Best HP2133 Linux Distro?

[percivjr]

I've had my HP2133 for a week now and I've managed to cajole SLED10 into connecting to wireless, I've got Skype working with webcam and mic (headset), so I'm gently patting myself on the back.

But I don't warm to Suse. I broke YaST and software updates are a nightmare.

Has anybody got all the above working properly with another Linux distro? I'm experienced with Ubuntu and its variants. But I'll consider anything that works!!!

[jd704]

I ditched SLED and never looked back. At the time I posted this which you may find helpful: Please stop torturing yourselves!

Since then I have also upgraded to Karmic and never had a single issue. The only thing I never got working was the internal microphone.

Ditch SLED right now - it really is an embarrassing piece of crap that gives Linux a bad name.

[percivjr]

I ditched SLED and never looked back. At the time I posted this which you may find helpful: Please stop torturing yourselves!

Since then I have also upgraded to Karmic and never had a single issue. The only thing I never got working was the internal microphone.

Ditch SLED right now - it really is an embarrassing piece of crap that gives Linux a bad name.

Thanks for your words of encouragement.

I've put Ubuntu for Netbook v10.04 alpha release on to a USB stick. Wifi needed the driver download. Webcam worked straight out of the box. As did the static version of Skype.

I updated pulseaudio from the repository and managed to get both the external and internal mics to work. But pulseaudio keeps crashing.

I'm just loading a bunch of gstreamer updates from the repository to see if that makes the audio more stable.

[percivjr]

Well I tried about ten different distros and the only one where I got Skype working properly with sound and webcam was CRUNCHBANG linux, v9.04.

One small tweak:
sudo mv /usr/bin/skype.real /usr/bin/skype
to remove pre-loading of a library was needed to get the webcam working with Skype.

CRUNCHBANG is based on Ubuntu but uses the Openbox desktop, which I'm just getting used to. It's nice an minimalist.

Give it a go with a live usb.

I've installed it now. Sled is gone for ever....

[RTR]

I'm using Linux Mint installed on a 2GB SD card, and it works well.

Not a Skype user of any real note, so cant comment if the cam or mics work out of the box. Wont Cheese sort these anyway?

[j0nharris]

Just re-installed Ubuntu Karmic through Wubi, & it looks like there is now a VIA Chrome driver for external monitors!
The .gz file was sent to me by Bruce Chang @ VIA, but I'm not sure how to install from .gz in ubuntu.
Would love any instructions, & if anyone needs the driver, I'll try & find a place to post it.

Thanks.

[Boulton]

I've tried several linux ditros (Ubuntu UNR & Desktop, Jolicloud, Pinguy and SUSE) and skype hasn't worked properly in any of them. I'd love to find one that works so I can get away from Windows. I'm DLing Crunchbang atm to see if that's any different.

My 2133 has 1gb of RAM and the 1.2 GHz processor. Most of the problems seem to be caused by pulseaudio overwhelming the CPU to the point where the sound gets choppy and distorted, but I've also tried OSS and ALSA and they don't seem to be compatible with Skype.

Unfortunately, I travel a lot so a working version of Skype is essential to me and until I get it I'm stuck on Windows...

[biscit]

I've upgraded to Ubuntu 10.04, and it's so much better. My wife was saying what a waste of money this thing was, I was just waiting for a spare moment to upgrade.

Only thing is the webcam does not work with skype, any tips?

[JeeBee]

I wonder if anyone ever got all of the webcam, microphone and accelerated composited desktop graphics working on the 2133 without selling their soul to *evil entity of your choice*.

[JeeBee]

I've upgraded today to Ubuntu Netbook 10.10.

Sadly, the Netbook interface doesn't work on the HP 2133 with the standard Linux OpenChrome drivers, so you end up with the desktop interface. I don't know what else is missed out by using Netbook over Desktop editions.

At least the webcam works, and getting the wireless setup was far easier than before. It's still not perfect, but it's better.