Which linux distro works out of the box for panasonic cf-29,cf-30,cf-31?

I have a new usb stck that is installed in the back of the usb version ?? behind the back cover of my cf-29. I have a linux mint but it does not detect the wireless modem.

What version/distros of linux work with cf-29/cf-30/cf-31 with little or no configuration for the hardware?

 

Hello....calling Jeff. You are needed

 

For a CF-29....two or three minor tweaks, otherwise most are out of the box. Tweaks are touchpad and touchscreen. Wireless is strange. What card? It's either a 2100 or an off brand. lsmod should show ipw2200 for a driver.
Full model?
What wireless card? dmesg | grep Intel should pick up a Intel card.

 

ipw2200 firmware usually doesn't install by default on Debian-based distros because they are on non-free repositories. It's easy enough to pull them in through ethernet once you enable the repos.

 

Linux Mint is one of my favorites, found here: Releases - Linux Mint
You did NOT say what model 29 you have, I would start with this one: Linux Mint 13 "Maya" - Xfce (32-bit) - Linux Mint
If you are going to use a GPS, and are a sailor and/or navigator, this is a sweet distro: Navigatrix.net • A Voyager's Companion • Download
The CF-30 & CF-31's will love Mint 13-16, still some tweaks if using Mint 17. My two Favorite different flavours of Mint are XFCE & MATE.
Enjoy.

 

Jeff, BTW, how do you type that straight line between dmesg | grep Intel ? I forget. I keep your posts bookmarked and just copy, cut, paste

 

shifted back slash

 

| thanks | Jeff...btw, I found a post on the Navigatrix site that gave this link for overlaying Google Earth onto your charts/maps:
http://www.gdayii.ca/
This just might work for you with the Maps you like to use...

 

I like this. I know what you are running now.

Would you like to write a quick how to for keeping old distros fresher.

Main reason being the check for PAE by new distros. Which eliminates CF-29 MK3 and under. There is a way around it but the newer distros keep getting bigger.

We have a lot of Toughbook users with perfectly fine machines and a limited range of programs for them.

Thanks,

Jeff

 

I got boinked by that on my CF-50,forgot to ask with one to try as I have been busy.

 

For PAE issue on Pentium M & Celeron processors, might check this thread:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu-fake-PAE

 

I almost "Liked" this. So far I think I did one. I'm sending a link of this to the humble Linux section at TBT. Meanwhile, good post and thanks....also reps to you.

J'd

 

Hahaha, how did I miss this post? Debian is still releasing linux 486 images in sync with the PAE kernels, which they call "for older PCs" and "modern PCs" respectively, and as far as I know they have no intention to stop doing so. They still have non-PAE bootable installers. Slackware still has non-SMP 32bit images that also work fine. I haven't looked into the RHEL branch yet, though. And Gentoo has given me some grief a few years back.

Anyway, I stick to the major upstream development branches and have absolutely no use for gussied-up variants since I pick and choose everything that gets installed on my servers or desktop systems. That's probably why I've side-stepped the PAE flag issues.

 

I thought I would chime in here, I have tried quite a few linux/BSD distros and have been very impressed with wattOS for notebooks, it's a tweeked debian distro, very fast to boot, stable and lightweight. It's somewhat easier than doing deb and tweeking it yourself.

Chas

 

I heard they ditched Ubuntu and went back to Debian as a base. As for me, I'm a bit of a control freak when it comes to my OS so it makes more sense for me to stay as far upstream as possible.

 

I have set up and run several (many) distros on CF-29, CF-30 and CF-31.

The point is none are out of the box....due to the touch screen mainly....also CF-29 uses PSMOUSE for touch and touchpad. Then 30/31 think they are tablets using hid drivers. xinput-calibrate plays well with both, including the 30MK1 and CF-19MK1 regardless of the bios.

My newest like is SOLYDX (K) for CF-29. Ubuntu and Mint up to Mint 16 are fine. Mint 17LTS has screen refresh problems (flicker)except on CF-30MK2. We are still trying to figure that out.

The point is I just wrote a 9 step tweak post in toughbooktalk.com for SOLYDXK. It covers both touchpad tweak for CF-29 and touchscreen calibration for a bunch of Ubuntu and Debian based distros. Worth a read if you want to go Linux.

I'm sorry to say there is a small learning curve in terminal and then you are on your way. Very small.

Jeff