[Solved]18.3 Mate 32 bit installed on Dell XPS M1530 - A few questions after installation

[Ohm Sweet Ohm]

Not sure if this is the correct part of the forum for this. Please move if it isn't.

I had a old Dell laptop which my sister uses, but it had Windows Vista, but Vista is not being updated anymore and the laptop was running slow and was unusable.

It looked like my sister would have to buy her own laptop, but then I thought of Linux!

I've always used Windows but have heard about Linux over the years and one day this thought of Linux popped into my head.

Linux Mint 18.3 Mate 32bit installed from USB without any problems, and straight away everything seems to be working well: No problems with graphics and wifi as far as I can tell.

Linux Mint is working really well and I'm looking forward to trying it out but I have a few queries.

I'm wondering if anyone else has installed Linux Mint 18.3 onto a Dell XPS M1530?

A few questions:

When connected to Wifi, a symbol lights blue to tell me that I am connected to Wifi but it keeps flashing which it never did before.
Wondering if anyone with the same laptop knows why it is doing this?

Scrolling does not work on the touchpad: The touchpad has a line to the right which can be used to move a page up/down.
There is also a line at the bottom of the touchpad to move a page sideways.
Is it possible to get this to work? I can't see any settings options for the touchpad.

Driver Manager - It's showing results for the Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT and the Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 @ 2.00GHz (Intel-microcode).
As everything seems to be working fine, do I need to install the recommended drivers?

I read that it is possible to run the Nvidia cooler by adjusting some settings. Is this possible and how do I go about it?
Can I check the temperature of the graphics card?

Sorry for the long post.

Thanks

[rene]

It's showing results for the Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT and the Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 @ 2.00GHz

So these specs are likely mostly correct? https://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-De ... 295.0.html.

Posting the output of inxi -Fxz inside of code-tags will also answer that but assuming you know: the system supposedly originally came with 2GiB of RAM and has room for 4GiB max. Your CPU is 64-bit capable and it is even with 2 GiB advised to use a 64-bit edition. Certainly it is with 4GiB. This would for now be the first and most important issue to deal with; the microcode will likely not do anything if you have the latest BIOS flashed; generally the binary Nvidia driver can be a good idea.

But I expect you'll first of all might want to reinstall with a 64-bit version...

[Pjotr]

The blinking wifi light is normal: in Linux, it blinks when network traffic happens.

The closed non-free Nvidia driver is something you generally wish to install. The Intel microcode: at this moment, not necessarily. I'd wait with that.

[Ohm Sweet Ohm]

Thanks for the replies.

I think I will stick with 32bit as my sister only uses it to go online, unless it would really make a big difference for other reasons?

This is what the driver manager shows. Which driver should I install?

Screenshot at 2018-03-18 13-37-52.png

I've just installed the battery and fully charged it, but it's flashing red every so often. Any idea why it's doing this?
Anything I can install for the battery?
I've found a Terminal command which shows the battery status.

[Ohm Sweet Ohm]

Any idea how to get the touchpad scrolling to work?

[Pjotr]

Thanks for the replies.

I think I will stick with 32bit as my sister only uses it to go online, unless it would really make a big difference for other reasons?

This is what the driver manager shows. Which driver should I install?

Try the nvidia-340 first, because it's the recommended one.

Touchpad: please generate an overview of your system like this:
- Launch a terminal window (this is how to launch a terminal window);
- make the terminal window full screen, to avoid chopped lines;
- Copy/paste this command into the terminal:

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxz

(if you type: the letter F is a capital letter)

Press Enter.

Copy/paste the output in your next message.

