Updated: 2008-05-16
As of Linux 2.6.24, everything I care about works.
As of OpenBSD 4.0, everything besides wireless networking and sound works, with an odd networking bug.
As of OpenBSD 4.3, the sound is still broken, but the wifi card is certainly recognised as bwi(4). I'm not entirely sure whether or not the networking bug is gone.
dmesg on OpenBSD 4.3-RELEASE.
| Hardware Components | Status under Linux | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Intel(R) Celeron(R) M CPU 420 @ 1.60GHz (533 MHz FSB, 1 MB L2 cache) | Works | No special procedure required during installation |
| RC410 [Radeon Xpress 200M] | Works* | See note below |
| 15.4" WXGA CrystalBRite LCD (16ms) | Works | No special procedure required during installation |
| VGA-out | Works | No special procedure required during installation |
| 512MB DDR2 | Works | No special procedure required during installation |
| 80GB (74GiB) ATA HDD (TOSHIBA MK8032GAX) | Works | No special procedure required during installation |
| Slimtype DVDRW SSM-8515S | Works (writes CD-Rs and DVD-Rs - DVD+R untested) | No special procedure required during installation |
| 88E8038 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller | Works* | See note below |
| Internal 56k Modem | Not tested | |
| BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller | Works* | See note below |
| Battery | Works | No special procedure required during installation |
| ATI Technologies Inc SB450 HDA Audio | Works* | See note below |
| Multimedia keys | Works* | See note below |
| Ctrl key | Works* | See note below |
Works fine in Ubuntu, with the default restricted drivers. Not tested in OpenBSD.
Before Linux 2.6.19, networking was fine apart from uploading large amounts of data (simply cuts out). OpenBSD 4.0 also has this bug.
Currently, networking very occasionally cuts out under heavy and sustained usage and rebooting seems to be the only cure (still occurring with Linux 2.6.22-rc1).
Somewhere between Linux 2.6.20 and 2.6.22-rc1, support for the sound card was added. OpenBSD 4.3-RELEASE does not have support for this sound card.
By default, the Internet and Email keys bring up the Web browser and Email client, and the play/pause key works in most applications. The volume up and down keys also work.
The P, e (Acer), stop, back, and forward keys have no keysym in the default installation and so do nothing, but they do generate events and so can be set as shortcuts.
The euro and dollar keys do not, however, generate events and so only serve to confuse the keyboard user. When using the laptop's keyboard - not often in my case - I tended to have my fingers on the wrong keys due to a lack of tactile feedback (that is to say, there is no gap between the inverted-T and the surrounding keys). I could go on for days about the differences between the laptop's keyboard and my Happy Hacking Lite II.
Also, the email button seems to have a back-light. I've never seen it on, and I haven't really tried to make it work.
Some Linux distributions have problems with getting X up and running. The vast majority of distributions work fine without any effort (Ubuntu, openSUSE, Debian, dyne:bolic, etc.). I haven't yet managed to get OpenBSD 4.0 running X, although I'm not so familiar with OpenBSD. Update: X works on OpenBSD 4.3 without any effort on my part.
Update: 3D acceleration works on Ubuntu with the default restricted driver.
Like most computer keyboards these days, the Ctrl key is in the wrong place.
Thankfully though, the position is the only problem and can be easily fixed by
software (kbd us.dvorak.swapctrlcaps, etc.). (i.e. there isn't a
funny hole cut out of the caps lock to make pressing it harder).
The 5-in-1 card reader works with SD, but not XD. I have not tried any other cards with it.