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Hewlett-Packard nc8230
Introduction
This is a guide to running Linux with the Hewlett-Packard nc8230 laptop, model EJ880PA.
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 nc8230 |
| Processor | Intel Pentium-M 750 1.86Ghz |
| Screen | 15.4” |
| RAM | 512MB |
| HDD | 80GB |
| Optical Drive | DVD+-RW |
| Graphics | 64MB ATI Mobility Radeon x600 |
| Network | 10/100/1000 Ethernet, Intel 2915 802.11g Wireless, Bluetooth |
| Other | 3 x USB2.0, 1 x Firewire |
Linux Compatibility
| Device | Compatibility | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Yes | |
| Screen | Yes | |
| Optical Drive | Yes | |
| Graphics | Yes | |
| Sound | Yes | Use snd_intel8x0 module |
| Ethernet | Yes | Use bnx2 module |
| Wireless | Yes | Use ipw2200 module and firmware |
| Bluetooth | Yes | Use btusb module |
| 56K Modem | Yes | Use snd_intel8x0m module and slmodem in alsa mode. Do not forget to use modem:2. Tested on 3.0.6 and slmodem from source 2.9.11-20110321 |
| USB | Yes | Use ehci and uhci modules |
| Firewire | Probably | firewire_ohci module load fine, untested |
| Card Reader | Not tested, probably wont work | Might work, same controller work on other laptop model. |
| PCMCIA | Yes | Use yenta_socket module |
| Sensors | Yes | Use acpi module |
Notes
This notebook supports both the open source radeon module and the proprietary ATI module. The proprietary module would probably give you the best 3D performance.
Summary
The were no problems in getting this laptop working well with Linux, it should work with most recent Linux distributions.
Discussion
slmodem is a fragile and basically unmaintained software. I got it to work by compiling from source:
tar -zxvf slmodem-2.9.11-20110321.tar.gz
cd slmodem-2.9.11-20110321
make SUPPORT_ALSA=1
make SUPPORT_ALSA=1 install
/usr/sbin/slmodem -a modem:2
It then started and created /dev/ttySL0
modem:2 was found from:
aplay -l
which show Card 2 as the modem. This may vary from system to system depending on the order of the alsa modules loading and what you added for support.