Running Linux on an HP OmniBook 5500CT

This page details the setup I used to get Linux running on an HP OmniBook 5500CT; no guarantees that these settings will work on any such system. It works for me, though, and might be worthwhile to check if you experience problems installing Linux on an HP5500CT.

References

HP's OmniBook 5500 product page
Linux on the HP Omnibook 5500CT - A page similar to this one, by Steven Ryan
Linux Support for HP PC's
Linux on Laptops

Kernel

I'm running a 2.2.3 kernel, compiled with APM support enabled.

Video

The HP5500CT contains a Chips & Technologies 65548 graphics controller. This is supported by the XF86_SVGA server in XFree86 3.3.3.1.

/etc/X11/XF86Config



Section "Files"
   RgbPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
   FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
   FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
   FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
   FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
   FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
EndSection

Section "Keyboard"
   Protocol    "Standard"
   AutoRepeat  500 5
   LeftAlt     Meta
   RightAlt    Meta
   ScrollLock  Compose
   RightCtl    Control
   XkbKeycodes "xfree86"
   XkbTypes    "default"
   XkbCompat   "default"
   XkbSymbols  "us(pc101)"
   XkbGeometry "pc"
   XkbRules    "xfree86"
   XkbModel    "pc101"
   XkbLayout   "us"
EndSection

Section "Pointer"
    Protocol    "PS/2"
    Device      "/dev/mouse"
    Emulate3Buttons
    Emulate3Timeout    50
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier  "LCD Panel 800x600"
    VendorName  "HP"
    ModelName   "OmniBook 5500CT"
#LCD Panel 800x600; 37.86; 31.5-37.9; 60
    HorizSync   31.5-37.9
    VertRefresh 55-65

# 640x400 @ 70 Hz, 31.5 kHz hsync
Modeline "640x400" 25.175 640 664 760  800 400 409 411 450
# 640x480 @ 60 Hz, 31.5 kHz hsync
Modeline "640x480" 25.175 640 664 760  800 480 491 493 525
# 800x600 @ 56 Hz, 35.15 kHz hsync
ModeLine "800x600" 36     800 824 896 1024 600 601 603 625
# 640x480 @ 72 Hz, 36.5 kHz hsync
Modeline "640x480" 31.5   640 680 720  864 480 488 491 521
# 800x600 @ 60 Hz, 37.8 kHz hsync
Modeline "800x600" 40     800 840 968 1056 600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync
# 800x600 @ 72 Hz, 48.0 kHz hsync
Modeline "800x600" 50     800 856 976 1040 600 637 643 666 +hsync +vsync
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "65548"
    VendorName  "Unknown"
    BoardName   "Unknown"
    VideoRam    1024
    Option "noaccel"
    Option "mmio"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Driver      "svga"
    Device      "65548"
    Monitor     "LCD Panel 800x600"
    DefaultColorDepth 16
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       8
        Modes       "800x600" "640x480"
        ViewPort    0 0
        Virtual     800 600
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       16
        Modes       "800x600" "640x480"
        ViewPort    0 0
        Virtual     800 600
    EndSubsection
EndSection

Audio

To enable the built-in Crystal Sound CS4232 audio chipset, I used isapnptools 1.18 to set up the PNP device (older versions than 1.18 also worked, but produced a bunch of warning messages). Full-duplex 16-bit audio is supported using the cs4232 driver, which is included in the 2.2.3 kernel tree. Another option is to use the cs4232 in Soundblaster Pro compatibility mode; this only allows for 8-bit audio though.

/etc/isapnp.conf



(READPORT 0x0203)
(ISOLATE PRESERVE)
(IDENTIFY *)
(VERBOSITY 2)
(CONFLICT (IO FATAL)(IRQ FATAL)(DMA FATAL)(MEM FATAL))
(CONFIGURE CSC4232/16777216 (LD 0
  (DMA 0 (CHANNEL 1))
  (DMA 1 (CHANNEL 3))
  (INT 0 (IRQ 5 (MODE +E)))
  (IO 0 (SIZE 4) (BASE 0x0534))
  (IO 1 (SIZE 4) (BASE 0x0388))
  (IO 2 (SIZE 16) (BASE 0x0220))
  (NAME "CSC4232/16777216[0]{WSS/OPL/SB          }")
  (ACT Y)
))
(CONFIGURE CSC4232/16777216 (LD 1
  (NAME "CSC4232/16777216[1]{Game                }")
))
(CONFIGURE CSC4232/16777216 (LD 2
  (NAME "CSC4232/16777216[2]{CTRL                }")
))
(CONFIGURE CSC4232/16777216 (LD 3
  (INT 0 (IRQ 9 (MODE +E)))
  (IO 0 (SIZE 2) (BASE 0x0330))
  (NAME "CSC4232/16777216[3]{MPU                 }")
  (ACT Y)
))
(WAITFORKEY)

/etc/conf.modules



alias sound cs4232
alias midi opl3
options opl3 io=0x388
options cs4232 io=0x530 irq=5 dma=1 dma2=3 mpuio=0x330 mpuirq=9

IRDA

I haven't tried to get IRDA running on an HP OmniBook 5500CT yet.