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 Specifications Linux Compatibility Notes Related Resources Summary

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

Authors

Bill Giannikos (bill2 at giannikos.com.au)

Introduction

This is a guide to running Linux with the HP-Compaq 530. The 530 is a cheap laptop with some low end components.

There are various SPUs of the 530. The wireless network interface is either a Intel 3945 (fully supported) or a Broadcom BCM4310 (no native Linux support) which is conntected to the usb controller internally. Ndiswrapper is needed in order to use the Broadcom BCM4310 wireless interface.

Specifications

Processor	Intel Core Duo T2050 1.6GHz
Screen	15.4" WXGA
RAM	1GB
HDD	80GB
Optical Drive	DVD+-RW
Graphics	Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
Network	10/100 Ethernet, Intel 3945 or Broadcom BCM4310 802.11abg Wireless
Other	2 x USB2.0

Linux Compatibility

Device	Compatibility	Comments
Processor	Yes
Screen	Yes
HDD	Yes
Optical Drive	Yes
Graphics	Yes	See notes
Sound	Yes	Use the snd-hda-intel driver
Ethernet	Yes
Wireless	Yes	Use the ipw3945 driver or ndiswrapper for BCM4310(usb)
56K Modem	Not Tested
USB	Yes
PCMCIA	Not Tested

Notes

The Broadcom Wireless Interface is only avaible under Linux with a special Windows driver using ndiswrapper. I found that only one specific driver available from Dell is working with ndiswrapper. See also this thread in the ubuntu forums. Direct link to driver

The 530 notebook uses a screen resolution of 1280x800 but due to the way the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 functions this resolution would not be available right away. You will need to use the 915resolution tool to fix this. For a guide on how to solve this issue please follow our Configuring the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900-950 for Linux guide.

Related Resources

Preparing your laptop for Linux
Configuring the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 & 950
Configuring the ipw3945 driver for the Intel 3945ABG wireless controller
Increasing battery life

Summary

Some minor configuration work was required for the HP-Compaq 530 laptop to work properly with Linux but all the major components work fine.


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