Popular Guides
View more guides at Linux Wiki Guides
Welcome to LinLap - The Linux Laptop Wiki
HP-Compaq Presario C300
Introduction
This is a guide to running Linux with the HP-Compaq Presario C300 laptop.
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.
Editing This Page
If you would like to edit this page please first view our Editing Guidelines.
Specifications
| Name | HP-Compaq Presario C300 |
| Processor | Intel Celeron-M Processor 430 1.73 GHz |
| Screen | 15.4” WXGA |
| RAM | 512MB |
| HDD | 80GB |
| Optical Drive | DVD-ROM/CD-RW |
| Graphics | Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 |
| Network | 10/100 Ethernet, Broadcom 1390 802.11g Wireless |
| Other | 2 x USB2.0 |
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 ndiswrapper |
| 56K Modem (Conexant HSF softmodem) | Yes | use linuxant hsf driver |
| USB | Yes |
Notes
Some recent Linux distributions (eg: Fedora 7) not longer requires the following but most still do. As default the native screen resolution of this notebook is 1280×800, however due to the way the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 functions this resolution would not be usable right away. To get it working you will need to install the 915resolution program and type in:
915resolution 3c 1280 800
This will then allow you to use the native 1280×800 resolution. However this setting will be forgotten after each boot so you will need a way to automatically run this command at every boot. Fortunately most Linux distributions come with the 915resolution program and include a simple way of achieving this. You can view our Configuring the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 & 950 guide for more information.
This wireless controller in this laptop does not have any native drivers for Linux so you will need to use the ndiswrapper module. For installation instructions, you can view our Configuring the ndiswrapper module guide. The windows driver to use with ndiswrapper can be found here.
You will need to install the modem driver yourself. The Linuxant module works for this modem. Use method b as described on this page.
Summary
The main issue with this laptop is the wireless controller. Other than that there were no problems in getting this laptop working when used with an up to date Linux distribution. It is recommended to use a Linux distribution with kernel version 2.6.17 or greater, such as Fedora Core 6 or Ubuntu 6.10.
Discussion
Hard disk not detected but HDD working in another PC
hey man do you think you might have a recomendation on a better proceser for the c300 i know tou can take it out ive pretty much built mine from the ground up from scrap parts i aquired from college students that just trow there stuff away and this thing works butifully. any help would be greatly apreciated.
Dear sir,
Thanks and regards
Naveen
Bold Textdear sir my laptop have one problem its lose the cd and dvd room
but i cant use it and the orther problem is the its cant inastal windows what can i do
use your thumbdrive to boot rather than the cd-rom.
download this software from this site
http://wintoflash.com/home/en/
but so far it works for me for making a the thumbdrive to boot on windows 7, but it failed to make for windows xp….
sir! i want to download sound drivers for C300 laptop
sir! i want to download sound drivers for C300 laptop
sir
Hi!
Thks for this great job!
My issue with my C300 Presario with Ubuntu 8.10 is :
- keyboard is disable when the C300 wakes up and ask for session password!
Reboot is the only way to do the trick. And this is the only trouble I have (for now:)) with this great distribution of Linux.
Stephane
Worked!!!
It worked =D, Thanx for this great guide
hi author
Im using a 1GB Thumbdrive to boot LinuxPC OS minime and I found your info helpful. Grabbed the wireless driver, and im going to go make the thumbdrive persistent. Thanks for the driver advice.