[Ohm Sweet Ohm]

Kernel: 4.13.0-37-generic i686 (32 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
Desktop: MATE 1.18.0 (Gtk 3.18.9-1ubuntu3.3) Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia
Machine: System: Dell (portable) product: XPS M1530
Mobo: Dell model: N/A Bios: Dell v: A12 date: 11/19/2008
CPU: Dual core Intel Core2 Duo T7250 (-MCP-) cache: 2048 KB
flags: (lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 7980
clock speeds: max: 2001 MHz 1: 800 MHz 2: 1200 MHz
Graphics: Card: NVIDIA G84M [GeForce 8600M GT] bus-ID: 01:00.0
Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: nouveau (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1680x1050@60.00hz
GLX Renderer: NV84 GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 17.2.8 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio: Card Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.13.0-37-generic
Network: Card-1: Marvell 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller driver: sky2 v: 1.30 port: de00 bus-ID: 09:00.0
IF: enp9s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Card-2: Intel PRO/Wireless 4965 AG or AGN [Kedron] Network Connection
driver: iwl4965 v: in-tree: bus-ID: 0b:00.0
IF: wlp11s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives: HDD Total Size: 250.1GB (3.7% used) ID-1: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD2500BEVS size: 250.1GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 228G used: 6.8G (4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1
ID-2: swap-1 size: 2.14GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda5
RAID: No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 66.0C mobo: N/A gpu: 71.0
Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info: Processes: 154 Uptime: 49 min Memory: 709.7/2011.4MB Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
Client: Shell (bash 4.3.481) inxi: 2.2.35

[Pjotr]

Old machine. Try the latest kernel of the older 4.4 series (currently: 4.4.0-116):
Update Manager - panel: View - Linux kernels

After installing it, make sure you boot from it (it's hidden under the section Advanced in the Grub bootloader menu).

[Ohm Sweet Ohm]

Only used the battery for just over an hour and it already needs charging!
It is an old battery but how can I check that it is still in good working order?

[Ohm Sweet Ohm]

Old machine. Try the latest kernel of the older 4.4 series (currently: 4.4.0-116):
Update Manager - panel: View - Linux kernels

After installing it, make sure you boot from it (it's hidden under the section Advanced in the Grub bootloader menu).

I will install the latest kernel.

Not sure what you mean by:

'After installing it, make sure you boot from it (it's hidden under the section Advanced in the Grub bootloader menu).'

[Pjotr]

Old machine. Try the latest kernel of the older 4.4 series (currently: 4.4.0-116):
Update Manager - panel: View - Linux kernels

After installing it, make sure you boot from it (it's hidden under the section Advanced in the Grub bootloader menu).

I will install the latest kernel.

Not sure what you mean by:

'After installing it, make sure you boot from it (it's hidden under the section Advanced in the Grub bootloader menu).'

Do exactly what I say and you'll find out.

[Ohm Sweet Ohm]

It's frozen with 8 seconds remaining to complete the download.
Do I cancel and try again?

[Ohm Sweet Ohm]

I've installed it.
How do I boot from it?

[Ohm Sweet Ohm]

I've installed the recommended Nvidia driver.
It seems to be working fine so far.

[michael louwe]

@ Ohm Sweet Ohm, .......

.

.
To access the Grub menu, repeatedly press or tap the SHIFT or ESC key during startup.

[Ohm Sweet Ohm]

@ Ohm Sweet Ohm, .......

.

.
To access the Grub menu, repeatedly press or tap the SHIFT or ESC key during startup.

Thanks for the info.

[Ohm Sweet Ohm]

There are three of 4.4.0-116 to choose from:

One has no extra words next to it.
One has 'Upstart' in brackets next to it.
One has 'recovery mode' in brackets next to it.

Which one do I boot from?

[Pjotr]

There are three of 4.4.0-116 to choose from:

One has no extra words next to it.
One has 'Upstart' in brackets next to it.
One has 'recovery mode' in brackets next to it.

Which one do I boot from?

The first.

[Ohm Sweet Ohm]

All done.
Thanks for everyone's help.

A few other queries:

Concerning the Nvidia graphics card: Can I adjust anything so that it runs as cool as possible?

Any idea how to make scrolling on the touchpad work?

I connected the battery, fully charged it, but it only lasted just over an hour and the led light which lights when charging is now flashing red aswell. Any idea why it is flashing red, and can I get more than an hour out of the battery?

Is there a way of checking the battery condition?

[michael louwe]

@ Ohm Sweet Ohm, .......

.

.
Go to >Menu >Preferences >Mouse and Touchpad.

Your old laptop-battery is likely dying = buy new battery or make do with AC power.