Here's a little set of instructions I wrote based on my experience to help others configure a Compaq Presario 1215EA laptop with the FreeBSD Operating System (6.0-release).

Here's the xorg.conf I am using.
And here's the MYKERNEL

Next I will explain how I arrived to these files and write a few complementary notes that might help you with your own needs. Notice that the MYKERNEL file has all WLAN options and the stuff I do not need commented out!


I - XORG CONFIGURING, A NOTE ON

a) The /etc/XF86Config from XFree86 (v.4.4) seems to work fine with Xorg so if you installed 5.2.1 you can use the configuration file by simply renaming it to xorg.conf If you are installing for the first time use the «xorgconfig» command to get you started. The video card is a Mach64 (ATI Rage Mobility M1).

b) TFT monitors suposedly DO NOT need refresh rates to be defined in /etc/xorg.conf. Use any suitable combination upon installation and delete this info from the .conf file later. The server picks the refresh rate at start.

II - SOUND (VIA VT82C686A) & MULTIMEDIA

Fully working.

a) You need to add to the Kernel:

device sound
device ""snd_via82c686""

Note to first time users: FreeBSD does not have sound compiled by default. You will have no sound when you first install the OS. You will need to customize your Kernel and recompile it first.
Reference: http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/kernelconfig.html

b) Notes on MPLAYER:
b.1) Both «xvidix» and «vo» seem to work as video devices. Postprocessing works to.

b.2) After installing mplayer, mplayer-skins and mplayer-fonts you should configure it by going to the port directory:

cd /usr/ports/multimedia/mplayer
make install-user

c) Note on Cds/DVDs: /dev/acdo can be mapped to /dev/cdrom in /etc/devfs.conf


III - VIDEO CARD (Ati Rage Mobility M1 8 MB) & MONITOR

a) You need to add «option ""DPMS""» to the «Section ""Monitor""» of /etc/xorgf.conf in order for the TFT monitor to be suspended and go fully blank (with no rear light).

b) The DGA (reference: man dga) extension seems to have some problems. Make sure these lines are present in /etc/xorg.conf:

# initialisation of the XFree86-DGA extension within that module.
SubSection ""extmod""
Option ""xfree86-dga"" # initialise the DGA extension
# Option ""omit xfree86-dga"" # don't initialise the DGA extension
EndSubSection

c) The rear monitor output works.

d) DRI (hardware acceleration) support was added by default in 6.0.

d.1)
Make sure you have these lines on your Kernel configuration file:
device drm
device mach64drm
device agp

d.2)
Your xorg.conf should also have:
Section ""DRI""
Mode 0666
EndSection

e) Reference & further info: «ATI Adapters README file from Xorg documentation» -> http://freedesktop.org/~xorg/X11R6.9.0/doc/ati.html


IV - TOUCHPAD / MICE

a) The touchpad works fine with the default configs proposed by sysinstall (protocol: «Sysmouse», device: «/dev/sysmouse»). It also works with protocol: «Auto»). You can also plug a mouse to the PS/2 input and it works OK and simultaneoulsy with the touchpad. USB mice are detected and work all right.

b) Remember to add «Option ""ZAxisMapping"" ""4 5""» to the «Section ""InputDevice""» of /etc/xorg.conf in order for the mouse wheel to work.

c) /etc/rc.conf shoud have:moused_enable=""YES""


V - KEYBOARD

XFree86 includes a specific option for Compaq Presario Laptop keyboards you should use, otherwise a couple of keys may not work 100%. In /etc/xorg.conf:

Option ""XkbRules"" ""xorg""
Option ""XkbModel"" ""presario""
Option ""XkbLayout"" ""pt"" -> this changes according to the language / country the computer was sold!!!


VI - USB

b.1) Fully working. If you want USB 2.0 support via a PCMCIA card make sure you have in Kernel configuration (working fine on a D-Link DEC based card I am using):
device ehci

b.2) . /etc/rc.conf shoud have: usbd_enable=""YES""


VII - ETHERNET (Conexant LANfinity 10/100)
Fully working.

Make sure you have in Kernel:
device dc # DEC/Intel 21143 and various workalikes
(implying also:)
device miibus # MII bus support


VIII - POWER MANAGEMENT

Works pretty well.

a) Add to Kernel:
device apm

b) To automatically enable APM on boot make sure you have in /etc/rc.conf (can be done with sysinstall too):
apm_enable=""YES""

c) You can spinoff the Hard Drive by using the «ataidle» utility (get it from ports tree: /ports/sysutils/ataidle/)

d) S3 suspend state does not work yet but pressing Fn+F4 shows: «acpi: suspend request ignored. not ready yet». An improvement over 5.2.1.


IX - MODEM

There is no driver for the Conexant HCF modem. It does not (and likely never will) work,

X - PCMCIA/CardBus
Working fine.

XI - COMPILATION OPTIMIZATION
The processor is an AMD Athlon 4 Mobile
Create a /etc/make.conf with the following:
CPUTYPE?=athlon-4
CFLAGS= -O2 -pipe