Dell Inspiron E1705
Created by: Bill Giannikos,Last modification on Wed 15 of Aug, 2007 [05:10 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.
Introduction
This is a guide to running Linux with the Dell Inspiron E1705 laptop. This is a big screen notebook but with a middle of the range components. It can be obtained with many difference configuration options with varying Linux support.Editing This Page
View our Editing GuidelinesSpecifications
| Name | Dell Inspiron E1705 | |
| Processor | Intel Core Duo T2250 1.73GHz | |
| Screen | 17" WXGA | |
| RAM | 1GB | |
| HDD | 120GB | |
| Optical Drive | DVD+-RW | |
| Graphics | Intel Media Accelerator 950 | |
| Network | 10/100 Ethernet, Intel 3945 802.11g Wireless | |
| Other | 6 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 driver |
| Ethernet | Yes | |
| Wireless | Yes | Use ipw3945 driver |
| Bluetooth | Not Tested | |
| 56K Modem | Not Tested | |
| USB | Yes | |
| Firewire | Not Tested | |
| SD Card Reader | Not Tested | |
| ExpressCard | Not Tested | |
Notes
The display of the Dell Inspiron E1705 has a resolution of 1280x800. The Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 under Linux has a problem with this resolution and requires the use of the 915resolution tool to fix. You can find our guide to fixing this issue here.Some versions of the Inspiron E1705 use the ATI Mobility Radeon x1400. This is not yet supported by the Xorg radeon driver so needs the proprietary ATI driver to work properly.
Some other versions of the Inspiron E1705 use the NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900. This card can be used by both the Xorg nv driver and Nvidia's proprietary driver. You can see our Configuring a nVidia graphics chip guide for installation instructions.
Some models of the Inspiron E1705 use the Dell Wireless 139 controller rather than the Intel 3945 one. This Dell controller has not yet been tested under Linux but would probably require the ndiswrapper driver to work. Ndiswrapper can be quite tricky to use so this is not ideal.
Related Resources
Preparing your laptop for LinuxConfiguring the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 & 950
Configuring a nVidia graphics chip
Configuring an ATI graphics chip
Configuring the ipw3945 driver for the Intel 3945ABG wireless controller
Configuring the ndiswrapper driver for wireless controllers without native Linux drivers
Increasing battery life
Summary
The compatibility of the Dell Inspiron E1705 varies with its configuration. If you have a model with the Intel 3945 wireless chipset you should be able to have a well running system.Have you installed Linux on this laptop? If so how about leaving a comment about your success in the comments section below.
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