Any success with Intel Graphics 4500 MHD ?

Have any users had any success with their chosen distribution of Linux on a laptop that has the Intel Graphics 4500 MHD?

Many of the laptop's that I am thinking of purchasing have this chipset, and I've read of a lot of users having problems getting X window running with the 4500 MHD with Linux. Ive read in many cases, even the linux VESA driver has not worked.

It has been suggested to me that the 4500 MHD works on some laptops with a patched 2.6.26 Linux kernel, others work with a 2.6.27 kernel, and some do not work at all yet.

To help me make a better informed purchasing decision (this being November-2008), I would like to know which laptops currently function with the Intel Graphics 4500 MHD, and what linux kernel are you using? and what graphic driver have you used?

Many thanks!

 

Try all the major distros. I think OpenSuse or Fedora will be best suited.

 

Thanks. I'm a big openSUSE user myself, and track it closely.

The success with this, from what I have read (which is really only hearsay) was only with custom patched 2.6.26 kernels and an xorg driver file (which did not work for most users). Some users managed to get it to work with a 2.6.27 kernel and an xorg driver file modification (but again not most users). ... I've been told there may be hope in the 2.6.28 kernel but thats not due until 3/4 the way thru year 2009 on openSUSE-11.2, and I do not want to wait that long. ....

The users who do get it working with the 2.6.26/2.6.27 kernels purportedly are either forced to use the VESA driver or have some stability problems with the Intel driver.

But when I pushed (on the thread where this information was listed) I could get no details as to which laptops .... No one replied listing specific laptop models. So again, take the above with lots of salt, as it could be hearsay.

Thats why I thought I would ask here to see if I can get some specifics.

Maybe I do need to visit the Fedora forum.

 

I know from personal experience that the Ubuntu 8.10 live CD recognizes it instantly.

The most important thing here is not primarily the kernel, but the version of the graphics driver for xorg. Version 2.4.0 first introduced support for the X4500, but it seems like 2.4.2 (shipped with Ubuntu 8.10) was the first version where you can say that the support is acceptable.

 

May I ask which laptop model?

I've been told (I don't know myself) that it varies from laptop to laptop (which suggests the hardware (or maybe BIOS) interface implementation of the Intel 4500 MHD is different between laptops). .... although that is a bit surprising to me.

Interesting. I agree re: your view on the graphics driver for xorg being more important.

Still, I understand now Ubuntu 8.10 comes with the 8.10 kernel. I have not read of any success stories (with openSUSE-11.0 linux) with a 2.6.26 kernel.

 

It's a Dell Latitude E6400. And the thing with the various hardware-side implementations surprises me - do you have a reliable source for that?

 

Nothing that one can quote with any sort of authoritativeness. I obtained that view from here:
http://forums.opensuse.org/install-...10c-doesnt-seem-like-linux-2.html#post1892629

 

Hi guys, i installed Ubuntu on my Sony Vaio SR210 laptop with the exact same video card the 4500MHD and it's not working. For some reason, i just get a blank black screen, however i am able to see the boot screen, hear the sounds but once the booting is finished and i enter Ubuntu, the screen goes blank. Does anyone know how to fix this?

 

Try Ubuntu forums. Or check Launchpad for anything 4500MHD.

 

Hi,

I have a Vaio SR140E.

I installed Ubuntu 8.10 using alternate installed in safe graphics mode...

same thing happened to me... could hear the sound but blank screen...

came across this...
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=318862

changed the xorg.conf as given... then resumed boot... ubuntu showed a warning that graphics have not been configured properly (something like that) and it will run in low mode... now i can get it to work but only in 800x600... in the screen resolution section only 800x600 and 640x480 appear and i do not see any graphics card listed!

comments?

cheers
grv

 

I was able to get Ubuntu 8.10 x64 up and running on a VAIO SR240 with the Intel Graphics 4500 MHD GPU by reading this post on Launchpad:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bug/268615

Basically, you need to attach an external monitor to the VGA port on your notebook first. When you boot the LiveCD you will get a desktop on it, but not on the notebook screen. After a normal installation of Ubuntu, you will reboot and, once again, you will have a desktop on the external monitor but not the notebook.

Then, you need to download and install the attached driver files from here http://launchpadlibrarian.net/19868825/intel%20driver%20fix.tar.gz (for 32bit) or here http://launchpadlibrarian.net/20392873/fixed%2064%20bit%20driver.tar.gz(for 64bit). After doing that (twice, it didn't work after the first time) the SR240 had a functional desktop, at 1280x800, on the notebook display.

I hope this is helpful...

Edit: Supposedly the Jaunty Jackalope Alpha 2 release has incorporated some or all of these fixes but I won't have access to the SR240 until after New Year's Day so I'll have to wait until then to try it...