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 Editing This Page Specifications Linux Compatibility Notes Related Resources Summary

If you are looking to purchase this laptop you can visit HP's Pavilion notebook page.

Introduction

This is a guide to running Linux with the Hewlett-Packard Pavilion dv9000z laptop.

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Specifications

Name	HP Pavilion dv9000z
Processor	AMD Turion 64 X2 ML-50 1.6GHz
Screen	17" WXGA+
RAM	1GB
HDD	80GB
Optical Drive	DVD+-RW
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150
Network	10/100/1000 Ethernet, Broadcom BCM4311 802.11g Wireless
Other	4 x USB2.0, 1 x Firewire, Webcam

Linux Compatibility

Device	Compatibility	Comments
Processor	Yes
Screen	Yes
Optical Drive	Yes
Graphics	Yes
Sound	Partial
Ethernet	Yes
Wireless	Partial	See notes below
56K Modem	Not Tested
USB	Yes
Firewire	Not Tested
SD Card Reader	Yes
ExpressCard Slot	Not Tested
Webcam	Not Tested

Notes

The NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150 in the Pavilion dv9000z works with both the open source 'nv' driver and 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.

At the moment there are no working native wireless drivers for the Broadcom controller found in the HP dv9000z. You will need to use the ndiswrapper driver for the controller to work. See below for our guide to using ndiswrapper. You can find the required windows drivers here.

For the audio in the dv9000z to work properly you will need to use ALSA version 1.0.14 or greater. You may also need to add the following line to your /etc/modprobe.conf (or your distribution's equivalent) file:
options snd-hda-intel model=hp position_fix=1

Related Resources

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

Summary

The HP Pavilion dv9000z is not the best supported laptop under Linux. The major problem is with the wireless controller which isn't yet properly supported by Linux.


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