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Linux on the HP Pavilion XF335 Laptop

This information is preliminary as I am still configuring this machine. I bought this machine for $700 at Sam's club as a display model (locked display case) of a discontinued item. I am posting my findings here somewhat prematurely because other units may be for sale at other stores right now (Nov 2002). Extensive information will be posted later (I already have 10 pages documenting the installation).

HP Pavilion XF335. 256K Ram. 30GB disk. 14" TFT 1024x768 LCD with S3 Savage4 chipset. DVD-ROM/CD-RW. USB. Parallel. SVGA out. VIA ProSavage chipset Audio.

This laptop is apparently very similar to the HP Pavillion ZE1000. So much so that they have the same manual and the same BIOS. Indeed, one of the manuals is entitled "HP pavilion notebook ze1200 and xf300 series troubleshooting and self repair guide" which suggests that this info may be relevent to all ze12xx and xf3xx models. I am guessing that the ZE models use intel processors and the intel version of the KT133/KM133 chipset and the XF models use AMD Athlon processors and the other member of the chipset.

serial portno hardware, use USB
parallel portshould work, not tested
irda port no hardware, use usb
usb portworks. Tested with scanner. Properly configured by RH 8.0 install
audiotested, works, configure using soundconfig
modem winmodem, but still works using conexant HSF linmodem driver. Appears to not conflict with AC97 audio, either, unlike some AC97 based modems. Note that you cannot hear the modem dial and connect (may be fixable with AT command but kppp doesn't know how).
ethernet Appears to work, not extensively tested,configured by Redhat 8.0 installer. Note: some similar models don't have ethernet
hard drivesupported
floppy drive no hardware, use USB (usb drive availible with 100% rebate from hp)
dvd-rom/cd-rw drive Works. No special installation other than hdc=ide-scsi on kernel boot (added automatically by Redhat 8.0 install)
mount - works
eject - works
cdrecord - works (tested with gtoaster)
gnome-cd - plays audio CDs
grip - works
libdvdread/ogle (dvd viewer) - works
video/lcd
works with 2d acceleration
also works with VESA framebuffer
no 3d acceleration.
not recognized by installer (uses VESA mode) for the simple reason that the correct driver is not listed next to the PCI device id in the hardware mapping file. Configure as "S3 Savage4", 16MB?? ,and "HP 1024 LCD Flat Panel 14-inch display" during install.
video/SVGA output not working. Would require ACPI support
ntsc/pal video outno hardware, use SVGA converter or usb mpeg output device
ntsc/pal video in/tunerno hardware, use usb
FM Radiono hardware, use usb
Power management Preliminary results:
apm --suspend appears to work
apm --standby hangs system second time used
linux does not support suspend to disk
Battery low events do not work.
Battery (and ac charger) status do not work. We probably need to use ACPI instead of APM for this.
At present, you will know the battery is low when the unit powers off. I
pcmcia/cardbusnot tested yet
mousepad works as 2 button mouse with 3 button emulation
Scrollwheel works (in those applications which support it)
external PS/2 keyboard portno hardware, use USB
external PS/2 mouse port no hardware, use USB
i2c (fan and temperature sensors) I am having trouble getting lm_sensors to work even though the chip appears to be one it supports
IEEE 1394 port no hardware (some similar models have 1394)
Wireless 802.11 No hardware. Use PCMCIA or USB adapter.
docking stationno hardware, use usb
Special KeysSee table below

Special Keys

These fall into three categories: 1)handled automatically by the bios, 2)generates a keycode we can respond to, or 3)Requires ACPI support You do not need to use omke to enable receipt of the scan codes which we do get. Many of the keys generate keycodes and then it is our responsibility to do something sensible with them. This is typically done by configuring the Xserver to map these to standard events and the Window Manager to launch a suitable program when the event occurs.

 Power ButtonA short tap on this button kills power. ACPI support may be needed to make it cause suspend 
 Lid closedautomatically turns of screen backlight. Does not suspend. No keyboard events generated. 
  mousepad disable no keycode, no action, need ACPI support? 
Fn+F1 Brightness up no keycode, no action, need ACPI support 
Fn+F2 Brightness down no keycode, no action, need ACPI support 
Fn+F5 LCD/Monitor/Both no keycode, no action, need ACPI Support 
Fn+F8 keypad lock No support required. no keycode, keypad lock light comes on 
Fn+F9 numlock No support required. keycode 77, numlock light comes on  
Fn+F10 scrollock No support required. keycode 78 
Fn+Home mute keycode 160
(same as microsoft natural keyboard PRO)
XF86AudioMute
Fn+PgUp volume up keycode 176
(same as microsoft natural keyboard PRO)
XF86AudioRaiseVolume
Fn+PgDown volume down keycode 174
(same as microsoft natural keyboard PRO)
XF86AudioLowerVolume
onetouch 1 mail keycode 236
(same as microsoft natural keyboard PRO)
XF86Mail
onetouch 2 www keycode 178
(XF86HomePage on microsoft natural keyboard PRO)
XF86WWW
onetouch 3 hp business center keycode 244XF86Launch1
onetouch 4 help keycode 243XF86Launch2

Notes on Resizing XP partition

There are no free tools to resize an NTFS partion. There are several commercial programs which can do that. I chose instead to delete the partition, recreate it as a smaller FAT32 partition, make it primary, format it, and run the HP reinstall in "Restore C: only" mode. Note that the HP reinstall will trash any linux partion at hda2 - you need to make windows partition 2. Of course, the best thing is to delete eXtra Pain entirely.

