Ubuntu 11.04 Issues/Concerns on m15x

I'm thinking of making my Alienware m15x a Ubuntu only laptop. Planning on downloading it tomorrow and imaging my computer as is, just in case anything goes wrong. One thing I would like to know though, is if anyone has had any problems with running their m15x with Ubuntu 11.04? The major things for me that need to work is my video card, sound card, camera and mic. The type of video card that I have is:

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850 1GB GDDR5

I know that the video card requires proprietary drivers, but no idea where I would go to get those.

It's not the first time I have used Ubuntu, but the last time I had it on my older desktop was when 8.04 was out.

Appreciate any help or advice that you guys can provide. I've been hearing these horrors stories about the X server not starting. Dell has almost always been great when it comes down to linux. I just haven't tried it on this laptop yet.

 

Just turning on your laptop with 11.04 and clicking the Drivers Update (or something to that effect) will search for the drivers for your installed hardware. It did that for my 460M the first time I booted it up When you're connected to the internet, that is. I found it best to hook up via Ethernet first and then go from there

Also, if you're going to Linux, you may want to grab Wattos' Alien FX Lite to control your AlienFX!

 

i think Alien fx lite only runs on 64-bit linux, i have tried to run on 32 linux and couldnt make it work. remember that when choosing version

someone correct me if i am wrong

 

I haven't had any troubles, then again, I use a 460M. It's pretty smooth, but I prefer Ubuntu Classic over Unity anyhow. I may do the same thing when I get a new laptop.

 

Complete Linux noob here <----
My plan is to install 11.04 alongside Windows 7 64bit(OS i'm running now).
I've shrank C: and created a partition from the resulting free space.
Could only format it in NTFS. Size - 110GB.
Booting from LiveCD(burnt at 4x with ImgBurn and verified) and when I click "Forward" in the "Preparing to install Ubuntu" I get the rotating clock and the system is happy to stay that way indefinitely(I've waited for about 40 min before getting the DVD out and rebooting).
Trying Ubuntu works fine for me, but when I try to format that dedicated partition using Gpart it tells me that "daemon prohibited..."
Did any1 come across this problem ?
Any help would be appreciated.

 

I recommend using vmware or sandboxie to test it as it simulates the pc environment.

 

This is a good idea. See if you actually like using Linux first.

 

I'm running Ubuntu 11.04 in virtual box and on my very old advent 7090 and am liking it a lot. One of the major reasons is being able to upgrade a lot of hardware without having to deal with microsof licensing issues that arise(when you change more than 1-2 components). Pretty much take the HDD anywhere and with some tweaking(sometimes none) it'll work on almost any system.

 

update:
Managed go through the installation of Ubuntu alongside Win7 from LiveCD. Had to go for the 10.10 vs, since any 11.04 CD I'd burn would get stuck at the "Preparing to install ubuntu" bit. Ubuntu installed and updated itself well (I didn't let it upgrade).
However when I chose to boot win7 my m15x kept BS ing and when I tried to repair the bootloader system couldn't locate the C:/(or any other drives for that matter). When I inserted the Win7 installation DVD and clicked install - it couldn't find any HDD on the system. None.
But I could see and acces the Windows partition from Linux and open and use all the media files from it.
Tried bootsect /nt52 ALL - no devices found.....
What the hell! Ended up installing Linux using the entire HDD. After that Windows DVD was good enough to see the hard drive again. Luckily the Win installation was only a week old and data was backed up.
The only suspicion I have is that the problem has something to do with my hard drive having been converted to dynamic disk.
Any ideas any1 ?

 

sorry to revive an old thread, but have you tried this?

How to dual-boot Vista with Linux (Vista installed first) -- the step-by-step guide with screenshots

 

nothing goes wrong so far but adobe air doesnt support 64bit linux
and there IS a solution

 

video card driver will be found easily