Fedora on a Dell

Fedora Core 2 on a Dell Inspiron 8600

Outline.

Having got my first laptop and being a fan of the Linux operating system, the first thing I wanted to do is install Linux. With the release of Fedora Core 2 due and having used RedHat for a couple of years I decided to wait until I could download Fedora and install it. Not a difficult choice at all really as it would most likely ease any hardware issues. The objective is to get as much of this great machine functioning under Linux as possible. These pages are to share that experience and information with others.

Detail.

My first priorities where to get the wide screen working at full resolution, the network card up and running, followed by sound as I like to listen to music while I'm working. These three issue's turned out to be relatively easy, with just a bit of internet surfing needed to get it going to my satisfaction.

Getting a second monitor and TV out capabilites would also be a priority for a laptop. I haven't had much experience with this in either Windows or Linux so it will be interesting to see how this works out.

The next thing to get going is ACPI and suspend. Fedora Core 2 appears to have relative good support for ACPI but it looks like at bit of work is needed to get things working. Fortunately, this Dell will mostly be used as a desktop replacement so it's not crucial. On the odd occasion that it has been away from a power source, battery life seems quite good.

Finally I would like to get the wireless card working though it would mainly be used around the house. I have a spare battery for the drive bay so I would like to be able to hotswap the DVD player. Apparently there is a script mentioned on some sites that I will try at some stage. If it powers down the player I guess it should be ok to use. Once the battery is inserted it will be detected without further intervention apparently.