Translation(s): none

Models covered
HP ?EliteBook 8470p and 8570p. Some of this page's information may further be useful to others whose laptops include AMD's 7570M GPU.

Sub-models (LIST OF MODEL REFERENCE NUMBER) options :
- Video card: AMD Radeon 7570M
- Screen size: 14" wide or 15" wide
- Wireless chip: Intel's Centrino Ultimate-N 6300

Overall Status

~-Legend :
= OK ; Unsupported(No Driver) ; = Error (Couldn't get it working); [?] Unknown, Not Test ; [-] Not-applicable
= Configuration Required; = Only works with a non-free driver and or firmware

Important Note

There is currently a bug that installation and use of a desktop environment like GNOME, XFCE or KDE crashes the system. A workaround is detailed below.

Configuration

Display

• A default installation of Debian 8 jessie will work on this laptop only until you try to install a desktop environment like GNOME, XFCE or KDE and you reboot. Once you have done this, it crashes unresponsively, early during boot. A workaround is known. Details follow.

  This laptop seems to have a poorly documented, offbeat GPU, AMD's Radeon 7570M. The lspci(8) utility reports it as AMD/ATI Thames Radeon HD 7550M/7570M/7650M; AMD/ATI Turks/Whistler HDMI Audio Radeon HD 6000 Series. Unfortunately, the hardware design of this laptop does not seem to let you disable the GPU, using Intel's integrated graphics, instead. Nevertheless, you can work around the problem as follows.

• During initial installation of the operating system, refrain from installing a desktop environment like GNOME, XFCE or KDE.
• After initial installation of the operating system, boot into the terminal. Log in as root.

• Using the command nano /etc/grub.d/10_linux, or a similar command, invoke a text editor to edit the indicated configuration file.

• In the file, find a line that reads (or resembles),

  • linux ${rel_dirname}/${basename}.efi.signed root=${linux_root_device_thisversion} ro ${args}

  Append radeon.dpm=0 to this line, so that it reads (or resembles),

  • linux ${rel_dirname}/${basename}.efi.signed root=${linux_root_device_thisversion} ro ${args} radeon.dpm=0

• In the same file, find another line that reads (or resembles),

  • linux ${rel_dirname}/${basename} root=${linux_root_device_thisversion} ro ${args}

  Append radeon.dpm=0 to this line, too, so that it reads (or resembles),

  • linux ${rel_dirname}/${basename} root=${linux_root_device_thisversion} ro ${args} radeon.dpm=0

• Save the file and exit the editor.

• Issue the command update-grub.

• Now install the desktop environment using a command like apt-get install task-desktop. You can replace task-desktop by task-gnome-desktop, task-xfce-desktop, task-german-desktop, task-french-desktop, or a similar name if you wish. (The writer has tested this procedure mostly with task-xfce-desktop.)

• Reboot.

Notes

• The above solution was last updated for Debian 8.0. Observe that the solution does not require the non-free video driver, but uses the free one. (The writer has tried the non-free video driver in the past, before jessie. The non-free driver is funky. The free driver may have fewer features but it is more straightforward, more stable and generally better behaved; and also, it's free.)

Information

• The initials dpm seem to stand for Display Power Management. Apparently, AMD's Display Power Management interacts badly with jessie's Linux kernel. Fortunately, one can disable AMD's Display Power Management as explained above. For more information, see this.

Audio

• (not covered yet)

Mouse

• (not covered yet)

Power Management

• (not covered yet, but see Display Power Management problems, above)

WiFi

• The WiFi does not work with free software. However, it works fine if you install the non-free package firmware-iwlwifi.

Modem

• (not covered yet)

System Summary

lspci

00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor DRAM Controller [8086:0154] (rev 09)
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor PCI Express Root Port [8086:0151] (rev 09)
00:14.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI Host Controller [8086:1e31] (rev 04)
00:16.0 Communication controller [0780]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 [8086:1e3a] (rev 04)
00:16.3 Serial controller [0700]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family KT Controller [8086:1e3d] (rev 04)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection [8086:1502] (rev 04)
00:1a.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 [8086:1e2d] (rev 04)
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller [8086:1e20] (rev 04)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 [8086:1e10] (rev c4)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 [8086:1e12] (rev c4)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 3 [8086:1e14] (rev c4)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4 [8086:1e16] (rev c4)
00:1d.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 [8086:1e26] (rev 04)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation QM77 Express Chipset LPC Controller [8086:1e55] (rev 04)
00:1f.2 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation 7 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller [AHCI mode] [8086:1e03] (rev 04)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Thames [Radeon HD 7550M/7570M/7650M] [1002:6841]
01:00.1 Audio device [0403]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Turks/Whistler HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 6000 Series] [1002:aa90]
24:00.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: JMicron Technology Corp. IEEE 1394 Host Controller [197b:2380] (rev 30)
24:00.1 System peripheral [0880]: JMicron Technology Corp. SD/MMC Host Controller [197b:2392] (rev 30)
24:00.2 SD Host controller [0805]: JMicron Technology Corp. Standard SD Host Controller [197b:2391] (rev 30)
25:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 [8086:4238] (rev 3e)

lsusb

lsusb -v | grep -E '\<(Bus|iProduct|bDeviceClass|bDeviceProtocol)' 2>/dev/null

Bus 004 Device 003: ID 0a5c:21e1 Broadcom Corp. HP Portable SoftSailing
  bDeviceClass          255 Vendor Specific Class
  bDeviceProtocol         1
  iProduct                2 BCM20702A0
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
  bDeviceClass            9 Hub
  bDeviceProtocol         1 Single TT
  iProduct                0
  bDeviceClass            9 Hub
  bDeviceProtocol         0 Full speed (or root) hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
  bDeviceClass            9 Hub
  bDeviceProtocol         0 Full speed (or root) hub
  iProduct                2 EHCI Host Controller
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
  bDeviceClass            9 Hub
  bDeviceProtocol         1 Single TT
  iProduct                0
  bDeviceClass            9 Hub
  bDeviceProtocol         0 Full speed (or root) hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
  bDeviceClass            9 Hub
  bDeviceProtocol         0 Full speed (or root) hub
  iProduct                2 EHCI Host Controller
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
  bDeviceClass            9 Hub
  bDeviceProtocol         3
  iProduct                2 xHCI Host Controller
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
  bDeviceClass            9 Hub
  bDeviceProtocol         1 Single TT
  iProduct                2 xHCI Host Controller

USB Host controllers entries (without OHCI, UHCI, EHCI) are removed too.

Resources

Attachments

Useful Links

Credits

Thaddeus H. Black <thb@debian.org>

CategoryLaptopComputer