Ubuntu 7.10 on R51e ThinkPad

[archer6]

Thought I would check in and share my first Linux experience here.

I just finished getting my ThinkPad R51e set-up with Ubuntu 7.10 Gusty Gibbon. The install went really well, I had a CD with the OS on it. Simply booted from it, and chose install. The only problem I had was with the Wi-Fi. After a few tweaks I finally got it working really well.

I used my most basic ThinkPad to test Ubuntu and Linux in general to see if I would like it. Here's the very modest configuration of my 14" R51e: 1.5 GHz Celeron, 768 MB ram, 40GB 4200rpm HD. ! About as basic as you can get. In fact when I purchased it, the idea was to buy the least expensive ThinkPad laptop so I could just toss it in my backpack for weekend use no matter where I was. Therefore saving my prize T60p from being damaged. At that time I had no idea I would be putting Linux on it a year later.

Speed!.... now here is the shocker (at least for me) with a measly 1.5 Celeron, and 768 of shared memory, this baby is really fast! Even when running disk intensive Firefox on this slow 40GB 4200 rpm HD.

So there you have it, for anyone with a ThinkPad with as little resources as mine, this is proof of just how much one can get out of a basic set-up. I also believe that it says a lot for Ubuntu 7.10. I highly suggest trying Ubuntu if you've been wondering what it would be like to use Linux. Frankly, at the rate I'm going I may migrate away from Windows as my main OS, and set-up a dual boot configuration on my T60p. Thereby having the opportunity to use Windows when I must, and do all of my on-line work via Linux in comfort, security and safety. Ahh.... the best of both worlds.

Cheers!

[voneschenbach]

I completely agree! My first thinkpad was a T22 and 7.10 ran beautifully on it with half the processor capacity and a third of the memory. It was funny to see this post after your later post about putting Ubuntu on your T60p.

[archer6]

I completely agree! My first thinkpad was a T22 and 7.10 ran beautifully on it with half the processor capacity and a third of the memory. It was funny to see this post after your later post about putting Ubuntu on your T60p.

After trying out Ubuntu 7.10 on the R51e, and having such a fantastic experience, I was really eager to install Ubuntu on one of my T-series with more speed and resources. I also labored over the decision as to which version to install as 8.04 was released just after I put Gutsy Gibbon on the R51e. So I did a lot of thinking about just what would serve me best when on the road and carrying just one ThinkPad T (which I do quite a bit, for work) I decided to use my T60 and buy the ultra bay SATA Adapter, and install a Hard Drive there, as I rarely use the optical drive. In addition I tried the ultra bay battery but found it too small to ad much to the overall run time.

In the end, as you can see by my signature line, I decided to install 8.04 on the ultra bay drive while leaving XP Pro in place on the main drive, as suggested by another forum member here. This worked out perfectly. The procedure that was suggested to me, which I followed was to install the ultra bay HDD. Then remove the main HDD, and use an external USB CD drive to install Ubuntu. This way, with the original drive removed, there was no way for Grub to modify the WinXP Master Boot Record. A great idea. So here is how it works. When I boot up, if I take no action it boots to Windows as it would normally.

If during the IBM/Lenovo splash screen I push the F12 key, a boot menu appears and I then select the ultra bay drive and Ubuntu boots. Thus I have the best of both worlds. Not only that, I can remove the ultra bay HDD, and replace it with an optical drive with no other action or mods required. And along those same lines, if I want to, I can install the Ubuntu drive in my T60p, without disturbing anything else.

I could not be happier.