Laptops, notebooks, portables and NetBSD

From NetBSD Wiki

This manual derived per request.

Please share your experiences with using NetBSD on laptops, notebooks and other portable computers. In particular, what laptops work well with NetBSD? What laptops don't work well with NetBSD and why (such as X, sound, modem)? What version(s) of NetBSD? Etc.

Contents 1 Laptops and notebooks 1.1 List of laptops that DON'T work well with NetBSD 1.2 List of laptops that DO WORK well with NetBSD 1.3 List of laptops that work but have some difficulties 1.4 What to look for in a laptop 1.5 Links to further information 2 Portables, PDA, hand-held devices 2.1 List of hand-helds that DON'T work well with NetBSD 2.2 List of hand-helds that DO WORK well with NetBSD 2.3 List of hand-helds that work but have some difficulties 3 Switches, modems, other remote devices 3.1 List of remotes that DON'T work well with NetBSD 3.2 List of remotes that DO WORK well with NetBSD 3.3 How to log into and manage remote device from NetBSD

Laptops and notebooks

List of laptops that DON'T work well with NetBSD

• Acer Extensa 4420 - Graphics don't work with Xorg. The internal wifi and ethernet are also non-working.
• HP Compaq NC4400 - A long list of ACPI-related problems. Needs many custom patches to be bearable.

List of laptops that DO WORK well with NetBSD

• IBM Thinkpad T41
• IBM Thinkpad T42
• IBM Thinkpad X24
• IBM_Thinkpad_X40
• IBM_Thinkpad_X61
• IBM_Thinkpad_T23
• Acer_Aspire_one
• IBM Thinkpad T40p - Everything in this laptop "just works" with NetBSD 4.0. Wifi, high-res graphics, internal sound, mixer, I mean everything.
• Asus EeePC: NetBSD 5.0 is a great OS for the 701 and 900. To use the wireless card you need this patch and if you would like to properly turn on and off the ath(4) you need the ppb(4) hotplug patch.

List of laptops that work but have some difficulties

• IBM ThinkPad X31 works ok, but ACPI sleep/wake causes USB devices to be lost, and the Atheros chipset doesn't come back cleanly.
• Asus_EeePC_1000H - actually, it boots, however wireless, LAN, webcam doesn't work in 4.99.73 for now
• Asus_EeePC-901 - as bad supported as the 1000H

What to look for in a laptop

Links to further information

Portables, PDA, hand-held devices

List of hand-helds that DON'T work well with NetBSD

List of hand-helds that DO WORK well with NetBSD

HP Jornada 620LX (SH-3/HPCSH)

List of hand-helds that work but have some difficulties

Switches, modems, other remote devices

List of remotes that DON'T work well with NetBSD

List of remotes that DO WORK well with NetBSD

How to log into and manage remote device from NetBSD