Getting The Modem To Work In Hardy

If you upgraded your install from Gutsy Gibbon to Hardy Heron, your modem may not work. You need to install the new hsfmodem deb. If you have the older version of the Conexant Modem driver, please uninstall it before installing the new one.

You can find the driver here. This is only for the 32bit version of Ubuntu, the one I use and recommend. 64 bit users will need to go here. There is no deb for the 64bit driver so installation can be a bit of a chore.

After installing the modem driver, you might get a pop-up window telling you that the Volume Control has quit unexpectedly and asks you to reload (or not reload) the panel. Click on Reload. Afterwards, the sound icon on the top right corner of the screen changes to "mute", but sound should be fine. A logout/login or GDM restart should have solved the issue. This issue happens because the modem driver lays down its own set of sound codecs and unloads the snd-hda-intel module during the installation process. But it doesn't, when I tried to modprobe snd-hda-intel I received an error. If you check the comments Mmandx has found a workaround. You can download an version of the alsa-driver package (from the ALSA project) with improved support for the HSF driver here.

edited by pHreaksYcle

Overview of Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron on the Dell 1501

Everything you need to get Ubuntu 8.04 running on your Dell Inspiron 1501.

Installation
Hardy installs with no problems. Whether you're using the LiveCD, Alternative Install or Wubi.

Wireless
Two Methods:
1. The Restricted Driver Manager can install the Broadcom B43 fireware.
Firmware cutter will not work when used through the Driver Manager. In order to install B43-fwcutter you need to use the terminal.
In a terminal Type:
sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter

2. Use NDISwrapper to install the driver. This guide will walk you through the setup.

ATI Proprietary Driver
Two Methods:
1. The Restricted Driver Manager can install the the driver for ATI graphics card in the Dell 1501. ATI's 2.1.7281 fglrx driver is automatically installed, configured and 3D enabled. The best part is that the new Ubuntu repository fglrx driver supports AIGLX, no more XGL.

2. You can install the newest ATI driver that uses AIGLX yourself. You can find that guide here (use method two) or use Envy to install the newest ATI driver for you.

Compiz-Fusion
Compiz-Fusion is enabled once you install the ATI Propiety Driver.
To get the most out of Compiz try installing the advanced configuration tool.
In a terminal:
sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager

Media Codecs
Hardy Heron makes codec installation easy mp3, DVD, avi, aac, mpeg, wmv, asf, mov, flv, mp4, flash codecs are installed when you try to play them. If you like to add all the major codecs and make playback easy, check out my codec cheatsheet. The only thing not enabled in Ubuntu is reading encrypted DVDs. To add DVD playback and some other helpful media codecs to Ubuntu follow this guide.

Ethernet
Works out of the box. In order to do any of these guides you're going to need to plug in your Dell Inspiron 1501. Don't be cheap, go out and buy an Ethernet cable.

Brightness & Volume
Brightness (Fn Up/Down Arrow) and Volume (Fn Page Up/Page Dn) keyboard shortcuts both work with BIOS 1.70. Please leave a comment letting others know if your BIOS work.

Suspend & Hibernate
Both Suspend and Hibernate work with BIOS 1.70 and the Ubuntu repository ATI 2.1.7281 fglrx driver. Please leave a comment letting others know if your BIOS and/or ATI driver combination work. You can find a mini guide about BIOS flashing here.

Video Out
Works out of the box, Hardy's Screens and Resolutions (System>Administration>Screens and Resolutions) makes using multiple monitors a breeze. Configuration doesn't require editing your xorg.conf file.

Modem
The Conexant Modem driver is usually released by Dell once they switch their Linux machines over to the new version of Ubuntu. I'll update the site and this space when Dell releases the new driver.

Card Reader
Works out of the box.

Overall:
Hardy Heron is the Ubuntu release that Dell Inspiron 1501 owners have been waiting for. Everything works, you only need to install 3 drivers (ATI, wireless and modem). If you were hesitant about trying Ubuntu on your 1501, rest assured, it takes minimal skill and computer knowledge to setup.

Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04 New User Guide

Overview and setup for getting Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron installed on the Dell Inspiron 1501

Setting Up Wireless with NDISwarapper

Easy Codec Installation

Encrypted DVD playback & Medibuntu

Stop Compiz-Fusion From Loading Automatically

Overview of Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon on the Dell 1501

Everything you need to get Ubuntu 7.10 running on your Dell Inspiron 1501.

Installation
Gutsy installs with no problems. There is a problem with GRUB, the resolution settings are wrong and this causes a 2 -3 minute lag in booting. Once done, Gutsy takes less than 25 seconds to load. You can find the guide on how to fix it here.

Wireless
Two Methods:
1. The Restricted Driver Manager can install the the firmware for the Broadcom 43xx card in the Dell 1501. You can find the guide .

