[ltp] TP600X, RH7.3, modem, internet, sound WORKS
JC WOODWARD
linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org
Tue, 15 Oct 2002 07:08:24 -0400
__________________________________________________________________
OVERVIEW
If you make the right selections during installation, and invest an
hour or two to compile the LTmodem driver, Red Hat 7.3 installs
effortlessly on the ThinkPad 600X laptop. No special settings, no
kernel compile, no command line editing of system files, no hacks.
Just a plain vanilla install. GNU/Linux has come a long way, indeed!
I present my install notes in the hope that they may be a useful tool for
helping newcomers to get started, and as a documented baseline so
others with the same equipment can know what should be working on
their computers.
WHAT WORKS:
. Printer
. Floppy drive, internal & external, via mtools and ext2 system mount.
. CD drive (hot swap in the UltraSlim bay not tested - See Thomas Hood)
. USB external Zip100 drive
. Trackpoint mouse (lower button acts as the middle on a 3-button mouse)
. Sound
. CD audio player
. External PS2 mouse
. External monitor display
. Hardware hibernate, suspend, and screen blank via the blue Fn keys
. Modem
. Internet via PPP dial-up
NOT TESTED:
. Serial port
. PCMIA card slot
. Infrared port
. External keyboard (see Thomas Hood's page for an implementation)
HARDWARE NOTES:
. Hardware hibernation relies on the existence of a hibernation file
in a Windows partition created with the Windows control panel or
IBM's PS2.EXE DOS command line utility. Implemented in hardware,
hibernation is not controlled by Linux, although the Linux ThinkPad
Control Utility, tpctl (See Thomas Hood), can invoke it.
. The external monitor display works, but you must press FnF7 to
activate it. Press FnF7 repeatedly to cycle between LCD, external,
or both. Interestingly, X activates the external display
automatically when loaded, then deactivates it when unloaded.
. To get maximum audio volume you must use both the hardware Fn-PgUp
key and the audio mixer applet to maximize both master and device
sliders.
__________________________________________________________________
QUICK SUMMARY FOR EXPERTS
. Split your Windows partition using FIPS as described at
/dosutils/fipsdoc on the RH Installation CD 1
. During the Red Hat install, make the following choices:
. Keyboard: Microsoft Natural
. Mouse: Generic PS2 3-button
. Install type: Laptop
. Firewall: Medium security, default rules
. Time zone: Select "Use Daylight Savings Time"
. Use "Select individual packages"
. to exclude "lm-sensors", and
. to incude "kernel source", plus
. the tools necessary to compile the LTmodem driver.
. Graphics card: NeoMagic-256(Laptop) with 4MB memory
. X Monitor: Generic Laptop 1024 X 768 LCD
. Install the Lucent LTmodem driver as decribed below under
LUCENT LTMODEM DRIVER INSTALLATION.
. Configure your internet account, dialer, e-mail client, and printer
spool using your preferred utilities or as described below under
POST-INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION.
__________________________________________________________________
REDHAT 7.3 INSTALLATION
. SPLIT WINDOWS PARTITION
If you plan to create a dual boot system and keep Windows installed,
do this step, otherwise skip to LINUX INSTALL step.
. Use the DOS program FIPS to split your patition.
.Mount RH Install CD 1 and open the directory:
d:\dosutils\fipsdoc
. Read files readme.1st and fips.doc
. Prepare a bootable floppy and copy FIPS files to it.
. Defragment your C: drive to push everything to the front. Since
some defragmenters do not touch the swap file (and maybe the
hibernate file, too) it is suggested that you disable the swap and
hibernate features before defragmenting and then renable them.
. Run FIPS per the documentation file.
. I left 2000MB for windows which is plenty for a usable system.
. Be sure to save the backup/undo records to the diskette.
. INSTALL LINUX FROM CD SET
The vast majority of this process requires little more than clicking
the "Next" button on the install window. I have documented, screen
by screen, those inputs necessary for a successful installation on
my ThinkPad 600X.
. Boot from the RH Install CD 1
(Press F12 during boot to force boot from CD)
. Intro screen: press <enter> for GUI installation
. Install Language screen: English
. Keyboard screen: select Microsoft Natural, English, and "enable
dead keys"
. Mouse screen: select Generic 3-button PS2
. Install type screen: Laptop
. Disk Partition Setup: select "Manually with Disk Druid"
. Disk Druid: create the following three partitions, accept
default suggestions for file system type, etc.
