HP Pavilion dv6-6b51nr Quad Core i7

It's been 2-1/2 months now and all is working just as well. Upgraded to Ubuntu 12.04 using KDE 4.8.2, not a single issue and all hardware works as with 11.10.

This laptop is very compatible with Ubuntu 11.10. Nearly everything works :) – though a few minor tweaks are required. The only device I've found to not work is the fingerprint reader. This HP DV6 model is rather new (January 2012) so I thought I would post my findings so others could benefit. CAVEAT: I've only been using the laptop for 4 days and will update this wiki as time permits.

I purchased this laptop as a desktop replacement, but desired portability as an option. It cost $1025 shipped direct from HP–yes it's a little pricey, but the hardware specs are top of the line. The screen is awesome, sound is pretty good, and and it has every feature I needed plus quite a few extras. I could easy get by with just the Intel graphics, and the ATI 6770M is more than sufficient for any graphics I use. The built-in track pad works very good and supports right side scrolling. For my primary use, the laptop is connected to an HD-TV and operated via USB mouse/keyboard–though it's nice to know the laptop keyboard/webcam/track-pad inputs work well.

This page is just for discussing using Linux on the HP Pavilion dv6-6b51nr. For a general discussion about this laptop you can visit the (note template path retained for future use) HP Pavilion dv6t Quad page on LapWik.

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For full specifications see the (NOTE: template link retained for future use) HP Pavilion dv6t Quad specifications page.

Note: Only F1 requires fn key pressed, others work directly without pressing fn. A BIOS setting will reverse the function keys requiring fn to be pressed.

Here's a brief description of how Ubuntu was installed:

1) Create recovery disks using HP Recovery Mananger - two dual layer DVD’s required.
2) In win 7, Control Panel → System and Security → System → System Protection, turn off System Recovery. When you turn off System Recovery, the system restore points are deleted. Once deleted, win 7 Disk Management utility will be allow shrinking the volume to it's minimum size.
3) In win 7 Control Panel → System and Security → Administrative Tools → Create and format hard disk partitions. Select the C: volume and shrink to mininum size (or what ever size you desire for use in windows).
4) In Win 7 HP Recovery Manager, delete the recovery partition.
5) Reboot Win 7
6) Install EasyBCD in Win 7 to manage partitions and boot loader.
7) Install Ubuntu on free space, used this as a guide for installing Ubuntu from usb: http://www.linuxbsdos.com/2011/05/22/how-to-dual-boot-windows-7-and-ubuntu-11-04/
8) For the sub woofers to work, just add this line to the end of the /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf file:
options snd-hda-intel model=ref (sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf), and restart your computer
9) In Win 7, EasyBCD, select Grub2 as a bootloader.
10) Added some kernel options in the grub defaults as instructed here: http://help.stedman.net.au/2011/10/xubuntu-1110-on-hp-dv6-6023tx.html. Note I did not enable vgaswitcharoo and entirely use the ATI Catalyst driver.
11) Installed ATI Catalyst 12.1 via these instructions
12) For opengl apps to refresh, it was necessary to set the KDE Desktop Effects (via system settings) to OpenGL.

- Ubuntu Unity will not work with the Intel graphics selected. The desktop comes up but only has a few options for browsing the file system. Could not even open a terminal window. I switched to KDE desktop and everything works great (and it seems I like KDE better anyway).
- The ATI Radeon 6770M dramatically increases openGL performance, with the intel chip, I get around 60 FPS in glxgears, with the 6770M the result is around 1000 FPS.
- Switching between Intel/ATI graphics via the ATI catalyst works, but does require restarting the X server (which logs you out, so just logout/login)
- Using HDMI output on TV required setting TV to accept PC input (otherwise borders were cropped)

Incredible mid to high-end laptop with nearly full Ubuntu 11.10 compatibility. I suspect other Linux distributions will have similar compatibility. The hardware exceeds my expectations and needs. The Ubuntu/KDE OS provides a solid, modern looking desktop. If you are looking for a Linux laptop, you should consider this one. Caveat: I've only been using the laptop for 4 days and will update this wiki as time permits.