Installing Ubuntu on a ThinkPad X31

2010-09-06T21:17:51Z

Adamf663:

==Preface==
The content of this page was originally geared toward Hoary ({{Ubuntu 5.04}}),
but nearly everything here applies just as well to the Warty (4.10) and Breezy (5.10) releases.

See [http://www.brixandersen.dk/papers/X31/X31.html Henrik Brix Andersens] page for a lot of useful background information.

==Installing without cdrom or floppy==
Look [[Installation on ThinkPads without CD-ROM drive|here]] or follow the [http://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/Netboot Netboot remarks] instructions at [http://wiki.ubuntu.com Ubuntu Wiki].

==Enabling the Access IBM Button and on-screen display for volume buttons==
Install the tpb package (use Synaptic or ''$sudo apt-get install tpb''), then use the Users and Groups Administration tool to add your user account to the 'nvram' group. Now see [[ThinkPad Button|Access IBM Button]] for configuration details.

==Choosing between APM and ACPI for power management==
I tested both, APM and ACPI but settled with ACPI which now works like a charm.

Since Ubuntu Dapper (6.06LTS) ACPI works out of the box, either in Standby Mode or Suspend to Disk Mode.
ACPI will make your system use about 10% less power than with apm, which reduces my battery runtime from ~4:00h to 3:40h.

Please read "[[How to make use of Power Management features]]" for more in depth information.

Unfortunately, if ACPI is used, hibernate and standby modes might not work with a CompactFlash card inserted. Read the [[Category_talk:X31|X31 Talk Page]] for further info.

===Disabling ACPI and using APM===
Simply disabling ACPI at boottime activates APM which works fine with suspend to ram and suspend to disk.

To disable ACPI boot your kernel with acpi=off

''...describe how to edit /boot/grub/menu.lst...''

APM based suspend to disk needs a save2disk.img hibernation file on FAT16. Use the [[tphdisk]] utility to create this file.

Use {{key|Fn}}{{Key|F4}} to suspend-to-ram and {{key|Fn}}{{key|F12}} to suspend-to-disk.

===Using ACPI===
Get ubuntulinux, radeontool and this script (which goes in /etc/acpi), nothing more!
{{NOTE|This procedure is not necessary with the Breezy Badger release, which already knows how to blank the radeon video. Just be sure you have the radeontool package installed.}}

{{cmduser|cat lid.sh}}

<pre>
#!/bin/sh

. /usr/share/acpi-support/power-funcs

getXuser;

grep -q closed /proc/acpi/button/lid/*/state
if [ $? = 0 ]
then
. /usr/share/acpi-support/screenblank
echo `fgconsole` > $LIDSTATE
chvt 12

# Unmount any NFS or SMB filesystems:
echo "unmounting NFS and SMB filesystems"
umount -a -r -t nfs,smbfs

# remove modules
echo "remove modules"
#rmmod ipw2100 ## WLAN
rmmod ehci-hcd ## USB module
rmmod uhci-hcd ## -||-

# update the disk super block
echo "sync"
sync

# wait a second
sleep 1

# turn the LCD off
echo "backlight off"
radeontool light off

# suspend to ram
echo "suspend to ram"
echo -n mem > /sys/power/state

# load modules
modprobe ehci-hcd
modprobe uhci-hcd

# turn the LCD on
echo "turn the LCD on"
radeontool light on

# go back to VT7 (X)
echo "back to VT7"
chvt 7

else
grep -q off-line /proc/acpi/ac_adapter/*/state
#if [ $? = 1 ]
#then
#su - $user -c "xscreensaver-command -unthrottle"
#fi
chvt `cat $LIDSTATE`
fi
</pre>

=Installing Ubuntu 10.04 on a Thinkpad X31=
Ubuntu 10.04 out of the box has suspend/hibernate/resume failures and hard lockups. Fortunately, they can all be solved.
For the suspend/hibernate problems, modify /etc/default/grub, add 'nomodeset' to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT.
For networking problems with atheros, download a snapshot from wireless.kernel.org/download/compat-wireless-2.6, build and install it.
For the problem with hard lockups, follow the steps on the ubuntu site for building a custom kernel. Set processor type to 'PENTIUM-M' and disable SMP.

=External Sources=
*This guide is listed at the [http://tuxmobil.org/ibm.html TuxMobil Linux laptop and notebook installation survey (IBM/Lenovo)].

[[Category:X31]]

ThinkWiki - User contributions [en]

Installing Ubuntu on a ThinkPad X31