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Installing Debian Sid (June 2005) on a ThinkPad T43

2005-07-12T21:20:30Z

84.191.167.222: /* Choosing a kernel */

__TOC__

Please update with any contextual or cosmetic changes you feel appropriate.

June 30, 2005: Installing Debian/Sid (Unstable) on the T43 proved to be a very long process. Support for the relatively new machine should get much better over time, perhaps making much of this guide unnecessary. A great deal of useful information can be found in the T43 Category hardware page, and the other T-Series installation guides over on the Debian Category page.

==Installation==
===Partitioning the hard drive===
The thinkpad comes with Windows XP preinstalled but not set up. If you want to keep Windows it may be a good idea to turn on the machine and let it go through the Windows setup process before shrinking the partition. One step of the process is to convert the FAT32 windows parition to NTFS. The FAT32 partition may be easier to resize, but ntfsresize in Linux works fine too. For easy resizing, boot up in Knoppix 3.9+ with kernel 2.6 (earlier versions of Knoppix do not contain a 2.6 Kernel capable of handling the SATA drive). Once Knoppix is loaded head over to K->System->QtParted and you will be presented with a nice GUI for resizing the Windows partition. The Windows NTFS and IBM system restore FAT32 partitions take up 2/4 primary paritions, which doesn't leave much room for expansion. Between QtParted and cfdisk I partitioned my hard drive as:

- sda1 Primary NTFS 20 GB
- sda3 Primary Linux (reiser4) 20 GB (/)
- Extended remaining space (~30GB)
|- sda5 Logical Linux (ext3) 256 MB (/boot)
|- sda6 Logical Linux (ext3) 30 GB (/storage)
- sda2 Primary FAT32 (system restore)

If I started over I would probably put everything in a single extended parition. The reiser4 root parition here causes a lot of trouble because of the lack of widespread reiser4 support. The strategy here is to install the base system on sda6, compile a kernel with reiser4 support, and move everything back over to sda3. Obviously this can be skipped if you want to stick with ext3 or something else. The ext3 boot partition is also necessary since GRUB does not support reiser4 easily. sda6 will eventually become a FAT32 parition to share data between Windows and Linux. In the beginning you may find it useful to have an extra copy of everything on sda6 to use as a fall back in case something goes wrong. Also a swap partition can be very useful if you want to be able to hibernate the system easily, or if you have less than 1GB of memory. The inside of the drive (last sectors) can be ~50% slower than the outside (first sectors), so put frequently accessed portions up front.
===Running the net install===
As of June, 2005, the net installer still ships with a 2.6.8 kernel that will not read the SATA drive. It will be necessary to boot with kernel 2.4 to install the system (using legacy IDE drivers without DMA support - slow but manageable). To get all the latest and greatest, edit /apt/sources.list by hand and put in:

- deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian unstable main contrib non-free
- deb-src http://http.us.debian.org/debian unstable main contrib non-free
- deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian experimental main contrib non-free
- deb-src http://http.us.debian.org/debian experimental main contrib non-free

the experimental repository may be necessary since the packages in unstable don't always have their dependencies satisfied within unstable. Don't worry since experimental packages must be manually installed. There is no need to install extra stuff at this point (X, etc) as it all can be taken care of after the system is working.
===Choosing a kernel===
Debian strips the Broadcom Tigon3 driver out of their 2.6.11 kernels. Also the Intel Pro/Wireless 2200/2915 drivers are unavailable. You can try to go the [http://newbiedoc.sourceforge.net/system/kernel-pkg.html Debian-way] and download the Debian source and non-free patches while using the Debian modules tools to add support for everything. I decided to go over to [http://www.kernel.org www.kernel.org] and get the latest mm kernel (2.6.12-mm2 at the time). Kernel building instructions are [http://kerneltrap.org/node/875 here]. I started with the original Debian 2.6.11-1 configuration file (found in /boot), and made the major changes:

* P4 optimizations
* Preemptible Kernel
* built-in support for ext2, ext3, reiser4 (comes with mm kernel)
* built-in relevant SCSI and SATA support (ata_piix)
* Broadcom tg3 and IPW2200 modules

