Thinkpads Forum

I'm not exactly sure as to which distribution has the most out-of-the-box compatibility with the IBM hardware (Fn combination keys, wireless adapter, etc), but I'm leaning on openSUSE having read this post. The author uses a T42, which I assume has essentially the same hardware as the T43, though the remaining differences cause some uncertainty. Does anyone have better ideas?

On another note, is it possible to use Windows XP's diskpart utility to create the partition for Linux (as opposed to other software like Partition Magic), or does the fact that the resulting partition is created in NTFS format (which most Linux distributions seem to abhor) impede me from doing so?

Thanks,
Ryan

Anyone? After 24 views, surely someone must know part, if not the whole, of the answer to this.

I installed Ubuntu 5.10RC on my T43 this weekend. Everything went smoothly and I only needed to install the tpb package to get the special Thinkpad buttons to work. As far as I can tell, all the major hardware (x300 video, sound, Atheros wifi, bluetooth, etc.) was detected and worked without having to do anything. I didn't even have to manually set the resolution to 1400x1050. Only problems I've had are with getting suspend, hibernate, and WPA wifi encryption working since all of my experience with Linux has been with desktops.

Oh, and I used QtParted on a Knoppix 3.9 CD I had lying around to resize my Windows NTFS partition. You don't need to worry about creating any Linux partitions because your Linux Install CD will allow you to create the partitions that you need.

Hope this helps.

-Eric

Thanks, yakman.

I've also had good luck with Ubuntu on a T42p - a few minor issues (wireless LED, can control either BT or Wifi with Fn+F5 but not both, etc.) but for the most part it worked out of the box. Ed Mendleson has a howto that covers most of the tweaks like getting tbp, etc.

Ed Gibbs

I am using SuSE 9.3 and it worked 100% out of the box with very little fiddling on a T40p.

Wireless, bluetooth, high speed USB, CD write all were OK. DVD playing does not work but thats probably because I did not select to install the necessary software. You have to remember to have a swap that is atleast 2x RAM for hibernate/suspend to work without issues ( if less than this, they will work but with issues ). Only issue was that the installer insisted that my card was a Radeon RSV with 32MB something while it is actually a Mobility M9 with 64MB ( Radeon 9000 ) but that was easily fixed by picking the right card from a list. Once that was done, SXGA+ resolution at 24bits was available.

I also suggest configuring the wireless at install rather than waiting for the initial boot as some others have suggested on other linux forums for SuSE installs on Thinkpad. As always, YMMV.

I think that you should not use Windows diskpart exclusively to create the partitions that you will use with linux for a couple of reasons:

- diskpart cannot ( to the best of my knowledge but I may be wrong ) create LINUX swap partitions ( these are of 'raw' type I think )
- diskpart will automatically make an extended partition after creating a primary partion while most linux partitioning tools will keep making primary partitions as long as you ask them if the limit has not been reached.

The partitioning and formatting processes are separate so you can make partitions with any tool and then the OS that will use them will format those partitions in the style/'flavor' that you choose as long as the OS supports it. This means you can use Windows to create partitions that will be used by linux as long as you do not use Windows to format those partitions. Once you start the linux install, it will use the partitions that you created and format them appropriately. If you format the partitions with windows ( FAT/FAT32/NTFS ), you will not be able to use them properly with linux ( FAT/FAT32 do not support user permissions and will be accessible by all in linux while NTFS partitions are not supported by the base linux kernel without additional drivers that still cannot map the NTFS user file permissions model to the linux file permissions model perfectly )

I should also mention that for $40 or so, you can get Novell (SuSE) Desktop LINUX that is certified on quite a few Thinkpads ( which means that Novell gurantees you that it WILL work with all hardware as designed ). You can try it out for 60 days free before buying with registration that gets you a trial key.

Check out the start and order pages for Novell desktop here:
http://www.novell.com/products/desktop/

And a list of Novell certified IBM hardware including most (if not all, the list is quite comprehensive ) Thinkpads and Desktops including T4x/R4x/R5x/A3x series here.
http://developer.novell.com/yessearch/S ... ategory=16

If you machine is on the list then you are in luck

Your question could make more sense here... Why lean towards an OSS only distro when compatibility is your main concern?..

The Retail/non-free distros are going to work with a wider range of hardware like your T43 "out-of-the-box"

I recommend SuSE.