Linux on the Dell D800

• Kernel For some reason, after a certain point, the Fedora kernels wouldn't allow the nvidia binary drivers to build properly. Therefore, I've been compiling a vanila kernel, from kernel.org using this .config script. Just download the kernel form the above site ( I'm currently using 2.6.9 ), unpack it to /usr/src, add some links ( ln -s /usr/src/linux-2.6.9 /usr/src/linux-2.6, and ln -s /usr/src/linux-2.6 /usr/src/linux ), and copy the config file to /usr/src/linux as ".config".
  Another problem with the kernel builds for the d800 involves a change to the most recent versions that again broke the nvidia driver. Before compiling the kernel, apply this nvidia compatability patch by cd /usr/src/linux and patch -p1 < nvidia_compat.diff. Then just
  make oldconfig
  make
  make modules_install
  make install
  
  
• Nvidia binary drivers After you take care of the above, grab the binary drivers from here. I also took the advice at nvnews.net to unpack and patch the nvidia drivers, for machines running 2.6 with PCI based video cards. The patch is here. To apply and build ( from zander@nvnews )
  sh /path/to/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-6629-pkg1.run --extract-only
  cd NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-6629-pkg1
  patch -p0 < /path/to/NVIDIA_kernel-1.0-6629-1155389.diff.txt
  ./nvidia-installer
  Note that the driver I found available from nvidia.com was NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-6629-pkg1.run, not NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-6629-pkg0.run, so I changed the instruction lines above.
  
  Once the module builds and installs, this xorg.conf file should be place in /etc/X11. It defines two layouts, one called LCD, for the flat panel display, and another called CRT, for an attached monitor. You will have to replace the parameters in the CRT section to reflect the type of monitor you have attached to your machine. I start X with these lines at the end of my .login file ( since my shell is tcsh )
  
  echo -n "starting X11 (Control-C to interrupt)"
  sleep 1
  
  if ( -f .startx_errors ) then
  /bin/rm -f .startx_errors
  endif
  #set dock_eth=`/sbin/lspci | grep 02:00.0`
  #if ( "" == $dock_eth ) then
  # echo Undocked, using LCD.
  /usr/X11R6/bin/startx -- -layout LCD >& .startx_errors
  #else
  # echo Docked, using Monitor.
  # /usr/X11R6/bin/startx -- -layout CRT >& .startx_errors
  #endif
  
  Notice that I previously determined docked/undocked status automatically, using the output of lspci. Something in the newer kernels has prevented that from happening properly, so that's commented out, and it simply defaults to undocked mode, and if I am using an external monitor, I hit control-c and just start X by hand, using startx -- -layout CRT.
  
  
• Wireless The Broadcom Corporation BCM4309 802.11a/b/g on the D800 is not supported by the linux kernel yet. However, using ndiswrapper, I wrapped the binary windows driver, bcmwl5, by placing the files bcmwl5.sys and bcmwl5.inf in /etc/ndiswrapper/bcmwl5, and loading the driver by adding modprobe ndiswrapper to /etc/rc.d/rc.local. Since I don't know the license details on these files, you'll need to hunt them on the net yourself, perhaps starting with the windows media shipped with the laptop ( mine was originally dual-boot. Before I scragged the 'doze side, I saved a copy of these files ).
  
  Once this was setup, I tied into my home net, using static IPs, using a shell script, like this ...
  
  
  #!/bin/tcsh
  
  ifconfig eth0 down
  route del default
  /bin/cp ~/SITES/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.conf
  iwconfig wlan0 mode Managed essid "ESSID" key "KEY"
  ifconfig wlan0 IPADDR
  ifconfig wlan0 up
  route add default gw GATEWAY
  /etc/rc.d/init.d/ntpd restart
  /etc/rc.d/init.d/sendmail restart
  lpadmin -d Minolta2
  setenv PRINTER Minolta2
  
  You'll need to change ESSID, KEY, IPADDR and GATEWAY to proper values. OTOH, I was able to attach to a DHCP net in a hotel using ...
  
  
  #!/bin/tcsh
  
  ifconfig eth0 down
  route del default
  iwconfig wlan0 mode Managed essid "GoldenTree"
  dhclient wlan0
  You can try changing essid "GoldenTree" to essid any for real permissive places.
  
  
• Window managers I prefer
  
  the window manager fvwm2, found here. The config script is .fvwm2rc . The cool marbles came from kde-look. All of the little apps in the FvwmButtons in the lower left should be easy enough to find online. Notice the network monitor wmnd is started as wmnd -w twisted -I eth0,wlan0, so that if you click on it, you see the wireless traffic instead of the hardline.
  
  The backgrounds are randomly selected. Under your home directory, make a directory called .backgrounds, and populate it with jpgs/gifs/xpms and then use the randBG script. You'll need php installed. You can also make individual directories for each Desktop.
  
  
• Wine To get wine working, I just yum'd up the latest copy ( sudo yum install wine ), and modified the config file. Now Starcraft works properly ( I took an image of the BW cd, and mounted it as d:, under dosdevices. I also copied the \Program Files\Starcraft directory to drive_c/Program Files ).