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HP 650
Introduction
This is a compatibility guide to running Linux with the HP 650 laptop. If you have the HP 650 and are running Linux on it please consider editing this page or adding a comment below with your compatibility details. By contributing you will help other people running this laptop or trying to make a decision on whether to buy it or not.
This page is just for discussing using Linux on the HP 650. For a general discussion about this laptop you can visit the HP 650 page on LapWik.
This laptop was tested with Linux Mint 14 XFCE (should be the same as Ubuntu 12.10).
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Specifications
For full specifications see the HP 650 specifications page.
| Name | HP 650 |
| Processor | Intel Core i3-2370M (2.40 GHz, 3 MB L3 cache) Intel Pentium B970 (2.30 GHz, 2 MB L3 cache, 2 cores) |
| Screen | 15.6” LED-backlit HD anti-glare (1366 x 768) |
| RAM | Up to 8 GB SDRAM |
| HDD | 5400 rpm up to 500GB |
| Optical Drive | DVD+/-RW SuperMulti DL |
| Graphics | Integrated Intel HD Graphics Intel HD Graphics 3000 |
| Network | Realtek Ethernet (10/100/1000 NIC) Ralink 802.11b/g/n Atheros 802.11b/g/n WiFi 1×1 and Bluetooth 4.0 + EDR Combo |
Linux Compatibility
| Device | Compatibility | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Works | |
| Screen | Works | See notes |
| HDD | Works | |
| Graphics Chip | Works | Works out of the box |
| VGA Out | Not Tested | |
| HDMI Out | Not Tested | |
| Optical Drive | Works | |
| Sound | Works | |
| Microphone | Not Tested | |
| Headphone Port | Not Tested | |
| Microphone-In Port | Not Tested | |
| Ethernet | Works | |
| Wireless | Atheros - Works RALink - Not Tested | See notes |
| Bluetooth | Not Tested | |
| USB | Works | |
| Card Reader | Not Tested | |
| Webcam | Works | |
| Keyboard | Works | |
| TouchPad | Works | |
| Suspend/Resume | Not Tested |
Notes
Screen
The screen is set to minimum brightness as default for some reason. You can use the brightness adjustment to increase the brightness but I added the following line to /etc/rc.local to give me a decent default:
echo -n 6 > /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness
Wireless
The Atheros works but not out of the box, additional drives are needed. For Ubuntu/Linux Mint all you need (after connecting a wired network cable) is to type in the following:
sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules-cw-3.6-`uname -r`
For other distributions you need the latest version of compat-wireless, I also believe kernel 3.6 will include these drivers as standard but I'm not sure about that.
Summary
There is a little bit of fiddling required to get the HP 650 working, however it works fine after it has all been configured.
Discussion
Oh, I just tested the SD card reader: no problem!
The touchpad does not work. Funny enough, it worked during installation of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS 64, but not in the installed system. When I boot again into the live system from the installation system, it's ok again.
No solution yet, have to use a mouse all the time.
WLAN worked out of the box, as does the Webcam (tested with Google Hangout and vlc).
EDIT for last post:
There is a driver for the SD card reader (Realtek Device 5229) available from Realtek. Packaged for Arch Linux here: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/rts5229/