Installing Ubuntu 8.04.1 on a HP DV7-1070ED

Last updated: 01-04-2009

General Hardware Specifications of the HP DV7-1070ED:

Hardware Components	Status under Linux	Notes
Intel Core 2 Duo P8400, 2.2 GHz	Works	No special procedure required during installation.
17" WXGA+ Display (1440x900)	Works	No special procedure required during installation.
nVidia Geforce 9600M GT	Works	Works with restricted nVidia driver.
4GB, DDR2, 2 x 2048 MB	Works	No special procedure required during installation
320 GB SATA Hard Drive, 5400 rpm	Works	No special procedure required during installation
Integrated Network Card RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller	Works	Only works properly with the driver from Realtek
Optiarc DVD RW AD-7561S Combo Drive	Works	No special procedure required during installation
Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g Wireless Adapter	Works	Works with restricted wl driver.
Lithium-Ion Battery	Works	No special procedure required during installation
IDT 92HD71B7X HDA Codec	Works	Works after adding options snd-hda-intel enable_msi=1 to /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base

This laptop is operating under Kernel version 2.6.24-22

Basic Installation of Ubuntu 8.04.1:

Installing is easy, just burn the ISO on a CD, boot from it and install it.
Post-Install modifications/tweaks: adding options snd-hda-intel enable_msi=1 to /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base
Post-Install modifications/tweaks: installing the restricted nVidia and wl drivers. This should all go automagically.

Setting up additional features for Ubuntu 8.04.1

Getting Suspend-to-Disk to operate correctly: not tested because I don't use this feauture
Getting the touchpad to operate as more than a PS/2 mouse: touchpad works flawlessly out of the box.

Unresolved issues

All the JMicron stuff doesn't work with the 2.6.24 kernel (Firewire, Cardreader, eSATA), should work with Ubuntu 8.10. Not tested yet though, I don't use/need these features.
Panel brightness buttons don't work. Works with 8.10. Could work with 8.04.1 also, but needs some attention and time.
Media button doesn't work. I don't use it so haven't looked at it closer yet.
Remote control doesn't work. I'm not going to test this utterly useless feature, sorry ;).

Configuration Files

Add options snd-hda-intel enable_msi=1 to /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base unless you really like some delay and echo effects ;).

More Specific Information. Specific stuff such as:

lspci:
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Memory Controller Hub (rev 07) 00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset PCI Express Graphics Port (rev 07) 00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 03) 00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 03) 00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 03) 00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 03) 00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 03) 00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 03) 00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 03) 00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 03) 00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 5 (rev 03) 00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 6 (rev 03) 00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 03) 00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 03) 00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 03) 00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6 (rev 03) 00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 03) 00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 93) 00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation ICH9M LPC Interface Controller (rev 03) 00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation ICH9M/M-E SATA AHCI Controller (rev 03) 00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 03) 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 0649 (rev a1) 02:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g (rev 01) 05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 02) 06:00.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): JMicron Technologies, Inc. Unknown device 2380 06:00.1 System peripheral: JMicron Technologies, Inc. Unknown device 2382 06:00.2 SD Host controller: JMicron Technologies, Inc. Unknown device 2381 06:00.3 System peripheral: JMicron Technologies, Inc. Unknown device 2383 06:00.4 System peripheral: JMicron Technologies, Inc. Unknown device 2384

Links:

Sound issue: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/269586
Network issue: http://www.jamesonwilliams.com/hardy-r8168.html
My blog with usefull info on the HP DV7-1070ED: http://nettowa-ku.net/blog/index.php?d=18&m=12&y=08&category=3
And of course, back to Linux on Laptops!

This notebook is fast, looks good and is pretty quiet. The specs are really good and when I first booted it up to remove Vista I found out there's no P7350 inside, but a P8400! So it's even faster than advertised.

Jeremy

jeremy[at]autostatic[dot]com