Linux on Compaq N800c

[troyski22o]

Hi guys,

I'm planning to revive my dad's old laptop (Compaq n800c) by installing Linux on it as part of LAMP. I'm thinking of converting it as a personal test server of sorts for my PHP experiments. Yeah, I know. I'm cheap. hehehe

I'm still deciding which distro to install. But I'm inclined to go for either Centos or Ubuntu.

However, I've read some information on the web that a probable issue could be Linux's not so solid support for ACPI. Unfortunately, this particular model of laptop is not APM compatible, and thus rely solely on ACPI. I think this has even been pointed out as probable cause for overheating in some installations on the said laptop model.

Any of you have experience with this particular setup? Or any suggestions in case ACPI support does become an issue?

Thanks in advance.

[hysterik]

Hi guys,

I'm planning to revive my dad's old laptop (Compaq n800c) by installing Linux on it as part of LAMP. I'm thinking of converting it as a personal test server of sorts for my PHP experiments. Yeah, I know. I'm cheap. hehehe

I'm still deciding which distro to install. But I'm inclined to go for either Centos or Ubuntu.

However, I've read some information on the web that a probable issue could be Linux's not so solid support for ACPI. Unfortunately, this particular model of laptop is not APM compatible, and thus rely solely on ACPI. I think this has even been pointed out as probable cause for overheating in some installations on the said laptop model.

Any of you have experience with this particular setup? Or any suggestions in case ACPI support does become an issue?

Thanks in advance.

If by old you mean it also has a small amount of memory, I'd suggest using Xubuntu or puppy. As for the ACPI, I'm not sure. You might connect the laptop to a kill-o-watt, measure what it uses. Then disable ACPI (acpi=off kernel append), and measure it again. See if the difference is significant.

[beezlebubsbum]

I agree with the suggestion of Xubuntu. All of the power of Ubuntu with the minimalist GUI, which helps on smaller amounts of RAM.

I have noticed the same thing when it comes to heat issues, but only on my newer laptops that I don't think are fully supported yet. All of my other older laptops seem to work fine with the Linux's power management. Running LAMPP installations are exactly taxing on the CPU, so I don't know if you really are going to have heat issues.

If you are having problems wanting to take the plunge in Linux, you can also get a LAMPP installation for windows called XAMPP. Hey it's not as nice, but it does an ample job!

[tomlasmir]

I use Linux Ubuntu!!!