Also a number of little things can be removed and customized ([http://www.mit.edu/~lindy/t43/linux-2.6.12-mm2.config .config] file). If you like to do so, go ahead and "apt-get install ccache" then change "gcc" to "ccache gcc" and "g++" to "ccache g++" in the Makefile to speed up future compilations. While gcc 4.0 comes with Debian Unstable, you probably want to use gcc 3.3 (or 2.95 as some suggest). The config file also represents bootsplash 3.1.6 and a SATA ACPI suspend fix patches to the 2.6.12-mm2 kernel (see sections below). The nice thing about built-in filesystem and SATA support is that we don't need an initrd.

Before you boot into a 2.6 kernel, go into "/etc/fstab" and change "hda" to "sda", etc since the SATA drives are handled through the SCSI drivers.

==Reiser4==
The mm patch will add reiser4 support to the 2.6.12-mm2 kernel. The next step is to change the root filesystem. Assuming the everything is installed in the ext3 partition on /dev/sda6, the steps are:
# apt-get install reiser4progs
# mkfs.reiser4 /dev/sda3
# boot into a [http://gentoo-wiki.com/TIP_Reiser4_Enabled_Live_CD reiser4-enabled live-CD]
#*# {{cmdroot|mkdir /mnt/sda6; mount -t ext3 /dev/sda6 /mnt/sda6}}
#*# {{cmdroot|mkdir /mnt/sda3; mount -t reiser4 /dev/sda3 /mnt/sda3}}
#*# {{cmdroot|cp -a /mnt/sda6/* /mnt/sda3/}}
# if you don't want to get a reiser4 live-CD, you can use a regular CD and copy all of /dev/sda6 into a subdirectory, boot back into /dev/sda6 and copy it back to /dev/sda3
# update the new /etc/fstab and /boot/grub/menu.lst
==Wireless: Intel Pro/Wireless 2915ABG==
The 2.6.12-mm2 kernel comes with the ipw2200 driver, but you'll still need to download the firmware from [http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net/firmware.php here] and put it in /lib/firmware. Note that the driver in 2.6.12-mm2 is version 1.0.0 and does not use the latest firmware. Once the driver is set up, apt-get install wireless-tools, check "iwconfig", and if all is well set up /etc/network/interfaces accordingly.

==Bootsplash==
Here are some [http://hacks.oreilly.com/pub/h/3124 instructions]. I've had no problems I could trace back to the radeon framebuffer device. vga=834 is for the 1400x1050 display. The bootsplash themes are accessible through the bootsplash.de debian archive, though I haven't yet found one for or adapted one to 1400x1050.
==ACPI==
===CPU frequency scaling===
First the relevant modules must be enabled in the kernel. Both the acpi-cpufreq and speedstep-centrino modules work to some extent, but I wasn't able to clock the CPU below 1.3 GHz with the speedstep-centrino module, while with acpi-cpufreq I had one non-reproduceable issue with the frequency being stuck at 800 MHz. You'll need to put the modules (acpi-cpufreq, cpufreq-ondemand, cpufreq-conservative, cpufreq-powersave) in /etc/modules so that they are loaded at bootup. There are many ways to automatically manage frequency scaling behavior. I chose to use "cpufreqd" with this [http://www.mit.edu/~lindy/t43/cpufreqd.conf configuration], and there is also powernowd using the cpufreq-userspace governor, or writing your own ACPI event scripts.
===Suspend to RAM===
The 2.6.12-mm2 kernel will crash on resume because there is no SATA support for suspend. There are patches at [[How to make ACPI work]] which need minimal [http://www.mit.edu/~lindy/t43/sata_pm.2.6.12-mm2.diff changes] to work with 2.6.12-mm2 (note: I have no idea what I'm doing but it seems to work). The video card does not wake up after resume, but the X.org radeon driver will reset the card properly. If you want to get the text consoles back, you'll either have to append "acpi_sleep=s3_bios" to the GRUB kernel arguments for a VGA display, or use vbetool to save/restore video bios state for a framebuffer device (not exactly stable on my machine).
===Suspend to disk (hibernate)===
Software suspend comes with the kernel, and swsusp2 looks really nice but messy to patch into 2.6.12-mm2 (didn't really try). Without a swap drive I went for neither since suspend to RAM only takes ~.5 W of power and is much faster. It would be nice to be able to hibernate, switch to windows, and come back. swsusp2 is supposed to be merged with the kernel at some point, so perhaps it's enough to wait for that.
===laptop-mode===
Laptop-mode is built into the kernel. To easily activate it, 'apt-get install powermgmt-base laptop-mode-tools'. It should help preserve battery life by minimizing hard-drive spin-up, though this depends on the SATA ACPI support.

