The Answer Gang

Linux on Laptop

From Philipp on Tue, 19 Sep 2000

Answered by: Heather Stern

Hi mr. answerguy,

I have installed Linux on my IBM thinkpad and have found quite a few curiosities you might help me with:

• it only works if I install Win98 on the first partition and Linux on the second partition (2GB each), Lilo being on the MBR

This is normal. MSwin looks for its drives sequentially and when it runs out of stuff it understands, it stops.

• the LT Win modem doesn't work under Linux (big surprise...)

For fairly annoying values of "works" it can be forced to work - you need to either stick with 2.2.14 or force 2.2.14's ppp service into a 2.2.16 setup with a shoehorn... then load the ltmodem driver binary they provide (you can find it at linmodems.org)

It still sucks up lots of CPU under load though. And it's sort of doomed, unless they wake up and smell the coffee before the 2.4 kernel ships -- there isn't amy open code, and there isn't even a binary link kit like Aureal did for their soundcards.

Speaking of which -- cheers to Aureal for a good middle ground solution, and especially for setting up on aureal.sourceforge.net. May it encourage other vendors to do the same!

• but so doesn't the sound - unpleasant surprise!!

Can't really help unless you can tell what the sound is. Run lspci and see if it says. If you're lucky it's something normal, like an IRQ conflict. Try telling your CMOS Setup program that we are not a plug and play OS, so it will fix the IRQs for your builtin devices. Our idea of "plug and play" is under our control, not the BIOS'...

• my x-windows is fine, but it has the tendencies to produce errors when I shut it down

Maybe Kenneth Harker's Linux on Laptops resource page (http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/linux-laptop/) has a link to someone else with the same model?

Positive surprises:

• the power management is better than with winslows

Well, we try, anyway.

• the xconfigurator had no problem at all with my lcd-screen, but I knew the necessary settings

Luckily most configurators have a pick for LCD screen these days.

• the mouse (IBM track point) work better than with win (finer configurable)

Mice and many other input widgets, we do pretty well.

Anyway, mr. answerguy, if you know how I could get my soundcard or modem to work, I'd be really happy. (PS, I've been through the HowTo's and am currently using an external modem, which is not too nifty on a mobile computer)

I highly recommend a PCMCIA based modem instead of a clunky box-model. Ambicom makes nice solid cardbus modems which are not "winmodems" either.

Regards and Shalom,
Philipp Schlüter

Best of luck! -- Heather

Copyright © 2000, James T. Dennis
Published in the Linux Gazette Issue 58 October 2000

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