Toshiba Portege R500
Created by: Bill Giannikos,Last modification on Sat 08 of Dec, 2007 [11:48 UTC]
This guide is intended to provide you details on how well this laptop works with Linux and which modules you need to configure. For details on how to actually install and configure the required modules have a look at our guides section for distribution specific instructions.
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Author
Bill Giannikos (bill2 at giannikos.com.au)Introduction
This is a guide to running Linux with the Toshiba Portege R500 laptop.Editing This Page
View our Editing GuidelinesSpecifications
| Name | Toshiba Portege R500 | |
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Duo ULV U7600 1.2GHz | |
| Screen | 12.1" WSXGA+ | |
| RAM | 1GB | |
| HDD | 120GB | |
| Optical Drive | DVD+-RW | |
| Graphics | Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 | |
| Network | 10/100/1000 Ethernet, Intel 4965 802.11abgn Wireless, Bluetooth | |
| Other | 3 x USB2.0, 1 x Firewire, Fingerprint Reader | |
Linux Compatibility
| Device | Compatibility | Comments |
| Processor | Yes | |
| Screen | Yes | |
| HDD | Yes | |
| Optical Drive | Yes | |
| Graphics | Yes | |
| Sound | Yes | Use the snd-hda-intel module |
| Ethernet | Yes | Uses the e1000 driver |
| Wireless | Yes | Use the iwlwifi driver |
| Bluetooth | Not Tested | |
| USB | Yes | |
| Firewire | Not Tested | |
| SD Card Reader | Not Tested | |
| PCMCIA | Not Tested | |
| Fingerprint Reader | Not Tested | |
Notes
Older distibutions will have issues with the new Intel 4965 wireless controller found in the R500. Ubuntu 7.10, Fedora 8 and other new Linux distributions support this controller without issue.Related Resouces
Preparing your laptop for LinuxConfiguring the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 & 950
Configuring the iwl4965 driver for the Intel 4965AGN wireless controller
Increasing battery life
Summary
Make sure you use an up to date Linux distribution and the Toshiba Portege R500 works fine. I did not experience any difficulty with Ubuntu 7.10.If you are looking to purchase this laptop you can visit Toshiba's Portege page.
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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Comments
Howto make the MMC card work
http://www.burningimage.net/sdcard.htm
(Just follow the update section — find mmc_delay(2) in core.c and change it to mmc_delay(10). That is all you need).