This page contains information on how to set up Linux on a Quantex 1401 laptop. This Quantex model is identical to Dell Inspiron 7000 series laptop. For more information, please refer to the DI 7000 page by Steve Hsieh, which I used heavily to perform my installation and write this document.

Relevant or useful links.

• Quantex Web Site
• Linux on Dell Inspiron 7000
• Linux on Laptops
• Linux Kernel HOWTO
• Linux PCMCIA Information
• Framebuffer HOWTO

My laptop is configured as follows:

Model		Quantex 1401
Processor 	Pentium II 300
RAM 		80 Mb
HD		6.4 Gb
Display		14.1" XGA Active Matrix 
Video adapter	ATI Rage Lt Pro AGP 2x
Sound		ESS Maestro-2
Modem		internal Lucent Technologies 56k Winmodem
PCMCIA		Texas Instruments PCI-1220 CardBus Controller
Network 	Linksys EtherFast 10/100 PCMCIA Ethernet card

THIS PAGE IS OUT OF DATE. WHILE INFORMATION MAY STILL BE USEFUL, REDHAT INSTALLS OUT OF THE BOX ON THIS MACHINE. THE MAESTRO 2 SOUND DRIVER NEEDS TO BE DOWNLOADED SEPARATELY (SEE BELOW).

RedHat 5.2:	I used the RH5.2 distribution to perform a base install on my 
		system.  I did have to upgrade the kernel from 2.0.x to 2.2.x
		to get X to work.  See the X Windows section.

X Windows: 	The video chip is not currently supported by XFree86.  Apparently, 
		there are a few of ways to trick X into working on ATI Rage Lt 
		Pro, I used the VESA framebuffer feature of the new 2.2.x kernel.

Sound:		The built-in sound chip is not supported by the Linux OSS driver. (a beta driver is available from http://people.redhat.com/zab/maestro/)

PCMCIA:		Use the latest distribution of PCMCIA card utilities (at the time of
		this writing the version was 3.0.8).  Make sure to read the 
		PCMCIA-HOWTO that is included in the package.  

Putting it all together.

Here are step-by-step instructions:

1. I wanted to be able to run Linux or Win98 on my laptop. I used Partition Magic to non-destructively shrink the FAT32 (Win98) partition to create free space for Linux. Starting with version 4.0, Partition Magic can also resize Linux partitions, and can be installed on Linux. Having Win98 came in handy later when I could not get RH5.2/PCMCIA utilities v. 3.0.5 to work with the TI CardBus controller and the Linksys PC card, and had to download a newer version of the PCMCIA software.

   Turned the available free space into an extended partition, and divided the new extended partition into 3 Linux Ext2 (/, /usr, and /var) and 1 Linux Swap partitions.

2. Install one of Linux distributions. I used RedHat 5.2 that installed without a glitch. Neither X nor PCMCIA worked for me at that point.

3. Download the latest 2.2.x kernel from ftp.us.kernel.org as well as the latest PCMCIA card utilities from the PCMCIA Information page If your version of XFree86 is older than 3.3.3.1, donwloaded the latest version from ftp.xfree86.org or in RPM format from updates.redhat.com. Use a Linux-compatible PCMCIA modem, or, if you don't have one, use Windows to download the software. Then reboot to Linux, mount your Windows partition, and copy the downloaded files over to Linux.

4. Configure your kernel using 'make menuconfig.' Alternatively, you can download my config file and copy it to /usr/src/linux/.config (note the period), provided that your kernel source tree is in /usr/src/linux. If you choose to do the latter, use 'make oldconfig' to read in values from .config file.

   If you are configuring the kernel yourself, enable VESA framebuffer support. The framebuffer HOWTO has detailed instructions on how to do this. For PCMCIA support, refer to the PCMCIA-HOWTO that instructs to disable support for all network adapters, including portable ones.

5. Go to the directory containing the latest distribution of PCMCIA utilities that you downloaded. Usually, this is /usr/src/linux/pcmcia-3.0.8. Do 'make config' and enable cardbus support and interrupt probe code ( as suggested by a user):

   	Include 32-bit (CardBus) card support (y/n) [y]:  
   	Experimental interrupt probe code (y/n) [y]:
       

   Compile and install the PCMCIA card utilities.

6. Compile the kernel and install it as, say, /boot/vmlinuz-2.2.1. This way you can keep the old kernel, and boot it if the new one fails. Edit your /etc/lilo.conf to append the new kernel information:

       image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.2.1 
       label=linux-2.2.1 
       read-only 
       vga=792 
   

   and don't forget to run /sbin/lilo before you reboot your machine. For more information about the 'vga=792', refer to the framebuffer HOWTO. Once you reboot, type 'linux-2.2.1' at the LILO prompt to boot the new kernel.

7. Install XFree86-3.3.3.1 or later. When you run XConfigurator, choose XF86_Mach64 server. Replace your XF86Config file with the one from Steve Hsieh's page for Dell Inspiron 7000.