Installing Fedora Core 6 on a ThinkPad T60p

From ThinkWiki
Revision as of 02:23, 15 August 2007 by Fobbio (Talk | contribs) (Installation and Device Configuration)
Jump to: navigation, search

Device Listing

Hardware

Lenovo ThinkPad T60p 2613-HQU

  • Intel Core 2 Duo T7600 2.33 GHz with 4MB L2 Cache, Centrino Duo
  • 1 GB PC2-5300 DDR2-663 Main Memory
  • ATI FireGL V5250 GPU with 256 MB GDDR3 RAM
  • Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Mini-PCI Express Adapter

Works out of the box

  • Both Cores are accessible, can be verified by ksystemguard
  • Processor clock speed can be manually set with cpufreq-selector and verified with kinfocenter's processor section
  • Main Battery (6/9 Cells) and ThinkPad Advanced UltraBay Battery (3 Cells)
  • All PCI/ExpressCard/PCMCIA/SATA/USB 2.0 Controllers
  • Intel Corporation 82573L Gigabit Ethernet Controller
  • Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller
  • ThinkPad UltraNav
  • Blue Tooth Mouse via hidd daemon
  • Volume Control and Mute
  • Access to USB Flash Drives and PSP System
  • PCMCIA Adaptor for Compact Flash Cards
  • Headphone Port

Requires configuration

  • FireGL Graphics Processing Unit
  • Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Mini-PCI Express Adapter
  • Screen Brightness Control
  • ThinkVantage Button
  • Hot Swap functionality on UltraBay
  • ThinkVantage Fingerprint Scanner
  • IBM Active Protection System

Undetermined

  • DVD-Multi
  • VGA Port
  • Microphone

Installation and Device Configuration

Installation Instructions

Installation goes smoothly. X starts normally and all operations are normal. I recommend creating at least four partitions. Boot (100 MB, mount point /boot, Ext3 FS), Main (at least 8192 MB, mount point /, Ext3 FS) Swap (at least 2 times installed RAM, no mount point, swap FS) the remainder of space can be allocated to the final partition (/home) the last three, (/, /home and swap can be set together in an LVM, /home should be set up first.) Of course if Windows is to be also installed the partition sizes would have to be adjusted properly. Creating a separate partition for the home directory is recommended, although programs and such will be lost, all settings and User Data will be preserved in the event of a reinstall, provided the partition is not formatted at install. Under package selection, check configure packages now and make sure that the KDE Desktop Environment box is checked.

Updating the System

Open up a Terminal and run the following commands. They will import two important Fedora Release keys so that Package Updater doesn't halt updating.

 # rpm --import /usr/share/rhn/RPM-GPG-KEY
 # rpm --import /usr/share/rhn/RPM-GPG-KEY-fedora

After importing the keys, the first order of business should be to update the system. Click the Fedora Button and under System click Software Updater. Uncheck Gaim (Pidgin conflicts) and click Apply Updates. The system will take quite a while to update and requires input after the long wait to import gpg keys that packages have been signed by. If you didn't perform the previous step, later on the system will pause to get your input if it should import the two gpg keys.

Configuring the FireGL V5250 GPU

Firstly, you should import the GPG key and release for Livna. Perform the following commands as root:

 # rpm --import http://dl.atrpms.net/mythdora/4.0/i386/os/RPM-GPG-KEY-livna
 # rpm -ivh http://mirror.atrpms.net/livna/fedora/6/i386/livna-release-6-1.noarch.rpm

Next, you'll need to install the ATI drivers that are provided by Livna:

 # yum install kmod-fglrx

You'll see packages that are needed for the driver to function and it will ask you to okay the installation. If the installation is acceptable type 'y' and hit enter.

If you see no errors after the installation you now must edit your xorg.conf file. It's located in /etc/X11/xorg.conf I've provided two xorg.conf files that work if this installation is performed as described. If however, the fglrx driver is not functioning, the system will ask you to view X output and then ask if you want to use a fresh configuration. It will ask for you to log in as root and will place a default xorg.conf file in the place of the new one. One disables the TouchPad and the other leaves it as functional.

The details of your GPU can be looked up with ATI's Catalyst Control System found in the System sub menu. It also certifies that direct rendering is enabled, or if the software renderer is being used.

Configuring the Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Express Adapter

The Intel Wireless Card also requires installation as it's driver does not come pre-installed into FC6. To begin, you should import the GPG key and the release for AtRPMS. As root:

 # rpm --import http://ATrpms.net/RPM-GPG-KEY.atrpms
 # rpm -ivh http://dl.atrpms.net/all/atrpms-package-config-117-5.fc6.i386.rpm

Next Install the driver and firmware for the card. Note: the Wifi Switch should be on. As root:

 # yum install ipw3945
 # yum install iwlwifi

Next run system-config-network as root and create a new wireless connection and select Intel Wireless 3945 ABG.

Configuring the DVD-Multi Drive

It is apparent that the Matsushita DVD-Multi is not fully supported under FC6. Disks burned with the recorder are often error prone. Rarely does the md5sum check match. A handy way to verify the contents of a disk match those of the ISO that produced it is to perform the following commands: (may be FC6 specific)

 # md5sum contents.iso
 # md5sum /dev/cdrom

Note that /dev/cdrom is set up by cdrecord and an alias to the DVD-Multi. Also, to the best of the author's knowledge that Dual Layer DVDs can't be burned with the recording tools that come with Fedora Core 6.

Installation of Media Players