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Dell Latitude D520
Introduction
This is a guide to running Linux with the Dell Latitude D520 laptop. The Latitude D520 is a mid to lower range laptop who's Linux support is excellent.
This guide is intended to provide you details on how well this laptop works with Linux and which modules you need to configure. For details on how to actually install and configure the required modules have a look at our guides section for distribution specific instructions.
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Specifications
| Name | Dell Latitude D520 |
| Processor | Intel Core Duo T2300 1.66Ghz |
| Screen | 14.1” XGA |
| RAM | 512MB |
| HDD | 80GB |
| Optical Drive | DVD+-RW |
| Graphics | Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 |
| Network | 10/100 Ethernet + Intel 3945 802.11g Wireless |
| Other | 4 x USB2.0, 1 x Firewire |
Linux Compatibility
| Device | Compatibility | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Yes | |
| Screen | Yes | |
| Optical Drive | Yes | |
| Graphics | Yes | |
| Sound | Yes | Use the snd-hda-intel module |
| Ethernet | Yes | |
| Wireless | Yes | Use the ipw3945 module |
| 56K Modem | Not Tested | |
| USB | Yes | |
| PCMCIA | Not Tested |
Notes
Some versions of the Dell Latitude D520 have the Dell Wireless 1390 or the Dell Wireless 1490 Dual-Band wireless network card. Neither of these cards were tested.
Summary
It is recommended to use a Linux distribution with kernel version 2.6.16 or greater for best results with the Dell Latitude D520. There is nothing difficult in getting this laptop to work, with a up to date kernel this laptop works well with Linux.
Discussion
Fedora 12 is a piece of cake.
hi ,
i hav a problem with my wifi.i hav a wirelss internet connection .im having a dell latitude d520 laptop.
wifi light is not on in the laptop and and im not gettin any indication to connect to the internet
I am having the same exact problem. Can anyone help?
I have issues with Hibernate/Suspend. If I hit Hibernate dl 520 posts “hibernate failed”. If I hit Suspend, I can not wake it up, need to press power and do a hard reset. Apart from these, everything else works great.
56K modem
any idea on the support of the internal modem?
Slackware 12.1
This laptop works well with Slackware 12.1 but my version of the D520 has a Broadcom chip:
root@skamandros/home/andrew# lspci | grep Broadcom
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX (rev 02)
0c:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11a/b/g (rev 01)
and thus requires the BCM firmware to be installed as well.
wireless 1390
has anyone tried it with the dell wireless 1390 card?
works great for me on ubuntu 8.04
no issues…although the wifi indicator light on top of the keyboard panel does not turn on… as long as i can use wifi.. i'm not complaining!
My laptop is named Duke
i got it to work!