Ubuntu 16.04 on HP Pavilion dv7

Ten years ago I did buy a big HP laptop which was delivered with Windows Vista. Microsoft now is going to end the support for Vista. The device still works perfectly. I decided to move it to Ubuntu. The dv7-1060ez is a dual core with 4 GB memory and 310 GB hard disk, good candidate to become a usable Ubuntu laptop.

Preliminary

I load the Ubuntu 32-bit workstation on a 16 GB USB stick. I boot my Pavilion from the USB device to see if it works. I'm lucky: all what I need is working.

Backup

I don't really need the data on this laptop, but it is a good chance to experiment with the NTFS utilities of Ubuntu. I have to boot the Vista OS and perform a disk check on both NTFS partitions because the ntfsclone utility doesn't work if the disk isn't clean. After the check I restart Vista for the last time.

I reboot the Pavilion using the Ubuntu USB stick and I connect an external USB disk drive (1 TB) and start the backup of the first partition (the C drive of Vista):

ntfsclone --save-image --rescue \\
-o /media/ubuntu/usb-disk-name/drive-c-backup.img /dev/sda1

I use the rescue option because i expect to found bad sectors on a 10 years old hard disk. I do the same for the /dev/dsa2 partition (the D drive of Vista). It works, ntfsclone shows some bad sectors (8) but nothing seems to be wrong. To be honest I didn't try to restore Vista on the Laptop to see if the backup was really usable. Restoring Vista for me is out of scope.

Ubuntu Installation

I reboot the laptop from the USB stick and ask Ubuntu to install my hard disk. I choose to delete all existing informations an make a clean install. I don't use cryptography or the LVM because of the old hardware.

Compatibilty

A lot of things works and doesn't require special attention. The overall performance is a bit better as with Windows Vista. The display is brilliant and the image well defined as it was with Windows. Mouse, mouse pad, keyboard works.

After one hour work the ventilator still runs at low speed. The Pavilion did overheat quite fast with Windows Vista.

I have tested the USB ports using a 16GB USB-2 Stick and a 1TB USB-3 external disk. All R/W operations are OK and the performance is the same I have on a recent desktop. The card reader was tested using an old 2 GB SD-Card and with a new 32 GB SDHC-Card both are good in R/W and performance.

The network connectivity doesn't cause any problems. I connect the laptop with a cable to a 1Gbit router, the file transfer is really fast.

The WiFi module may work with both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies. The 2.4 GHz connection reaches 72 Mbit if the dv7 is in the same room as the WiFi router. The 5 GHz connection reaches 150 Mbit. Something unusual is the flashing of the WiFi indicator. Under Windows Vista was blue (active) or orange (disabled). Ubuntu flashes the indicator when some activity occurs.

The Bluetooth connectivity is OK.

Hibernate is disabled by default and has to be enabled. I found a good how-to enable hibernate here. The article was written for 14.04 but works also for 16.04. The Pavilion has a very short battery autonomy an hibernate helps a lot to save power.

Hibernate is OK, suspend instead is a disaster. After a suspension the laptop doesn't resume. The desktop is incomplete and nothing works anymore. I have to force a switch off using the power button. Other Ubuntu 16.04 users reports the same problem with different notebooks. I changed the configuration to avoid the suspension. I can reduce the consumption closing the lid of the laptop since this action is configured for hibernation.

The finger print reader requires some additional software to be used. The second solution on "Driver for Validity Sensors Fingerprint scanner" works fine.

Multimedia

The Pavilion dv7 was born to be a multimedia center and it remains a great multimedia computer with Ubuntu.

Due to the big brilliant display any kind of big high definition pictures are supported. I use the Shotwell viewer which is installed by default. The brightness keys down (F7) and up (F8) are OK.

I have a collection of music CD and I use the laptop to play it. Just after I close the CD drawer Ubuntu start the Rythmbox. All function keys, play/pause (F9), stop (F10), backward (F11) and forward (F12) works. The same for the icons on the HP bar between keyboard and screen. The mute icon works. The same for the volume control: I can slide the finger on the bar to adjust the volume.
The sound is awesome, all speakers works. Both hear phones out OK, microphone in OK. I tested the microphone with Audacity.

The WEBcam is also ready to work. I checked it with Cheese.

In order to play video with different formats and play commercial DVD some action is required. CTRL+ALT+t to open a terminal:

$ sudo apt-get install libdvd-pkg
$ sudo apt-get install libdvdread4 libdvdnav4

During the installation of the first package there are some more action to take and at the end I did reboot the laptop. Now the laptop recognizes the DVDs as soon as the DVD drawer closes.

Cloud

The integration with a cloud service is a requirement for a workplace. I use Google Drive and Dropbox

Dropbox

The required packages have to be downloaded from the homepage of Dropbox. The installation is easy, but a little bit patience is required: I launched the installer and it took several minutes until Dropbox gave me some feedback.

The Dropbox is also easy to use. The root folder is placed by default into the home directory. An icon is displayed into the title bar. A click on the icon displays the menu which give access to the Dropbox.

Google Drive

The integration of the Google Drive isn't so easy to realize and to use since there is no official application. I need the Gnome Control Center (GCC) to connect to Google. CTRL+ALT+t to open a terminal:

$ sudo apt install gnome-control-center gnome-online-accounts

ALT+F2 and type "gnome control center". The GCC has the same icon as the Ubuntu system settings and has a similar look, this lead to some confusion. Inside the GCC I set up the Google on-line account and activate the file permission.

I close the GCC and start the file explorer. A server connection with the name of my Google email account is now in the sidebar. At the same time the Google Drive appears on the Unity launcher.

The Google Drive works only if I'm on-line, every change is synchronized immediately.

Office

Libre Office is installed by default. I'm able to access documents on local hard disk and con the cloud.

I added my Canon PIXMA MX925 to the available printers using the system settings. No problem at all. The integration of the scanner of the MX925 requires additional software. CTRL+ALT+t to open a terminal.

$ sudo apt-get install cnijfilter-mx920series scangearmp-mx920series

AT+F2 and search "scangearmp", the scanner icon appears and I can start to scan documents. It isn't so comfortable as on Windows or on a Mac, but the result has the same quality.

Development

GIT repository

1) Install

sudo apt-get install git git-cola

2) User Identity

$ git config --global user.name "John Doe"
$ git config --global user.email johndoe@example.com

3) Credentials

GITHUB publishes a very good guide.

WEB Development

Atom Editor

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/atom
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install atom

NodeJs

$ curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_7.x | sudo -E bash -
$ sudo apt-get install nodejs

Java Development

Java JDK 8

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/java
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install oracle-java8-installer
$ sudo apt-get install oracle-java8-set-default

I really use this laptop at home for development and documentation. It took about 4 hours work to reinstall the Pavilion dv7 and reproduce the environment I had with Windows Vista. I would need the same time to move to a new Notebook Windows or Mac. The advantage is actualized environment at no cost, the disadvantage may Pavilion may become unusable very soon.