Captains Log

A copy of my captains-log which describes in detail all the steps I have used so far to install Redhat 8.0 on this laptop (excluding those that didn't work or were undone

Hardware notes

battery: hpf4486b lithium-ion battery module 14.8V 4000mAH
         (Panasonic P/N CGR-8/870AE)
hard drive: 
IBM Travelstar Model: IC25N030ATCS04-0 4200RPM
5V 1.0A DC   30.00GB ATA/IDE
Memory slot 1: MTBLSDT3264HG-133B1 PC133S-333-542 256MB SYNC 133Mhz CL3
Memory slot 2: empty
Floppy slot: there is a coverplate over the hole through which you insert
   a floppy drive on some other pavilion models but there is something
   occupying a portion of the space which would be occupied by a floppy.

By dissasembling the ACPI DSDT table, I gather that this laptop can take either a QT08 SANYO NiMH or a QT07 SANYO LION

Battery Life

Battery life is very poor at the moment, about 1-1/4 hours. This is because we don't have control over many of the power management features. The screen backlight is at high intensity all the time; close the lid to conserve power.

ACPI

ACPI stands for Advanced Configuratin and Power Interface Specification. New computers do not have a traditional BIOS which allows you to configure the machine. Instead, the ACPI bios gives the operating system control over the machine configuration. About all the user has control over is the boot order and even then we still don't have a decent boot loader in the bios. Another acronym used is OSPM, or Operating System Power Management; this is code in the operating system which communicates with the ACPI bios through the ACPI Driver/AML Interpretter. ASL, which stands for ACPI Source Language, is compiled into AML, which stands for ACPI Machine Language. DSDT stand for Differentiaded System Description Table which is basically a table describing the system configuration.

Linux support of ACPI is pretty sketchy at the moment.

ACPI support under windoze is pretty sketchy too. Basic stuff like battery monitoring works but if you want to configure your EPP/ECP parallel port into EPP mode instead of ECP, you are out of luck.

Other models

similar model at sam's club

There is a very similar model at Sam's Club (2002.12.01) which has a slightly faster processor and more memory.

HP Pavilion ze1115

I have access to one of these at work (not running linux). It appears to be similar to the xf335.

HP Pavilion ze1115
------------------
Power Supply: 0950-4334 out 19VDC 3.95A in 100-240V AC (same)
Duron K7 1100 Mhz  (different)
VGA controller: S3 Twister, 15296KB   (same)
Battery Duracell DR36  (different, probably same form factor).
gHard drive: IC25N020ATCS04-0 18.6 GB (different size)
DVD Drive: QSI DVD-ROM SDR-081   (can't write CD-R/RW)  (different)
Host bridge VIA PCI/1106/0305       (same)
PCI-PCI bridge: VIA PCI/1106/8305   (same) 
Cardbus bridge 02 Micro PCI/1217/6972  (same)
PCI-ISA Bridge  VIA PCI/1106/8231      (same)
IDE Controller VIA PCI/1106/0571       (same)
USB Controler VIA PCI/1106/3038        (same)
Ethernet: VIA PCI/1106/3065            (same)
VGA Adapter S3 Inc. PCI/5333/8D02      (same)

Noticable differences:
  - processor
  - floppy drive
  - dvd-rom instead of dvd-rom/cd-rw
  - mousepad is smaller  with no scroll area, no disable button, and only
responds when you actually touch it
  - All connections and drive bays are in the same locations.
  - no blue leds
  - onetouch buttons are round instead of square
  - there are 6 leds in top right corner:  caps lock, num lock, scroll
lock, floppy, hard drive, cd ?
    The floppy and cd/dve leds went away (the cd/dvd drive has an led
    and there is no floppy drive) on the xf335 and the hard drive
    led moved to the lower left corner.xs
  - there are 2 leds in the lower left corner: battery and power

This indicates that much of the info on this page will probably be applicable to the ze1115 and other models in the ze1000 series.

Links

This file is maintained by Mark Whitis (whitis@freelabs.com).

Senior Engineer for hire
Software Development - Electronic Design - Embedded Systems - Device Drivers - System/Network Administration and Security - Motor Control, RobotCNC - Linux/Un*x - 25+ years experience
The author of these pages is looking for a new gig.
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