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 Distribution Specific Notes Gentoo Wireless Bluetooth Related Resources Summary Another 9400 Linux Compatibility Other Resources

Authors

Bill Giannikos (bill2 at giannikos.com.au)

Introduction

This is a guide to running Linux with the Dell Inspiron 9400 laptop. This was tested with Ubuntu Linux 6.06 (beta).

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Specifications

Name	Dell Inspiron 9400
Processor	Intel Core Duo T2500 2.0Ghz
Screen	17"
RAM	2GB
HDD	100GB
Optical Drive	DVD-+RW
Graphics	nVidia Geforce 7800GTX Go
Network	10/100/1000 Ethernet + Intel 3945 802.11g Wireless + Bluetooth
Other	6 x USB2.0 + 1 x Firewire

Linux Compatibility

Device	Compatibility	Comments
Processor	Yes
Screen	Yes
Graphics	Yes
Sound	Yes	Use Alsa snd-hda-intel module
Ethernet	Yes
Wireless	Yes	Use the ipw3945 module
Bluetooth	Not Tested
56K Modem	Not Tested
USB	Yes
Firewire	Not Tested but should work
SD Card Reader	Not Tested
PCMCIA	Not Tested but should work

Notes

For the graphics chip you can use both the open source nv driver and Nvidia's proprietary one. For installation instructions, you can view our Configuring a nVidia graphics chip guide. For 3D support, you will need the proprietary driver.

I didn't get a chance to test the modem, but from experience it should work with the Linuxant driver.

Distribution Specific Notes

Gentoo

Thanks to Edoardo Costa for the following information:

Wireless

As of gentoo-sources-2.6.19-r5 it's very easy to get it working. Just follow the hardware ipw3945 guide. I recommend you use net-wireless/wpa_supplicant. The following is an example of what I have:

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=wheel
ap_scan=1

network={
ssid="foobar"
proto=WPA
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
pairwise=TKIP
group=TKIP
psk=3c97f861f76a7d88a290a46077d91b27bc8776cea04755664cd122630a86c34a
priority=100
}

Bluetooth

Kernel settings
Networking
<*> Bluetooth subsystem support --->
<*> L2CAP protocol support
<*> SCO links support
<*> RFCOMM protocol support
* RFCOMM TTY support
<*> BNEP protocol support
* Multicast filter support
* Protocol filter support
<*> HIDP protocol support

emerge bluez: emerge -av net-wireless/bluez-libs net-wireless/bluez-utils net-wireless/bluez-firmware

If you want to use gnokii, add the use flag to make.conf.

my hcid.conf
options {
autoinit yes;
security auto;
pairing multi;
pin_helper /usr/lib/kdebluetooth/kbluepin;
}
device {
name "BlueZ %h (%d)";
class 0x3e0100;
iscan enable; pscan enable;
lm accept;
lp rswitch,hold,sniff,park;
}

Related Resources

Preparing your laptop for Linux
Configuring a nVidia graphics chip
Configuring the ndiswrapper driver for wireless controllers without native Linux drivers
Increasing battery life

Summary

For best results you need a Linux distribution with at least the 2.6.15 kernel, such as Ubuntu Linux 6.06 or Fedora Core 5.

Another 9400

daniel.wild at gmail.com
Tested with Ubuntu 6.06 (beta and final).

Linux Compatibility

Device	Compatibility	Notes
Core Duo 2.0GHz	Ok	Frequency scaling works on both cores independently
nVidia Geforce Go 7900 GS	Ok	Detected ok on install at 1920x1200. Use nVidia binary driver for 3D acceleration
Broadcom BCM4401-B0 100BaseTX	OK	Detected ok on install.
Intel 3945a/b/g Wireless	Ok	Detected ok on install. Fn-F2 works to turn off transmitter
Sigmatel Audio	Ok	Detected ok on install. Sometimes won't route sound correctly after resuming. (External speakers will not wok)
Ricoh Firewire controller	Ok	Tested using Ethernet over Firewire. Needed to manually insmod eth1394 module (blacklisted by default on Dapper)
NEC ND-6650A DVD+/-RW	Ok	Reads/Writes CD/DVDs ok
USB ports	Ok	Can attach/remove USB keyboard/mouse in X ok
Multimedia keys	Ok	Volume keys set up on install. Added play/pause/next/etc manually in Keyboard settings
TV out	Unknown	Not tested yet
SD/MMC/xD card slot	Unknown	Not tested. Seems to load driver for an 'mmc0' device
Modem	Unknown	Not tested
Bluetooth	Unknown	Not tested

Other Resources

http://www.dettenbach.de/DellInspiron9400royal/


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