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Installing Linux on an Inspiron 500M

By John Madden
Master copy here

29th October, 2003 -> Wireless now working.

Dell Inspiron 500M

CPU:            1.3Ghz Pentium M
RAM:            256mb
HardDrive:      30GB HD
DVD/CD:         8x DVD                                          <- Working
Graphics:       Intel Extreme Graphics                          <- Working
Sound:          Intel audio controller                          <- Working
Modem:          56k integrated Intel AC'97                      <- Working
10/100 NIC:     Intel integrated                                <- Working
Wireless:       Intel Pro/Wireless 2100                         <- Working
Others:         USB                                             <- Working
                ACPI                                            <- Working
                Infra-Red                                       <- Working
		PCMCIA                                          <- Working

I booted this computer the first time I got it, and was presented with a Dell screen to press any key to accept the licencing agreements for the pre-installed Microsoft software - so I put in a Debian CD and pressed the power button! Hit <F12> for a boot choice, chose the DVD drive and booted the Debian CD.

Initial setup:

I didn't need to choose any special boot options, just went with the standard 2.2.20-idepci kernel on the CD. The only trouble with this is it didn't have the ethernet module, so I would advise booting the 2.4 kernel and installing that one. As it happened, I installed a 2.4 kernel from the sources on the CD so I could use the USB Mass Storage module to get the sources for the ethernet card from a usb memory stick. This module is included in later 2.4 kernels (I don't know if it's included in the 2.4.18 kernel on the CD).

Network setup:

Pretty simple really. You just need a 2.4 kernel with the e100 module, or you can download the sources from intel.

Graphics:

This is also pretty simple to get going properly. Thanks to a lot of other people who had to set up this card before, there are plenty of resources on the web about it. Intel provide kernel drivers for this card (an i830 module). This is also provided in later kernels aswell. For X to work, you choose the i810 driver for the card. While this does get X working, because the card uses shared memory, it only manages 640x480 at 16 colours. To get around this, there is a program out there called 855patch which you can use to set the video memory. So, I added the following line to my startx script (towards the start of it)

/usr/X11R6/bin/855patch 16384

Then, in the Device section of my XF86Config-4, put the following:

VideoRam 16384

Also, since it's a very bad thing to always run as root, I setuid root on 855patch, since it needs root to set the video ram.

Sound:

Simple enough, just use i810_audio and ac97_codec.

Modem:

I got the pctel drivers from linmodem and with a small change that I found on the web, it works fine. The change you have to make is in src/ptserial/ptserial.c. The following line:

#define PCI_DEVICE_ID_I845 0x2486

should be changed to

#define PCI_DEVICE_ID_I845 0x24c6 <-- change 2486 to 24c6

Then, ./configure --with-hal=i8xx; make; make install and modprobe ptserial should detect the modem for you.

Wireless:

For all those searching for the answer to the Intel Pro/Wireless 2100 under linux question, look to www.linuxant.com and download their driverloader. It's a wrapper around windows drivers, so you need the XP drivers for the card, but it works!

And, while I'm at it, I want to thank Marc Boucher of linuxant for taking time one evening to ssh (through loops and forwards) to my laptop and mess with the settings until he figured out what was causing the problem and sorted it out for me.

Support this company. This is the second time they've saved dedicated linux users from the drudgery of Windows for their networking.

USB:

Works fine. Use usb_uhci module

PCMCIA:

Works (I presume), use yenta_socket module

Infra-Red:

I presume it works ok. I doubt I'll need to use it. Use any of the irda modules that come with the kernel.

ACPI:

Works fine with the ACPI kernel modules. I'm running 2.4.22-ac4 now and the following script (again, found on another site on the web) puts the machine into sleep mode:

#!/bin/bash
export DISPlAY=:0.0
xset dpms force off
hdparm -y /dev/hda
echo "1" > /proc/acpi/sleep

Then, re-awakening the machine is just a matter of hitting the power button. You will have to export XAUTHORITY aswell before the above script works for you, but you get the general idea.

500M and kernel 2.6

I compiled 2.6.0-test7 to see if that had any extra support for the machine. It turned out that more stuff works in 2.4.22-ac4 than in 2.6.0-test7. ACPI doesn't want to work at all. The pctel modem drivers are for a 2.4 kernel and would take some work to port to 2.6. The rest of the stuff I tested was fine (graphics, network and sound).

About the author, John Madden.

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