What To Expect - HP Armada 7400 Software Installation Manual

Installation of Linux on Compaq Armada 7400/7800 Portables
To hot swap a CD-ROM and floppy drive, the system must have been booted with the CD-ROM on the notebook
MultiBay so that Linux will detect the presence of a slave device (CD-ROM) on the primary IDE channel. The CD-
ROM and floppy can then be hot swapped as long as either device is not mounted.
On the Armada 7800 a battery can be swapped into the notebook MultiBay. NOTE: Compaq has MultiBay hard
drive adapters. Hard drives should not be hot swapped as this may result in a data loss or damage to the device.
Note: Very Important. Moving the floppy drive between the notebook MultiBay and ArmadaStation is transparent to the
OS. Linux names IDE devices in the /dev directory tree in the following way:
/dev/hda Primary Channel, Master = Notebook hard drive
/dev/hdb Primary Channel, Slave = Notebook MultiBay
/dev/hdc Secondary Channel, Master = If only one device in the ArmadaStation then it' s always master.
{
If two devices present then the right MultiBay is always master.}
/dev/hdd Secondary Channel, Slave = Left MultiBay is slave.
When Linux is installed it adds an entry to the file system table (/etc/fstab) for the CD-ROM device. If the CD-ROM is
moved, the fstab will not correspond to the new location and the user must use the full mount command to mount the
CD-ROM. For example, Linux installed undocked with the CD-ROM in the notebook MultiBay. The files system table
contains an entry linking the device named cdrom to /dev/hdb (primary, slave). Also assume Linux created the directory
/cdrom. The short form of mount can be used, mount /cdrom. Next, the unit is docked with a floppy in the notebook
MultiBay and the CD-ROM in the ArmadaStation. The CD-ROM is now /dev/hdc (secondary, master). Since /etc/fstab
is not automatically updated it still contains the old entry. The can only mount the CD-ROM by using the long form of
the mount command, mount –t iso9660 /dev/hdc /cdrom. A work-around is to install and configure an auto-mount
utility.
External Floppy Support
Compaq has an external floppy option, which connects to the notebook's parallel port. This device is detected during
POST and all floppy accesses are directed to it transparent to the OS, meaning it functions under Linux.
Programmable Key Support
At this time there is no support for the four programmable keys on the Armada 7400 and 7800 products.
USB
Currently, Linux does not have any USB support. There is experimental code available that at this time supports UHCI
(Universal Host Controller Interface). Compaq uses a more robust controller, the OHCI (Open Host Controller
Interface). Linux support for OHCI has not been finished. Linux USB news and driver are currently located at
http://www.kernelnotes.org.

What To Expect

Video
The SVGA X-server does not properly drive the LCD at the appropriate vertical refresh rate when the X-server is set to
1024x768 mode only. The result is a slight flickering of the LCD display. This flickering does not occur on every unit.
This is due to the video driver not setting up the S3 Virge/MX correctly because the problem does not occur when the
SVGA server is set to 640x480 as default and then hot keyed to 1024x768. At this time the recommended work-around
is to configure the X-server to enter 640x480 as default and then switch to 1024x768. The X-server uses Ctrl-Alt-+ and
Ctrl-Alt- (minus key) to switch resolutions. On the Armada keyboard the sequence is: Ctrl, Alt, press and hold Fn then
press the numeric plus located on the semicolon key {Ctrl Alt Fn +}.
The Armada 7400 and 7800 has a hot key sequence, Fn-F4, to switch between panel only, external monitor only and
simultaneous display. The S3 video BIOS has been customized to implement this functionality. On Linux Fn-F4 video
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