Installation instructions for the ThinkPad T21
Specific installation notes for the ThinkPad T21.
General Notes
Distro specific Instructions
Ubuntu 6.06 Desktop
The Ubuntu 6.06 Desktop CD is both a Live CD and a installation CD. You can boot directly from the CD and it will run Ubuntu in live mode in X Windows so you can play with it. Your hard drive will not be changed at all in this mode. You can then choose to install it to your hard dirve by clicking the install icon on your desktop. After going through 5-6 screens and 15 minutes later, you are done.
My Thinkpad froze during installation, and I did the following to get things working. 1) I removed my thinkpad from the port replicater. (It probabaly doesn't matter in retrospect.)
2) Remove the PCMCIA Wifi card, because my Linksys WPC11 v4 is definitely the culprit that prevents the Ubuntu CD from booting into Ubuntu Live mode. I had to remove the Wifi card during installation. After the installation of Ubuntu is done, I plugged the card back in, and it just worked.
3) Make sure that the ethernet port on your Thinkpad T21 is connected to the internet. My Thinkpad froze again halfway through copying files to the hard drive. I guess it was trying to find some files on the internet, so I plugged in the ethernet cable and reinstalled the OS. My guess was right, and the second installation went through smoothly.
I like Ubuntu 6.06 Desktop a lot because it is fairly easy to install and update. The Ubuntu update feature is similar to Windows XP's update feature. It keeps the OS fresh with the latest drivers, patches, packages, etc. Moreover, you can search any programs you want to install by using Synapse Package Manager, and Synapse will find all the related packages and their prerequisites and install them for you. No more package-dependency headaches.
