Dell Latitude D610

ok I have just installed 12.04 LTS on a dell 610.I Installed from a USB stick after the start up disk woudnt work properly. From the stick using the drivers from Pendrive, it installed ok, albeit with a USB mouse. I am now trying to make the touchpad work, either getting the system to use the bonofide drivers or different ones, Im not bothered as long as the touchpad works….

has anyone else had touchpad issues? Im sure once the drivers are sorted I wil have no further problems

Paul

I don't know about this ATI Mobility Radeon x300 data you have in the table above, because I'm not seeing this in my specs:


00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller (rev 03)
Subsystem: Dell Device 0182
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
Memory at dff00000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512K]
I/O ports at ec38 [size=8]
Memory at c0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
Memory at dfec0000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256K]
Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 2
Kernel driver in use: i915
Kernel modules: i915

00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller (rev 03)
Subsystem: Dell Device 0182
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Memory at dff80000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512K]
Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 2


I have a D610 that works fine with Ubuntu Lucid 10.04LTS, previous versions and other distros just fine.
Been using it hard (daily) for over 5 years. (Lucid since it came out, and I won't go past that for good reasons.)
NOTE: Make sure you blow out the dust that accumulates on the cooling fins and fan every 6 months.
(Blow in through back exhaust vent with display open, then blow off under keyboard, or better yet remove it.[simple!])
They (or any computer for that matter) will overheat and do a lot of those funny things I've seen so many post about if you don't clean them.

I test and break my OS' regularly and have TONS of software and services running on my D610 at various times.

I Live on Linux and only use XP when I am forced to by certain companies with their heads up their rear end.
Like Crestron, Mitchell1, AllData, Sage (Peachtree) and a few others that force IE and the Winblows platform in general.

The D610 and all Latitudes are true battle tested road warriors.

For those having problems with installs:
The optical drives are usually the first thing to fail and while they will read, it's not consistent or reliable and they botch installs all the time. Use an external known good optical drive with an external power supply.
You can even use IDE/SATA to USB adapters with internal desktop drives in a pinch.

The native display works fine without going bonkers, however I'm just now looking for the real deal (proprietary) driver instructions now that I'm using conky full time and want true transparency in my terminal, etc, so I can see conky through it.
I don't clutter my desktops with icons, none in fact. If I need something I just panel launch my popular apps.
Or in the rare instance I do want a bunch of desktop handy stuff, I make one folder titled 'UTC' (Under The Carpet) and throw everything in there.

My D610 Mods:
Spare optical drives… Had DVD ROM, swapped to DVD R/W but it started acting funny, now back to ROM.
Only pop it in when needed to write if another PC is not available.

Spare battery and power pack.

250 GB 7200rpm WD drive / dual boot with xp pro sp3.

1GB ram

changed WiFi card (Bought lot of 10 on eBay for a song and dance.)…

     
     Description: Wireless interface
     product: PRO/Wireless 2915ABG [Calexico2] Network Connection
     vendor: Intel Corporation
     physical id: 3
     bus info: pci@0000:03:03.0
     logical name: eth3
     version: 05
     serial: None-ya-biz
     width: 32 bits
     clock: 33MHz
     capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
     configuration: broadcast=yes 
	driver=ipw2200 	driverversion=1.2.2kmprq
	firmware: ABG:9.0.5.27 (Dec 12 2007) 
	latency: 64	link: no	maxlatency: 24	mingnt: 3	wireless: IEEE 802.11abg
     resources: irq:17 memory:dfcff000-dfcfffff

I tried install'n Ubuntu 10.04 & 10.10 on my dell d610.. I can't get the startup disk to run correctly.. Used both disk on my other laptop and installed Ubuntu without problem.. Any Ideas?

a while back, my dad tried to install Ubuntu on a latitude after it got completely slimed. apparently the mouse started going crazy. the touchpad would not work right and neither would an external mouse. i have my own latitude d610 now, and i'm not gonna install a new OS until i figure out how to get around ALL possible problems (previous laptop was an inspiron 5150 (google this: “dell inspiron 5150 problems”). yeah. i was using that pile of . however, linux mint worked fine on it! im not so sure how well it will work on the latitude tho….

I just installed Ubuntu on my d610 after a major systems failure within XP. Unfortunately WiFi isn't working. I'm going to try your suggestion immediately however.

I'm running Mandriva 2009 on my Dell D610 with no issues. Everything worked from the start. I have also ran PCLinuxOS 2007 on the same laptop with no issues as well. Fedora and PC-BSD had sound and touchpad problems.