. /boot 50MB
. / 4000MB
. swap 521MB
The 4GB root partition should be plenty for a typical home
user. I chose 512MB for swap since I have 256MB installed
RAM. On my 12 GB disk this leaves 2GB for Windows, roughly
4.5GB for Linux and a whopping 5.5GB available for future use
on either. I leave for others the spirited debate over how
many and which partitions should be allocated for a well
formed Linux system. Red Hat has gotten away from that and
now suggests lumping it all together in one root partition.
Note: My disk has one bad block which Disk Druid found while
formatting, but hung attempting to repair it. I had to start
all over and deselect the "Check for bad blocks" box.
. Boot Loader screen:
. I selected LILO because it includes extensive well-written
documentation including a partitioning primer. I found the
GRUB boot loader documentation to be undecipherable.
. Accept default selections on the rest of the screen.
. Firewall screen: Medium security level, use default rules
. Language screen: accept default English (USA)
. Time Zone screen: Note: it's easy to miss the second tab.
. Location tab: Select your city or zone
. UTC Offset tab: Check "use Daylight Savings Time"
. Account configuration screen: remember to add an account for
yourself as non-root user.
. Package groups screen:
. Check "Select individual packages" which enables you to fine
tune the broad categories of software to be installed.
. I selected Gnome which provides many post-installation
configuration aids.
. Since you will need to compile the Lucent modem driver you
must also select "Software Development". Unfortunately, this
installs a massive amount of additional software, most of
which you will never use. Perhaps some one can identify the
actual packages needed just for that task.
. Individual package selection screen:
. Check "Flat View" then scroll down the list
. Uncheck "lm-sensors" which has a known bug that can scramble
your CMOS. See the Linux-Thinkpad.org web site for details.
. Check "kernel-source" which you will need to compile the
LTmodem driver.
. This is the time to select any additional packages you plan to
install. Use "Tree View" to browse the many folders and
subfolders.
. Graphic interface screen:
. Accept the selection found by the probe - NeoMagic-256(Laptop)
. Verify the probe identifed the correct (4MB) amount of video ram.
. Final pre-install screen: This is the point of no return.
. If you click "Next" the intall will run for some half
hour plus using the settings accumulated so far.
. If you press ctrl-alt-delete instead, the program will do an
orderly shutdown without having written anything to your disk.
. X monitor configuration screen:
. Select Generic Laptop 1024 X 768 LCD
__________________________________________________________________
LUCENT LTMODEM DRIVER INSTALLATION
This is documented in detail on Thomas Hood's extensive TP600 page:
http://panopticon.csustan.edu/thood/tp600lnx.htm#secmodem
as a text file download:
http://panopticon.csustan.edu/thood/ltmodem
__________________________________________________________________
POST-INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION
The following steps were all performed using built-in Gnome
configuration tools and other GUI programs included in the default
installation. "Foot" means click the "foot" taskbar icon and select
from subsequent pop-up menus.
. Setup Internet connection
. Click Foot/programs/system/internet connection wizard
. Select Modem connection then, as prompted, enter phone #, device
/dev/modem, password, and username.
. Setup internet dialer
. Click Foot/applets/network/RH PPP dialer which installs a taskbar
connect icon, just click to dial up. Click again to hang up.
. See also Foot/applets/network/modem lights for similar
. Setup mail account
. Run Mozilla (the dragon head icon in taskbar)
. Clicking menu/tasks/mail starts up the new account wizard
. If not, click menu/edit/mail&newsgroups settings
. As prompted enter account and server info.
. Setup printer
. Click Foot/system/printer configuration
. Select printer manufacturer and model
. Select driver - if more than one listed, click the "Printer
notes" button for advice on which to choose.
. Accept suggested device as /dev/lp0
. Setup and test audio
. Insert music CD
. Click Foot/applets/multimedia/CD player
. To get full volume you must
1) Use FnPgUp to maximize hardware volume control,
2) Use Foot/applets/multimedia/mixer to maximize both master
and CD volume