Installing Ubuntu/Breezy on a ThinkPad T42

Generel installation

Here comes installation instructions for Ubuntu Breezy Badger on T42 2374-ZEP.

Get a copy of Ubuntu from UbuntuLinux.org.

Kernel support

How to get the correct kernel: $ sudo apt-get linux-i686

Kernel modules

TODO	Load the different kernel modules, and their configuration

Importent to turn off dynamicClocks in radeonfb in kernels before 2.6.14: /etc/modprobe.d/radeonfb.modprobe:

options radeonfb default_dynclk=-1

ibm_acpi module:

Turning on experimental features: /etc/modprobe.d/ibm_acpi.modprobe:

options ibm_acpi hotkey=enable,0xff9f experimental=1

Starting with wireless off: /etc/modprobe.d/ipw2100.modprobe:

options ipw2100 disable=1

ACPI

TODO	Hibernate, suspend, buttons, lid, speedstep

Modification to turn on wireless: /etc/acpi/wireless.sh:

#!/bin/bash
# Find and enable/disable wireless devices

for DEVICE in /sys/class/net/*; do
    if [ -d $DEVICE/wireless ]; then
# $DEVICE is a wireless device. Check if it's powered on:
	if [ `cat $DEVICE/device/power/state` = 0 ]; then
# It's powered on. Switch it off.
	    echo -n 3 > $DEVICE/device/power/state;
	    echo 0
	else
# It's powered off. Switch it on.
	    echo -n 0 > $DEVICE/device/power/state;
	    echo -n 0 > $DEVICE/device/rf_kill;
	    echo 1
	fi
    fi
done

Xorg

Relevant part:

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Configured Mouse"
	Driver		"mouse"
	Option		"CorePointer"
	Option		"Device"		"/dev/input/mice"
	Option		"Protocol"		"ImPS/2"
	Option		"Emulate3Buttons"	"true"
	Option		"EmulateWheel"		"true"
	Option		"EmulateWheelButton"	"2"
	Option		"ZAxisMapping"		"4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Synaptics Touchpad"
	Driver		"synaptics"
	Option		"SendCoreEvents"	"true"
	Option		"Device"		"/dev/psaux"
	Option		"Protocol"		"auto-dev"
	Option		"HorizScrollDelta"	"0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier	"ATI Technologies, Inc. Radeon Mobility 7500 (M7 LW)"
	Driver		"radeon"
	BusID		"PCI:1:0:0"
	Option		"DynamicClocks"	"off"
	Option		"AGPMode"	"4"
	Option		"AGPFastWrite"	"yes"
EndSection

ATTENTION!

Options DynamicClocks "on" may hang your machine

Initng

TODO	Speed up the boot/shutdown process with Initng

Very great initiative for optimizing the boot process. Initng

Dep packages can be found: http://alioth.debian.org/projects/pkg-initng/

Helpfull tools

Rovclock

Utility to overclock and underclock the ATI radeon chip. Can be used to underclock to reduce power, especialy when on batteries.

Get it from: http://www.hasw.net/linux/

Stable clock speeds: Core: 100MHz Memory: 120Mhz for LCP only, 180Mhz when using DVI out on port replicator.

Ex: {{{2}}} sudo rovclock -c 100 -m 120

noflushd

Noflushd is a daemon that spins down disks that have not been read from after a certain amount of time, and then prevents disk writes from spinning them back up. It's targeted for laptops but can be used on any computer with IDE disks. The effect is that the hard disk actually spins down, saving you battery power, and shutting off the loudest component of most computers. {{{2}}} sudo apt-get noflushd

ifplugd

ifplugd is a daemon which will automatically configure your ethernet device when a cable is plugged in and automatically unconfigure it if the cable is pulled. This is useful on laptops with onboard network adapters, since it will only configure the interface when a cable is really connected. {{{2}}} sudo apt-get ifplugd

/etc/default/ifplugd:

INTERFACES="eth0"
HOTPLUG_INTERFACES="eth0"
ARGS="-q -f -u0 -d10 -w -I -b"
SUSPEND_ACTION="stop"

Known problems

TODO	List of bugs from kernel, Xorg and Ubuntu