Red Hat Linux on a Dell Inspiron 3200

Software and files:

Reference documents:

Second Operating System:

Installation

Installation went without a hitch. I installed ALL packages, although I have uninstalled several since. I learned during several failed installs, and from advice posted to the Inspiron mailing list, that it is better to install everything and later uninstall those packages which I am certain I do not need than to install only those which I think I need and then get stuck with an obscure failed dependency later.

At the end of the install routine, Xconfigurator ran and prompted me for my video setup - I selected "Unlisted Card" even though there was a "Neomagic" entry in the list - selecting the NeoMagic entry prompts Red Hat 5.1 to install the VGA16 X server, which I did not want. Since I'd chosen "Unlisted Card" Xconfigurator asked me which X server to install - I selected "SVGA". Xconfigurator then prompted me for monitor type, scan frequencies, video card onboard RAM, etc. I just accepted the default values (since the XF86Config that they go in to would be overwritten when the correct NeoMagic driver is installed) and when asked whether or not to probe I selected "Don't Probe" and continued.

I allowed the LILO bootloader to install with all default values. LILO detected the Win98 partition and included it as a boot option automatically.

I rebooted, but F2'd to BIOS setup and moved my cdrom drive to the bottom of the boot order (otherwise I'd boot from the Red Hat cdrom again and be back to square one).

After rebooting once more I was successfully in Linux. However, it became apparent that PCMCIA, Video, Sound, and Advanced Power Management were not configured correctly. I also noticed from the boot-up messages that Linux was only detecting 64Mb of my 80Mb RAM. I was able to solve every one one of these problems.

PCMCIA setup - part 1

    PCMCIA=yes
    PCIC=i82365
    PCIC_OPTS=
    CORE_OPTS=

I started PCMCIA manually by executing the command

/etc/rc.d/init.d/pcmcia start

The initialisation tones I heard were a low tone then two high tones ("boop - beep - beep") indicating that one card was not initialising properly. The problem card, the 3com 3c575 network card, seems to have been a source of difficulty for many Inspiron users. Nevertheless, my Psion Gold V.90 modem card *did* initialise correctly, which meant I could get online and hunt down drivers and patches without having to boot to Win98. PCMCIA PROBLEMS HALF-SOLVED.

Video setup

I consulted README.neomagic and installed XFCom-neomagic-glibc-2.0.0-1.i386.rpm according to the instructions. I edited the new /etc/X11/XF86Config in vi and commented out the 8-bit and 24-bit display subsections to ensure that 1024x768 resolution in 16-bit colour was the X default setting.

To my delight startx loaded fvwm successfully.

In X I used the control-panel, netcfg, and linuxconf utilities to customise the rest of my system settings. VIDEO PROBLEMS SOLVED.

Sound setup - and a new kernel

Sound was not configured properly due to the absence of Crystal Sound support in the default Red Hat 2.0.34 kernel. The CS4236 is, in theory, "Soundblaster PRO-compatible"; so running sndconfig and choosing the Soundblaster PRO settings seemed to be an option. However, sound was still not operating correctly after running sndconfig - while /usr/share/sndconfig/sample.au played correctly, MPEG Layer 3 files (mp3's) played back as static. I decided to move to a 2.0.36 kernel and compile it to my specific requirements.

After downloading and installing all the available Red Hat 5.1 updates I downloaded the linux-2.0.36.tar.gz source package from a mirror of ftp.kernel.org and compiled it from within X by using make xconfig. At the time I was completely inexperienced at the art of kernel compilation - however, Brian Ward's Kernel-HOWTO and the Red Hat Linux Installation Guide held my hand through the entire procedure. While compiling I removed support for hardware the Inspiron did not have, and ensured that support for Crystal Sound audio and Advanced Power Management were included.

I edited /etc/lilo.conf as per the instructions in the Red Hat Linux Installation Guide. To force my system to recognise my full 80Mb of RAM I included the line

    append="mem=80M"

This is what my new lilo.conf looked like:

    boot=/dev/hda
    map=/boot/map
    install=/boot/boot.b
    prompt
    timeout=300
    append="mem=80M"
    image=/boot/vmlinuz
        label=linux
        root=/dev/hda6
        read-only
    other=/dev/hda1
        label=win
        table=/dev/hda

I saved lilo.conf and executed /sbin/lilo to update the LILO bootloader. Failure to execute /sbin/lilo after changing kernel details can result in an unbootable Linux partition! I had learned this lesson the hard way on an earlier attempt, and had had to begin again from the initial cdrom boot.

