Installing Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) on a ThinkPad X61

I installed Ubuntu 9.10 on the same ThinkPad X61 model 7673-CTO that I installed Ubuntu 9.10 on last year.

This time I installed from DVD+R using the Ultrabay Slim Multi-Burner III Drive in the UltraBase X6.

In the coming days I will test various features and extend this page.

DMI info for this model

# dmidecode -s system-manufacturer
LENOVO
# dmidecode -s system-product-name
7673CTO
# dmidecode -s system-version
ThinkPad X61

Kernel misdetects memory

Right at the beginning there was an important obstacle to overcome. The installed kernel would panic on boot.

I ran memtest+ from the installation disc to see if I had a memory problem. It reported errors above 4 GiB. That's odd, because I only have 4 GiB of RAM installed.

I surmised that the new kernel, version 2.6.31-14-generic-pae, errs in reckoning the amount of installed RAM. And indeed, the solution to the kernel panic was to add mem=4096M to the kernel boot parameter list.

Adding the tp-smapi module

$ sudo aptitude install tp-smapi-source
$ sudo module-assistant build tp-smapi-source
$ sudo module-assistant install tp-smapi-source
$ sudo modprobe thinkpad_ec tp_smapi hdaps

Edit the file /etc/modules to add these lines:

 thinkpad_ec
 tp_smapi
 hdaps

Ubuntu 9.10 contains version 0.40 of tp-smapi.

There is currently (19 November 2009) no hdaps-utils package in Karmic and so no hdaps-gl application.

Increasing battery life

To make the battery last longer by reducing the number and depth of charge cycles, edit /etc/sysfs.conf to add the lines:

 # Make battery live longer
 devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/start_charge_thresh = 50
 devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/stop_charge_thresh = 90

To effect the change either reboot or do:

$ sudo su 
# echo 50 > /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/start_charge_thresh
# echo 90 > /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/stop_charge_thresh

Docking

The ThinkPad X61 can be docked in the UltraBase X6.

Unlike with the previous versions of Ubuntu, if the X61 is removed from the UltraBase X6 then the X61 does not freeze.

However, I find that when the X61 is returned to the UltraBase the USB devices attached to the UltraBase do not work.