Last Update : Dec 2008
I have a Lenovo T61 (Atheros Wireless card : mistake! + Nvidia (Quatro 140M) graphics card : big mistake!!). I have been using this laptop with Ubuntu Gutsy and it has been a constant annoyance to have Linux run on this. Here is why:
I use MacbookPro with MacOSX (10.5) at work. And I see how user friendly and straight forward Linux/Unix/FreeBSD can be. So there is still great promise for Linux.
So here are the things that mattered to me on IBEX
Smooth.
(I installed from a USB Stick; this is so much better than preparing and installing from fragile CD-Rs. See here for instructions. I used UNetBootin)
I use Kubuntu - as I like KDE.
Works right out of the box. Double click on
battery monitor and setup to go on Suspend when the lid is
closed.
Excellent!
Proprietary nvidia drivers are installed and
3D works right out of the box (nvidia driver v177.80.0).
Plus, plus, the brightness controls work!
Yippie !!
Newer
Atheros driver (ath5k) works; sorta see below
Install the backport-modules. See release notes here.
you plug an external projector and a dialog box
pops up to configure it!
I use 'nvidia-xsettings' to configure the screen.
You need synclient and SHMConfig. See
here
on how to configure and
here
Well, wireless can't connect after suspend
wakeup.
TO fix this create a file /etc/pm/config.d/madwifi-fix with the following text
If you use ath_pci driver, replace ath5k with ath_pci (to find out
Bug report here. Discussions here, here
OK this is a pet-peev of mine. I encoutered
this when trying modify Touchpad settings. That config
file is in XML format! Ugh!!
XML is for data, it is wonderful for that. But then the Architect-Astronauts went ahead and XMLified every thing.. config files, and even log files, any thing text! This over-XMLification plagued Java-Apps world. Rails came out as an alternative with sensitive convention as opposed to xml-over-loaded-configuration. Ok, that is an story for another time
Here is a quick comparison:
One thing I like in Unix is the simple PLAIN TEXT config files. I don't want to see these configurations become like, *gasp* windows registry configurations, that are buried some where non-intuitive. Simple text files are great. They work just fine for most of the situations. Lets use them when we can..
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Ubuntu 8.10 (ibex) + Lenovo T61 Laptop : Almost there!
This is specifically about how Ibex works on T61.I have a Lenovo T61 (Atheros Wireless card : mistake! + Nvidia (Quatro 140M) graphics card : big mistake!!). I have been using this laptop with Ubuntu Gutsy and it has been a constant annoyance to have Linux run on this. Here is why:
- suspend + wakeup support is shaky at best - for me this is crucial for a laptop
- wireless support is flaky, and wirless usually doesn't work after a suspend/wakeup
- brightness controls for screen doesn't work. This was a real annoyance and drains battery much quicker. NVidia ignored this bug despite a lot of complaints by users. So I worked with sun glasses to prevent my eyes from burning out by the screen glow :-)
- working with external projector is a chore and needs to restart X ! (*sigh*)
I use MacbookPro with MacOSX (10.5) at work. And I see how user friendly and straight forward Linux/Unix/FreeBSD can be. So there is still great promise for Linux.
So here are the things that mattered to me on IBEX
What Works:
INSTALL
Smooth.(I installed from a USB Stick; this is so much better than preparing and installing from fragile CD-Rs. See here for instructions. I used UNetBootin)
I use Kubuntu - as I like KDE.
Suspend /
Wakeup
Works right out of the box. Double click on
battery monitor and setup to go on Suspend when the lid is
closed.Excellent!
Nvidia 3D,
Brightness
Proprietary nvidia drivers are installed and
3D works right out of the box (nvidia driver v177.80.0).
Plus, plus, the brightness controls work!Yippie !!
Wireless
Newer
Atheros driver (ath5k) works; sorta see belowInstall the backport-modules. See release notes here.
External
Projector
you plug an external projector and a dialog box
pops up to configure it!I use 'nvidia-xsettings' to configure the screen.
Trackpad
settings
You need synclient and SHMConfig. See
here
on how to configure and
hereNow what needs improvment....
Wireless +
Suspend
Well, wireless can't connect after suspend
wakeup. TO fix this create a file /etc/pm/config.d/madwifi-fix with the following text
SUSPEND_MODULES="$SUSPEND_MODULES ath5k"
If you use ath_pci driver, replace ath5k with ath_pci (to find out
lsmod | grep -i ath)
Bug report here. Discussions here, here
STOP XMLifying the config
files!
OK this is a pet-peev of mine. I encoutered
this when trying modify Touchpad settings. That config
file is in XML format! Ugh!! XML is for data, it is wonderful for that. But then the Architect-Astronauts went ahead and XMLified every thing.. config files, and even log files, any thing text! This over-XMLification plagued Java-Apps world. Rails came out as an alternative with sensitive convention as opposed to xml-over-loaded-configuration. Ok, that is an story for another time
Here is a quick comparison:
| Simple Text,
name-value config file ( /etc/my.cnf - mysql config) |
XML config file (/usr/share/hal/fdi/policy/20thirdparty/11-x11-synaptics.fdi - some X config thing) |
[mysql] server_id = 1 port=3306 |
<?xml version="1.0"
encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <deviceinfo version="0.2"> <device> <match key="info.capabilities" contains="input.touchpad"> <match key="info.product" contains="Synaptics TouchPad"> <merge key="input.x11_driver" type="string">synaptics</merge> <!-- Arbitrary options can be passed to the driver using the input.x11_options property since xorg-server-1.5. --> <!-- EXAMPLE: <merge key="input.x11_options.LeftEdge" type="string">120</merge> --> <merge key="input.x11_options.SHMConfig" type="string">On</merge> </match> <match key="info.product" contains="AlpsPS/2 ALPS"> <merge key="input.x11_driver" type="string">synaptics</merge> </match> |
One thing I like in Unix is the simple PLAIN TEXT config files. I don't want to see these configurations become like, *gasp* windows registry configurations, that are buried some where non-intuitive. Simple text files are great. They work just fine for most of the situations. Lets use them when we can..
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