XMG A102: Testbericht (Linux) :-)

[kufischer]

I post here a report on my Linux experience in addition to my general comments that you can find at:

I like to use Linux much better for work than Windows where I mean Windows 7 or XP when referring to Windows.

When it comes to Linux I prefer the version with KDE mainly I would say because I am used to it. However, I gave Unity a chance but rejected it. Anyway when I write about Linux, I am talking about an install of kubuntu 12.04 (64).

In principle the install is without real problems. Most of the things work out of the box. However, the GF 650M is not recognized after the install. I tried quite a bit of different things to get the Nvidia drivers installed. However, without real success. It is basically possible to install the Nvidia drivers, however, at least in my tries the drivers were not really used after reboot and the X11.conf the install produced had a bad effect on the graphics driver that is used in stead. In my tries I messed up my install to a degree that I decided to do a clean re-install, so if you try you should be prepared to spend time on it. However, if somebody would be successful, I would be more than happy to get hints on what needs to be done.

Another issue that actually can be solved quite easily is the Realtec Card Reader. It does not work out of the box, at least not for kubuntu 12.04. Luckily there is already a driver around which can be found at: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/udisks/+bug/971876 The install did work for me without any problems and the card reader works without causing any problems.

All the rest seems to work out of the box. The none native graphics driver works well and even offers transparency effects. Sound works without any trouble. The internal speakers are at least for me fine. I do not consider my notebook a hifi device. Even a test call with Skype worked without trouble. I did not try a video call but the camera is recognized in the Skype options and you can see the video there so I would assume that a video call should work.

I never tried Bluetooth.

I had a 2.5" USB 3.0 hard disk which I cannot really use with the notebook. The harddisk had trouble with other machines, too, so I do not consider this an issue of the notebook. I bought me a new USB 3.0 which now only uses one USB slot (USB 2.0 or 3.0) and this hard disk works fine with Windows and Linux.

When the display top of the notebook is closed the notebook goes to sleep and wakes up automatically when the notebook is opened again.

Some of the function keys work (volume up and volume down, go to sleep) others don't (screen brightness). Switching the screen to an external monitor does not work either, in the first place I mean here using the function key. However, also with using the graphics setup it was at least not for me possible to switch to a screen that I attached when Linux was up. The only way to get an external screen working was for me to connect the screen before boot and then switch on the notebook. The screen is then recognized at boot time. Only problem left then is that the screen resolution is not set correctly but this can be easily fixed with the screen setup that comes with kubuntu. The other down side is that I did not find a way yet to switch of the notebook screen while an external monitor is active. I do not see this as a real problem, however, it would be nicer if the notebook screen could be switched of. Like I have it the notebook tries to keep both screen in sync and this does not look very nice on the notebook side. Luckily the external monitor works to Full HD resolution and looks good and this is what I want to have.

PS: Apologies for posting English to German forums, however, regarding computer stuff English is more widely used ...