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Hewlett-Packard nc2400
Introduction
This is a guide to running Linux with the Hewlett-Packard nc2400 laptop. The nc2400 is a small size and long battery life laptop, excellent for mobile people. The nc2400's Linux support is great.
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 | Hewlett-Packard nc2400 |
| Processor | Intel Core Duo U2500 1.2GHz |
| Screen | 12.1” WXGA |
| RAM | 1GB |
| HDD | 80GB |
| Optical Drive | DVD+-RW |
| Graphics | Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 |
| Network | 10/100/1000 Ethernet, Intel 3945 802.11g Wireless, Bluetooth |
| Other | 2 x USB2.0, 1 x Firewire |
Linux Compatibility
| Device | Compatibility | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Yes | |
| Screen | Yes | |
| Optical Drive | Yes | External USB Drive |
| Graphics | Yes | |
| Sound | Yes | Use the snd-hda-intel module |
| Ethernet | Yes | |
| Wireless | Yes | Use ipw3945 module |
| Bluetooth | Yes (tested on openSUSE 11) | |
| 56K Modem | Not Tested | |
| USB | Yes | |
| Firewire | Not Tested | |
| PCMCIA | Not Tested |
Notes
The native screen resolution of the nc2400 is 1280×800 but due to the way the Intel GMA 950 functions the screen may not work at this resolution. Our Configuring the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 & 950 guide will provide you more information on how to fix this.
Summary
The Hewlett-Packard nc2400 uses components which are well supported under Linux so configuration of this laptop is quite easy.
Discussion
Just installed Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid), these are the results;
Graphics at native resolution (1280×800) and suspend and wake-up work out the box and as does pretty much everything else with the following exceptions;
- Wireless - requires ubuntu to be updated before it will work, so you need to have access to a wired connection on installation. I still have a problem that I am able to disable the wireless by touching the wireless button above the keyboard, but I am not able to restart it by the same method, which is annoying, anyone else experienced/solved this?
- Fingerprint reader - I am only halfway through my research on this. What I can tell you is that the thinkfinger package (from the main repository) doesn't work with this hardware (AuthenTec AES2501 chip). By installing libfprint0 and fprint_demo (from universe repository) I am able to test the fingerprint reader and get it to verify my fingerprints however I have not yet attempted to make use of it for logging in or anything useful (I think this may be possible with libpam-fprint, I'll let you kwow what I find out). It seems like it might also be worth experimenting with bioapi, though this is currently not in ubuntu. My understanding is that the current technology is very easy to crack, so I probably won't implement it in any serious way… nice toy though!
Bluetooth works
Bluetooth works flawlessly on debian lenny.
Windows refund
Does anybody now if one can get a refund on the Windows OS that comes with this laptop?