[SOLVED ] Is my Laptop ok for migrating to Mint

[dnmint]

I have also a Dell D420 Latitude laptop machine.
Can I convert it to a LinuxMint alone machine.
Will all Dell & other drivers required by D420 be available?
I am worried about Wireless card Dell 1390 wlan based on Broadcam &
Audio based on Sigma tel audio.
Advice please

[dnmint]

Also please advise whether

• I can have 2 partitions
  Instal Mint in 1st &
  install XP in 2nd with dual boot
  If yes any tutorial on this ibnthe forum?

[danbuter]

Not sure about your hardware, but ALWAYS install windows in your first partition, linux in your second partition. Otherwise, bad things may happen.

[dnmint]

Thanks Phosgene
Most comprehensive advice I have received, that too from a Newbie on Mint - just joking, I see from your signature that you are a highskill Linux guy. Will emulate you as I gain knowledge, experience & confidence.
The link you have given is also very useful.
My system is analogous in processor, 80 GB hdd, 1.5 Gb RAM. The wireless is WEna Dell 1390 based on Broadcom .
Will give it a try as XP in 30 GB, Mint in rest with 2GB for swap balnce ext3 as you suggest.
I will report back here ( to you a personal mail too, if you approve) my experience Hopefully all will be well
Thanks again, you guys are the noblest- God Bless

Yes, you should be okay for dual booting. NTFS and FAT (Windows partitions) usually takes up the entire HDD, FAT (/dev/sda2) is usually what holds vendor diagnostic tools IE Dell repair center or something similar in your case. NTFS (/dev/sda1) is what holds your windows partition. In true Microsoft fashion, NTFS takes up all the free room on the HDD, used or not. Therefore you will need to get hold of gparted or something similar and resize NTFS to whatever size you want (I left 30Gb) in the rest of the free space, create an ext3 linux partition ready for mint. This will be at /dev/sda3. If you do all this, then when you install you can tell the mint installer to install to /dev/sda3 (Ext3) which is your free space especially prepared for linux (mint in this case).

As for your hardware, http://toykeeper.net/reviews/dell-d420-ubuntu-linux/ gives a review of setting up Ubuntu 6.10 on a Dell D420. Usual rule of thumb is if it can work on Ubuntu it can work on Mint, bear in mind that 6.10 is an older version of Ubuntu, but that's a good thing in a way because it should improve your chances of getting Mint working. The only concern is that you mentioned a broadcom card whereas the guide in the link above mentions ipw3945. Do you have a link to where you brought your laptop or a list of specs?

PS also look at the link I posted and take into account the part about the screen resolution, just saying this so you don't get a low-res suprise when you try Mint. Also bear in mind that Mint is a LiveCD so you can test your hardware using that before you go through with any installs

[badmotor]

No problem
Like I said, it is a good idea to run the LiveCD and just check out what's going on with your hardware, if you come across no problems at all and you are able to use the internet and your hardware is compatible, then great - you can start using mint. If not, then report back to us with what hardware doesn't work or what problems you encountered and we can check out the support for your hardware and any fixes for said problems. Good luck!

Totally off subject, but your signature is awesome!