Does Linux install well on x61s?

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docinthebox · #1 Post by **docinthebox** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 10:14 pm

Has anyone successfully installed Linux on the x61s? In particular, I'm interested in either CentOS 5.0 or Debian Etch. But info on any recent distro would be appreciated.

Thanks!

MOD EDIT: Topic moved to Linux forum. Poster notified.

Antioch · #2 Post by **Antioch** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 11:28 pm

You'll have to use very new drivers.

To install you'll also need to set the sata in the BIOS to compatability mode.

Check http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Installation
If theres not enough information on other's X61 installs, check the T61 install page. Although they are different machines, the intel graphics, WiFi, and chipset are the same (if they have intel graphics installed instead of nVidia graphics). To get 3d acceleration I believe you need the newest version of X.Org as the basic intel drivers are built into it.

I know that the new Ubuntu release (Gusty Gibbon) in October (the beta will be out soon) should work on the X61. I've seen people who backported the alpha drivers and such to the current release and things seem to work fine.

Antioch · #3 Post by **Antioch** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 11:32 pm

I checked the X61 install page (Ive only ever looked at the T61 page and the X61 was nonexistant a few weeks ago) and the sound *does* work. You simply have to patch ALSA up. The T61 page talks about it. I've also seen a thread in ubuntuforums about it as well. It does work. Also, the wifi works as well, however the drivers are a a work in progress. Rather, if you have the non-AGN card the drivers already exist. If you have the AGN card the drivers are being developed and are stable for non-N mode. N mode is still being worked on. Check: http://intellinuxwireless.org/ or the ubuntuforums for more.

docinthebox · #4 Post by **docinthebox** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 5:32 am

Thanks for the info. I guess if Ubuntu 7.04 installs well, then Debian Etch might be okay as well. Kinda wondering about CentOS 5.0 though. I don't think it has the latest drivers. Right now, CentOS 5.0 works perfectly on my T7200 laptop (similar to T60). If it doesn't work on X61s, I would rather wait to upgrade to a new laptop. I use CentOS 5.0 at work for software development.

levimax · #5 Post by **levimax** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 2:14 pm

I just installed Ubuntu 7.04 on an x61s. Everything except the sound and wireless work out of the box.

In order to get the wireless to work you need to update to the latest kernel (back-ported from "Gutsy") 2.6.22-10. This can be done very easily with a script and with this Kernel the AGN wireless card works perfectly (it actually works better than it does in Windows!)

There is a lot written on the sound issue and if you install the latest ALSA patches it will work. There is a script for this as well but it is not as easy/reliable as the kernel upgrade. A lot of people seem to be working on it so it should not be too long before it also becomes "easy".

If you are looking at other distributions the most important issue is the Kernel version. The newer the better and something like 2.6.22-6 or newer is required for the wireless and the sound.

Hope this helps

lightweight · #6 Post by **lightweight** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 12:10 am

levimax,

How's your x61s' battery life with 2.6.22-10? Do you use powertop's suggested flags, and if not, can you post your kernel config?

Thank you.

whizkid · #7 Post by **whizkid** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 7:01 am

CentOS 5 should work, eventually. It might take a while for sound and the latest video, but it will.

You can certainly try an installation, and get updates and go from there. In the worst case, you'd be using a vesa driver, but at full resolution, and no sound, but the fix for sound is in the pipeline and will be out soon.

baldingunixgeek · #8 Post by **baldingunixgeek** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 7:57 am

If you like CentOS, but need bleeding-edge drivers, why not go with Fedora 7 (RHES testbed, in some ways)? Working very well here on my T61. Good luck! Half the fun is getting everything working....

hircus · #9 Post by **hircus** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 10:11 am

baldingunixgeek wrote:If you like CentOS, but need bleeding-edge drivers, why not go with Fedora 7 (RHES testbed, in some ways)?

Well, for software development you want to make sure you are building against the same libraries you will be deploying against.

I'm in a similar situation, needing to be able to test packages for RHEL5 on my T61, so I will probably post a guide on what packages from Fedora 7 or 8 you need to install. Currently, CentOS installs but there is no sound and wireless support.

You still probably want to develop on a more current distribution, and only drop down to CentOS for testing, though

Does Linux install well on x61s?

Does Linux install well on x61s?

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