Linux on a Dell Precision M4500

There currently doesn't seem to be much information on the web, so here it goes...

Index

The Hardware

• Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core (Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 720 @ 1.60GHz)
• 40 cm (15.6") FHD LED Back-Lit Display (1920x1080) Resolution
• 7200RPM Hard Drive up to 500GB2
• DVD-ROM, DVD+/-RW
• NVIDIA® Quadro FX 880M Graphics with 1GB3 DDR3 dedicated memory
• Intel Wireless 6300 802.11 a/g/n 3x3 Mini-Card
• Smart Card Reader
• FIPS Fingerprint Reader
• TPM 1.2
• 2 speakers, dual array microphones
• 3MP camera
• Ports: 1394 4-pin, USB 2.0 (x4), VGA, Display Port, RJ-45, Audio, eSATA
• 130 Watt AC adapter
• Weight & Dimensions: Starting weight: 6.0 lbs/2.73 kg (with 6-cell battery) Width: 374mm Height: (front/back) 29.1-36.1mm Depth: 253mm

Installing Fedora 14

Video Card

Issues

• Need to install Nvidia binary drivers
• 64 bit Paths need to be set
• 3D Performnance - Compiz Settings -fixed
• 2D Performnance - Cairo bug -fixed
• Font / DPI issues -fixed
• Graphical Boot -fixed
• Video Playback Slow - fixed

Nvidia Drivers

kmod-nvidia-260.19.12-1.fc14.2.x86_64
nvidia-settings-1.0-8.fc14.x86_64
xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-libs-260.19.12-3.fc14.x86_64
nvidia-xconfig-1.0-5.fc14.x86_64
kmod-nvidia-2.6.35.6-48.fc14.x86_64-260.19.12-1.fc14.2.x86_64
xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-260.19.12-3.fc14.x86_64

Section "Files"
        ModulePath   "/usr/lib64/xorg/modules/extensions/nvidia"
        ModulePath   "/usr/lib64/xorg/modules"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier   "Monitor0"
        VendorName   "Vendor0"
        ModelName    "Model0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        Identifier  "Card0"
        Driver      "nvidia"
        VendorName  "nVidia Corporation"
        Option      "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"
        Option      "NoLogo" "True"
        Option      "ConstantDPI" "FALSE"
        Option      "DPI" "96 x 96"
        #Option      "DPI" "143 x 144"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
        Identifier "Screen0"
        Device     "Card0"
        Monitor    "Monitor0"
        DefaultDepth     24
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport   0 0
                Depth     24
        EndSubSection
EndSection

3D Performance Issues

loose binding, indirect rendering

2D performance

GtkEntry - time:  0.30
GtkComboBox - time: 21.51
GtkComboBoxEntry - time:  3.42
GtkSpinButton - time:  0.90
GtkProgressBar - time:  0.31
GtkToggleButton - time: 28.19
GtkCheckButton - time:  1.68
GtkRadioButton - time:  1.53
GtkTextView - Add text - time:  2.08
GtkTextView - Scroll - time:  1.50
GtkDrawingArea - Lines - time:  3.11
GtkDrawingArea - Circles - time:  4.74
GtkDrawingArea - Text - time:  1.04
GtkDrawingArea - Pixbufs - time:  0.32
 --- 
Total time: 70.63

Getting plymouth graphical boot to work

Video Playback

mplayer -vo vdpay -vc <something>vdpau

#!/bin/bash
# Script to automatically find out which codec a file is using and determine whether or not to use VDPAU.
# Rev.0 - bal_zac original - posted on phoronix
# Rev.2 - largely stylistic changes - removed need for tmp files and changed if statements to a single case statement

IAM=$0
FILE=$1

#if no input display usage
if [[ -z "$FILE" ]]; then
	echo usage: $0 /path/to/file
	exit
fi

MPLAYER=/usr/bin/mplayer
MPLAYEROPTS="-fs -zoom -af volnorm=2 -ao pulse -cache 8192  -subfont-autoscale 1"
VCODEC=$($MPLAYER -identify -vo vdpau -frames 0 "$FILE" | grep ID_VIDEO_CODEC | cut -c 16-25)

echo "============================="
echo "VIDEO CODEC: $VCODEC"
echo "============================="

case $VCODEC in
 ffh264) 
  echo -e "Playing h.264 file $FILE:\n"
  MPLAYEROPTS="$MPLAYEROPTS -vo vdpau -vc ffh264vdpau"
  echo -e "With Options $MPLAYEROPTS:\n"
;;
 ffmpeg2)
  echo -e "Playing MPEG2 file $FILE:\n"
  MPLAYEROPTS="$MPLAYEROPTS -vo vdpau -vc ffmpeg12vdpau"
  echo -e "With Options $MPLAYEROPTS:\n"
;;
 ffwmv3)
  echo -e "Playing WMV3 file $FILE:\n"
  MPLAYEROPTS="$MPLAYEROPTS -vo vdpau -vc ffwmv3vdpau"
  echo -e "With Options $MPLAYEROPTS:\n"
;;
 # VC-1 is largely unsupported by nvidia - uncomment this section if you're sure your card supports it.
 #ffvc1)
 # echo -e "Playing VC-1 file $FILE:\n"
 # MPLAYEROPTS="$MPLAYEROPTS -vo vdpau -vc ffvc1vdpau"
 #;;
 *)
  echo -e "Playing normal file $FILE:\n"
  MPLAYEROPTS="$MPLAYEROPTS -vo xv"
;;
esac

$MPLAYER $MPLAYEROPTS $FILE

Sound Card

options snd-hda-intel model=dell-s14

I: Bus=0011 Vendor=0002 Product=0001 Version=0000
N: Name="PS/2 Generic Mouse"
P: Phys=isa0060/serio1/input0
S: Sysfs=/devices/platform/i8042/serio1/input/input7
U: Uniq=
H: Handlers=mouse1 event7
B: EV=7
B: KEY=70000 0 0 0 0
B: REL=3

fingerprint

Things to fix/configure/test

Resources

TuxMobil