Page Contents Introduction Editing This Page Specifications Linux Compatibility Notes Related Resources Summary

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.

Introduction

This is a guide to running Linux with the BenQ Joybook R55 laptop.

Editing This Page

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Specifications

Name	BenQ Joybook R55
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 1.66GHz
Screen	15.4" WXGA
RAM	1GB
HDD	80GB
Optical Drive	DVD+-RW
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400
Network	10/100/1000 Ethernet, Intel 3945 802.11g Wireless, Bluetooth
Other	4 x USB2.0, 1 x Firewire

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 ipw3945 module
Bluetooth	Yes
56K Modem	Not Tested
USB	Yes
Firewire	Not Tested
SD Card Reader	Not Tested
ExpressCard Slot	Not Tested

Notes

For the graphics chip you can use both the open source 'nv' module and NVIDIA's proprietary 'nvidia' module. For 3D support, you will need the proprietary module. Some older versions of X may not have support for the NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400, in this case you will need to use the proprietary module.

Related Resources

Preparing your laptop for Linux
Configuring a nVidia graphics chip
Configuring the ipw3945 module for the Intel 3945ABG wireless controller
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 2.6.17 or greater, such as Fedora Core 6 or Ubuntu 6.10.

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