This is a guide to running Linux with the Dell Inspiron E1405 laptop. The Inspiron E1405 is a low cost laptop from Dell but still has decent specifications. Linux support on the E1405 is very good as well.
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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| Name | Dell Inspiron E1405 |
| Processor | Intel Core Duo T2050 1.60GHz |
| Screen | 14.1” WXGA |
| RAM | 1GB |
| HDD | 120GB |
| Optical Drive | DVD+-RW |
| Graphics | Intel Media Accelerator 950 |
| Network | 10/100 Ethernet, Intel 3945 802.11g Wireless |
| Other | 4 x USB2.0, 1 x Firewire |
| Device | Compatibility | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Yes | |
| Screen | Yes | |
| Optical Drive | Yes | |
| Graphics | Yes | |
| Sound | Yes | Use the snd-hda-intel module |
| Ethernet | Yes | |
| Wireless | Yes | Use ipw3945 module |
| Bluetooth | Not Tested | |
| 56K Modem | Not Tested | |
| USB | Yes | |
| Firewire | Not Tested | |
| Card Reader | Not Tested |
The standard screen resolution on the Inspiron E1405 is 1280×800 which can cause issues when this resolution is used under Linux on the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950. You can find more information and a fix for this issue on our Configuring the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 & 950 guide.
Some versions of the Inspiron E1405 include the Dell Wireless 1390b/g card rather than the Intel 3945. This will likely need the ndiswrapper module to function which will make the laptop more difficult to configure.
As long as you have the version of the Dell Inspiron E1405 with the Intel 3945 then installation of Linux on this laptop is not too difficult. Otherwise the Dell 1390 card is much harder to configure and may be too difficult for new Linux users.
Discussion
Hi!
I have e1405 and have tried various distributions. Now it uses Mandriva 2009.0 . The native resolution is 1440×900 and I've never met problems using the 915resolution package. Card reader is working fine too.
Other distributions I've tried are Gentoo, (K)ubuntu (from 6.06 to 8.10), Fedora 10. (Note: there is comprehensive wiki-howto specially for Gentoo).
Best regards,
Hristo