New Laptop Configuration

Well, I have finally bout a new laptop to replace my aging desktop PC. Why a laptop? I frequently support friends and family, so I wanted a system that I could take with me so I had all my tools handy.

I bought (from Costco) a HP DV6253CL (6200 series) laptop.
It has the following configuration:

• 2 Gb RAM
• nVidia Video Card
• AMD Turion 64x2 Processor

I'm starting with a Debian (Etch) install. Unfortunately, it hasn't been formally released.
On my first boot, the screen came up, but I couldn't see anything. I discovered by changing my kernel line from:

root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinux-2.6.18-3-amd64 root=/dev/sda5 ro
initrd /initrd.img-2.6.18-3-amd64
savedefault 

to

root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinux-2.6.18-3-amd64 root=/dev/sda5 ro noapic nolapic pci=routineirq
initrd /initrd.img-2.6.18-3-amd64
savedefault

In fact, I added this as a new option (my first one so it booted automatically) to my grub menu

/boot/grub/menu.lst

After I compiled a new kernel, the lines became:

root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinux-2.6.20.1-amd64 root=/dev/sda5 ro noapic nolapic pci=routineirq
initrd /initrd.img-2.6.18-3-amd64
savedefault

I finally moved to Kubuntu, as only Kubuntu and OpenSuSE 10.3 Alpha 3 recognized my wireless card.