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linux.oldcrank.com:
Installing Linux on a
Dell Latitude CPt S500GT
©2003 Loran T. Hughes
All Rights Reserved
I recently bought a refurbished Dell Latitude CPt S500GT for a Linux notebook. Three distributions - Mandrake 9.0 & 9.1, Red Hat 7.3, and Red Hat 8.0 all installed easily.
The only installation hitch came with both versions of Red Hat, which did not correctly detect the LCD screen (although Mandrake 9.0 did, go figure). At that point in the Red Hat install, simply select either the generic 1024 x 768 laptop display or the Dell 1024X laptop display and press on. Although this model will run 24 bit color, I recommend sticking with 16 bit color to make screen redraws much snappier.
Sound The ESS Maestro sound card configured correctly under all three distributions.
APM Power management worked pretty much out of the box, although I found that PCMCIA devices would not function after a suspend. To solve this problem, simply edit /etc/sysconfig/apmd, look for PCMCIARESTART="no", and change it to PCMCIARESTART="yes".
Networking I had problems getting my el cheapo Linksys WPC11 wireless network card to work, but was able to come up with a procedure for Red Hat 8.0, which can be found here. My 3Com Etherlink III LAN/33.6 modem combo card (3C562D/3C563D) worked perfectly and configured automatically.
Modem Although the CPt S500GT is optionally equipped with an internal winmodem, my particular notebook was ordered without it - just one less thing to worry about. Another site identifies the modem is an Actiontec 56k v90 winmodem (ESS Maestro 3 - ES56CVM-PI ES2828/ES1980). If you are stuck with one of these, you might check www.linmodems.org or use a PCMCIA modem.
In my humble opinion, the Dell Latitude CPt S500GT makes a dandy Linux notebook!
Technical Specifications
Processor: 500 MHz Intel Mobile Celeron (Coppermine)
Chipset: Intel Mobile 440BX AGPset
Maximum Ram: 512 MB
Hard Drive: 6 GB
Audio: ESS Maestro 3I
Video: 8 MB ATI Mobility M1, with S-Video Output
Display: 14.1 in. XGA (1024 x 768), active-matrix color (TFT)
Input: Touchpad and Trackstick
Questions or Comments?
As I said, I had a near flawless experience with this notebook, but your mileage may vary. Email me at with your comments or questions.
