[ltp] Freezes SuSE 7.1/7.2 and TP T 21

[Markus Alt]

"Dr. Edmund Weitz" wrote:
> 
> Hi!
> 
> I'm new to this list but I checked the archive (which is online up to
> May 2001 as far as I can see) and I couldn't find any information
> related to my problem:
> 
> I have a Thinkpad T21 model that I bought here in Germany about three
> months ago. The exact model number is 2647-9AG. It's the one that comes
> with Win2k pre-loaded, a 1400x1050 LCD screen, and the Intel/Xircom
> combo (sigh). I had it upgraded to 256 MB RAM.
> 
> I tried to install SuSE 7.2 on this machine but ran into big troubles.
> >From time to time the machine froze completely and the only thing I
> could do was switching the power off. I first thought this was the text
> scrolling hang of the Savage/IX XFree driver, but enabling the shadow
> status feature didn't help. Then I thought the problem might be related
> to my usage of an external USB mouse, so I started using only the
> internal trackpoint - but the problems were still there. My final idea
> was that this could be a problem of the rather new 2.4 kernels, so I
> installed SuSE 7.1 with the 2.2.18 kernel and upgraded to Xfree 4.1.0
> from SuSE's ftp server - same problem.
> 
> So, I'm starting to wonder if it is at all possible to run Linux on this
> particular machine. Is anybody out there successfully using Linux with
> _exactly_ this model? Is this problem maybe related to the Intel/Xircom
> combo? (I know I probably won't be able to use the modem part - I only
> need Ethernet at the moment.)
> 
> Thanks in advance for your help,
> Edi Weitz.
> 
> PS: Just for the record - no freezes with Wintendo 2000.

Hi,

no problem - SuSE 7.1 and 7.2 work perfectly on this machine! I've been
running both of them since December 2000 on that TP model and quite a
few of my colleagues here do the same. I first had kernel version 2.2.18
with 7.1 and later upgraded to the 2.4 series (currently 7.2 & vanilla
2.4.7).

This is a 2647-9FG which came with only the Lucent WinModem installed
(and Win@#$! 2000 preloaded :-/), but it was later upgraded to exactly
the Intel/Xircom MiniPCI combo card you mentioned. The modem part of the
latter works fine with the same Lucent drivers as for the modem-only
card. Check http://www.physcip.uni-stuttgart.de/heby/ltmodem/index.html
for the latest drivers. So no need to sigh ... ;-) (You should if you
had a 3Com card!)

With regard to the freezes you're seeing, I can just guess. Maybe you
could be a little more specific on when they occur. However, you should
make sure that you upgrade to the latest XFree86 4.1.0 RPMs, i.e. the
latest Savage driver. Another thing I can think of is a screen blanking
setting in BIOS. Check this and see whether disabling it helps.

Maybe other folks 'round here have other ideas. Anyway, bottom line is:
It has been proven to work, so there's hope!

Regards,
Markus

-- 
Markus Alt
IBM Lab Boeblingen, Germany
altmark@de.ibm.com

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