Compal Ifl90 -- help noob with general install advice plz!

Ladies and Gentlemen of notebookreview.com,

I'm a noob to the forums and I wanted to ask for some quick responses from you veterans. I just ordered a Compal IfL90 (specs below) and I'm planning to install XP and Ubuntu (both 32bit).

Anyway, before it arrives I'm trying to create a checklist of things I need to do during the install, problematic issues, etc. I guess I should start by updating the BIOS, but after that, what would you advise? What do you think I should be looking out for during installation? What have you found to be most helpful?

Oh, and I bought my laptop from powernotebooks.com. They've been great so far.

Thanks for your help.

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Compal Ifl90

15.4" WXGA (1280 x 800) "Glossy" LCD w/PCI-e
nVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT w/512MB
Intel Core2 Duo T7500 2.2GHz Processor w/4MB L2 On-die cache - 800MHz FSB (Santa Rosa)
(Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound )
2GB (1 SODIMM) * CORSAIR * DDR2/667 Memory
1GB Intel Turbo Memory (Robson) - (Vista Only)
120GB SATA 3GB/s Seagate Momentus 7200.2 Hard Drive at 7,200 RPM
Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti DVDRW/CDRW Drive
Built-in Intel PRO/Wireless 4965 802.11a/g/n
Smart Li-ion Battery (9-Cell)

 

let me see here... don't let windows install audio drivers automatically. if it asks you, cancel, cancel, cancel. if you let windows do anything, it will not work.

i suggest downloading all of the drivers before you install xp. i think xoticpc and powernotebooks update their drivers pretty often.

turn achi OFF when you install the OS. you will be able to install ahci later if you want. having it on at first will not work. your other option here is to slipstream the drivers onto the xp disk, haven't done that personally...

what else- i don't like the 'intel proset driver' so i didn't install it. i let windows take care of my internet connection.

i wasn't too psyched about the touchpad driver, so the control for my touchpad is under the mouse in control panel (no driver installed so xp defaults to driving it with the mouse). i get functionality on the vertical but not horiontal scrollbar that way. works for me.

 

That is what I'm looking for! Thanks!

I will start reading about these things and, hopefully, I will have these drivers assembled by the time the compal gets to me.

 

I have installed xp with the ahci off, i now would like to activate it, but when i do it on the bios the xp wont boot, bsod. What am i failing here ?

This is becoming a problem since i installed vista with it on, so i have to disable it to run xp and enable it to run vista!

Please help me out guys,
Thanks

 

i also just ordered my compla ifl90 (xotic though). how do you download the drivers without having winxp installed?

also, how do you turn achi off? what IS achi? what does it do?

 

to download drivers without an operating system, you will have to use another computer. xotic pc has pretty good driver support, so i believe that it will come with everything up and running (maybe someone from xotic could chime in here).

ahci is turned on/off in your bios. for some info on ahci, go here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Host_Controller_Interface

i used this guide (thanks, denludi) to install ahci on my ifl-90. worked like a charm. i don't think you will see much of a performance increase (if any) from ahci, so if it seems like a pain, don't bother with it. you need to install the intel matrix storage manager... see below.


Denludi
10-19-2007, 06:22 AM
Here is the guide for enabling ahci in xp if you want to.

Instructions:
1) Make sure AHCI is not enabled in your BIOS, otherwise this guide is pointless for you.
2) Back up your Windows folder and prepare a boot disk in case this guide fails!
3) Download 79im05ww.exe from http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-62909
4) Extract the file to "C:\DRIVERS\WIN\SATA" (or whatever spot you want, just remeber where you put it).
5) Open "C:\DRIVERS\WIN\SATA\PREPARE\IMSM_PRE.inf" in Notepad.
6) Replace any instance of DEV_27C5 with the following: DEV_2829
7) Save the file and close Notepad.
8) Click Start, select Run.
9) In the Open field type "C:\DRIVERS\WIN\SATA\PREPARE\INSTALL.CMD" and click OK.
10) Restart your computer, and enable AHCI on in your BIOS Setup.
11) Start Windows XP. The Found New Hardware wizard will start automatically.
12) If running Windows XP:

1. Click No, not this time then click Next.
2. Select Install from a list or specific location (Advanced), then click Next.
3. Select Search for the best driver in these locations.
4. Select Include this location in the search: and specify the path, C:\DRIVERS\WIN\SATA, and click Next.

Works like a charm on my FL90 with vista and xp dual boot

 

^^^ OK, I can handle that. Thanks.

What is the latest wisdom on drivers for the 8600 XT (in windows or linux)?

 

i personally like to go to the manufacturer's website to get the latest drivers. need an intel driver? go to intel. i use laptopvideo2go for 8600 GT drivers (i have version 169.04). i try to get the latest, but here especially you may want to peruse the forums a bit if you want to overclock, for instance. some of the new drivers won't overclock, some will, etc.

with this install, i tried to go minimal. fingerprint reader is not installed, no extra driver for the touchpad, no intel proset driver. works great. i figure if you don't need the driver and it doesn't afford better (subjective, of course) performance- don't install it.

 

Yeah, I have no interest in overclocking. I just want solid performance while gaming in XP and I want compiz to work in Ubuntu (it works really well on my Radeon 9600 so that's not too much to ask).

I use a mouse 99% of the time so the touch pad isn't important. Same with the thumb reader.

 

Installed Windows XP Pro last night and I almost have Ubuntu up and running. Very impressed so far.