Thinkpads Forum

I have ubuntu hardy installed on my X40. For the most part I like it, but I haven't thus far been able to get the hdapsd and hdaps-utils packages to do anything (let alone get HD parking working, which is what I want).

Does anyone know if there's a linux distribution which might get this working without too much messing about?

OK, I guess not.

In that case, has anyone here managed to get hdaps working with Ubuntu Hardy on an X40?

Right. Silence is good information! Knowing at least that people aren't succeeding diminishes the likely returns of my trying (with my limited knowledge).

Just to take one step down further: has anyone here managed to get hdaps working on an X40 using any linux distro?

Have you looked at thinkwiki.org?

whizkid wrote:Have you looked at thinkwiki.org?

I have. There's some useful info there, but it's split across different articles that conflict somewhat, with little indication of what's the most recent info. As most of the mentions are of rather old kernels, I suspect it's all a bit out of date.

I guess what I wanted was to hear from someone that they've managed this with a recent version of some distro. I don't mind spending a bit of time researching and playing, if I'm reasonably sure that it's feasible.

Perhaps it's not really worth the effort-expenditure? AFAIK suspending the machine should park the HD heads, so hdaps is only relevant to unexpected impacts. But I admit to not knowing much about it.

Reason I never got the chance to do it is because my T40 doesn't support it. I thought it was just a matter of installing a utility? Anyways, I would not be surprised if the thinkwiki info is not in sync with Ubuntu 8.04, but it should do fine for the 7.x versions.

It's really easy to build modules following the thinkwiki instructions. While this may be more work than you intended, you could also set kernel flags per lesswatts.org and your experimentation, if wanted.

(I have hdapsd from tp_smapi installed in 2.6.24, from source, on an x61s under Debian Experimental. I do have to force hdaps.ko to load.)

Hi,

did you try the hdaps_ec module which is shipped with the Ubuntu kernel? hdaps_ec is the advanced hdaps module which is included in the tp_smapi package.

Disk parking is only working if you apply the disk_protect patch and compile your own kernel.

Best regards,
Whoopie

Whoopie wrote:Hi,

did you try the hdaps_ec module which is shipped with the Ubuntu kernel? hdaps_ec is the advanced hdaps module which is included in the tp_smapi package.

Disk parking is only working if you apply the disk_protect patch and compile your own kernel.

Best regards,
Whoopie

Right, thanks for the information.

I haven't tried anything at all as yet; just gathering information. I wanted to be sure that it's really possible before spending too much time on it. The only proof I'll really believe is when I hear that someone actually has it working on an X40

Hey Whoopie -- I just looked at your thinkpads.com wiki page, and the great collection of patches etc for thinkpads. I'll have time to play with this stuff in a couple of weeks. Look forward to trying it all out.

My distribution is Arch Linux

I don't really know much about patching kernels and such, but someone on the AUR - user made packages - submitted the Thinkpad Kernel - and I use that.

It has the disk_protect patch applied and after you install it along with hdaps from another package, it works (or so I believe - I dont really know how to check)

tofu wrote:My distribution is Arch Linux

I don't really know much about patching kernels and such, but someone on the AUR - user made packages - submitted the Thinkpad Kernel - and I use that.

It has the disk_protect patch applied and after you install it along with hdaps from another package, it works (or so I believe - I dont really know how to check)

OK that's interesting, thanks. I had been intending to give Arch a try sometime (when I can afford a day or two with a broken system!).

crispinb,

Recompiling the kernel is where I got stuck.

Hard disk parking is one of those things that I want to get working. I looked at the site of the folks who build the disk parking utility and it looked like they were going to modify how it's done a bit.

The other thing I want is to get my wifi LED to work under Hardy Heron. Apparently the drivers been patched but I'm unsure how to update my kernel with it. I'm waiting for someone with more experience to write a howto before I give it another shot.

EarloftheWest wrote:crispinb,

Recompiling the kernel is where I got stuck.

Hard disk parking is one of those things that I want to get working. I looked at the site of the folks who build the disk parking utility and it looked like they were going to modify how it's done a bit.

It'll be a while before I get to it (weeks), but if I get anywhere I'll document what I do and post here. It's years since I recompiled a kernel, but it was well-documented back then, and I imagine it's feasible with a bit of patience and method

EarloftheWest wrote:
The other thing I want is to get my wifi LED to work under Hardy Heron. Apparently the drivers been patched but I'm unsure how to update my kernel with it. I'm waiting for someone with more experience to write a howto before I give it another shot.

Right. I haven't even figured out yet how to switch my wireless off (Fn-F5 doesn't work), which would be my first priority.

I just pressed the key combination and it turned off my Wireless. I'm using Hardy Heron on a T61.
I wonder why it's not working for you.