I just got my hands on a Thinkpad T40 and going to try out a number of different distributions to see which ones work out the best.
Are there any hidden “gotcha’s” installing openSUSE on the Thinkpad T40 and does it matter which version of openSUSE I install on it?
This one comes with a CD-drive so I won’t have the USB issues I had last time I tried to install openSUSE.
Dude you know the score:
HCL/Laptops/IBM - openSUSE
I have R61e
But going by the list, you should be Ok.
Post your spec and you may get better feedback.
Yeah, I took a look at that but it shows 10.2 so I don’t know if anybody has tried it with oS 11.1 yet.
I’ll have more specs once I can get it up and running. I only had an Ubuntu CD available so I plopped that in but it froze at 2 different spots before coming up live.
Once I get some stats I’ll post them (and results of running the LiveCD). I plan on trying a few (the 3 major distros) before actually installing something more than temporary.
I’m hoping to get some time tonight. I’m just excited!
On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:56:02 +0000, dragonbite wrote:
> I just got my hands on a Thinkpad T40 and going to try out a number of
> different distributions to see which ones work out the best.
>
> Are there any hidden “gotcha’s” installing openSUSE on the Thinkpad T40
> and does it matter which version of openSUSE I install on it?
>
> This one comes with a CD-drive so I won’t have the USB issues I had last
> time I tried to install openSUSE.
I’ve got a T42p sitting on my desk next to the dell I’m working on
(actually using an external keyboard on the IBM to write this message on
the Dell - Synergy+ is a cool piece of software). Running 11.0 on both
systems and the Thinkpad works very nicely. About the only thing I
couldn’t get to work was bluetooth, but I don’t need it. Everything else
pretty much just worked (I can’t recall if I had to do anything funky for
the video, but a driver is installed by default that works).
Jim
–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Moderator
Ok, this system has its own errors regardless of Linux or Windows or anything. It takes about a dozen bootups to get to where you can see the BIOS splash screen (the one that tells you how to get into the BIOS configuration screens) otherwise it just hangs with the screen not even being “turned on”.
When I did manage to boot up, openSUSE-Gnome has been the most successful in running and using the wireless card. OpenSUSE-KDE I couldn’t get online wirelessly and Fedora 10 had 90% of the screen become a big black box and the whole system froze. Ubuntu hasn’t even managed to boot up yet (both 9.04 and 8.04 LTS).
Next chance it boots up I plan on doing a Memory test to make sure the issues are due to bad RAM. Barring that, I think I’ll give openSUSE-Gnome a try at least for a while.
Oh, it has Intel wireless, ATI Radeon Mobile 7500 graphics card and is an Intel Centrino 1.3 GHz with 512 MB of Ram. After install I’ll take a look at getting the hotkeys and power control cleaned up from the wiki page.
It looks (and feels) like a nice system, if I can get it running smoothly.
Ok, this system has its own errors regardless of Linux or Windows or anything. It takes about a dozen bootups to get to where you can see the BIOS splash screen (the one that tells you how to get into the BIOS configuration screens) otherwise it just hangs with the screen not even being “turned on”.
Where did you say this came from: A skip?
A “skip”?
A friend of mine works for a company and he snagged this from the closet when the company realized that these computers whose service contract has expired is still costing them tax dollars.
This friend does not like the idea of these machines going to a landfill and he’s passed along a number of them to me, knowing that I will use Linux to give them a second life.
Guess it’s worth a shot. Let us know how things go:)
Last night, after trying Fedora I kept tyring to get it to boot to openSUSE 11.1 - Gnome so I could see about just doing the installation (gotta start somewhere) and it wouldn’t do it.
Indicators it won’t run on this boot-up attempt
If I hear the fan slow down, or the screen turn on or see the splash screen then I know I have a chance. Otherwise there is nothing to really do.
Oh, and sometimes I get beeps when shutting down, other times I don’t.
Oh, and I forgot.
The pencil eraser pointer works as well as the three buttons under the keyboard, but the trackpad and other two buttons do not.
Wouldn’t be so bad, but one of the three buttons is missing (the left one). I knew about that, though, before I got it.
I have 11.0 running flawlessly in a T30 so I don’t see why not.
On Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:26:01 +0000, dragonbite wrote:
> caf4926;2037985 Wrote:
>> Where did you say this came from: A skip?
> A “skip”?
UK English for “a garbage can”. 
Jim
–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Moderator
Take a look behind your local WalMart - see where they dump all that food you don’t buy and goods they can’t sell. A massive container that goes on the back of a Dump Truck! = SKIP
Sort of anyway.
On Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:26:01 +0000, caf4926 wrote:
> hendersj;2040064 Wrote:
>> On Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:26:01 +0000, dragonbite wrote:
>>
>> > caf4926;2037985 Wrote:
>> >> Where did you say this came from: A skip?
>> > A “skip”?
>>
>> UK English for “a garbage can”.
>>
>> Jim
>> -
>> Jim Henderson
>> openSUSE Forums Moderator
>
> Take a look behind your local WalMart - see where they dump all that
> food you don’t buy and goods they can’t sell. A massive container that
> goes on the back of a Dump Truck! = SKIP Sort of anyway.
Yeah, it’s more like the larger garbage bins we have here, but basic
function is the same as a garbage can.
Jim
–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Moderator
On Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:37:56 +0000, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> Take a look behind your local WalMart - see where they dump all that
>> food you don’t buy and goods they can’t sell. A massive container that
>> goes on the back of a Dump Truck! = SKIP Sort of anyway.
>
> Yeah, it’s more like the larger garbage bins we have here, but basic
> function is the same as a garbage can.
“Dumpster” is the word I was looking for.
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Moderator
Well, so far I’ve managed to install openSUSE on it and it sort-of works. When I try and run an update it locks up.
It seems like there is a loose component (video?) and shifting it around or temperature fluctuations seem to be making it touch-and-go and lock up at random times.
There has been a time or two at least, where I left it to run through some update and it was still fully responsive afterwards which gave me great hope. Then I upgraded something and it wouldn’t boot after that.
Nice thing, wireless works out-of-the-box and handling the dual monitors provided for cloning only. Never tried the suspend or hibernate yet.
On Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:56:01 +0000, dragonbite wrote:
> Well, so far I’ve managed to install openSUSE on it and it sort-of
> works. When I try and run an update it locks up.
>
> It seems like there is a loose component (video?) and shifting it around
> or temperature fluctuations seem to be making it touch-and-go and lock
> up at random times.
I’ve seen that on a Thinkpad before - in my case it was a cracked
motherboard. In my case, it also appeared to be localized around the VGA
output on the back of the laptop.
Jim
–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Moderator
Any solution from that issue (the MOB is fairly straight-forward… duck-tape!)
On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:16:01 +0000, dragonbite wrote:
> Any solution from that issue (the MOB is fairly straight-forward…
> duck-tape!)
In my case, the system was under warranty so I just had the motherboard
replaced. Given that it’s to do with electrical connections, duct tape
is unlikely to provide any sort of permanent solution.
You might find a replacement motherboard on eBay for fairly cheap.
Jim
–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Moderator
You might find a replacement motherboard on eBay for fairly cheap.
And it will probably arrive with the duct tape pre-installed on the mobo.