Sager 5760 Problems in Linux

I'm trying to get Linux (Fedora Core 6, specifically) running on my brand-spanking new Sager 5760. It's a wonderful machine and runs almost everything superbly. However, I'm having a few problems and was hoping someone out there has already worked through these.

1. DVD drive disappears. When I use grub as the bootloader, the DVD drive is not visible in Windows XP or Linux. If I switch to using NTLDR before grub, it's visible in XP but still not in Linux (as it still has to go through grub to get into Linux).
2. Wifi is horrible. Using the latest ipw3945 drivers, the laptop wants to be within 5 feet or so of the access points to work semi-reliably. But even then, it doesn't always work right. If I am more than 5 feet away, it's very random as to whether it will even see the access points (usually not) and connecting almost never works. I have also tried ndiswrapper, but that only succeeds in hanging the computer, requiring a hard reboot. BTW, everything is sweet as candy in XP so I'm assuming this is an OS/driver/config issue.
3. Touchpad can't be configured. This wouldn't be such an issue if I could just make that infernal tapping "feature" go away. Has anyone found a driver that works with this thing?

Other than those 3 headaches, I LOVE this computer. If I can't get these things working right, I'm going to have to return this magnificent beast, and that royally sucks.

Can anyone help a brother out?

 

I'm looking at getting at the same basic machine and dual-booting linux (maybe Ubutunu, haven't decided yet) on it... I'd love to know if these problems are endemic to this setup, and if others have found solutions...

 

I would recommend trying a linux distro like Ubuntu or Mandriva, since they will have better driver support than Fedora core.

 

I'm not sure many of us here would be THAT in tune with the latest Fedora offerings. Perhaps you would have better luck over at http://www.fedoraforum.org/

Good luck with your problems.

 

The comment I made about fedoras poor driver support is based on the fact that Fedora Core does not include proprietary drivers with their offerings, unlike Mandriva which has some of the best support in the Linux community.

Hear is a review that might have some useful info.
http://www.softwareinreview.com/cms/content/view/57

 

Have you had any resolution on these problems since November?

 

I would like to know if you got it fixed or not.

 

I am actively trying to find out. So far, the original poster has given up and purchased a different machine.

I've also pushed a question at Sager support.

While writing this, I had an additional thought. I'm a member of a mailing list for former (should I say Phormer?) employees of Phoenix Technologies. I'm going to put my question there and ask the brains trust.

 

Did you try it with DesktopBSD 1.6-RC1?

 

Well, after an E-mail conversation with Sager technical support, I have my answer.

That's sad. I've always felt that getting a computer to work with both XP and Linux is a good check that it works on purpose and not because it happens to use some accidental hole in Windows that will be fixed in some future patch.