I am much indebted to all of the great information there is already on the
internet about how to get Fedora Core 5 (FC5) working on a ThinkPad T60.
In this document I attempt to cite the sources where I got various bits
of information, however, I may have missed a few. To those authors I offer
an apology and ask that you send me an email! (jdstarme_at_ncsu.edu)
Special thanks to Tom Davidson for sending me feedback and good suggestions
for revisions to this document.
System:
Lenovo Thinkpad T60
Intel Core Duo T2500 2.00 GHz
1 GB RAM
100 GB Hard Drive (SATA150)
ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 M54
VGA video out
0) Boot into windows and make sure everything is working the way. Make
the rescue CDs (there are 7 total - oh, and it is not obvious how to make
the back up CDs. However, if you search around enough, you'll figure it out.)
1) Download the latest System Rescue CD from
www.sysrescd.org
I ended up with: SystemRescueCD-x86-0.2.19
(I tried using the version I made long ago when I installed FC2, but the
graphical partitioning program, qtparted, would not recognize the new
SATA type hard-drive)
In order to burn the ISO, I had to download something called "Nero 7". After
fiddling around for a bit, I figured out how to use it to burn the ISO to
a CD.
Reboot with the new CD in the drive
at the prompt, type: run_qtparted
Select the main partition and re-size it to about 20GB then commit your change.
I was unable to create all of the sub-partitions I usually make for linux.
However, I was able to do that when I installed FC5.
2) Boot up with FC5 disk1 and press return to begin installing. The old
problem (from FC2 days) of having to specify the hard-drive geometry in order
to get the system to dual boot no longer exists, so you
don't have to worry about specifying anything on the command line.
NOTE: this destroys part of the ThinkVantage buttons functionality. You can
still use the ThinkVantage button to get into the bios, but you can no
longer use it to restore and recover the system (good thing you made those
backup CDs?) This really doesn't bother me that much since I only
intend to use windows once in a blue moon and the only thing I'm really
concerned about being able to fix without reformatting the whole drive is
the linux stuff and the FC5 distribution comes with a rescue mode...
I did my own partitioning:
/dev/sda
/dev/sda1 ntfs 19807 1 2525
/dev/sda3 /boot ext3 102 2526 2538
/dev/sda4 extended70473 2539 11522
/dev/sda5 / ext3 10001 2539 3813
/dev/sda6 /usr/local ext3 4997 3814 4450
/dev/sda7 swap 2000 4451 4705
/dev/sda8 /home ext3 53474 4706 11522
Free FS 6 11523 11523
/dev/sda2 vfat 5006 11523 12161
3) Reboot (note, I did not have the problem with the system hanging on the
initial boot that was mentioned on the think-wiki site
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Installing_Fedora_Core_5_on_a_ThinkPad_T60),
The monitor was not detected
(it is a 14.1" TFT display with 1400x1050 resolution)
Set the monitor to LCD Panel 1400x1050 (generic).
THINGS THAT WORKED OUT OF THE BOX
- SMP (symmetrical multiprocessing support for the core duo)
- Sound (just remember to turn up the volume so you can hear the sound!)
- USB
- Suspend (after an update to (at least) kernel version 2.6.17-1.2139_FC5.
This means that suspend will not work immediately after a fresh
install. However, once you run "yum update", everything should
work fine.)
A NOTE ON SUSPEND: sometimes the wireless daemon or the
network-manager daemon is dead when you bring the computer back to
life. To remedy, just select System->Administration->Services
and then stop and start whichever daemon died.
After rebooting and verifying that I could boot into Windows XP,
I booted back into Fedora and updated the installed packages:
shell# yum update
This took forever and a day over my painfully slow DSL provided by BellSouth.
Getting the the thinkpad buttons to display information on the monitor only
required:
a)
shell# yum install tpb
b)
and then a restart.
