Mike Grace
Evaluation was done with Linux Mint 10 64 bit version. Currently I have this installed on the computer in addition to Debian 6.01a (Squeeze), and Windows 7. I also tried other distros-see note section below.
| Name | Samsung RC-512-S02 |
| Processor | i7-2630QM |
| Screen | 15.6” 1366 X 768 |
| RAM | 6GB |
| HDD | 750GB |
| Optical Drive | DVDWBD TS-LB23A (DVD/CD reader-writer with Blue-ray player) |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce GT525M |
| Network | (Ethernet 10/100/1000, LAN, Wireless 802.11b/g/n) |
| Device | Compatibility | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Yes | all cores visible,system monitor shows as 8 cores due to 2 hyperthreads per core |
| Screen | Yes | displays okay-haven't looked at the Nvidia card in depth or 3D effects |
| HDD | Yes | |
| Optical Drive | Yes | |
| Graphics | Not Tested | see comment for Screen entry |
| Sound | Yes | |
| Ethernet | Yes | |
| Wireless | Yes | I tested this at Best Buy before purchase, also works great at home including WPA |
| Bluetooth | No | no Bluetooth installed |
| 56K Modem | No | no modem installed |
| USB | Yes | |
| Firewire | No | no Firewire ports |
| Card Reader | No | no card reader |
| ExpressCard Slot | No | no slot |
| Camera | Not Tested |
For Mint 10 battery functions work including ac/battery power management.
Debian 6.01a boots out of the box. However, to get the wireless to work you need firmware that is non-free and not included in the live cd or the regular installation disc. There are some directions on the website about adding them via tarballs but there is an easier way……
Use one of the unofficial iso files which includes the firmware as detailed in Win Kerkhoff's blog at http://wim.kerkhofftech.ca/2010/12/debian-squeeze-netinst-with-non-free-firmware/ .
The actual iso and checksums are located here http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unofficial/non-free/cd-including-firmware/ .
After installing Debian from the unofficial iso I could see my wireless network and other wireless networks but I couldn't connect to my WPA network even with the key. I fixed this by installing from the repository network-manager-openvpn, editing my connection within vpn making wireless “available to all users” and setting it to connect automatically. It works but the connection is touchy. If I mess with the settings or the connection I need to reboot in order to reconnect. I can't get the sound to work although I haven't looked at this in depth yet. Otherwise Debian seems to work well.
Other distros' live cds- I looked at briefly.
Mint 10 32bit works okay
Mint Debian 10 will boot if you use the “safe mode “ that has the power management features disabled
Fedora 14 doesn't work-you get a black screen with a flashing cursor, no terminal, nothing. Although if you push the power button the screen does display the text of a system shutdown.
Opensuse 11.4 works including wireless out of the box, as easy as Mint but you get KDE instead of Gnome
PureOs 3.0 works except the wireless doesn't work out of the box
If you find a way to get the sound to work on Debian or good way for me to check that the Nvidia card is working properly please post a comment for it. Thanks
Discussion
I still can not have open GL in Ubuntu 10.11 …
Good stuff to know. The first distro I tried to install was Fedora 14 and I received the black screen for my efforts as well. I guess I will give Debian a try…