Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on the HP ProBook 4720s

Update: Ubuntu 12.10 is out; check how it does on the HP Probook 4720s.

Canonical releases just a few days ago Ubuntu 12.04, which according to their roadmap [1] will be supported until 2017. If you have been following this blog or even tried out Ubuntu on your 4720s you know that the ride [2] [3] has not always been smooth, so it is time for another post.

As usual the installation starts with creating a bootable USB stick from- and as described at the download page [4]. I’m installing the system again on a 8GB SD card while user documents and swap space reside on the laptop’s hard disk.

The system boots without surprises from the USB stick, WIFI and camera work just fine, bluetooth doesn’t.

Hardware

Most hardware seems to work fine, below is a list of items (checked items were verified):

[X] Video (also install the 3rd party driver [post release still not working])

[X] Camera

[X] Speakers

[X] Internal Microphone

[ ] External Microphone

[ ] Bluetooth

[ ] Ethernet

[X] WLAN
[X] Hotkeys

[X] Touchpad (right click button still not working, need two-finger-tap on main pad)

Power consumption

This release does a really good job on the 4720s regarding power consumption. With all tricks pulled, 11.10 wouldn’t consume less that 15W reaching about 2:30 [5]. Now, with an empty desktop with WLAN enabled it consumes 12W reaching more than 5 hours.

And the rest

Skype isn’t in the default repositories, so one has to download it from the manufacturer. Even so it is again unstable.
Custom keyboard shortcuts don’t work reliably [6]

[1] Ubuntu 12.04 LTS roadmap

[3] Ubtunu 10.10 64 bit on HP Probook 4720s
https://blog.georgovassilis.com/2011/01/22/ubuntu-10-10-64-bit-on-an-hp-probook-4720s/

[4] Ubuntu 12.04 LTS download

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop[5] Reducing HP 4720s power consumption under Ubuntu Linux 11.10
https://blog.georgovassilis.com/2012/03/08/reducing-hp-4720s-power-consumption-under-ubuntu-linux-11-10/

[6] gnome-shell most keyboard shortcuts not working
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-control-center/+bug/965921 

[7] Ubuntu 12.10 on the HP Probook 4720s
https://blog.georgovassilis.com/2012/11/27/ubuntu-12-10-64bit-on-the-hp-probook-4720s/