To get X programs (like xterm and xfig) to have white backgrounds...
edit the file: /etc/X11/Xresources
and then add the lines:
xterm*background: white
xterm*scrollBar: true
xfig*background: white
xfig*foreground: black
(be sure to end the file with a new line)
The changes will take effect after you log out and then log back in, or you
can cause them to take effect now with the command:
shell> xrdb /etx/X11/Xresources
To make X programs have readable fonts, I set the font for the xterm and
emacs to 7x14 (you can do this per program with the -fn 7x14 option)
3) Wireless
0: Get NetworkManger working: all you have to do for this is to start
the NetworkManger services. System->Administration->Services
1: Add the "ATrpms" repository for yum by adding the file:
atrpms.repo
to the directory: /etc/yum.repos.d/
and in this file I put the lines:
[atrpms]
name=Fedora Core $releasever - $basearch - ATrpms
baseurl=http://dl.atrpms.net/fc$releasever-$basearch/atrpms/stable
enabled=0
and then ran the commands:
shell# rpm --import http://ATrpms.net/RPM-GPG-KEY.atrpms
shell# yum --enablerepo=atrpm\* install ipw3945 ipw3945d
ipw3945-ucode ipw3945-kmdl-CURRENT_KERNEL_VERSION_FC5smp
where CURRENT_KERNEL_VRESION is the version of the kernel that you are running.
You can figure out the version you are running with the command:
shell> uname -a
and this will print out all kinds of information about your kernel. Your
kernel version should be something like 2.6.17-1.2174_FC5smp.
2: Get the wireless kernel modules working...
shell# /sbin/depmod -a (you only have to do this once, right after installing
the rpms)
shell# /sbin/modprobe ipw3945 (load the kernel module)
shell# /sbin/ipw3945d (start the wireless daemon)
and then the wireless networks appear in the NetworkManager applet.
However, on restart, the module is not automatically loaded. However, to
fix this, I took the "wireless" script from Jim Hall's page:
http://us.fdos.org/linux/laptops/tp-t60/
and removed the case where it checks for eth0, since I'm going to let
NetworkManager deal with wired vs. wireless connections. So here's
my /etc/init.d/wireless file:
#! /bin/bash
#
# wireless Bring up/down integrated wireless networking (ipw3945)
#
# chkconfig: 2345 90 10
# description: Activates/Deactivates eth1 wireless interface (ipw3945)
#
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# # ipw3945d --help
# usage: ipw3945d [--OPTION]
# options:
# --quiet Load silently (unless errors occur)
# --version Display version information
# --debug=value Specify debug level to print
# --dvals View possible debug values
# --foreground Do not fork to background
# --kill Kill any running ipw3945d instance and exit
# --help View this help message
# --isrunning Check if already running. Returns 0 if yes.
# See how we were called.
case "$1" in
start)
/sbin/ipw3945d --isrunning
if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
echo "ipw3945d already running"
exit 1
fi
modprobe ipw3945
/sbin/ipw3945d
#ifup eth1
echo "ipw3945d started .."
;;
stop)
/sbin/ipw3945d --isrunning
if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
echo "ipw3945d not running"
exit 1
fi
ifdown eth1
/sbin/ipw3945d --kill
rmmod ipw3945
echo "ipw3945d stopped .."
;;
restart)
$0 stop ; $0 start
;;
esac
Once you create this file, make sure you set the permissions on this
file so that everyone can execute it (i.e. chmod a+x) and then run the
chkconfig program:
shell# /sbin/chkconfig --add wireless
Since nine-times out of ten I'm going to be using a wireless network,
I selected: System->Administration->Network and edited eth0 so that it would
not attempt to activate on startup. NetworkManager does a fine job activating
eth0 if you plug in an ethernet cable.
NOTES: One thing that can mess up wireless is if you have added an entry for
eth1 in System->Administration->Network. If you have done this, just delete
the entry and if you have followed the previous steps, things should work.
4) Touchpad...
turn off tapping, actually tapping is pretty good on this machine (better
than on my old T42), but still, I find it annoying overall.
Back up the file: /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Edit the file: /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Add the line:
Option "SHMConfig" "on"
to the section for the "Synaptics" mouse. It should then look like....
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Synaptics"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "yes"
Option "SHMConfig" "on"
EndSection
Now reboot the computer...
