Installing Linux Mint 5 (Elyssa) on a ThinkPad R61

Note: The specific model I installed on was the R61 8934-F9U.

Most of the steps are the same as for installing on Ubuntu 8.04, with the exception that the wifi works out of the box. If you can't find the answer to your here, take a look at: Installing_Ubuntu_7.10_(Gutsy_Gibbon)_on_a_ThinkPad_R61 Installing Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) on a ThinkPad R61 Installing Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) on a ThinkPad T61 Installing Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) on a ThinkPad T61

For suspend to disc, change the following lines in /etc/default/acpi-support:

 # Should we save and restore state using the VESA BIOS Extensions?
 SAVE_VBE_STATE=false
 ...
 # Should we attempt to warm-boot the video hardware on resume?
 POST_VIDEO=false
 ...
 # Save and restore video state?
 SAVE_VIDEO_PCI_STATE=true
 ...
 # Uncomment the next line to switch away from X and back again after resume.
 # This is needed for some hardware, but should be unnecessary on most.
 DOUBLE_CONSOLE_SWITCH=true
 ...
 # Set the following to "platform" if you want to use ACPI to shut down
 # your machine on hibernation
 HIBERNATE_MODE=platform
 ...
 # Add modules to this list to have them removed before suspend and reloaded
 # on resume. An example would be MODULES="em8300 yenta_socket"
 #
 # Note that network cards and USB controllers will automatically be unloaded 
 # unless they're listed in MODULES_WHITELIST
 MODULES="iwl4965 iwlwifi_mac80211 cfg80211"
 ...
 # Add services to this list to stop them before suspend and restart them in 
 # the resume process.
 STOP_SERVICES="netapplet"

I enabled the switch away from/back to X as my hardware needs it. I'm not sure if this is true for all R61 models.

Install powertop (run "sudo apt-get install powertop") and run it with "sudo powertop" to determine what is consuming the most power. You can use that information to decrease your power consumption.

The current version of Linux Mint seems to have most of the Ubuntu facilities intact, but some of them are hidden. You can run synaptic by pressing Alt+F2 and typing in "gksu synaptic", I prefer Synaptic to MintInstall.