Thinkpads Forum

Hello everyone! I love the forum, and read it a lot before I made my decision to buy a Lenovo. I'm going to graduate school in the fall, and I thought it would be a good time to get my first laptop; a computer I can take back and forth from my place to the lab that will have good performance, security, ergonomics, and reliability. Well my new T60 finally came today, and I hope to contribute back to the forum by chronicling my adventures with it. The end goal is to get it set up as a mainly Linux machine, with the Windows installation shrunk down in case I might need it for small tasks later. The reason I want to use Linux is for the stability and network utility, plus, I appreciate a good challenge. I have installed Linux before, but only on desktops. I plan to go with Ubuntu, mainly because I like the graphical package management, and the fact that there is a small How-To for installing Dapper Drake on a T60 on ThinkWiki. Dapper Drake is actually still in development, with a scheduled final release date of June 1st, so I have decided to wait a week or so to foray into Linux. So for now, I will kick this thread off by listing the specs and describing my first impressions.

The computer:
-ThinkPad T60, model 2007B28
-Intel Core Duo 2.0 GHz processor (T2500)
-14.1" SXGA display, 1400x1050
-ATI Mobility Radeon X1400, 128 MB
-Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG controller
-1 GB memory, with another 1 GB stick on the way to be installed (and described ) later
-I stuck with the 6 cell battery for now

First impressions:
Well, the computer shipped earlier than I was told it would, which is nice. I made the order about a week and a half ago, and got the first of several shipments today. Luckily, it was the important one, the one with the computer . And let me tell you, I am thrilled. I'm not well versed in laptops, but this thing is stunning. The keyboard is great, with wonderful crisp responses from the keys. Same with the Trackpoint, much easier to use than any touch pads I've ever seen. The function keys are really nice too, lots of common tasks are readily available. The little light at the top is a cool addition, works very well for working a dark room. Turning on the system and setting it up for the first time is a breeze, however there is the one thing I hate about all factory built computers: preinstalled software. So I had to spend a little bit going through Add/Remove programs to get all the limited license stuff off (like Symantec) and replacing it with free software that is just as good (AVG ). The IBM ThinkVantage utilities are really nice though, I love the profile switcher for networks. Much better than just having Windows find the strongest network, as you can specify special security settings, applications, homepages, printers, whatever you want for different networks.

So what's next?
Well, I spent the first day with my T60 ogling it and getting Windows just how I like it, which is a routine I have down pretty well. The excitement will really start next week or so, when I start trying to install Dapper Drake. So stay tuned .

Tron penned: "unenlightened" majority

If you are going to contribute, do NOT start that crap in here or you will not last.

Windows is a fine operating system. It has been running non-stop and problem-free for years on my Desktop. It runs critical applications that Linux has never heard of.

If you want to run Linux, fine. Get on with it. But stop putting people smarter than you down.

By the way, I have run RedHat 6, 7, 7.3, 8, 9, SuSE 9, Gentoo and Ubuntu 5.1. I know and understand Linux.
... JD Hurst

BUT I DON'T KNOW WHY PEOPLE RUNING ON LINUX AND I DON'T KNOW THAT "OS" IF CALLED LIKE THAT. HOWEVER, I HEARD FROM LUNIX OF SOME XX NAME THAT HAS A GREAT NETWORK SECURITY, SO WINDOWS HAS IT ON "XP PRO" WHICH IS GOOD ON NETWORK SECURITY AND EASY TO USE, SOME SAID LINUX HAS GOOD AMINISTRATION ON GRAPHICS, WELL I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THAT BUT, I THINK THE GRAPHIC HARDWARE IS THAT DOING THE JOB LIKE ATI RADEON.

OVERALL I THINK WINDOWS HAS IT ALL AND THE MOST COMPLETE OS IS WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL AND HAS A LOT LESS PROBLEMS THAN OTHER OS. EXCEPT OF MAC THAT IS ALMOST NOT VULNERABLE TO VIRUS ETC. BUT MAC OS IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT, BUT WINDOWS IS THE ONLY THAT WORKS HARD ON EVERYTHING PERIOD. IS ESSENTIAL!

OR ANSWER THIS: WHY BUSINESS PEOPLE WORK ON WINDOWS AND NOT ON LINUX? BEAT THIS!

ANOTHER THING WHAY IT'S FREE????

