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.

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Page Contents Introduction Editing This Page Specifications Linux Compatibility Notes Graphics Wireless Summary

Introduction

This is a guide to running Linux with the Toshiba Satellite Pro A200 laptop.

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Specifications

Name	Toshiba Satellite Pro A200
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 1.66GHz
Screen	15.4" WXGA Widescreen
RAM	1GB
HDD	160GB
Optical Drive	DVD+-RW
Graphics	Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
Network	Gigabit Ethernet, Atheros 802.11bg

Linux Compatibility

Device	Compatibility	Comments
Processor	Yes
Screen	Yes
HDD	Yes
Optical Drive	Yes
Graphics	Yes
Sound	Yes
Ethernet	Yes
Wireless	Partial
Modem	Not Tested
USB	Yes
Card Reader	Not Tested
ExpressCard Slot	Not Tested
Webcam	Yes

Notes

Graphics

The X3100 works just fine under Linux. Please note that some models of the Pro A200 use the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 instead. For this you will need to install the latest fglrx drivers for proper support. See our guides section for instructions.

Wireless

The Atheros based wireless controller is not yet supported with native Linux drivers. Both the madwifi and ath5k projects are in development for this but at the moment your only choice is to use the ndiswrapper driver. The Windows driver required is available here. See our guides section for installation details for the ndiswrapper driver.

Some models of the Satellite Pro A200 use the Intel wireless controller instead. These models work just fine with the iwlwifi driver. Many recent Linux distributions include this as standard which makes it a much better option than the Atheros driver used here.

Summary

Depending on the configuration of the Toshiba Satellite Pro A200 you may have quite an easy or more difficult task in installing Linux. The major problem is with models with the Atheros based wireless controller.

If you are looking to purchase this laptop you can visit Toshiba's Satellite page.

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