You can test that your editing of the xorg.conf file worked with the command:
shell# synclient -l
You should see a listing of all of the parameters settings.
you can experiment with various settings by using the synclient program
on the command line. For example, to turn off tapping:
shell# synclient MaxTapTime=0
To make these changes permanent, add the commands to the Synaptics section
of the xorg.conf file. For example:
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Synaptics"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "yes"
Option "SHMConfig" "on"
Option "MaxTapTime" "0"
EndSection
I also turned off the "forward and reverse" thing that affected web browsing
by adding the line:
Option "BottomEdge" "5500"
to the same section in my xorg.conf file... So the final version looked
like this:
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Synaptics"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "yes"
Option "SHMConfig" "on"
Option "MaxTapTime" "0"
Option "BottomEdge" "5500"
EndSection
5) .bashrc
# .bashrc
# Source global definitions
if [ -f /etc/bashrc ]; then
. /etc/bashrc
fi
# User specific aliases and functions
alias cleanup="rm -f *~; ls"
alias emacs="emacs -fn 7x14"
alias rm="rm -i"
alias mv="mv -i"
alias cp="cp -i"
export EDITOR="emacs -nw"
export GRACE_EDITOR=emacs
export CVS_RSH=ssh
6) An mp3 player. I know they are not Free, as in speech, but I have to be
able to play them, otherwise I can't rehearse for gigs. Bands always send me
their stuff as mp3s...
add the "livna" repository for yum by adding the the file:
livna.repo
to the directory: /ety/yum.repos.d/
and in this file, put the lines:
[livna]
name=Livna for Fedora Core $releasever - $basearch - Base
baseurl=
http://rpm.livna.org/fedora/$releasever/$basearch/
http://livna.cat.pdx.edu/fedora/$releasever/$basearch/
http://wftp.tu-chemnitz.de/pub/linux/livna/fedora/$releasever/$basearch/
http://ftp-stud.fht-esslingen.de/pub/Mirrors/rpm.livna.org/fedora/$releasever/$basearch/
failovermethod=priority
#mirrorlist=http://rpm.livna.org/mirrorlist-5
enabled=0
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-livna
import the GPG key...
shell# rpm --import http://rpm.livna.org/RPM-LIVNA-GPG-KEY
and install xmms with mp3 support...
shell# yum --enablerepo=livna install xmms-mp3 xmms-faad2
7) A DVD player...
shell# yum --enablerepo=livna install xine libdvdcss
(However, until you can get hardware support for video, it's going to drop
a lot of frames - so see the tips below for "Graphics Card".)
8) Graphics Card (everything (video playback, OpenGL rendering, etc)
works as of kernel 2.6.17-1.2174 and the fglrx driver version 8.28.8)
shell# yum --enablerepo=livna install kmod-fglrx-smp
shell# /usr/sbin/ati-fglrx-config-display enable
restarted.
and then selected "display" form the administration menu, and then configured
the hardware graphics card to "fglrx". I then restarted X.
This seems to have done the trick!
You can double check that things are going well by looking at:
System->Administration->ATI-fglrx
9) Suspend (If you are running a kernel older than 2.6.17-1.2139_FC5)
First, make sure the kernel module for the wireless card exists (if a new
kernel just came out, you may have to wait a few days).
a: get a newer kernel (version 2.6.17-1.2139_FC5 or higher)
shell# yum update
b: plug the computer into a wired network and reboot into the new kernel.
c: remove the old wireless stuff...
shell# yum remove ipw3945 ipw3945d ipw3945-ucode ipw3945-kmdl-OLD_KERNEL_VERSION_FC5smp
Removing : ipw3945-kmdl-2.6.16-1.2133_F ######################### [1/5]
Removing : ipw3945-firmware ######################### [2/5]
Removing : ipw3945d ######################### [3/5]
Removing : ipw3945 ######################### [4/5]
Removing : ipw3945-ucode ######################### [5/5]
d: install the newer wireless stuff...
