Thinkpads Forum

Thinkpad T42, 1 gig of memory.

I was using the T42 OK with a 2.6.18 non-PAE Linux kernel.

Now I tried to upgrade to a 2.6.32 kernel. But it looks like PAE is built in to this kernel, and the T42 refuses to boot with the 2.6.32 kernel.

I don't think the T42 processor supports PAE:

$ more /proc/cpuinfo
processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 13
model name : Intel(R) Pentium(R) M processor 1.70GHz
stepping : 6
cpu MHz : 1694.560
cache size : 2048 KB
fdiv_bug : no
hlt_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 2
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr mce cx8 mtrr pge mca cmov pat clflush d
ts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss tm pbe up est tm2

So I need to either make my T42 CPU understand PAE (this may be impossible).
Or is there a boot loader option I can specify in /etc/grub.conf to turn off PAE in the kernel?

Thanks,
Mike

Hey, welcome to the forum! The kernel you are trying to use is meant for PCs with 4GB+ RAM. Rather than trying to change your CPU to fit (don't think it can be done), why not just use a kernel that works with your hardware?

Thanks for your reply.

Are there 2.6.32 kernels available that don't have PAE enabled?
Maybe I can compile my own non-PAE 2.6.32 kernel?

Or maybe it's easiest to stick to my 2.6.18 kernel.

We have a Linux forum for questions like yours!

I moved your new thread out of sight (no replies yet) and moved this one here from the ThinkPad T4x Series forum.

There is no command line option to disable PAE as far as I know. Which distribution are you using? I thought all of them have a PAE and a non-PAE kernel to choose from (Fedora certainly has). Of course you can always compile your kernel, but on your CPU its probably faster to get a pre-built one

Volker wrote:There is no command line option to disable PAE as far as I know. Which distribution are you using? I thought all of them have a PAE and a non-PAE kernel to choose from (Fedora certainly has). Of course you can always compile your kernel, but on your CPU its probably faster to get a pre-built one

I'm using Oracle Linux.
2.6.18 had two kernel RPMS, one with PAE, one without PAE.
But it looks like PAE is built into 2.6.32 automatically.

mike004 wrote:I'm using Oracle Linux.

Oracle Linux is just a repackaged Redhat Enterprise Linux. Starting with RHEL 6, a PAE-enabled processor is a minimum requirement. It seems like you have to recompile or use a Fedora kernel.

Thanks for your reply.
Is RHEL 6 = 2.6.32 kernel?
Oracle call this kernel OEL 5.7!

Anyway looks like the processor in the T42 won't run a PAE kernel:
Intel Pentium M processor 1.70GHz