Debian Lenny @ HP Compaq nx6325
on 18.08.2008 - 22:12
What do we have here?
It is a little How To, which will help you to install and configure your own Debian Lenny distribution on a HP Compaq nx6325. In order to keep things simple i wrote a Script which will install all necessary programs / packages from repositories and configuration files from my page. In the end it will even compile and install your new kernel.
- Script: easy_way.sh
Why did i wrote it?
Because i bought once a shiny and new nx6325 for 450€ with preinstalled FreeDos. Nothing against FreeDos, its a great thing, but Debian is just better, and because I am really happy with this baby.
What doesn't work?
- Fingerprint sensor.
- There are some issues with the card reader.
What does work?
Everything else!!!
Lets go !
First of all you need to partition and format the hard drive. Don't use the Debian installer to partition your drive!!! You should use an external tool, try Knoppix, Ubuntu or any other liveCD that got gparted or qtparted to create your partitions. Of course you can also use PartitionMagic or any other commercial tool. I used gparted and it works fine.
Here you can see how I partitioned my drive:
After that you can use the Debian 4.0 Netinstall CD (I used it) to install the system. You know that when you use the "netinstall" CD your nx6325 will download all packages from Internet. So I suggest that you get yourself a nice ADSL line and don't forget to connect your nx6325 LAN card.
When its done. When Debian is installed on your nx6325 and its online. That is the moment you've been waiting on now you can finally use my Script. Download and run it as root. As the result of my Skript you will get your own kernel with lm-sensors, power management for CPU, and the right Broadcom firmware for bcm43xx module. All necessary modules will be in "/etc/modules". ATI' will be the VGA driver (hotkeys works but there is no 3D acceleration).
My Kernel
Here you can download my kernel (2.6.22.6) conf file.
Etch, Lenny, unstable
My servers are running "stable", but my desktop and my nx6325 are running "testing".
VGA Driver
A short comparison between available drivers.
| Features \ Driver | ATI | fglrx |
|---|---|---|
| FPS (glxgears) | 526.712 | 1553.555 |
| FPS (fgl_glxgears): | - | 330.200 |
| VGA Out | NO | YES |
| Brightness hotkeys: | YES | YES but only in Terminal you have to switch with CTRL+ALT+ (F1 to F6) |
| Compiz: | No | YES (AIGLX) |
fglrx installation
Just download the driver, "chmod +x" it and run. The installation is almost user friendly.
Compiz-Fusion
In order to use Compiz-Fusion you have to use FGLRX - 8.42.3 !
I used Compiz-Fusion 0.6.2, with all known plug ins and it worked smooth and stable. I could easily use Netbeans, Zend and other IDE's and there was almost no lag. I could write docs with OpenOffice, edit pictures with Gimp, but I couldn't play games. In order to play i had to turn off compiz. But with Metacity titles like "xmoto", "ManiaDrive", "TORCS" or "Soldat" worked smooth. Don't forget to disable Compiz if you are going to use Blender. Blender don't like Compiz.
My nx6325 3D Desktop:
