Installing Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) on a ThinkPad Z61m

Installing from USB stick

If you already use Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic, installing Ubuntu 10.04 from USB stick is very easy. Just download the latest ISO, plug the USB stick in and run System-->Administration-->Create a USB startup disk. Load the downloaded ISO and hit "Make Startup Disk". For more information check this page. After that reboot your Thinkpad and press F12. This will allow you to boot from USB stick and start the installation routine.

Tested Configuration

• Lenovo ThinkPad Z61m (9450-H9G)
  • Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 (1,66 GHz, 2 MB L2, 667MHz FSB)
  • 2 GB RAM (2x 1 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 667MHz)
  • 15.4" wide-screen TFT WXGA 1280x800
  • Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
  • Seagate Momentus 7200.3 ST9160411ASG (160 GB SATA 7200 RPM) reflashed to Dell OEM Firmware
  • Ultrabay Enhanced DVD±RW Burner (GMA-4082N, FRU 39T2723)
  • Intel HD Audio with AD1981HD codec
  • Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000)
  • ThinkPad Bluetooth with Enhanced Data Rate (BDC-2)
  • Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Mini-PCI Express Adapter
  • IrDA 1.1 (FIR - 4Mbps)
  • 4-in-1 digital media reader (MultiMedia Card, MemoryStick, SD)
  • Integrated Fingerprint Reader
  • ThinkLight
  • UltraNav
  • CardBus slot (Type 2)
  • ExpressCard slot (54 or 34)
  • UltraBay Enhanced
  • 3x USB 2.0, Firewire, VGA out, S-Video out, Headphone Jack, Microphone Jack
  • Built-in Microphone

Hardware Support

Device / Function	Works?	Comment
Suspend & Hibernate	yes	out of the box
Intel GMA950 2D and 3D	yes	out of the box
Intel 3945ABG WiFi	yes	out of the box
Bluetooth	yes	out of the box
Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet	yes	out of the box
DVD±RW Burner	yes	out of the box
Ultrabay Hotswapping	partial	hotswapping optical drives (like DVD±RW) works out of the box, for HDD hotswapping look here
Intel HDA Sound	yes	out of the box, modem must be enabled in BIOS
PCMCIA	yes	out of the box
Express Card	unknown	not tested
Firewire	unknown	not tested
USB	yes	out of the box
IRDA	unknown	not tested
Docking	unknown	not tested
Fingerprint Reader	unknown	thinkfinger seems to be broken in Lucid. fprint and UPEK's proprietary driver haven't been tested yet
VGA out	yes	out of the box
S-Video out	unknown	not tested
Modem	unknown	not tested
Microphone	yes	both internal and external mics work out of the box, but are muted by default. See bellow
Headphones	yes	out of the box
Touchpad	yes	out of the box
Trackpoint	yes	out of the box, to enable middle button scrolling see bellow
Multimedia Card Reader	yes?	works out of the box with all kinds of SD cards. No other cards have been tested
FnFx, FnPageUp, FnHome, FnEnd	yes	out of the box, except of FnF9 and FnSpace
FnUp, FnDown, FnLeft, FnRight	partial	depends on the player, works out of the box with Rhytmbox but not Audacious. Thus, needs additional configuration
ThinkVantage	yes	does nothing by default, but can be easily mapped to something useful. See bellow
Volume up, Volume down, Volume mute	partial	the volume buttons work but don't affect the software (Pulse Audio) mixer. See bellow

HOWTOS

Setup the Middle Button Scrolling

Start a terminal and run

sudo gedit /usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-trackpoint.conf

paste this

Section "InputClass"
    Identifier      "Trackpoint"
    MatchProduct    "TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint|DualPoint Stick|Synaptics Inc. Composite TouchPad / TrackPoint"
    MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
    Option          "EmulateWheel" "true"
    Option          "EmulateWheelButton" "2"
    Option          "EmulateWheelTimeout" "200" 
    Option	    "Emulate3Buttons"	"false"
    Option          "YAxisMapping" "4 5"
    Option          "XAxisMapping" "6 7"
EndSection

and save. Reboot.