Laptop

LinuxBIOS on a Laptop

So far noone has ever installed LinuxBIOS on a laptop. But there have been many discussions. Few of them are linked here, you might get useful information out of them:

• http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.bios/12637
• http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.linux.bios/13081

The Laptop Survey page attemps to list laptops to find out which one might be easiest to port LinuxBIOS to.

• Tuxmobil Laptop Survey

• The Free Software Foundation's Campaign for Free BIOS

Who really makes your laptop?

There are several various brands of laptops, but there are only a few actual laptop makers.

Name brand companies like Hewlet Packard, Compaq, IBM, Dell, Gateway, Sony, Micron, Toshiba and others; including Alienware and Voodoo do not make their own laptops. The exceptions are Asus and Apple, and even Apple doesn’t make all of their laptops.

Original Design Manufacturers (ODM) make the laptops for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM). They in turn, add their preloaded hard drives and sell them to consumers. This is why a laptop is a bit more complicated to support with LinuxBIOS. The OEM's may not even have all the specifications for the laptop since the ODM has done all the design and assembly.

Some Laptop ODMs are:

• Quanta makes laptops for Sony, Dell, and IBM

• Inventec and Arima make the Compaq line

• Compal also makes IBM and Dell lines, as well as Hewlett Packard

• Clevo makes the popular Alienware and Voodoo gaming laptops

• Makers of Laptops

• Laptops with Linux Pre-Installed