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Date: Mon, 11 Sep 1995 10:44:41 -0700
From: Mark Diekhans <markd@grizzly.com>
Message-Id: <199509111744.KAA03942@Grizzly.COM>
To: rcarter@geli.com
CC: questions@freebsd.org
In-reply-to: <199509111652.JAA01451@geli.clusternet> (rcarter@geli.com)
Subject: Re: laptop gotchas
Sender: questions-owner@freebsd.org
Precedence: bulk

>I've been looking into laptops over the last few weeks, and I'm worried
>about gotchas in the following:
>
>VGA display
>Ethernet
>Modem
>
>Assuming I get NE2000 compatible ethernet, does this stuff just work?
>Or are there known problems?


Just started running FreeBSD 2.0 on a subnotebook. Its really great having a
3.7 lb Unix system!  I am running 2.0 because I don't yet have time to upgrade
my main system to 2.0.5 or a 2.1 snap and I want to keep them in sync.  I am
having the following problems that you might want to be aware of:

   o It turned out that XFree86 doesn't support the cirrus logic
     chip used in my note book.  If your concerned with X working
     out of the box, make sure the video chip on the notebook you
     buy is supported or be prepared to modify the X server.

   o I can't get APM (Advanced Power Management) working even using
     the FreeBSD 2.1 driver.  It causes reboots.  I haven't had time
     to figure it out yet.

   o I havn't gotten a PCMCIA modem card, but there is a daemon in
     the ports collection to handling insertion and initialization
     of PCMCIA cards.  People have reported good results with it.

Don't let this discourage you, I am overall pleased with the system.
While FreeBSD has some features that don't work (yet), its fast and
reliable.

Mark