Laptop support ranting

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oodnarak

Laptop support ranting

Post by oodnarak »

I find that support for laptop-related features to be the weakest link in Ubuntu and Mint. I have tried Ubuntu since its 7.04 and Mint from Mint 4. Everytime, I have to uninstall and put Windows back in. The worst part is not because Ubuntu and Mint are inferior to Windows, the reason is usually because I can't get it to do things the way I want it to, i.e. automated, especially the external monitor. Convenience probably describes this the best.

After talking so many of my less-techie friends into switching to Mint, I feel bad that I don't practice what I preach. Although because they are using desktop computer so they don't have the problem that I do.

Does the majority of forum member here use a desktop machine and simply don't care for a laptop? Is the reason that Mint/Ubuntu doesn't work as well with laptop because not enough people are using laptop? or these things actually work but not with any laptops I've owned and this is just my imgination in my bubbly world? What does everybody think about Linux's laptop support?

PS. I just posted a thread (http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=42085) looking for help about the external monitor "inconvenience". Hopefully, I'll get some good solid answer I'm looking for, so I can finally ditch M$ altogether.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Aging Technogeek

Re: Laptop support ranting

Post by Aging Technogeek »

I have run int in several versions and editions on Dell, H-P, and Acer laptops both new and old and never had any major issues. I have never used an external monitor, though. If that is your only problem, I'm fairly sure someone here can help you sort it out.
oodnarak

Re: Laptop support ranting

Post by oodnarak »

The external monitor is very much the biggest thing. Second to that would be the laggy video replay, especially Flash videos, but I understand that it's Adobe's problem.

Other things that I have problem with are like the media control buttons, remote control (my laptop came with one), webcam (some install will work right away, some won't)

Also, when I first try Linux with my laptop (Dell XPS M1330), something was wrong and my video card kept breaking (white screen, a bunch of color vertical line). I had to get my motherboard replaced 3 times because of this. I think this is due to the poor manufacturing on Dell's part and crappy nVidia driver. Since these problem doesn't occur until I decided that I want Compiz and was forced to install the nVidia driver.
dawgdoc

Re: Laptop support ranting

Post by dawgdoc »

oodnarak wrote:The external monitor is very much the biggest thing.

Other things that I have problem with are like the media control buttons, remote control (my laptop came with one), webcam (some install will work right away, some won't)
Well, my media control buttons "just work" on my HP laptop (see sig), so it seems that such support is possible. I will try an external monitor in just a bit.
oodnarak

Re: Laptop support ranting

Post by oodnarak »

My media button only works when the windows is focus on the player, ie. RhythmBox or VLC. But if I take the focus out to other app like Chrome or OpenOffice, it doesn't work any more. At first i thought it was the RhythmBox and VLC issue. But then when I try with other media players, the result is the same.
dawgdoc

Re: Laptop support ranting

Post by dawgdoc »

I had not paid attention to if my media buttons were working when the media player was in focus or not. I just found that they work either way with both Rhythmbox and Gnome MPlayer.

I do not know what to check to help. I checked in Control Center > Keyboard Shortcuts. The first group was for Sound, but the shortcuts are such that I they may be system specific. And they definitely are not done with the Keyboard. For example:

to play (or play/pause) is XF86AudioPlay
volume down is XF86AudioLowerVolume

I just looked through the Control Center, and the Administration and Preferences groups in the menu. I didn't find the answer, I will look some more, but I hope you find an answer.
gordon.cooke

Re: Laptop support ranting

Post by gordon.cooke »

There is hope. I use Mint on my laptop. Part of why I chose Mint was because it worked on my laptop out of the box. (Ubunut had wifi issues etc). I don't use a second monitor, but everything else works (cam, wifi etc). From what I understand laptops are particularly hard for compatibility out of the box. Dont give up though, remember you only have to fix the hardware problems once, then when its running, just keep it running. (although I do keep notes in case I ever need to reinstall or reset up)
dawgdoc

Re: Laptop support ranting

Post by dawgdoc »

@oodnarak

If you have Compiz turned on, check your CompizConfig Settings. There is a chance you may find something useful there. Some of the Hotkey combos are rather cryptic, they may refer to media keys or to Function keys.

Well, maybe that will not help. Some of my function keys are media keys, in addition to the media keys above the keyboard.
dawgdoc

Re: Laptop support ranting

Post by dawgdoc »

@ oodnarka

Maybe a solution

Control Center > Keyboard > Layouts > Keyboard Model

In the resulting window Dell is one of the vendor options, several laptop series are available as choices. This seems to be the best chance of success so far.

I found the suggestion in this thread. I searched using the terms Media and button, Multimedia and button would have taken me there faster.
dawgdoc

Re: Laptop support ranting

Post by dawgdoc »

HOLD ON

Do not change any of the key mapping.
You told me the media buttons do work.
oodnarak wrote:My media button only works when the windows is focus on the player....
A place to check your Focus Settings is Control Center > CompizConfig Settings Manager > Focus and Raise Behavior

Don't have the opportunity to search at the moment, but it may have something to do with the Focus Prevention Levels and Focus Prevention Windows settings.

Or disable Compiz to see if the media buttons work even when the windows are not in focus.
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