I installed Alpha 5 of Ubuntu Hardy 8.04 and have had VERY possitive results.
Fixed issues are:
Fan
After some time my laptop’s fan would turn on and off (from i8k’s 1 setting to 2) whether i8k was loaded or not (i8k would not load without force=1). It did this constantly and was very loud.
This behavior started after many kernel upgrades of 7.10. 8.04 Alpha 4 also had this problem.
The issue seems resolved; my fan stays at setting 1 (fan on low speed). I have not heard it go to setting 2 (high speed) yet, but my laptop does not usually run hotter than 40oC.
Update: i8k does not allow you to turn the fan to the second setting; the hardware seems to control when the fan is turned on high. I notice that the fan seems to respond more to the GPU’s temperature than the CPUs temperature. CPU is usually less than 40oC however, so I’m not concerned.
Sound
This was a major issue with Ubuntu. 7.10 required an option in /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base (model=3stack). 8.04 did not work at all (I filed a bug report in launchpad that solved this issue).
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/186940
This latest Alpha fixed the issue.
nvidia/Compiz
I have a GeForce 8400M GS. 7.10 had issues with my card (some kernels could not handle ‘nvidia’ and I had to settle for ‘nv’). Compiz had very strange bugs too (windows could glitch up, lots of twitching when maximizing windows).
8.04 has resolved these issues (for now). Compiz is working beautifully for the first time, and ‘nvidia’ is loaded without issue.
LCD Lid stays on when closed
I noticed recently that the LCD stays on after I close the lid of my laptop. This is a waste of power, and causes the laptop to run hotter than it should.
Edit /etc/acpi/lid.sh and add the following line after /usr/share/acpi-support/screenblank
xset dpms force off
I also have had positive results so far, using the WUBI install. However, it does not detect my network adapters. Not a good thing, especially considering my wireless card is the intel option which *should* work out of the box. I have to wait until I have access to my wired network before I can try testing out more of it.
I install hardy 8.04 on my vostro 1400 yesterday (2008-03-25), and i cant get the sound work.
This latest Alpha fixed the issue??? how??
i add the etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base (model=3stack). sentence, but nothing append. i must undo this change?
tanks!!
(sorry my very bad english)
Did you do a fresh install of Hardy, or did you just dist-upgrade?
I would recommend downloading the latest alpha and doing a fresh install; you shouldn’t have to do anything for sound to work (although using ‘alsamixer’ to change your volumes should be done if you still have problems).
You do *not* need to edit anything in /etc/modprobe.d for sound to work anymore.
I used the Alpha 5 CD, but there is an Alpha 6 CD out you might want to try if Alpha 5 didn’t work (same hardware, so I don’t see why it wouldn’t :)).
http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/hardy/alpha6
Also, while I don’t know if this changed anything, I upgraded my BIOS to the latest version (check dell.com).
I have an Intel 3945 card and an Atheros card in my Vostro, both of which work.
A possible problem might be if iwl3945 isn’t loaded; try ‘lsmod | grep 3945’ to see if it’s loaded.
Older versions used ipw3945 which had issues, so if you’re manually loading this but not iwl3945 that could be the problem.
See if ‘sudo modprobe iwl3945’ fixes your issue, Matt. 🙂
Hey guys, did any of you end up installing the final release of hardy? I’m thinking of installing the kde4 remix of kubuntu 8.04 on my Vostro 1500. Any hardware pitfalls that I should look out for? Would Wubi be a good idea or should I just go for a dual boot with my Windows XP Pro?
I installed the final release, loving it. 🙂
A friend of mine has a Vostro 1500. Ubuntu 8.04 has great support for it; I would recommend dual-boot for sure (he does with Vista Business and Ubuntu 8.04).
You may have to sudo apt-get install linux-backport-modules-`uname -r` and restart for sound to work.
Added a section about the LCD not turning off when lid was closed.
Hey, cool tips. I’ll buy a bottle of beer to that person from that forum who told me to go to your site 🙂