1. use Fedora Live instead of CentOS for boot test, then install
CentOS and replace the kernel with ELRepo kernel-ml. This is
usually newer even than Fedora's, thus presumably with much
better support for new HW than stock CentOS.
Of course, the risk here is that CentOS would not install/boot
to the point to have a working yum and (wired) network. This can
be usually tweaked, but hackish.
2. search the net how well is supported (any) Linux distro by the
models of interest, to not waste time trying them all at the
shop. With ELRepo kernels one can usually replicate the same or
better support for CentOS -- if it can be tricked into installing
and booting a minimal installation with yum and network.
Using Fedora for many years, I have noted that a new HW gets fully
supported gradually over 6-12 months. For instance, the last
laptop I bought was an Asus UX31E for which even the motherboard
was not well supported at the begin. After a year or so all fit
into place. :-)
I also keep a copy of the full disk with the original OS untouched
to not loose the warranty. Before installing I boot into any Linux
Live I have at hand and issue something like: dd if=/dev/sda |
xz -9c directing the output to a network storage.
Hope this helps.
Mihai
On Wed, Oct 01, 2014 at 10:57:30PM -0600, Frank Cox wrote:
> Today I found myself in need of a laptop to run Centos on. And
> that simple statement led to an all-day odyssey.
>
> My original plan was to purchase a laptop and install Centos 6 on
> it. I went to Staples and tried booting it on every model of
> laptop that they had in the store. They all come with Windows
> 8 installed, and for the edification of anyone who doesn't know
> this (I didn't until today) you have to conduct a real song and
> dance to get to the bios settings on one of those things:
>
> boot windows
> move mouse pointer to the top right corner of the screen
> move down to setting menu (gear) that shows up
> click on power off icon
> Hold shift key and left-click on "restart"
> it goes to the troubleshooting screen
> click on advanced troubleshooting
> click on "change uefi settings"
> now we get to the bios
> set secure boot off
> set legacy boot priority
>
> And then you can boot from a USB flash drive. *whew* (It's easy
> to put it back afterward, just go into the bios and tell it set to
> defaults, save and exit.)
>
> Anyway, I tried booting a Centos 6 Live CD image on a usb flash
> drive on every single model of laptop they had in stock and no joy
> on any of them -- they either hung altogether, started booting and
> hung at some point along the way, started a continuous cycle of
> start booting, reset, start booting again, or kernel panicked.
> Every last one.
>
> I then tried a Centos 7 Live CD image on another usb flash drive
> and then the third machine that I tried it on (Lenovo Ideapad S400
> Touch) worked. So I bought that one and have now wiped Windows off
> of its hard drive and installed Centos 7 so it now looks and acts
> like a real computer.
>
> I never would have thought that it would take all bloody day to
> purchase one laptop. (And I'm going to be having nightmares about
> that Windows Boot Manager thing.)
>
> Since it has now become amazingly difficult to get a laptop if
> you're not planning to use Windows, at least around here, I'm
> wondering what the rest of you fine folks do when it comes to
> purchasing a laptop? Next time this comes up, I'd rather not have
> to spend all day on something that used to take fifteen minutes.
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