Installing Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) on a ThinkPad X61 Tablet

Installed from the alternate version CD.

Graphic

Graphics Card

3D acceleration and Compiz Fusion worked out of the box.

X

Edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf and add to Section Screen

SubSection "Display"
	Virtual 3000 2250
EndSubSection

The Parameters behind Virtual must be bigger than all your Displays added together (3000 = 1400 + 1600) Now you can adust you settings with xrandr. e.g.:

xrandr --output LVDS --rotate left
xrandr --output LVDS --rotate normal
xrandr --output VGA --auto --right-of LVDS
…

Konsole

Edit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer and comment this out:

#blacklist vesafb
#blacklist vga16fb

Add to /etc/initramfs-tools/modules

fbcon
vesafb
vga16fb

Run

sudo update-initramfs -u

Edit /boot/grub/menu.lst and change at defoptions:

vga=0x31b

Run

sudo update-grub

Input Devices

Keyboard

In some cases the mute button won't work.

For this add in the /boot/grub/menu.lst file following kernel parameter:

acpi_osi="Linux"

Run

sudo update-grub

Stylus

Enable it as described in Wacom_Serial_Tablet_PC_Stylus: Add to /etc/X11/xorg.conf:

  Section "InputDevice"
    Driver        "wacom"
    Identifier    "cursor"
    Option        "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"
    Option        "Type"          "cursor"
    Option        "ForceDevice"   "ISDV4"     
    Option        "Mode"          "Absolute"
  EndSection
  
  Section "InputDevice"
    Driver        "wacom"
    Identifier    "stylus"
    Option        "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"
    Option        "Type"          "stylus"
    Option        "ForceDevice"   "ISDV4"
  EndSection
  
  Section "InputDevice"
    Driver        "wacom"
    Identifier    "eraser"
    Option        "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"
    Option        "Type"          "eraser"
    Option        "ForceDevice"   "ISDV4"
  EndSection

and in Section ServerLayout:

  InputDevice    "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"
  InputDevice    "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"

if you want the eraser to work, also add in Section ServerLayout:

  InputDevice    "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"

Trackpoint

The three mouse buttons and trackpoint nipple/stick/nub work out of the box.

If you want the middle mouse button and the nipple to function together as a mouse wheel, add the following to the Configured Mouse Input Device section in /etc/X11/xorg.config:

Option "EmulateWheel" "true"
Option "EmulateWheelButton" "2" 

Tilt Detection

Ubuntu Hardy Heron supports the tilt detection via the hdaps_ec module.

1) Add the following line to the bottom of the /etc/modules file. This will ensure that the module will be loaded the next time you start-up your laptop.

hdaps_ec

2) And update your initramfs:

sudo update-initramfs -u

3) Load the module manually so you do not have to restart your laptop.

sudo modprobe hdaps_ec

4) Install hdaps-utils in order to test the new module:

sudo aptitude install hdaps-utils

5) Run a test. hdaps-gl should open up a new window showing the tablet's orientation. If you don't want to use a graphical tool, hdaps-pivot prints its output to the command line:

hdaps-gl

External Links

Customized Ubuntu Hardy Setup Guide on X61t Hardware.