Installing Ubuntu 7.04 on a Compaq Presario 1500 Notebook

Finally I decided to try again the Ubuntu 7.04 live cd.

I booted and selected the "Start or install Ubuntu" option.

When the screen showed a garbled display I pressed "crtl-alt-f2" and ran the command :

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

Then I chose the following options :

Attempt to autodetect video hardware? : "Yes"
X server driver : "ati"
Identifier for your video card : "ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M7 LW [Radeon Mobility 7500]"

Video card's Bus identifier : "PCI:1:0:0"
Amount of memory (KB) to be used by the video card : "32768"
Use Kernel Framebuffer device interface : "Yes"
Then a few questions about the Keyboard & mouse
Write default files section to configuration file ? : "Yes"
Attempt Monitor Autodetection ? : "Yes"
Identifier for the monitor : "Generic Monitor"
Video Modes to be used by the X server : "1400 x 1050"
Method for selecting the monitor characteristics ? : "Medium"
Resolution : "1400x1050 @ 60Hz"
Write monitor sync ranges to the configuration file : "Yes"
Desired default color depth in bits : "16"

Then I returned to the console usign the crtl-alt-F7

And pressed the ctrl-alt-backspace twice. Then the gnome restarted with a 1400x1050 @ 60Hz resolution without problem.

I installed the distribution and rebooted.

Then I opened a terminal and I edited manually the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file.

In the following link you can download my xorg.conf.

http://aleks.vigio.pl/?lang=spain&page=show&id=256


The glxgears shows an average of 1000fps.

I pressed the button "Enable Desktop Effect" and activate the options :
"Windows Wobble when Moved"
"Workspaces on a Cube"



But the cube effect didn't work until I ran the following two commands :

gconftool-2 --type int --set /apps/compiz/general/screen0/options/hsize 4

gconftool-2 --type int --set /apps/compiz/general/screen0/options/number_of_desktops 1


Then I pressed the ctrl+alt+left or the ctrl+alt+Button1 and the cube worked!!!

Now I'm using Ubuntu... so... I'm Finally a Human Being!!!

Is Ubuntu not for ati mobility beings???

I decided to test the Desktop LiveCd of the most popular linux distribution (according with Distrowatch.com) http://distrowatch.com/

Yes... I tested the Ubuntu Live Cd of the versions 6 (Dapper Drake) and 7.04 (Feisty Fawn).

According to its site (http://www.ubuntu.com/products/WhatIsUbuntu) ubuntu is a linux for human beings and a "linux-based operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers"...The graphical installer enables you to get up and running quickly and easily...

So I expected to insert the cd, boot from it and just use it.

But as usual I found some problems with these "easy to use" distributions.

My equipment is a Notebook Presario 1500US with a Pentium 4 2.4GHz and an Ati mobility Radeon 7500 32MB a 4-year-old equipment.

I was able to boot and use version 6 (Dapper Drake) but the screen was a little moved up and when I tried to change the resolutions/refresh rate I saw something very strange :

Resolution : 1280x1024

Refresh Rate : -19569 Hz

What??? A 19569 negative Hertz??? what!? My notebook is displaying characters more faster than the speed of light?? or I'm traveling in Warp 10??? One second for the laptop is -1 seconds to me...

I would like to show my notebook to Heinrich Rudolf Hertz but unfortunately that is impossible... roughly 1 Hertz can be defined as 1 cycle per second. So what is a negative hertz? are they the cycles that don't happen in a second? or maybe because the time scale for the notebook is different than mine...

Am I reaching the time dilatation of the Einstein Theory? For Einstein it was the relative motion which caused both observers to see the other's clocks as having slowed down.I'm sitting in a chair It has a small wheel and I admit that sometimes I use it to move in the room, but reaching the speed of light with these small wheels???

In a fast movement I shutdown the X server because I was afraid that I couldn't return to my time (year 2007 BC).

So I inserted the Ubuntu Feisty Fawn Desktop live Cd and I chose the "Start or install Ubuntu" option.These time the screen went worse, I only saw a garbled display.

Here is the image :

I reset and choose the "Start Ubuntu in safe graphics mode" and I got this funny output :

Later I boot again and pressed "F4" and chose a different resolution... I always got the same garbled display.Later still I used the crtl-alt-f2 and ran the "sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg" command. Unfortunately I tested a few configurations without success.

(update : I finally made it work. Here is the guide :

http://aparateys.blogspot.com/2007/05/installing-ubuntu-704-on-compaq.html

)

Really I don't want to download another cd (the alternate cd that has a console installation) burn it, test it and spend four or five hours trying to get the ATI driver to work, because this is "an Easy to setup distribution" if I have to spend four or five hours trying to install a so called "Easy to install distribution" then that make not sense to me.

I can install a new slackware in less time (A so called difficult to install distribution).

So. Is ubuntu not for ati mobility beings??? or maybe I'm not a human being.

Anyway, now I could boot the Dapper Drake with a -19569 Hz frequency and I'm reaching the limits of the reality and the universe...

I'm travelling at the speed of light!!! join me, don't be afraid : "No one can face the infinity without feeling vertigo"