2. You can use ndiswrapper to install the driver. For the guide and maybe why you'd want to do it yourself, check out this article.


ATI Proprietary Driver
Two Methods:
1. The Restricted Driver Manager can install the the driver for ATI graphics card in the Dell 1501. ATI's 8.37.6 fglrx driver is automatically installed, configured and 3D enabled. You can find the guide here.

2. You can install the newest ATI driver that uses AIGLX yourself. You can find that guide here.

Compiz-Fusion
Compiz-Fusion is enabled by default, so you don't have to install anything. If you used ATI Propiety Driver method 1, use need to setup Xgl using this guide to get Compiz-Fusion working. If you used ATI Propiety Driver method 2, Compiz works after a logout/reboot.

Media Codecs
Gutsy makes codec installation easy, no more automatix or struggling with adding repos. mp3, DVD, avi, aac, mpeg, wmv, asf, mov, flv, mp4, flash codecs are installed when you try to play them. If you like to add all the major codecs and make playback easy, check out my codec cheatsheet. The only thing not enabled in Ubuntu is reading encrypted DVDs. To add DVD playback to Ubuntu follow this guide.

Ethernet
Works out of the box. In order to do any of these guides you're going to need to plug in your Dell Inspiron 1501. Don't be cheap, go out and buy an Ethernet cable.

Brightness & Volume
Works with BIOS 1.70, use this guide for rolling back you BIOS.

Suspend & Hibernate
Doesn't work if you install the Proprietary ATI Driver (either method). A bug in ATI's driver causes this. No fixes have been found yet. If you use the MESA driver that is installed by default suspend and hibernate will work.

Video Out
Works out of the box, Gutsy's Screens and Resolutions (System>Administration>Screens and Resolutions) makes using multiple monitors a breeze. Configuration doesn't require editing your xorg.conf file.

Modem
Works, you just need to follow this guide to set it up.

Card Reader
Works out of the box.

edited by pHreaksYcle

Conexant Modem Driver for Gutsy

If you upgraded an Ubuntu 7.04 installation to Ubuntu 7.10, your modem will no longer work. You need to install the new deb. If you have the older version of the Conexant Modem driver, please uninstall it before installing the new one.

You can find the driver here. This is only for the 32bit version of Ubuntu. 64 bit users will need to go here. There is no deb for the 64bit driver so installation is a bit of a chore.

After installing the modem driver, you might get a pop-up window telling you that the Volume Control has quit unexpectedly and asks you to reload (or not reload) the panel. Click on Reload. Afterwards, the sound icon on the top right corner of the screen changes to "mute", but sound should be OK. A logout/login or GDM restart clears the issue. This issue happens because the modem driver lays down its own set of sound codecs and unloads the snd-hda-intel module during the installation process.


Step 1 - Install the Package




Step 2 - Reolad



Step 3 - Check the Restricted Driver Manager
System>Administration>Restricted Driver Manager


Thanks go to Alex Kriegisch for pointing this out.

edited by pHreaksYcle

Conexant Modem on the Dell 1501

amaurynieto just sent me the .deb file to get your Conexant Modem to work in Ubuntu.

This .deb is the Conexant driver for the 1505n officially supported by Dell, however it also works in the 150 because it's the same D110 Chipset.

Conexant Modem .deb from Dell's Website
-Or-
You can wget in a terminal (default save is to your home login folder /home/YOUR USER NAME)
wget http://ftp.us.dell.com/comm/hsfmodem_7.60.00.06oem_i386.deb

It's good to see Dell involvement is giving back to the open source world. I wish I could test it out but I don't have a phone line or access to a dial-up account. If you get it to work, let me know how it went.

edited by pHreaksYcle

Feisty Fawn Starter Guide

If you decided to run Ubuntu Feisty Fawn 7.04 on your Dell Inspiron 1501, you came to the right place. This blog is a great starter guide for getting things to work. Enjoy, it's not as hard as it looks and everything here is tested and confirmed to work. - redDEAD

AND NOW EVERY PIECE OF HARDWARE ON THE DELL 1501 WORKS IN UBUNTU

Getting Ubuntu Feisty Fawn 7.04

Dell 1501 Compatability

Can't Get Feisty To Install

Dual Booting Ubuntu and Windows

Getting Wireless To Work Using ndiswrapper

Getting Wireless to work Using the Native Linux Driver

Beryl In Feisty With Xgl

Getting the Conexant Modem working in Feisty

Installing Java Runtime Environment 6.0

Installing Newest Azureus in Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn

Installing Wine

Installing VMware

How to Fix a Broken Key

Configure Synaptic Touchpad Settngs

Fixing Logout Freezing

Customizing Firefox

Installing Mozilla Thunderbird

edited by pHreaksYcle