Since summer 2008 i started to discover Linux. First with Ubuntu, but soon i learned there were much more distros, some too difficult for me at the time, buts some also very accessible. During that time i abandoned the distros which were too hard to get the wireless card properly working. Later on most distros improved on wireless networking and i noticed that i often tried out Linux Mint with it’s several Desktop Environment versions.
Most of the time during this distro hopping period, i used live-cds and only installed it to a hard drive if it didn’t give problems for standard applications like wireless internetsurfing, playing music, photo editing and officework (text editing, spreadsheet, presentations). Nowadays i use live-usb stick and since i have several HP Compaq nc6220 notebooks lying around, i also use them for installing promising Linux distro side by side in a dual boot mode, together with Win 7.
The last weekend of November Mint 12 became available. After downloading it i installed it on a separate partition beside Win 7. I had set up this separate partition during a live session and used GParted for this.
Mint 12 installed without a problem but during downloading and installing updates, the screen froze and mouse clicks or hitting keys didn’t seem to work. I left the laptop alone for some five minutes, but still nothing happened. Eventually i powered down the notebook and restarted.
After having shown the GRUB menu, Mint 12 started up flawlessly. When i restarted the update manager everything went fine and there were no problems anymore.
Until now I’ve played around with Mint 12 for about one and half week and i’ve met no hick-ups with the standard applications. Besides the out of the box applications, i’ve installed Skype and Google Earth and these too work well. All in all i think installed on the HP Compaq nc6220 notebook, Mint 12 is more stable then Mint 11 from the start.
Be prepared that there is no splash screen anymore. When you boot up, after the GRUB menu the screen goes dark for about 30 seconds. Don't think the system stalls, be patient. After the 30 seconds the blue WLAN LED indicator on the nc6220 starts blinking and with another 10 seconds the screen comes to life and you're invited to log on.
After having used Mint 10 and Mint 11 (Gnome versions) you’ll have to get acquainted with Gnome 3. It’s a bit odd to have a top panel and a bottom panel, which have overlapping functions. However if you can’t get used (yet) to Gnome 3, Mint 12 gives us the opportunity to choose a Desktop Environment which you were familiar with during Mint 10 and 11. After having booted Mint 12, you’ll see a grey cog wheel in the top right corner of the small log on field. If you click on it, there are several options. Select the last one, Mate and log on. You will then get the familiar Desktop with Mint menu and without a top panel. Mint 12 will remember your choice, so every time you boot, it will boot in the old familiar desktop. Of course you can always go back to Gnome 3 by selecting the Gnome option at the cog wheel of the log on field.
The only thing i (still) couldn’t get working was Compiz. I still have to find how, but that may be something for during the Xmas holidays.
Hp Compaq Nc6120 Drivers
The nc6120's with 256MB can't run Linux Mint 11 Main Edition without a pre-configured swap; the LXDE edition will run well I think. But it's easy to put some more RAM into the laptop. Jun 21, 2009 This page has been replaced. These laptop tests are now out of date, for newer tests see the Laptop Testing Team pages. Notes on installation and compatibility of Ubuntu with Hewlett-Packard laptop computers.
Compaq Nc6120 Drivers
Hp Compaq Nc6120 Drivers Linux Mint
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