Linux Laptop: Compal ACY13


Compal ACY13

Laptop Summary

Slackware 9.1 (Linux 2.4.23)

Intel 82845 Chipset
15" TFT SXGA+ 1400x1050 @ 60hz
Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 Mobile CPU 1.60GHz
Socket 478
1 Gigabyte 200pin PC2100 DDR SDRAM
nVidia Geforce2 GO 100 AGP 4x 16MB DDR SDRAM
3Com Corporation 10/100 3c905C-TX/TX-M [Tornado]
O2 Micro, Inc. OZ6912 Cardbus Controller
Intel Corp. 82801CA/CAM AC'97 V.92/56K Modem (PcTel)
Sigmatel AC'97 Audio
24x CDROM / 8x DVDROM / 8x CDRW
USB 1.0 UHCI-alt Root HUB
IBM Travelstar 40.0 GB ATA 100 4200 RPM HDD
Logitech Optical USB Mouse
lspci
lspci -n
lspci -v
lspci -vv
cat /proc/cpuinfo
cat /proc/pci

I'm running Slackware 9.1 (Linux 2.4.23) at the moment (12/15/03). The kernel is custom compiled, and patched with ACPI (http://acpi.sf.net/). I'm currently a fan of Gnome, and v2.4 has never been better. I use the reiserfs filesystem, and XFree86 4.4RC. Compal is an OEM for companies like Dell, Toshiba, HP etc.

How I obtained it

My friend bought this laptop from QLi Linux, so that he could get a laptop that is straight from the OEM manufacturer that supplies to Dell and others. This way, he avoided the Microsoft Tax and all the crap that Dell puts on their machines. Although, this laptop was supposed to be fully Linux supported, there does exist a WinModem and for that, I think he should have asked for his money back. Anyways, I bought it from him and I am the new owner. I haven't had very good luck talking with QLi Linux about this laptop and I wouldn't recommend doing business with them as they have been very rude with me by email and un-responsive by phone. They went out of business anyways this year (2004).

Things I don't Like

Graphics (nVidia Geforce 2 Go 100)

You have two choices. Either use the built-in "nv" driver that is part of the XFree86 system and has very nice 2D support but no 3d hardware acceleration. Or use the Nvidia Drivers "nvidia" (third party, non OSS) from Nvidia.com which do provide very nice 3d hardware acceleration. A third option is to use a framebuffer driver from the Linux kernel, but I haven't ever really played with that.

LCD Display

There is a 15" TFT SXGA+ 1400x1050 @ 60hz LCD display. I like the 1400x1050 resolution it can do, although laptops do exist now with 1600x1200 and more. To get this working, in my XF86Config file, I tell the nVidia drivers to use EDID Frequencies so I don't have to specify the vertical and horizontal freqs. See my XF86Config file. Otherwise, you can try specifying these values that were taken from the Compal ACL10 series.

HorizSync 31.5-90
VertRefresh 59-75

Mice/Touchpad

I have the Touchpad and an external USB optical mouse setup. You can see my XF86Config file to see how its done. The touchpad is a PS/2 mouse, so the device is usually "/dev/psaux" . For a third button action on the touchpad, you can push down both buttons at the same time to get the 3rd button effect.

Sound

Sound is supported in the Linux Kernel. Modules that it uses are "sound.o, ac97_codec.o, i810_audio.o and may be v_midi.o" The v_midi.o module is for MiDi Sequence and I haven't tested it yet with this soundcard. These modules are of course OSS modules, but I know this card will work with Alsa too, and Alsa is what will be the norm in the 2.6 kernel series which is about to hit the mirrors soon.

Ethernet

The internal PCI Nic is a 3c905C-TX (3Com) and is supported in the Kernel. The module that it uses it the "3c59x.o" and that's all you need. Thumbs up!

ACPI (Power Management)

This laptop is an ACPI complient laptop, and does not use APM. So make sure you disable the APM in the kernel, and enable ACPI instead. You should also use the patch from http://acpi.sf.net/ for your kernel. There site shows you how to patch your kernel with it if you don't know how. After you patch it, there is a few more options you can enable under the ACPI section to detect stuff like Temperature, Fans, Battery/AC etc.

Modem (WinModem)

I hate WinModem's more than anything. WinModem's are cheapskate copout made by the laptop manufacturers to save a little extra dough while making the end-user's hardware suffer more. I tried for days to get this to work using a LinModem driver. Everytime I tried to initialize the modem with Minicom, the Kernel would panic and lockup. But may be you might have better luck. What happens to me sounds like what happens to this guy. The modem has a PCTel Chipset (2304WT) and there is a LinModem driver for it here. You might also search the unofficial PCTel Winmodem in Linux compatibility database here to see if any of these other PCTel owners have a clue.

*Leif Albers (Linux User from the Internet) writes:
When I installed SuSE 9.1 on my ACY13, the Winmodem worked out of the box.
Basically, SuSE uses the proprietary drivers from SmartLink (www.smlink.com).

Good Luck. And if you do get it working, let me know.

My solution, I bought a 100% Hardware PCMCIA Modem, and Linux loves it. The modem that I bought is an Zonenet ZFM5600 (Intel Chipset) and it costs about $40 USD.

Additional Linkage

Linux on Laptops
TuxMobil
Kernel.org
FCC ID Search
DMI Decode
Scanmodem