Ubuntu on HP Compaq nx4300
Install
The Ubuntu 05.10 installer works just fine.
Wireless
The integrated Broadcom wireless doesn't work. I use an old Orinoco PCMCIA card I have.
Screen Resolution
After the install xorg.conf looks like it's set to 1280x768, but actually it's falling back to 1024x768 because of something. The solution is to use 855resolution to add 1280x768 as one of the video modes.
To install 855resolution turn on Universe and run:
sudo apt-get install 855resolution
Then you can run:
sudo 855resolution -l
to find a non important video mode (like any of the low bit color high resolution ones) and change it with the one we want. I chose mode 41. So I wrote
MODE=41 XRESO=1280 YRESO=768
in /etc/defaults/855resolution. A restart and your set.
Trackpad
The synaptics driver's default settings have the acceleration set way too high, so to lower them you simply add
Option "AccelFactor" "0.0005"
To /etc/X11/xorg.conf and restart your X server. Note your preference on the acceleration may be different from mine, Just play around with it.
Sound
The sound doesn't work after a fresh install because the "External Amplifier" option is turned on by default. You can turn it off by opening "Volume Control" in Applications>Sound & Video and enabling "External Amplifier" in Edit>Preferences.
Now would also be a good time to make the Volume Control Applet modify headphone volume because it seems the headphone jack's volume is unaffected by the Master Volume. PCM works too, though I like being able to control both separately.
Memory Card Reader
Doesn't work, I'm not sure why.
ACPI
The ACPI support in the bios doesn't tell you any rate information so it can only tell you the current battery percentage. This happens even in Windows.