Linux (Debian Lenny) on Dell Vostro 1500

Posted April 19th, 2009 by falz
in

Notes on install of Debian Lenny 5.01 in April 2009. Xorg with Xfce4. Previously was running FreeBSD, but moved away due to some ACPI sleep issues with Nvidia drivers.


Package Management

/etc/apt/sources.list: 

deb http://YOURMIRROR/debian/ lenny main contrib non-free
deb-src http://YOURMIRROR/debian/ lenny main contrib non-free

deb http://security.debian.org/ lenny/updates main
deb-src http://security.debian.org/ lenny/updates main

deb http://volatile.debian.org/debian-volatile lenny/volatile main
deb-src http://volatile.debian.org/debian-volatile lenny/volatile main

deb http://www.backports.org/debian lenny-backports main contrib non-free
deb-src http://www.backports.org/debian lenny-backports main contrib non-free

deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org lenny main

Ensure you're up to date: 

# apt-get update
# apt-get install apt-show-versions
# apt-get install debian-backports-keyring
# apt-get install debian-multimedia-keyring
# apt-get update
# apt-get dist-upgrade

Networking

Packages to install:

  • wpagui
  • wpasupplicant

/etc/networking/interfaces: 

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
	wpa-driver wext
	wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf: 

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
network={
	ssid="myssid"
	key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
	proto=WPA2
	pairwise=TKIP
	group=TKIP
	psk="mypresharedkey"
}

Audio

Packages to install:

  • alsa-utils

Run alsaconf, alsamixer, done.


ACPI stuff (Power Saving/Lid control)

Packages to install:

  • acpi
  • acpid
  • cpufrequtils
  • laptop-mode-tools

/etc/acpi/lid.sh: 

#!/bin/sh
grep -q closed /proc/acpi/button/lid/*/state
if [ $? = 0 ]
then
	/usr/sbin/pm-suspend
fi

/etc/laptop-mode/conf.d changes: 

CONTROL_CPU_FREQUENCY=1
LM_AC_CPU_GOVERNOR=performance
NOLM_AC_CPU_GOVERNOR=performance


X11

Packages to install:

  • xorg
  • xfce4
  • xfburn
  • nvidia-kernel-source
  • module-assistant
  • gdm
  • openoffice.org
  • openoffice.org-gdk
  • gimp
  • nvidia-kernel-source
  • nvidia-kernel-common
  • nvidia-glx
  • iceweasel (firefox)
  • sun-java6-plugin
  • flashplugin-nonfree
  • mplayer
  • w32codecs
  • handbrake-gtk
  • pidgin

Nvidia driver: 

# m-a prepare
# m-a a-i nvidia

/etc/X11/xorg.conf: 

Section "Device"
	Identifier      "Configured Video Device"
	Driver          "nvidia"
EndSection


GDM Auto Login - /etc/gdm/gdm.conf: 

[daemon]
AutomaticLoginEnable=true
AutomaticLogin=username