I SAW A THOUSANDS OF POSTS THAT SAID IN THIS WAY: " I ALWAYS USE WINDOWS FOR WORK AND MAC FOR PLAY OR ENTERTAINMENT" SO I DID NOT SEE LINUX TO WORK ON! AND IN THIS FORUM SPECIALLY I READ A LOT LIKE THIS: " I USE MY THINKPAD TO WORK AND MY MACBOOCKPRO TO PLAY AT HOME"
THAT'S WHY I SEE PEOPLE TRYING TO HACK THINKPADS WITH DUAL BOOT WINDOWS AND MAC AT SAME TIME!

EXCUSE MY IGNORANCE AGAIN ABOUT OS BUT THAT WHAT I SEE SO FAR AND THIS FORUM IS VERY HELPFUL FOR ME AND BY THE WAY I STILL NOT HAVING MY DECITION FOR MY FIRST LAPTOP IN MY LIFE WICH I WANT IS A THINKPAD! REALLY I 'M VERY INCLINE ON THE PRICE AND MY NEEDS IS FOR PERSONAL USE SO I WAS CONSIDERING A DELL A WHILE AGO I WAS ALMOST TO BUY A LATITUDE D 820 BEFORE I FOUND THIS FORUM SO I CALL DELL AND THEY TOLD ME THAT IT CANNOT BE FOR ME 'CAUSE I'M NOT A BUSINESS GUY AND HAVE TO PROVE IT ETC. WELL I DON'T KNOW IF I'M CONCLUDING IF THIS IS MY DESTINATION WHERE I CAME HERE AND TO BUY I THINKPAD OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT ! BUT NOW I READ AND LEARNED A LOT FROM THIS FORUM AND I SAY THANK'S TO EVERYONE IN THIS FORUM FOR YOUR INFO.!!!!!

IF I'M WRONG ON SOMETHING FEEL FREE TO TELL ME SO THAT'S ANOTHER WAY PEOPLE LEARN! HAHAHAHA! =)) MAYBE I SAY ALL THIS BECAUSE I NEVER USE LUNIX AND EITHER MAC OS!! IT NEVER ATTRACTS ME TO USE THEM!

jdhurst wrote:If you want to run Linux, fine. Get on with it. But stop putting people smarter than you down.

Sorry, I didn't mean it in a disparaging way. The OS does boil down to a choice, like you said. I don't want to get off on the wrong foot here, the community is full of smart and helpful people that I don't want to piss off for no reason. So I've edited the post. I'll try to keep it a little more professional in the future. However, if nobody is going to find this thread helpful or constructive then it's just clutter, but I guess I'll leave that up to the mods as it's their call. Sorry again.

LOL @ creed_mty



Tron, I dont think you'll be able to use any of the ThinkVantage software.. they dont make it for linux... this would include hotkeys, trackpoint config, touch pad config, active protection system, fingerprint reader, the little keyboard light you appreciate.. for the T60p the gfx card is not at all suppored for linux.. so that ruled out the option for me quickly.. i think sshing to my gentoo box for the network utils will work fine enough for me..

sergeycentral wrote:T60p the gfx card is not at all suppored for linux

The more recent ATI proprietary drivers can be coerced to work very well with T60p.

jdhurst wrote:Tron penned: "unenlightened" majority

If you are going to contribute, do NOT start that crap in here or you will not last.

Windows is a fine operating system. It has been running non-stop and problem-free for years on my Desktop. It runs critical applications that Linux has never heard of.

If you want to run Linux, fine. Get on with it. But stop putting people smarter than you down.

By the way, I have run RedHat 6, 7, 7.3, 8, 9, SuSE 9, Gentoo and Ubuntu 5.1. I know and understand Linux.
... JD Hurst

Well said....Thank You!

I actually was considering installing a dual-boot installation of Ubuntu on my T60. Let me know how it goes.

sergeycentral wrote:LOL @ creed_mty



Tron, I dont think you'll be able to use any of the ThinkVantage software.. they dont make it for linux... this would include hotkeys, trackpoint config, touch pad config, active protection system, fingerprint reader, the little keyboard light you appreciate.. for the T60p the gfx card is not at all suppored for linux.. so that ruled out the option for me quickly.. i think sshing to my gentoo box for the network utils will work fine enough for me..

There are utilities to replicate the thinkvantage tools. Look here
http://tpctl.sourceforge.net/

a_d_y_a wrote:

sergeycentral wrote:LOL @ creed_mty



Tron, I dont think you'll be able to use any of the ThinkVantage software.. they dont make it for linux... this would include hotkeys, trackpoint config, touch pad config, active protection system, fingerprint reader, the little keyboard light you appreciate.. for the T60p the gfx card is not at all suppored for linux.. so that ruled out the option for me quickly.. i think sshing to my gentoo box for the network utils will work fine enough for me..

