[ltp] Re: some questions about linux and thinkpad

[Gabriel M. Beddingfield]

I own an R51 with Intel processor/video/audio/wireless.  I run Gentoo Linux
on it, and I'm *very* happy with it.  A good site to check out is
www.linux-on-laptops.com/ibm.  Also see some of my answers below.

Fiz Vázquez wrote:

> * works fine the light keyboard with linux?

Huh?  Do you mean that little amber keyboard light above the screen?  Yes,
it works fine with linux.  It's hardwired in... no software required.

> * what is the best graphic card to use with linux? (radeon mobile 7500,
> radeon mobile 9000 or intel extreme 2)

It depends on two things:  (a) how you plan to use it, and (b) your software
religeon.

If you're a gamer, needing high-end 3D acceleration -- you may want to get
an ATI or NVidea card.  However, their drivers are closed-source.  On the
other hand, Intel cards are great for most normal "office" users, and their
drivers are open-source.

There's a lot of chatter about ATI's linux drivers.  They are typically slow
to develop them, and there's even a petition of ATI card owners who use
Linux to boycott ATI until they give Linux some real support.  And even
then, they only provide closed-source drivers.  (This is a big issue with
some people.)

NVidia has a better track record for Linux support.  However, they also only
supply closed-source drivers.

Intel has a good track record of supporting Linux, even with pressure
otherwise coming from M$.  Further, their drivers are typically
open-source... meaning that you're not at the mercy of Intel for bug fixes
and support.

For my needs, I felt comfortable with the Intel video card... and I'm happy
with it.  However, I don't think I've got 3D acceleration working on it...
but that's not a big issue for me.

> * have this cards good dri support? (i found contradictory information
> about that)
> * Have this cards (and thinkpad motherboard) suppport for multihead and
> xinerama?

I can't contribute any to these two questions.

> * the wireless card ("IBM 11b/g Wi-Fi wireless") works fine in linux?
> what is the chipset?

Googling, I found the following link: 
http://quasar.mathstat.uottawa.ca/~selinger/thinkpad.x31/
According to this site, you can make the IBM 11b/g work with NDIS wrappers. 
This is a linux trick to use the Windows drivers for the card to make it
work.  Otherwise, there's typically no drivers.

On the other hand, the Intel Pro/Wireless 2100 and 2200 have open-source
linux drivers as follows:

2100:  an 802.11b card.  Has an open-source driver from Intel that is under
active development.  Works great... in fact I'm using it right now. 
(ipw2100.sourceforge.net)

2200:  an 802.11g card.  The open-source driver from Intel is also under
active development, but is more in the "alpha" or "beta" stage at this
point.  (ipw2200.sourceforge.net)

HTH... y buena suerte!

-- 
                     G a b r i e l   M .   B e d d i n g f i e l d