Installing Arch Linux on a ThinkPad X40

Some notes to get Arch Linux running on a Thinkpad X40.

Preface

I downloaded the FTP installation CD on http://www.archlinux.org/

Wireless

My main concern was getting the WIFI to work. As the downloaded ISO also functions as a livecd, I tried to get it up and running with that. Without success. I found the answer to my question here: http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=482359

I installed madwifi and madwifi-utils. In the modules section of /etc/rc.conf I banged the ath5k module, disabling it. With ath5k not banged in /etc/rc.conf the card showed up as wlan0, associated correctly with the AP, but didn't get a DHCP lease. Even with manually setting the IP and adding the default route, I couldn't ping the AP.

After banging ath5k, the wireless card shows up as ath0. Associating works, DHCP doesn't time out. :)

Xorg

Installed xorg with

   pacman -S xorg

Then generated the xorg.cong file with

   hwd -xa

(I know, risky ;))

Looked good, but X didn't start with this (couldn't find display). I installed the xf86-video-intel and changed the display driver from i810 to intel:

   Section "Device"
           Identifier  "Card0"
           Driver      "intel"
           VendorName  "All"
           BoardName   "All"
   EndSection

Getting the back/forward special keys to work

Installing_Ubuntu_7.04_(Feisty_Fawn)_on_a_ThinkPad_X40

Add the following to your .Xmodmap

   keycode 77 = Num_Lock
   keycode 234 = XF86Back
   keycode 233 = XF86Forward

Enabling scrolling with middle mouse button

Installing_Ubuntu_7.04_(Feisty_Fawn)_on_a_ThinkPad_X40

Add the following to your /etc/X11/xorg.conf, to the PS/2 mouse section

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