Acer 5100 Ubuntu Install experience

I've got Ubuntu running on my desktop machine and it's great. Everything works and Beryl is great eye candy.

So, with that install behind me, last night I attempted to install Ubuntu Feisty Fawn on my laptop. It went pretty smoothly, but seemed to take longer to install than the desktop system. No big deal, I have patience. After the install, i go to check hardware compatibility. Most everything seems to work. It works with the dvdrw, keyboard, touchpad, usb..almost everything..almost.

The card reader does not work. So I go all over the web forums looking for a fix. I try all of the fixes I come across and no dice. The ENE cb-712 is simply not supported yet. Strike One.

My lcd display seems ok, so I check the resolution. Perfect. Nice job. I check the driver info with fglrxinfo and no matter how I try to install the Ati drivers, it just won't configure properly to give me 3d support. Strike Two.

Beryl. I really, really wanted Beryl to work. It's silly to base my install decision on eye candy (*cough*vista) but I wanted it to work on the notebook. Due to the issues with the display driver above, Beryl simply would not work properly. It installed perfectly, but the effects can't work without 3d support. Strike three.

I worked on these problems for about 5 hours last night with no luck. It soured me on using Ubuntu on the notebook for now, but I will continue to use Ubuntu on the desktop pc. I reinstalled vista, since the notebook came with it to get full functionality back. I will try Ubuntu again, but only after some time goes by for the card reader and ati bugs to get worked out. If I had known the Ati bugs existed, I would've probably gone with an intel or nvidia based notebook instead. For now, I'll use vista...or xp if it pisses me off too much.

 

Ok, so here is a doosy. I have my girlfriend's 5100. I have no re-install CD. I am hoping to get the restore partition up so I can use the built in restore system. how do I get it up and running without buying any partition software.

 

Bellz, just for the record: I have pretty much the same laptop, Acer Aspire 3100, running Debian/Ubuntu, and both the card reader (same model) and 3D ATI work fine.

My system is a lot newer than Feisty though, so next time just try Hardy, or whatever is stable at that point.