Newbie's Guide to Fedora 7 64bit on Vostro 1500 8600gt 1390 wireless

Ok guys I am back, I installed Fedora Core 7 64 bit and this will be the complete newbies guide to getting Fedora Core 7 up and running on our lappys.

As said I'm a newbie so if you know how to do something better don't chew off my head just do a polite reply please

Some of the things I wont go into much detail because they are pretty much normal things.

Ok here we go.....

1.) Resize your windows partition to a desired size and it is also a good time to make any other partitions you want. You will want to make a small Fat32 Partition and put the Fedora Core 7 x86_64 DVD iso in it. (burn the image or the rescue CD also) Leave space for Fedora unallocated.

2.) Boot from CD or DVD, select English and U.S. where asked

3.) You will then be asked where to install the fedora from.You will choose Hard Drive and select the Fat32 partition the Fedora image is in. Usually the last one on the list but it does not hurt to try them all if the last one isnt the one.

4)During installation some key notes are make sure UTC time is unchecked thats about it. I installed the regular office package.

5)After installation you will come up to the command prompt and you will enter root as the username and ur password.

6)You came on the command prompt instead of the GUI because X-wont start because it doesn't know how to handle your video card. So we will do a temporary fix so we can get into the GUI. You must type in the following:

vi /etc/X11/xorg.conf

This will open that file in the text editor. You will then press i to go into insert mode and change the word nv to vesa

press esc and type :wq to save and quit

type in startx


7) Log in as Root.

I disabled SELinux but I am not sure you have to do this for it to work, it is just something I did because I thought it would help everything go smoothly. So I did. To disable SELinux go to System>Administration>SELinux Management and select the
default to Disabled and the other to permissive or disabled if available I believe.

7b)Now we must install the repository at this link to get the drivers: http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release-7.rpm
so just click on it and select install.

8) Go to Applications>System Tools>Terminal and type

yum install kmod-nvidia

that will install the nvidia drivers and set your resolution straight. Reboot and everything will be good.

8b)Now to make it boot to the GUI every time:
If step 8 worked then go into /etc and edit inittab and change:

id:3:initdefault: (the number might be different)

to this

id:5:initdefault:



9) Log in as root again, Now lets fix the 1390 Wireless Network Card so we can use it.

Type:

yum install bcm43xx-fwcutter

Then download this file http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0.tar.bz2 and extract to the /root folder

Then type this in the terminal:

sudo bcm43xx-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware /root/broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0/kmod/wl_apsta.o

reboot and your wireless is good to go!!

10) The hardest of them all is the sound card install but even that is not too bad.

First we need the gcc so log in as root again and open a terminal and type :

yum install gcc

Then we need the kernel sources, so type in:

yum install kernel-devel

Then we must download the sound card drivers. Download and extract this file to the /root folder : http://www.gtlib.gatech.edu/pub/suse/projects/alsa/snapshot/driver/alsa-driver-hg20070828.tar.bz2

11) Open a Terminal and navigate inside the extracted folder

cd /root/alsa-driver-hg20070828/

then type in:

./configure --with-cards=hda-intel

then after that type:

make

then after that type

make install

Restart and you will have Sound!!!!!!!

That should be it a good start for us newbies I think

I hope this helped some people as I know it would have helped me a lot.

References:
http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#devicefirmware
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=185174
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=158786&highlight=vostro+1400+fedora

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for anything someone might do in an attempt to follow this guide.

 

Thanks! I might give that a shot

 

You're very welcome!

Good luck!

 

ulitimate1~~

my problem is that when i load fedora, x will not run, therefor i do not have a GUI. bootloader runs fine, but when i get to the point where i should have a login screen, i instead am left with a blank black screen with no response to keyboard and mouse control. i edited xorg.conf, replacing "nv" with "vesa" but this did not resolve my problem either. i am running a new compaq presario F500 series notebook. it has a nvidia gfx card, so i am puzzled as to why the quick fix did not work. if you have any information that might be helpful, i would appreciate it.

thanks nic~

 

First of all thanks for posting this guide. I have a Vostro 1400 with Intel abgn and Nvidia 8400GS and this is the only distro other than Gusty Tribe 5 that seems to install at all (with it's own set of problems mind you).

My problem with my Fedora Core 7 attempt with your guide is that after I reboot from install I have no ethernet. The OS sees the Broadcom device, but I can't enable a wired connection. I also have no wireless connection. Is there anyway to install the drivers for either of these without a current network connection? Do I have to upgrade/downgrade a kernel and if so, how would I do this? I'm really stuck at this point of the install as I have no way to get further updates/drivers installed, or do I?

Thanks again for the walkthrough and any help that you can provide.

 

Hi Holdonnowgo,

It appears to me that you are in a hard place. According to one of the sites I used for references (its on my Original post) it says that to get the Ethernet port working on your vostro 1400 you have to UPGRADE the kernel to support the card.

I am thinking that you download it on to a USB drive and try your luck with this guide :

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialKernelRpmInstall.html

Sorry if I cant be any more help but like I said im a newb.

 

Nic have you tried yum install xorg-x11-drv-vesa?

thats all I can really think about man good luck!

 

I'm a bit out of date on CPUs. When did Intel processors become 64 bit processors? I'm still living in the 1990s, lol.

simonz