After a reboot I watched the boot-up messages scroll past and saw that my full 80Mb of RAM was being used, that Advanced Power Management was installed, and that Crystal Sound (CS4232) was installed. I was also relieved to see

    Kernel 2.0.36 on an i686

above the login prompt. However, sound was suffering from an IRQ conflict and still not operating correctly. I booted to Win98 and checked the I/O address, IRQ setting, and DMA channels in System Properties. I then rebooted and F2'd to BIOS setup and ensured that the System Devices settings were as follows:

     Audio [Enabled]
     SB I/O address: [220h]
     WSS I/O address: [530h]
     AdLib I/O address: [388h]
     Interrupt: [IRQ7]
     1st DMA channel: [DMA0]
     2nd DMA channel: [DMA1]

Your own settings may differ, but it is that they are consistent between BIOS and operating system that is important.

I rebooted to Linux, and edited /etc/conf.modules to reflect the BIOS settings:

     alias sound cs4232
     options -k cs4232 io=530 irq=7 dma=0,1

I rebooted, and at the "Loading module dependencies... done" section of boot-up I heard a reassuring "click" from the speakers. /usr/share/sndconfig/sample.au played correctly, and upon loading X and x11amp I found that mp3's now played cleanly. The Inspiron now also powered-off automatically upon shutdown, thanks to the new APM support. SOUND, MEMORY, and ADVANCED POWER MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS SOLVED.

PCMCIA setup - part two

I downloaded PCMCIA card services 3.0.8, unzipped and untarred it to /usr/src, and consulted David Hinds' PCMCIA-HOWTO. After some searching I found a driver file for the 3c575 PCMCIA network card, and a lot of interesting information about it, at Douglas Wagner's "Linux on an Inspiron 3000 Laptop" page.

I stopped PCMCIA services by issuing the command

    /etc/rc.d/init.d/pcmcia stop

then placed the 3c575 driver file in /usr/src/pcmcia-cs-3.0.8/modules, and followed the PCMCIA-HOWTO instructions to compile PCMCIA card services. I did NOT follow the instructions suggested at Douglas' page beyond placing the 3c575 driver file in /usr/src/pcmcia-cs-3.0.8/modules - the Makefile at his site did not seem to work with pcmcia-cs-3.0.8. Everything seemed to work properly by placing the 3c575 driver file in /usr/src/pcmcia-cs-3.0.8/modules and following the PCMCIA-HOWTO instructions.

I restarted card services manually with

/etc/rc.d/init.d/pcmcia start

and heard four high initialisation tones ("beep beep-beep beep"), indicating that both cards had been initialised. I then established a dial-up PPP connection to the Internet, indicating that the modem was operating correctly; then I successfully pinged another machine on my local network, and successfully pinged my Inspiron from that machine, indicating that the network card was operating correctly. PCMCIA PROBLEMS SOLVED.

Outstanding issues

At this stage there are two things which prevent me from being able to say that my laptop is 100% perfect.

Firstly, network services are not being automatically started upon boot-up even though I have specified that they should be. After boot I need to either issue the command

    /etc/rc.d/init.d/network start

or activate the eth0 interface from within netcfg.

Secondly, I have discovered one anomaly in the operation of the CS4236 sound card. It occasionally dislikes being rebooted from within Linux - if I reboot the laptop out of Linux and back to Linux sound sometimes refuses to operate correctly, with choppy and looping sounds. The problem goes away (when it occurs) if I boot out to Windows then BACK to Linux.

These problems are minor and do not impede the normal operation of my machine to any great extent. The moment I have the causes identified I will update this page.

Thanks (in no particular order) to the following people, without whom I would not have my Inspiron running Linux:

Douglas Wagner <[email protected]>
Tomasz Barszczak <[email protected]>
Peter Litskevitch <[email protected]>
David Hinds <[email protected]>
Brian Ward <[email protected]>

Special thanks to all the members of the Inspiron-Linux mailing list, and (local community plug) to all who frequent the Paradise.Net Linux Discussion Page.

Simon H. Garlick <[email protected]>
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