shell# yum --enablerepo=atrpm\* install ipw3945 ipw3945d ipw3945-ucode ipw3945-kmdl-CURRENT_KERNEL_VERSION_FC5smp
=============================================================================
Package Arch Version Repository Size
=============================================================================
Installing:
ipw3945 i386 1.0.10-10.rhfc5.at atrpms 35 k
ipw3945-kmdl-2.6.17-1.2139_FC5smp i686 1.0.10-10.rhfc5.at atrpms 89 k
ipw3945-ucode noarch 1.13-1.at atrpms 65 k
ipw3945d i386 1.7.19-2.at atrpms 35 k
Installing for dependencies:
ieee80211-kmdl-2.6.17-1.2139_FC5smp i686 1.1.14-11.rhfc5.at atrpms 34 k
Transaction Summary
=============================================================================
e: get the wireless daemon running again
shell# /sbin/depmod -a
shell# /sbin/modprobe ipw3945 (load the kernel module)
shell# /sbin/ipw3945d (start the wireless daemon)
And reboot. To suspend the computer, select suspend from the System
menu. Do not select "Shut Down" and then click on the "suspend" button. For
some reason, that doesn't work.
I then modified my Power Management Preferences so that the laptop would
suspend when the lid is closed. Also, when running on battery, I set it so
that it would suspend the computer if is inactive for 30 minutes.
##################################################################
#### ######
#### HOW TO UPDATE THE KERNEL ONCE YOU HAVE EVERYTHING SET ######
#### ######
##################################################################
a: First make sure everything is updated:
shell# yum update --exclude kernel-smp
b: Make sure there are wireless RPMs for new version of the kernel on the
ATRpms site:
http://atrpms.net/dist/fc5/ipw3945/
c: Install the new kernel:
shell# yum update
=============================================================================
Package Arch Version Repository Size
=============================================================================
Installing:
kernel-smp i686 2.6.17-1.2157_FC5 updates 15 M
Removing:
kernel-smp i686 2.6.16-1.2133_FC5 installed 39 M
Removing for dependencies:
ieee80211-kmdl-2.6.16-1.2133_FC5smp i686 1.1.13-10.rhfc5.at installed 84 k
Transaction Summary
=============================================================================
Install 1 Package(s)
Update 0 Package(s)
Remove 2 Package(s)
Total download size: 15 M
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
(1/1): kernel-smp-2.6.17- 100% |=========================| 15 MB 04:32
Running Transaction Test
Finished Transaction Test
Transaction Test Succeeded
Running Transaction
Removing : kernel-smp ######################### [1/3]
Installing: kernel-smp ######################### [2/3]
Removing : ieee80211-kmdl-2.6.16-1.2133 ######################### [3/3]
d: plug the computer into a wired network and reboot into the new kernel.
c: remove the old wireless stuff... (replace "OLD_KERNEL_VERSION" with the
actual version number.)
shell# yum remove ipw3945 ipw3945d ipw3945-ucode ipw3945-kmdl-OLD_KERNEL_VERSION_FC5smp
Removing : ipw3945-kmdl-2.6.16-1.2133_F ######################### [1/5]
Removing : ipw3945-firmware ######################### [2/5]
Removing : ipw3945d ######################### [3/5]
Removing : ipw3945 ######################### [4/5]
Removing : ipw3945-ucode ######################### [5/5]
d: install the newer wireless stuff...
shell# yum --enablerepo=atrpm\* install ipw3945 ipw3945d ipw3945-ucode ipw3945-kmdl-CURRENT_KERNEL_VERSION_FC5smp
e: Get the wireless daemon running again
shell# /sbin/depmod -a
shell# /sbin/modprobe ipw3945 (load the kernel module)
shell# /sbin/ipw3945d (start the wireless daemon)
(at this point you should be able to disconnect the ethernet cable from the
computer and the wireless should kick in automatically)
g: update the ati driver (if you can)
shell# yum --enablerepo=livna update kmod-fglrx-smp
shell# /usr/sbin/ati-fglrx-config-display enable
g: reboot!
Everything should be working....
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Lenovo Thinkpad T60
http://statgen.ncsu.edu/~jdstarme/fc5_on_t60.txt