==X==
===XFree86===
The radeon driver in the 4.3.0 XFree86 from Debian unstable is not new enough to support the Mobility X300. I tried the unofficial Debian [http://www.stanchina.net/~flavio/debian/fglrx-installer.html fglrx] drivers, and with some suggestions from this [http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?s=&threadid=335524 thread] was able to compile against 2.6.12-mm2, but ended up with a radeon driver which crashed my computer (maybe because I had DRI enabled in the kernel).
===X.org===
There are experimental X.org packages available [http://www.livejournal.com/users/gravityboy/14794.html here] which I am currently running with X300 support with the opensource drivers. I'm not really sure what I miss out on besides 3D acceleration by doing so.

Try setting in /etc/X11/xorg.conf:
Option "DynamicPM" "True"
which improves battery life considerably ([http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~vbraun/computing/T41/power.html see this page for details]).

[[Category:Debian]] [[Category:T43]]

Installing Fedora Core 4 on a ThinkPad T43

2005-07-12T17:05:19Z

84.191.167.222:

Installation Log
Fedora Core 4
System components
Thinkpad {{T43}} (1871-4AG)

Preparations:
* When first switched on, preinstalled Win XP immediately converted almost the entire hard disk to NTFS. The last 4 GB are occupied by a FAT partition containing IBM recovery software
* Boot into Win XP and burn recovery CDs (access IBM button or start menu entry)
* Boot Knoppix (3.9, http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html) and use qtparted to reduce the size of the NTFS partition

Installation of Fedora Core 4:
* DVD ISO downloaded from mirror (http://fedora.redhat.com)
* Installation without any difficulty

Working out of the box:
* Touchpad
* Touchpad buttons
* Trackpoint
* LAN
* USB flash

Need some attention:
* WLAN (Intel Wireless 2200 BG):
The driver is already included in the kernel. The only thing missing is the firmware. Apparently, this is proprietary and thus not included in the distribution. It can be downloaded however. The kernel I installed with the first upgrade (2.6.12-1.1387_FC4) includes driver version 1.0.2 (?). This driver version requires firmware version 2.2.
- Download appropriate firmware from http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net/firmware.php
- Extract and copy files to /lib/firmware
- Configure wireless network using
# /usr/bin/system-config-network
* Suspend to RAM
- As described on http://www.ces.clemson.edu/linux/suspend_mem.shtml
- Additional comment: make sure there are no backup copys (FILE~) left in the directories. If there are, the laptop will go straight back into suspend after waking up and you have to wake it again. Backup files seem to be read as well, so that all events are processed twice.
- You can restart the acpi daemon straight away using
# /etc/init.d/acpid restart
- You can also configure klaptop
* Special keys (volume, brightness)
- Install tpb and xosd from extras repository
# yum install tpb xosd
- If you like, you can also use the kde thinkpad configuration settings:
kcontrol - System Administration - IBM Thinkpad Laptop - KMilo

[[Category:Fedora Core]]

Installing Fedora Core 4 on a ThinkPad T43

2005-07-12T17:05:05Z

84.191.167.222:

Installation Log
Fedora Core 4
System components
Thinkpad T43 (1871-4AG)

Preparations:
* When first switched on, preinstalled Win XP immediately converted almost the entire hard disk to NTFS. The last 4 GB are occupied by a FAT partition containing IBM recovery software
* Boot into Win XP and burn recovery CDs (access IBM button or start menu entry)
* Boot Knoppix (3.9, http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html) and use qtparted to reduce the size of the NTFS partition

