Lenovo G555 - FreeBSD, OpenBSD and Linux update

A quick update on the Lenovo G555: I just tried PC-BSD 8.1 from the live DVD and couldn't get X working right. The screen image was grainy and very wavy. I was able to fix this same problem in Lucid Puppy but not in PC-BSD.

I tried the Jggimi live image of OpenBSD 4.7 with Xfce, and that configured X perfectly. The OS detects the wired Ethernet port but won't bring it up. There are no lights (and no bits) on the port. ... I'm pretty sure the wireless works.

My Linux deal-breaker on the Lenovo is that the Conexant sound chip won't mute the audio from the speakers when a headphone jack is plugged in. Nor does the internal mic mute when an external mic is plugged in. I initially thought it was a Fedora thing, but it turns out every Linux distribution suffers from this same fate. I think it's an ALSA problem. There are solutions out there, but I'm skeptical (and right now I'm waiting for my RMA'd Western Digital drive to be replaced and don't have Linux on it).