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HP-Compaq 6715B

Created by: Bill Giannikos,Last modification on Fri 30 of Nov, 2007 [23:48 UTC]


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


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

Author

Bill Giannikos (bill2 at giannikos.com.au)

Introduction

This is a guide to running Linux with the HP-Compaq 6715B laptop. This is an AMD based laptop with some medium level components.

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Specifications

ProcessorAMD Turion 64 MK-38 2.2GHz
Screen14.1" WXGA
RAM1GB
HDD80GB
Optical DriveDVD+-RW
GraphicsATI Mobility X1250
Network10/100 Ethernet, Broadcom 802.11g Wireless
Other4 x USB2.0, 1 x Firewire

Linux Compatibility

DeviceCompatibilityComments
ProcessorYes
ScreenYes
HDDYes
Optical DriveYes
GraphicsYesSee notes below
SoundYesUse the snd-hda-intel driver
EthernetYes
WirelessPartialSee notes below
56K ModemNot Tested
USBYes
FirewireNot Tested
SD Card ReaderNot Tested
PCMCIANot Tested

Notes

For the ATI Mobility X1200 included with the 6715B you will need to use the proprietary fglrx driver or the new open source radeonhd driver as the Xorg drivers (ati and radeon) does not support this chip. You can view our Configuring an ATI graphics chip for Linux guide for installation details on the fglrx driver.

The bcm43xx does not work with this wireless controller. The kernel reports a lot of "FATAL ERROR: BCM43xx_IRQ_XMIT_ERROR" errors. Ndiswrapper works fine with this windows driver. See the guides on this site for installation details on ndiswrapper.

Debian AMD64 Notes

Thanks to Berni for the following:
Debian amd64 works a treat on my gb837et variant. The etch installer recognises the Ethernet and the disk.

The etch ndiswrapper and fglrx drivers however do not work. The second core does not work in the etch 2.6.18 kernel. No problems just newer versions needed:

Dual cores work using the etch 2.6.22 backported kernel from www.backports.org

ndiswrapper works from lenny

ati/amd screen driver with full resolution works from http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html

Power control is superb with powersaved in etch giving long battery life.

hdparm -B 254 may help to extend disk life.

Also and probably generally - it is wise look for a BIOS option to Keep fans running option when installing any OS on a laptop. The gb837et has one described as keep fans running when on mains power. Note however on this laptop the fans are quiet.

Related Resources

Preparing your laptop for Linux
Configuring an ATI graphics chip
Increasing battery life

Summary

A little bit of Linux knowledge is required to get the display working on the HP-Compaq 6715B. Other than that everything else works well.


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



Comments

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Reply to this comment

ATI is always good for a negative surprise

by RealBorg, Monday 05 of May, 2008 [10:10:58 UTC]
I have posted a review at http://www.hostmaster.org/6715b.html

Reply to this comment

Need help on the wireless driver

by Cliff, Thursday 17 of April, 2008 [21:08:48 UTC]
Can someone that is using the wireless driver with this laptop post some info on the process to get it to work such as installing or selecting the correct driver.

Reply to this comment

Firewire

by Josh, Monday 24 of March, 2008 [17:11:04 UTC]
Have anybody tried firewire on this laptop? If somebody have opportunity to try it... can you post here result? Thanks alot.. Josh

Reply to this comment

Re: Firewire

by Aidan, Sunday 04 of May, 2008 [08:51:17 UTC]
I tried firewire briefly when i first got the laptop, seemed to work with my video camera, but the program i was capturing with crashed during capture so i never tested it properly.
I have Fedora now which runs very well on this laptop, but has a different firewire driver which is a pain to set up, so i haven't bothered.
When i get the chance i will test it a bit more thoroughly.

Aidan.

Reply to this comment

Wireless

by Aidan, Wednesday 20 of February, 2008 [07:44:12 UTC]
I have this laptop running with Fedora 8 and had no trouble getting the wireless working with the b43 driver. It runs a lot better than when i was using ndiswrapper.

apart from a few quirks with the fglrx driver this laptop is great with linux.

Reply to this comment

Re: Wireless

by buletov, Sunday 23 of March, 2008 [20:47:16 UTC]
what about if you turn the lap on with wifi button off;
if you turn it on while in the GUI, will the adapter work?
In my experience, it does not work until reboot.

Reply to this comment

Re: Wireless

by , Sunday 04 of May, 2008 [08:56:02 UTC]
That is correct.

If i boot the laptop with wireless off, it will not work. But if the wifi is on during boot, then i can turn wifi on and off fine once the system is booted.



Reply to this comment

Re: Wireless

by Joe Alex, Monday 25 of February, 2008 [09:15:21 UTC]
And where did you get firmware? I tried some hp drivers for windows, but I could'n cut it.

Reply to this comment

Re: Wireless

by Aidan, Sunday 04 of May, 2008 [08:58:10 UTC]
I cant remember which drivers i used, they were the ones recommended by the how-to i used, i will try to track them down.

I will have to find them again anyway when i install fedora 9, so i will post details then.

Reply to this comment

Re: Wireless

by Joe Alex, Monday 05 of May, 2008 [13:58:37 UTC]
Actually new b43 native linux driver should be best choice, I suppose. Also it's clearly written where get the correct firmware.

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