[ltp] Need help with my new 760EL

[James Mckenzie]

Travis wrote:
> 
> Hi, I just purchased a IBM ThinkPad 760EL from a computer show. 

Welcome to the "crowd".

> There are some things I need to know about this laptop because it came with > no documentation.

Bummer.  It would be nice to have manuals...

> I went to the IBM website but could not find any manuals
> for this computer.  So here are my questions:  How do I access the BIOS?

First, hold down the F1 key and then power on the unit.  Hold the F1 key
until you see a screen with the word "Thinkpad" repeated several
times....

> I try pressing DELETE and F1 at startup but nothing happens.  Are there
> BIOS upgrades for this computer?

More likely than not.  You need to get the model number (off of the
bottom of the machine) and then access the Thinkpad support site at
www.pc.us.ibm.com/thinkpad.  Select support from the available options. 
Then input your system type.  You can build a custom login and profile
where IBM will e-mail when there are updates available for your system.

> Can I get a larger HD?

Sure, Bill Morrow of Thinkpads.com specializes in upgrades for
Thinkpads.  The largest hard drive "supported" by the 760 series is 6.4
GB, although there are ways of 'faking out' the BIOS to handle larger
hard drives.

> It currently
> has a 2.1 gig and I would like to install windows as well as linux. 
That's a little small for a dual operating system install.

> I'm having trouble installing a new kernel, I downloaded kernel 2.2.16 and
> tried to compile it.

The steps for 'building' a new kernel, especially if upgrading:

Change to the directory where you installed the kernel sources (usually
/usr/src/linux)
make mrproper
make config (or xconfig or menuconfig)
make dep
make clean
make bzdisk (always run a test install to floppy FIRST)
reboot your system with the floppy in the drive at this point.  If the
system comes up to either a login prompt, Gnome or KDE you are almost
certain that the system will boot safely...
make bzlilo (this will install the kernel as vmlinuz in either the /
(root) or /boot directory and runs /sbin/lilo...
reboot your system without the disk in your floppy to make sure that the
new kernel will boot up your system.
make modules.  This will build all of the items you want built as
modules...
make modules_install.  Installs the modules in the various library and
binary directories
Now for your PCMCIA driver problem...

Change directories to the directory where you installed the PCMCIA
sources (usually /usr/src/pcmcia-cs-3.1.x
make config
the first question is where can the make program find the linux kernel
sources and should be the same directory where you built the kernel
from.
The next question is if you want to build 'trusting' versions of the
card utilities.  If you answer 'y', any user can run the card utilities,
if you answer 'n' then only the root user can run them.
The next question is if you want to build CardBus versions of the
programs. 'y' builds in CardBus (32 bit) support, 'n' builds non CardBus
versions.
The next question is do you want to build in PnP BIOS resource checking.
'y' builds in PnP BIOS checks, 'n' does not.
The next and last question is where to install the modules.  Typically,
this is the /lib/modules/<kernel version #> directory.  In your system,
this should be /lib/modules/2.2.16
Once the program finishes the next step is to run a 'make clean' to
remove the old PCMCIA modules.
Follow this with a make all and then make install.  
Reboot your system and PCMCIA should now work.

BTW, there are two 'HOW-TOs' which should be on your system, the Kernel
HOW-TO and PCMCIA HOW-TO which go into much deeper depth than my short
explanation.

James Mckenzie
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