i have a dell xps410 machine & did a dual boot with opensuse 11. to do
that i had to delete a raid 0 array and then i had 2 250GB HDs. at that
point i reinstalled windows on hd1 and suse on hd2. when i reinstalled
windows i had to download various chipsets, drivers etc. from dell to
complete the install of windows.
my question is this: if i want to get rid of windows on hd1 & install
just suse on my pc on hd1, will i be able to download and install the
various drivers, chipset, etc from dell within the linux environment?
or am i screwed and have to keep windows on my machine in order to
install the drivers, etc?
Which “drivers” are these? Are they windows drivers? If so it won’t
matter because you won’t be on windows. If there are other things that
are hardware-related there are usually ways to do OS-agnostic things
like flashing firmware without windows… something as simple as a
bootable medium with DOS on it will often work.
Good luck.
emilemma wrote:
> i have a dell xps410 machine & did a dual boot with opensuse 11. to do
> that i had to delete a raid 0 array and then i had 2 250GB HDs. at that
> point i reinstalled windows on hd1 and suse on hd2. when i reinstalled
> windows i had to download various chipsets, drivers etc. from dell to
> complete the install of windows.
>
> my question is this: if i want to get rid of windows on hd1 & install
> just suse on my pc on hd1, will i be able to download and install the
> various drivers, chipset, etc from dell within the linux environment?
> or am i screwed and have to keep windows on my machine in order to
> install the drivers, etc?
>
> thanks for any help!!
>
>
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org
emilemma;1905576 Wrote:
> drivers & etc would be: chipset, cd & dvd drivers, mouse, video
> cards(nvidia), network etc.
>
> i’m not very experienced at this so i feel kind of lost.
>
> any help appreciated
>
> many thanks!!
unless your Dell machine has some exotic piece of hardware/chipset, you
will not need to download anything from anywhere. The Linux kernel
itself supports A LOT of hardware and chips by default
Just to reiterate -
And as Microchip relates - Your issue with drivers and windows, really
has no relation to Linux at all.
Mostly you will find everything has a driver, though I’m not sure I
would go so far as to say: > you will not need to download anything from anywhereMaybe you were asking if there were Linux drivers for your machine on
the Dell site. There could be. Dell does now ship some machines with
Linux. And most of the big names in the world of PC’s do have or have
made some effort to supply Linux drivers. But mostly, the ones you will
use will be Open Source and not related to Dell at all.
I’m a little puzzled though, because you say you are already dual
booting. So you should know something about the drivers being used on
your OS 11.0 system. Earlier in the thread when you said: > will i be able to download and install the various drivers, chipset, etc
> from dell within the linux environment? I thought you were suggesting that you might have difficulty accessing
Dell or the drivers -working from a Linux desktop. Well, of course you
can access and download whatever drivers there are, regardless of
whether you use Linux or windows. Though it is likely that 99% of the
drivers will be for windows, but if you don’t have windows anymore, you
will not need them. Except Perhaps should you need a wireless driver (usually for
laptops). If no driver exisits for Linux - You can use the XP driver
with ndiswrapper.
The OP may be referring to Dell firmware (not drivers). I have
maintained a Windows partition on my laptop precisely to satisfy this
need. The firmware installation only works with Windows. That said, in
two years running linux on my Dell laptop, I did not once boot Windows
for that purpose. YMMV.
i guess what i’m trying to get at is if i download drivers, etc. from
dell as files ending in .exe can those be executed within linux and
installed without any problem. i just don’t want to load linux and then
download something that can’t be executed for what ever reason. i may
not need very much, i don’t know for sure, but just trying to play safe
to be sure that my machine comes up allright and then works ok.
i’m new at this and not experienced. i don’t want to install linux and
then find out i can’t run it for whatever reason.
You should be OK without windows if your only concern is the hardware
updates etc. I’ve never had an issue without windows. OK most
manufacturers release fixes for windows only but they are, in my
experience, infrequent to say the least.
I have put linux on Pc’s that their owners had given up with (ie chuck
them away and buy vista): of course said owners are now over the moon
and new converts!!! as well as newbies like yourself.
My advice, if you’re not ready to take the plunge, is stick with the
dual boot option for now. Or if you’ve got the windows install disk,
take the plunge and see…what have you got to lose;)
emilemma;1906029 Wrote:
> i guess what i’m trying to get at is if i download drivers, etc. from
> dell as files ending in .exe can those be executed within linux and
> installed without any problem. i just don’t want to load linux and then
> download something that can’t be executed for what ever reason. i may
> not need very much, i don’t know for sure, but just trying to play safe
> to be sure that my machine comes up allright and then works ok.
>
> i’m new at this and not experienced. i don’t want to install linux and
> then find out i can’t run it for whatever reason.
>
> thanks for help!!!
First. Linux does not use windows .exe files
Having said that, and not wanting to confuse you, it is possible to use
them in a Linux application/environment called ‘wine’. Usually to
install a windows application. But all this is nothing to do with your
question.
And as I mentioned, you MAY need to use a windows driver in certain
situation eg: wireless driver/ndiswrapper.
Just know this. Don’t expect to be able to run ‘windows’ games. (Though
it is possible, it’s not as easy as put the CD in and away you go).
Linux supplies everything you need from a Desktop and more… WAY more
than anything ‘windows’ offers - and for free.