Installation of Fedora Core 4:
* DVD ISO downloaded from mirror (http://fedora.redhat.com)
* Installation without any difficulty

Working out of the box:
* Touchpad
* Touchpad buttons
* Trackpoint
* LAN
* USB flash

Need some attention:
* WLAN (Intel Wireless 2200 BG):
The driver is already included in the kernel. The only thing missing is the firmware. Apparently, this is proprietary and thus not included in the distribution. It can be downloaded however. The kernel I installed with the first upgrade (2.6.12-1.1387_FC4) includes driver version 1.0.2 (?). This driver version requires firmware version 2.2.
- Download appropriate firmware from http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net/firmware.php
- Extract and copy files to /lib/firmware
- Configure wireless network using
# /usr/bin/system-config-network
* Suspend to RAM
- As described on http://www.ces.clemson.edu/linux/suspend_mem.shtml
- Additional comment: make sure there are no backup copys (FILE~) left in the directories. If there are, the laptop will go straight back into suspend after waking up and you have to wake it again. Backup files seem to be read as well, so that all events are processed twice.
- You can restart the acpi daemon straight away using
# /etc/init.d/acpid restart
- You can also configure klaptop
* Special keys (volume, brightness)
- Install tpb and xosd from extras repository
# yum install tpb xosd
- If you like, you can also use the kde thinkpad configuration settings:
kcontrol - System Administration - IBM Thinkpad Laptop - KMilo

[[Category:Fedora Core]]

Installation instructions for the ThinkPad T43

2005-07-12T17:04:40Z

84.191.167.222:

*[[:Category:Debian | Debian/Sarge]] [[Installing Debian/Sarge on a Thinkpad T43 | Installation]]
*[[:Category:Debian | Debian/Sid]] [[Installing Debian/Sid on a Thinkpad T43 | Installation]]
*[[:Category:Fedora | Fedora Core 4]] [[Installing Fedora Core 4 on a Thinkpad T43 | Installation]]

[[Category:T43]] [[Category:Debian]] [[Category:Fedora Core]]

Integrated Fingerprint Reader

2005-07-12T17:01:43Z

84.191.167.222: /* Related Links */

{| width="100%"
|style="vertical-align:top;padding-right:20px;width:10px;" | [[Image:fingerprintreader.jpg|IBM Integrated Fingerprint Reader]] __NOTOC__
|style="vertical-align:top" |
<div style="margin: 0; margin-right:10px; border: 1px solid #dfdfdf; padding: 0em 1em 1em 1em; background-color:#F8F8FF; align:right;">
===Integrated Fingerprint Reader===
IBM released a second generation of T42 models in autumn 2004 featuring Intel Pentium M 765 processors and an integrated fingerprint reader.

The fingerprint reader is produced by a company called UPEK, which is specialized to fingerprint readers.

It seems to be integrated as a USB device.

Furthermore, IBM states that there's an interface with the [[Embedded Security Subsystem]].
</div>
|}

==Linux Support==
Nothing is known so far about if it's supported under Linux or not, but some work is going on - see links below.

==Related Links==
* [http://www.upek.com/customers/ct_notebook_ibm.asp UPEK customer report about the deal with IBM]
* [http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?page=1643&head=36 Review from TrustedReviews of the fingerprint scanner]
* [http://biomark.org.ru/en/ A (Russian) project that provides support for a (different model) of fingerprint scanner] (also a USB device, though)
* [http://linuxbiometrics.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=8&forum=1 Discussion of the T42/T24p fingerprint scanner on the Linux Biometrics site]
* [http://linuxbiometrics.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=16 UPEK announcement (planned, closed-source) support for BioAPI on Linux] The first release is currently scheduled for September 2005.

==Models featuring this Technology==
*ThinkPad {{T42}}, {{T42p}}, {{T43}}, {{T43p}}
*ThinkPad {{X41}}, {{X41T}}

[[Category:Glossary]]