This page provides an overview of Linux support for HP PC's and peripeherals. In case of any inaccuracies let us know. Don't base purchasing decisions on the information provided here. This site's main goal is to provide information for people already owning an HP PC.

Other important HP and Linux related sites are:

• HP Linux and Open Source
• HP Desktops and Linux
• HP HOWTO

HP Pavilions:

The current HP Pavilions contain several components that are only supported under Windows 9x/NT/2000. Notably the builtin modem and sound cards. These cards need a special proprietary Windows library to function and are therefore not (yet) supported under Linux. Any possible information on the support status for these items can be found at the winmodem page. For most Pavilions you will need the latest version of XFree86 (>= 3.3.6) to get the graphics going.

To give you a better overview of the HP PC' s available, which have been tested with Linux, we distinguish between old and current models.
 

Old  models:	Current models:	Device Support:
Kayak Vectra Brio Omnibook	Kayak XA  Kayak XU800 Kayak XM600 Vectra VLi8 Vectra VEi7,VEi8 Vectra VL600 Brio BA400 Brio BA600 Kayak XA's (**) Kayak XU (**)  Kayak XU (Xeon) (**)	HP Printers HP Scanners HP CD Writers HP Colorado Tapes HP SureStore Tapes HP Digital Cameras HP Jornada Iomega Zip/Tape Drives Sound Cards

** these models are out of production but still available.


Current Models:  TOP

All HP PC's shown in this table can run the RedHat 6.1 Linux distribution. This means that Linux works correctly on all these machines. The table shows the most critical points for Linux support, i.e. it lists the graphics, network and SCSI cards and which Linux drivers should be used. Depending on the use of the machine, not having a driver for a graphics card does not mean the machine can not be used (servers typically don't need graphics). For more general information on hardware (BIOS, motherboards, etc.) see the Hardware Howto and for details on ethernet see the Ethernet Howto.
Essential information on graphics chipsets can be found on the web pages of the XFree project and of the SuSE company. XFree support for most chipsets is very good. However, sometimes even better results can be obtained by commercial X servers from companies like XiG and MetroLink.
Whenever in this table a kernel version is mentioned, e.g. 2.2.12., it actually means >= 2.2.12. RedHat 6.1 comes with version 2.2.12 pre (pre-release) of the kernel.

For more information about the model specifications of each machine see  http://www.hp.com/desktops/

Linux Workstations:
HP is now providing PL and XL - Class Linux Workstations with a preloaded, tested and configured RedHat 6.0 Operating system. To learn more about the Linux Workstations visit  http://www.hp.com/visualize/products/linux/index.php3

Old Models:  TOP

All HP PC's shown in this table can run the RedHat 5.2 Linux distribution or newer releases. This means that Linux works correctly on all these machines. The table shows the most critical points for Linux support, i.e. it lists the graphics, network and SCSI cards and which Linux drivers should be used. Depending on the use of the machine, not having a driver for a graphics card does not mean the machine can not be used (servers typically don't need graphics).
For more general information on hardware (BIOS, motherboards, etc.) see the Hardware Howto and for details on ethernet see the Ethernet Howto.
Essential information on graphics chipsets can be found on the web pages of the XFree project and of the SuSE company. XFree support for most chipsets is very good. However, sometimes even better results can be obtained by commercial X servers from companies like XiG and MetroLink.
Whenever in this table a kernel version is mentioned, e.g. 2.0.36, it actually means >= 2.0.36. RedHat 5.2 comes with version 2.0.36pre (pre-release) of the kernel. The pre kernel still has a problem with the pcnet32 driver which is fixed in the final 2.0.36 [remark 11and remark 12].

TOP