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

Authors

Bill Giannikos (bill2 at giannikos.com.au)

Introduction

This is a guide to running Linux with the Dell Inspiron 1300 laptop. The Inspiron 1300 is a low end laptop from Dell with sounds issues in some Linux distributions.

Editing This Page

View our Editing Guidelines

Specifications

Name	Dell Inspiron 1300
Processor	Intel Celeron-M 380 - 1.60 GHz
Screen	15.4"
RAM	512MB
HDD	40GB
Optical Drive	CD-RW/DVD
Graphics	Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900
Network	10/100 Ethernet
Other	3 x USB2.0

Linux Compatibility

Device	Compatibility	Comments
Processor	Yes
Screen	Yes
Graphics	Yes
Sound	Yes
Ethernet	Yes	Use the b44 driver
56K Modem	Not Tested
USB	Yes

Notes

As default the native screen resolution of the Inspiron 1300 is 1280x800, however due to the way the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 functions this resolution would not be usable right away. You can view our Configuring the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 & 950 guide for more information.

The sound controller on this laptop is supported by the snd-hda-intel driver. However Linux distributions which come with ALSA version 1.0.10 or older will not support this chip. You should select a Linux distribution which comes with or can be upgraded to ALSA version 1.0.11 or greater. The sound controller is properly supported then.

Related Resources

Preparing your laptop for Linux
Configuring the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 & 950
Configuring the audio
Increasing battery life

Summary

As you can see it can take a little bit of time to get the Dell Inspiron 1300 working correctly. However all its features can be made to work properly under Linux.


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