Is this laptop model (HP 240) compatible with free software?
Is the HP 240 laptop with CPU Intel Celeron N2840 compatible with free software (see the specifications)?
There is not much useful information in the specifications. I was especially interested in the wireless chip model to check for compatibility, but only the manufacturer is mentioned (and there are several options, I do not know which one is actually used). How can I check online that the integrated graphics controller, sound controller, and so on will work?. I tried h-node, but there are no reports for the CPU or the whole laptop and there is no model number to search for regarding the wireless controller.
I noted that one option is given that the laptop comes with Ubuntu, but Ubuntu includes proprietary controllers and firmware.
Regards.
>I noted that one option is given that the laptop comes with Ubuntu, but Ubuntu includes proprietary controllers and firmware.
Therefore I do not know if it would work with Linux-libre given that it seems to work with Ubuntu. It is not mentioned in the specifications whether it requires the proprietary firmware package.
Do you have the laptop with you? If so, you can just run a live USB and check what works before installing.
Indeed, but I do not have physical (or otherwise) access to the laptop. Furthermore, the specification paper describes several options and it is not described which ones of those applies.
i got mine from Zareason but my next purchase is from thinkpenguin!
just as it has not been mentioned
this computer will almost certainly run a non-free bios
You had better choose a computer:
- with an Intel graphical chipset (perfect support by Linux-libre, better than most nVidia cards, smaller energy consumption, cheaper);
- without Windows (Microsoft does not deserve your money).
If you do not buy you computer from ThinkPenguin or Ministry of Freedom and if you cannot check it (with a Live system), expect the Wifi to not work. You can buy a Wifi dongle from ThinkPenguin or Tehnoetic (or second hand if the seller indicates the chipset) to solve the issue. The same probably holds (to lesser extent?) for Bluetooth. I do not really know. I never use Bluetooth.
The BIOS will be proprietary software unless you buy your laptop from Ministry of Freedom.
If posible (it better be), just ask (or take a look) at what exactly the Wi-Fi card is and then look it up on a search engine or post it here and I think it'll take you a long way.
I am a member!
Do you have other options available?
For laptops HP is a *really bad* choice. Just because somebody is shipping with GNU/Linux doesn't make it a good choice. The majority of companies shipping with GNU/Linux are doing there customers a severe disservice. They are shipping with stuff that doesn't work, is dependent on proprietary components, and more.
In this case HP uses digital restrictions on the mini pcie slot to prevent you from using third party cards that'll actually work with 100% free distributions like Trisquel and Parabola GNU/Linux-libre. I would *highly* suggest avoiding HP, Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba, Apple, and Sony for this or similar reasons.
At the moment I believe most other companies are not implementing these restrictions and therefore you can probably get a free software friendly wifi card to replace it.
I'd also advise avoiding Skylake. Go with Broadwell or Haswell as the graphics in these systems will most likely be free software friendly. I should point out though that Intel was only partly supporting the graphics on GNU/Linux. The rest was the result of work by another person who took the time to reverse engineer Intel's stuff. Because Intel has been soo uncooperative he's decided to stop reverse engineering Intel's hardware. As a result you may not have a good experience with more recent laptops using Intel graphics that most of us are use to expecting. Skylake will be dependent on proprietary components so its best advised to avoid for now. ThinkPenguin's not moving to Skylake for the time being as we're able to for the moment continue shipping Haswell and Broadwell laptops/desktops. It's not 100% clear though yet how bad the situation is and we're actually going to be getting in a Skylake board and CPU for further investigating. It might be that graphics are supported, but not power management, or similar without the proprietary component. In which case it'll remain the choice in my mind relative to AMD/NVIDIA within the X86 realm.
There are some other things to consider, but it's going to be near impossible to determine without actually having the laptop in your hands, and testing it.
I am a member!
Out of curiosity what is the reason you can't order from overseas? I'm not sure if the Ministry of Freedom is shipping overseas, especially Mexico, but I know we do (ThinkPenguin) for laptops via DHL. I think it would open up options for you. The main thing to remember is that there would be taxes on top of the purchase. As long as you take that into consideration it should be doable. We even have Spanish keyboard layouts :) if that is your concern. I'm always trying to address issues that make it difficult for people to adopt free software so if there is something we could do or some problem we might be able to address speak up! There are certainly issues with some counties we can't address, but for laptops to Mexico I think we're doing pretty good.
Speaking from experience, I bought the Ubuntu-based desktop from MicroCenter and promptly installed Trisquel 7 in a dual-boot setup with no hassles, except that the black Start switch is nearly invisible on the left front of the black front panel. The native graphics are just fine; I'm still maintaining the Ubuntu OS, but Trisquel 7 is my vastly preferred OS on that machine.
I also have two bootstrapped PC's based on used Intel MB's purchased online that also gave no hassles with Trisquel 7. I based my choice of those Intel MB's on what I read in this forum. I actually bought three Intel MB's but one had an intermittent electrical fault.
The three desktop PC's manually share the same monitor, KB, network cable, and mouse ... I just move the plugs around.
My Lenovo T420 (Intel MB) laptop also has excellent Trisquel 7 on its native graphics, and I got around its proprietary Wi-Fi with the Think Penguin USB dongle, which is working flawlessly.
Chris is right about commercial freedom vendors, but if you're broke, the used parts can work, too, but it will probably take more effort and it does have pitfalls - I struggled with that defective MB for a couple of weeks.
Unless you're trying to preserve software or files on an old hard drive, getting a fresh hard drive is a good idea.
Trisquel 7 can figure out how to use old hardware in just about every instance that I've experienced, and you can use ClamAV to clean up that old hard drive.
First, try to boot LiveCD/DVD or LiveUSB of your favorite fully Libre GNU distribution. If it doesn't work, try to remove WiFi card(it is easy).
If you have Intel CPU and Intel built-in GPU chip, you will have full compatible/libre friendly computer with Free Software OS. "Some" Nvidia GPUs runs very very well, but not the same way like Intel GPU. If you have any AMD gpu, it will be painful for you.
Interesting post. It helped me a lot. I just thought to buy a laptop. Now I may go to ThinkPad...
My Dell Inspiron N5050 laptop works almost entirely with free software only the wifi chip doesn't work. 3d Acceleration works so you can play free software 3d games on it. :)
You can either replace the chip with a free software compatible one or a usb wifi adaptor from thinkpenguin.
Its fast able to boot from usb, cd/dvd, network, comes with enough hard drive space to make backups of dvds and still have space for other files. I'd recommend it if you don't want to buy a computer with free bios.