Laptop problems. Would another distro help?

roodwriter_at_core.com
Date: 09/14/05 

Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 15:36:10 -0400

I just bought a Compaq Presario V2321 (V2000 series) laptop. It's got 512
RAM, an (as I recall) AMD 1.2 gig chip, and an 80 gig hard drive. I totally
obliterated the Windows XP that came on it and installed SuSE 9.1, which is
what I've been using on my desktop.

Although I tested the machine in the store with a Knoppix 3.1 disk (over two
years old) and it worked fine, with 9.1 it's a slug. Worse, it freezes
periodically. Since when that happens I'm generally only running Emacs on
KDE with nothing else the machine can't be overloaded.

At best when typing it has a lurching, hesitating, quality. Works smoother
under battery power, oddly. Doesn't work any better using Vim.

My Samsung 1740 USB printer works fine and I've been using a USB stick to
transfer files between machines. But it won't operate my Epson 1650 USB
scanner and while it will dial out and hold the connection on my external
modem with a serial-to-USB adaptor, it basically doesn't do anything.

They all work fine on my desktop with the same SuSE 9.1 disks.

Also when using the touchpad, double-thumping it doesn't work. I have to use
the actual left-hand button.

I haven't tried burning a DVD yet. It will read DVDs.

The mode line on Emacs, which shows load, never shows less than a 10 percent
load, even when nothing's happening. I've never seen it go into the
double-digits on my desktop. Usually it says less than 1.0.

SuSE also had problems with the display. The default was smeared and
unusable. It seems to be able to set it on 800 by 600 but on nothing else.

I've noticed that Konquerer seems to think I have billions of files in my
directory.

Wondering if I'd gotten a lemon, I tried the Knoppix disk again. Worked
fine, except it wouldn't find the USB modem. Didn't check any other USB
devices.

I have Ubuntu, Mandriva and Debian as well as a bunch of mini-distros on
disks that came with Linux Format Magazine. My question is whether anyone
knows if I'd have better luck with them. It's the first time I've ever run
into a problem with SuSE and that's all I've ever used. Something is
fooling the installer.

Or if someone knows a quick easy non-geek fix on the configuration, I'd be
grateful. This machine is for work and it's causing more work than it's
saving.

Thanks.

Rod 

--
Author of "Linux for Non-Geeks" and "Boring Stories From Uncle Rod."
To reply take the extra "o" from "roodwriter."
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