Feisty beta's Network Manager OK Again

A new update of the Network Manager package for Ubuntu Feisty beta has been released today.
The first reports indicate that everything has gone back to normal.
I have not updated yet, so I can not verify. I will do ASAP.
But the network should now work again.

*EDIT*: I've just updated. Everything looks fine.

WARNING: Feisty beta, Updates of April 11, 2007

If you have installed Ubuntu Feisty beta on your SI1520:

DO NOT INSTALL TODAY'S UPDATES (April 11).

Something is wrong with the update, and the network manager stops working. As a consequence, network adapters are not recognized anymore, the wireless IPW3945 will not work, and the "cabled" network will work only after setting it up again (but you will not have any confirmation from the network manager icon, since this won't work).

You have been warned! ;)

*EDIT*:

Temporary solution:
Until the problem is solved, it is possible to downgrade the network manager to the previous (working) version:

sudo dpkg -i /var/cache/apt/archives/
network-manager_0.6.4-6ubuntu4_i386.deb
(please notice: it's a single line of code)

This will work if you still have the package in your cache.

Installation of Ubuntu Feisty Fawn 7.04 beta

WARNING: Click HERE if you want information on installing Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn FINAL.

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How does Ubuntu 7.04 beta behave on an Amilo SI1520?

Hardware Information

Screen & Monitors
Screen: Works
Correct resolution: Yes (after installing package 915resolution)
Correct refresh rate: Yes
3D Acceleration: Yes
External monitor works: Untested
External monitor - mirrors: Untested
External monitor - extend desktop: Untested

Power Management
Battery detected: Yes
Hibernates: Yes
Sleep: Yes (1)
Dim monitor on battery: No
Blank monitor on inactivity: Yes
Lid Close: Yes
Cpu frequency scaling: Untested

Sound
Sound works? Yes
Correct volume? Yes (Although volume is pretty low)
Hardware volume switch: N/A (but Fn buttons to control volume work)
Headphone jack: Works
Mic jack: Does not work (I Couldn't manage to make it work)

Networking
Wired NIC: Works
Wireless NIC: Works
PCMCIA NIC: Untested
Firewire: Untested (Should work)
Bluetooth: Untested (Should work)
Modem: Untested
Infrared: N/A

Touchpad & Mice
Touchpad: Works
Touchpad - Doubletap = double click: Works
Touchpad - Scroll down side: Works
Touchpad - turned off while typing: Does not work
External mouse - USB: Works
External mouse - Serial: Untested

Other Hardware
CD/DVD Burner: Works (Couldn't make it burn at speed >2x)
4-in-1 Card Reader: Works (2)

NOTES:
(1) Suspend to RAM works only with BIOS version 1.10. Later versions have something wrong and this feature will not work properly. You can downgrade to v1.10 if your laptop does NOT mount an Intel Core Duo (Yonah) D0 stepping processor (which basically means those CPUs coded T2x00). Check here for more detailed information.

(2) The built-in Card Reader works with kernel 2.6.20-12-generic and 2.6.20-15-generic. Booting with other kernels will result in not being able to use the card reader.

OpenSUSE 10.2 LiveDVD

I wanted to try OpenSUSE 10.2, since it's said to have the best hardware support among all distros. I inserted the LiveDVD in the CD/DVD reader of the SI1520, and it booted.
After a few seconds, a choice is given to boot the Gnome LiveDVD or the KDE LiveDVD. I chose Gnome and pressed Return.
The DVD started to spin, a splash screen appeared, and then the screen went black with a number of errors. The last few rows stated:

"Cannot find the CD I was booted from - doh!"

And everything stopped. If this is the distro with the best hardware support... :)

*EDIT*: I managed to make the LiveDVD boot by entering the BIOS and enabling 32-bit performance for the CD/DVD drive. Now testing.

Installing Ubuntu

I've installed Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn beta on my Amilo.
In the beginning I installed Kubuntu, but having been a Gnome user for some time, I really don't feel at home with KDE. Anyway, since Ubuntu and Kubuntu share the same structure, only with different desktop managers, the results should be the same.

Installation runs smoothly and no particular instructions are needed. After a couple of days of use I can say that all the most important things work, with a few exceptions:

- 4-in1 card reader worked until the Update Manager asked me to make a "Partial Upgrade". That caused the installation of a new kernel (2.6.20-13) that seems not to like the card reader. Solution: boot with the older kernel (2.6.20-12).
- The touchpad won't work after a "resume" from suspend-to-ram. This seems to be a common problem with Synaptics touchpads, as a quick google search showed. Solution: none at the moment.
- Microphone: another long-known problem, still with no solution. I've found a tutorial that claimed to solve the problem but instead it made Ubuntu not recognize my sound card anymore.
- The light sensor that automatically adjusts the display's contrast/brightness does not work actually works! Solution: none needed.
- The silent mode button does not work. Solution: none at the moment.
- The Num Lock button does not work.

Power management in Gnome is not the greatest. Anyway with the default settings, both suspend-to-ram ("Suspend") and suspend-to-disk ("Hibernate") work.
It's said that installing powersaved helped but I couldn't manage to make it work. Probably powersaved works better, but I could not manage to make Suspend and Hibernate work with this method, so I went back to the default power management.

That's all I can think of right now. I'll make a complete report about what works and what doesn't soon. But in a few words I can say that the Amilo SI1520 is reasonably linux-friendly.