[ltp] Thinkpad X300 Debian Lenny report

Norman Ramsey linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:55:41 -0400 (EDT)


Some of you remember that several months ago I asked about running
Debian testing (lenny) on the X300.  I put a brief report at
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category_talk:X300

Here's a summary:

  * Almost everything works great

  * A few extra things to install:
     - sudo aptitude install firmware-iwlwifi (first use after the 
       install locked the machine, but after reboot everything is
       great)
     - ThinkFinger
     - xbacklight

  * Need some mojo in /etc/pm to get sleep and suspend to work,
    but with that mojo they work easily

  * Many options are needed for thinkpad-acpi in /etc/modprobe.d

  * ThinkFinger works perfectly although the instructions on the 
    web page are out of date and hard to read.  I did some edits,
    but don't think a permissions problem will be solved by reboot.
    Doing sudo with the fingerprint is very fun!

Things that still don't work:

  * I can't get wired ethernet to run at 1000Mbps.  ethtool claims the
    capability is there, but attempts to force it lock up the machine.

  * tpb brightness buttons do not work: they change the OSD, but
    not the backlight.  I'm using xbacklight on the command line,
    which works perfectly, but I would really like to figure out how
    to program those buttons to (say) xbacklight -dec 10 and so on.

  * I haven't been able to get any of the various fan-control regimes
    to work.  The fan spins consistently at 5000 RPM and is loud.


Comments or suggestions appreciated.


Norman