilize my two SATA drives.

My 9860 is configured as follows:
Geforce Go 6800 256MB 16x PCIe - 2G RAM - 3.6Ghz P4 HT - 2 60GB 5400rpm SATA [non-raid] - 8X DVD +/- R/RW - LCD 17" WSXGA + - Optional TV Turner - 802.11G Wireless LAN + Bluetooth



Here are the steps I used to configure my system:

1) Ensure BIOS is set to ATA mode, Fedora 3 does not have built-in support for the Promise Raid system.

2) Follow Computer_Potato's instructions for installing WindowsXP . When you create the driver floppy you need to use the non-raid option he describes. I installed XP to use the entire first drive, one large NTFS partition.

Computer_Potato's install instructions : http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=50726

Note: I had a number of partitions on my SATA drives that were left over from failed attempts. These partitions were confusing the WindowsXP installer, and I had to delete all partitions before I could install WindowsXP

3) Boot Fedora 3, and install. Install the boot loader on the MBR of the first drive (default option), then use the entire second drive for Linux.

I choose the "Custom install" and then the "Install Everything option". I frequently find that the installer blows up when I custom choose specific packages, so it's easier just to install everything and remove what I don't want.

4) When the installation is complete you'll need to obtain the linux drivers from nVidia and install them.

I currently have an issue where the nVidia kernel module does not auto-load, so I boot into runlevel 3 (modify /etc/inittab, change the runlevel to 3 from 5). Then I log in as root and issue the following command:

modprobe nvidia ; init 5 ; exit

4b) To get nVidia to work at 1680x1050 I had to hand tweek the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. The key was to add a special "ModeLine" option and "dpms" setting to the "Monitor" section:
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "LCD Panel 1680x1050"
HorizSync 31.5 - 90.0
VertRefresh 59.0 - 85.0
ModeLine "1680x1050" 147.1 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087 -hsync +vsync
Option "dpms"
EndSection




Note: It's probably possible to dual boot everything on a single drive, I choose to install each OS on it's own drive.

Here's my entire xorg.conf file:

# XFree86 4 configuration created by pyxf86config

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"

# RgbPath is the location of the RGB database. Note, this is the name of the
# file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db"). There is normally
# no need to change the default.
# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together)
# By default, Red Hat 6.0 and later now use a font server independent of
# the X server to render fonts.
RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
FontPath "unix/:7100"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "extmod"
Load "fbdevhw"
Load "glx"
Load "record"
Load "freetype"
Load "type1"
#Load "dri"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

# Specify which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1))
#Option"Xleds""1 2 3"
# To disable the XKEYBOARD extension, uncomment XkbDisable.
#Option"XkbDisable"
# To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the
# lines below (which are the defaults). For example, for a non-U.S.
# keyboard, you will probably want to use:
#Option"XkbModel""pc102"
# If you have a US Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use:
#Option"XkbModel""microsoft"
#
# Then to change the language, change the Layout setting.
# For example, a german layout can be obtained with:
#Option"XkbLayout""de"
# or:
#Option"XkbLayout""de"
#Option"XkbVariant""nodeadkeys"
#
# If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and
# control keys, use:
#Option"XkbOptions""ctrl:swapcaps"
# Or if you just want both to be control, use:
#Option"XkbOptions""ctrl:nocaps"
#
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "yes"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "LCD Panel 1680x1050"
HorizSync 31.5 - 90.0
VertRefresh 59.0 - 85.0
ModeLine "1680x1050" 147.1 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087 -hsync +vsync
Option "dpms"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "nVidia"
BoardName "Geforce 9860"
Option "IgnoreEDID" "True"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Videocard0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "1680x1050"
EndSubSection
EndSection

I now have sound working under Fedora 3, thanks to help from g32

1) Download the latest beta release of the alsa-driver, it has support for the Realtek HD Audio system, which is basically the Intel HD Audio ICH6 7.1. ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/drive...0.8rc1.tar.bz2

2) Extract the alsa-driver tarball. Change into the directory and issue the following command:

./configure --with-cards=azx

I specify the sound driver because one of the drivers in the package will not compile.

3) issue command : make

4) issue command : make install

5) reboot

You should now have full sound.

Enjoy!

Hmmm... Did you create the driver disk as described in Compter_Potato's WindowsXP install instructions ? Within that thread, in a reply to one of my questions he says that he has ATA drives, so that should not be a problem.