Installing Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) on a ThinkPad T61

Initial Install

The initial install from the live CD may hang with a blank tan screen after gdm starts. It is clear that gdm is running, but the desktop never actually loads. The solution is to hit (Ctrl-Alt-Backspace) which will kill gdm, and bring you back to the login screen. (This may need to be done more than once.)

Video

Intel video: Intel video works out of the box.

Nvidia: Works out of the box without accelerated 3D support. To install 3D support click System->Administration->Restricted Drivers Manager

Audio

Audio does not work out of the box. You need to download and compile ALSA from CVS

Also look at Ubuntu Launchpad bug# 122560 for the relevant patches to apply over Alsa driver 1.0.14 if you do not want to use the CVS version.

Wireless

All of the standard T61 wireless options -- Atheros, Intel 3945, and Intel 4965 -- work.

Modem

The modem works with the Linuxant drivers available at http://www.linuxant.com

Fingerprint Reader

The reader works with ThinkFinger. Instructions.

Trackpad scrolling

Trackpad scrolling works out of the box in the standard thinkpad way: Slide your finger up and down the very right edge of the trackpad.

To enable using the middle mouse button to scroll add the following in your Trackpoint InputDevice section in /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf:

   Option    "EmulateWheel"          "true"
   Option    "EmulateWheelTimeOut"   "200"
   Option    "EmulateWheelButton"    "2"

Suspend/Hibernate

Hibernate appears to work fine.

Suspend works, but when it resumes the backlight is off making it nearly impossible to see anything on the screen. (Anyone have a fix?)

Bugs

Font Issues on High-Res Screens

On high-res screens (15" 1680x1050), the default fonts are too big, and they all go bold above 8 or 9px (the exact number depends on the font). I have not heard people with normal-resolution screens complaining about this. You can easily see this by running gnome-specimen and gradually stepping up the font size. At some point (usually around 8-9px) the font will turn bold.

Brightness

The brightness controls (Fn-Home, Fn-End) don't seem to work reliably, and the brightness dialog box occasionally will pop up at random and cause the screen to start flickering. Messing around with the brightness controls (Fn-Home, Fn-End) will cause it to stop.

With the Nvidia card to increase/decrease brightness hit Ctrl+Alt+F1 to drop to a virtual console, change the brightness and hit Ctrl-Alt-F7 to return to Gnome. This can be done without affecting running applications.

Launchpad bugs related to the T61

Update Nvidia GLX: [1]

Update ALSA to support the sound card in the T61: [2]

Brightness dialog doesn't always disappear: [3]

T61