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Alienware Aurora m9700

Created by: Bill Giannikos,Last modification on Mon 13 of Aug, 2007 [05:46 UTC]by Bill Giannikos


This guide is intended to provide you details on how well this laptop works with Linux and which drivers you need to configure. For details on how to actually install and configure the required drivers have a look at our guides section for distribution specific instructions.





Page Contents




Introduction

This is a guide to running Linux with the Alienware Aurora m9700 laptop.

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Specifications

ProcessorAMD Turion64 ML-34 1.8GHz
Screen17" WSXGA
RAM1GB
HDD80GB
Optical DriveDVD+-RW
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS
Network10/100/1000 Ethernet, RealTek 802.11g Wireless, Bluetooth
Other4 x USB2.0, 1 x Firewire

Linux Compatibility

DeviceCompatibilityComments
ProcessorYes
ScreenYes
HDDYes
Optical DriveYes
GraphicsYes
SoundYesUse the snd-hda-intel driver
EthernetYes
WirelessPartialUse the rt2500 driver
BluetoothNot Tested
56K ModemNot Tested
USBYes
FirewireNot Tested
SD Card ReaderNot Tested
ExpressCard SlotNot Tested

Notes

For the graphics chip you can use either the open source 'nv' driver or NVIDIA's proprietary 'nvidia' driver. For installation instructions, you can view our Configuring a nVidia graphics chip guide. For 3D support, you will need the proprietary driver. Some older versions of X may not have support for the NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS, in this case you will need to use the proprietary driver.

The ethernet adapter requires kernel version 2.6.18 or greater to function. An up to date Fedora Core 6 installation works fine.

Some versions of the laptop include the Airgo Networks AGN300 wireless controller. It is not currently known how this preforms under Linux.

The tricky part with this laptop will be finding the Linux distribution which works with either the wired or wireless controller. Without either working, it becomes difficult to access the internet to download the drivers necessary for the controllers to function. Fedora Core 6, with kernel 2.6.18 as standard, should work fine with the wired controller.

Related Resources

Preparing your laptop for Linux
Configuring a nVidia graphics chip
Increasing battery life

Summary

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 2.6.18 or greater, such as Fedora Core 6.


Have you installed Linux on this laptop? If so how about leaving a comment about your success in the comments section below.



Comments

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Kubuntu 8 on Aurora m9700

by Lukas, Wednesday 04 of June, 2008 [11:16:07 UTC]
I have installed Kubuntu 8 and it works without any problem on my Aurora m9700, the only thing is the same that everyone in the forums, wireless and the web cam doesn't work (the 5.1 sound doesn't works but no one has even mention it) I have working the wireless with NDISWRAPPER and it works just fine.
If any one knows something about the web cam and the 5.1 sound please let us know.
For the rest everything works, the 2 graphic cards are working but not SLI enabled (that other issue and I don't know how to solve it).

Hope it helps.

Reply to this comment

Wireless (Airgo AGN300) - WORKING WITH NDISWRAPPER

by Peter, Saturday 19 of April, 2008 [15:26:48 UTC]
Here's a link to an extracted version of the Alienware-released driver. Simply point ndiswrapper at tmimo3p.inf from this archive and configure your network as you normally would.

http://rapidshare.com/files/108749014/AirgoAGN300.zip.html

I'm using Kubuntu and managing to connect to any Open/WEP networks using wifi-radar; have yet to try out a WPA driver but I guess that'd work too if configured right.

Have fun! :)

Reply to this comment

Wireless (Realtek 8185)

by Jason, Saturday 22 of March, 2008 [02:19:23 UTC]
Don't know about any Airgo, but my 9700 has a realtek 8185 wlan card in it. Which realtek makes drivers for.
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=24&PFid=1&Level=6&Conn=5&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false&Downloads=true#352

Haven't tackled the webcam yet, but bluetooth works great in Kubuntu (nifty KDE GUI for it too). The biggest problem I had with Kubuntu is the install. You have to use the text install because it'll try to use the wrong vid card on graphical install. After reboot you have to Ctrl+Alt+F2 to get down to command line (after reboot it'll still try to use the wrong vid card), edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf and change the PCI address to 7:0:0 (or just change it to something weird like 9:0:0 and run startx, it'll tell you which addresses are available in the error). Run /etc/init.d/kdm stop, then /etc/init.d/kdm start and you should be in KDE. You'll still need to install the nvidia drivers (it'll be running on the horrible "nv" 2d driver) and I ended up manually editing the xorg.conf file again to turn on SLI.

Hope that helps someone!

Reply to this comment

Wireless (Airgo AGN300)

by anonymous_coward, Sunday 09 of March, 2008 [15:16:49 UTC]
There is a project for Airgo AGN300 on sourceforge primarily targeting for Linux. The development is very much in the alpha stage but it is a headstart.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/agnx80211driver/

Reply to this comment

With Sabayon Linux it works almost everything

by Pedro Arrioja - pedro_arrioja@hotmail.com, Sunday 29 of July, 2007 [15:31:54 UTC]
I installed a version called Sabayon (www.sabayonlinux.org), it includes support for wired eth and 3d desctops activated by default, however i couldn't do the wireless, bluetooth and webcam to work. if every one knows how, please, let me know on my e-mail, thanks.

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