There are utilities to replicate the thinkvantage tools. Look here
http://tpctl.sourceforge.net/

That is not a full replication of the ThinkVantage tools; it provides more of the on-screen identification and functionality to some of the key combos. It doesn't emulate the Software Installer, nor Access Connections, etc.

And, if I recall correctly, ATI has drivers out for their latest cards that should work fine with the T60 with a small amount of tweaking.

thanks for the info

I have my Thinkpad T60 dual booting XP Pro / Ubuntu 6.06. It's pretty nice especially with XGL going. It's not that difficult, the WIKI basically had everything you need, you could wait a few weeks, Dapper is suppose to be final beginning of June. Final build will have the intel 3945 wireless working correctly with WPA out of the box.

I also installed ubuntu without a problem, couldn't get xgl working but that doens't matter.

Good to hear that you did not run into any problems, nhidog and kimx. How do you like working with the computer in linux as opposed to windows? I am really beginning to dig using this thing in windows, but that may just be because I'm excited about having a laptop in general. Does the Trackpoint work as well? How about the fxn keys? And my precious little light? Are you using the tcptl package linked to earlier? Thanks for the helpful comments!

The light worked out of the box

Screen light strenght also worked right out of the box.

Everything can be worked on (i.e. fn keys, biometrics, etc...), the most difficult task is getting suspension and hibernation to work correctly. Some distro will be able to do it correctly while other will be quite difficult to get it working, so I just disable those features since my laptop is usually plugged into an outlet.

As other point out, some of the function keys are handled directly by onboard ic like the thinklight so it works no matter probably while booting up it'll work. Kimx you should really try XGL, it is jaw dropping, I have a screenshot of it earlier in another post.

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g308/ ... enshot.png

I know that xgl is stunning, but it's not nessesary to get it to work before I can use ubuntu. But I would appriciate if you would point me in the direction of a howto that works with the thinkpad. I could find any that worked to me.

kimx,

I have x1300 gfx so I used this thread as a starting point http://compiz.net/viewtopic.php?id=389. I personally use method 2, it gives me an option to log into gnome session in case XGL is broken after an update (which can and will happen since it is experimental).

You also want to read this thread http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=150854 as it contains a paramter you need to place into your xorg.conf file to prevent XGL from crashing within a few minutes.

Again the thread is specific to ATI dedicated gfx, not the intel one.

After that its just lots of eye candy and playing around. Good luck.

creed_mty wrote:BUT I DON'T KNOW WHY PEOPLE RUNING ON LINUX AND I DON'T KNOW THAT "OS" IF CALLED LIKE THAT.

If you don't know Linux, doesn't mean it isn't an Operating System.

OVERALL I THINK WINDOWS HAS .... A LOT LESS PROBLEMS THAN OTHER OS.

Can you please justify it? What actually is a problem?

BUT WINDOWS IS THE ONLY THAT WORKS HARD ON EVERYTHING PERIOD.

And whay exactly is that? Why is Windows the ONLY one? Should I assume that SUN, HP, IBM and other server and professional workstation manufacturers are making products so you could get amused and laugh at them?

OR ANSWER THIS: WHY BUSINESS PEOPLE WORK ON WINDOWS AND NOT ON LINUX? BEAT THIS!

Because there are more applications available on Windows, and besides business people, like you, don't know Linux.

ANOTHER THING WHAY IT'S FREE????

Cause it's Open Source. If you would like to pay to get satisfied, get RHEL 4 with 250 USD licencing fee.

Bottom line, every OS has its own Pros. and Cons. and has its own uses, so I suggest you to be carefull about how you comment on people's posts. Besides, read the forum rules and stop using all caps.

Hamid I wouldnt even bother.. he's oviously quite ignorant

Well normally I wouldn't either, but the text seemed pretty insultive to me while using all caps ......

Lol read some his other posts, it kinda cracks me up.

Sometimes, people have to type in all caps because of visual impairment or such like.

And I don't want to see name calling or any hint of ad hominem in here....OK?

Tron wrote:... Dapper Drake is actually still in development, with a scheduled final release date of June 1st, so I have decided to wait a week or so to foray into Linux...

Any update on this since Dapper Drake (Ubuntu) has been officially released? I have Dapper on my desktop, and absolutely love it...but I am considering getting a T60 to replace my desktop....

Thanks,
Neomatrix