IBM is looking into making a T42p Linux Laptop

[w0qj]

fyi... interesting read!

Intel, IBM Make Workstation Push with Linux Laptop
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1608138,00.asp

With the workstation class of laptops carrying strong margins, the companies hope their Linux-based IBM T42-series laptop on steroids will appeal to the engineering community, Rob Enderle writes.

...

[erik]

that's very encouraging news!   perhaps we'll finally see the return of hardware modems in thinkpads.

-erik

[vjacob]

I'd like to see IBM Engineers working on ACPI support for ThinkPads.

I'd also like to see them support having Linux installed on your laptop, when you hand in your laptop (I might have to do that, even though it's only the battery....!....?)

[w0qj]

So linux installed on Thinkpad T42 cannot use the built-in modem?

Sorry if this sounds like a very noob question....


======
Quote:

> perhaps we'll finally see the return of hardware modems in thinkpads.

[jx3000]

Yeah but if their initiative only supports the newer models, what about the T41 model or older?

[Mofongo]

One thing that tripped me up for hours with my T42 is that the modem is different than the T41/T40 and the entire R series as well. Instead of being a Agere Softmodem, it is a Conexant HSF softmodem. The advantage of the Conexant is that there are professionally-made linux drivers for it. I bet that IBM went switched to Conexant because they could get a fully-featured linux driver for the modem.

The drivers cost $14.95 and they work flawlessly as far as I can tell. Now that I paid for them, IBM will probably put them on their website for free.

Mofongo

[Guest]

Linux is now available on specially ordered T42p:


"...although it hasn't been widely publicized, customers can special-order the T42p with Linux."

http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/ ... echnology/

[Guest]

is it going to be dual boot thinkpad or just plain linux thinkpad?

[jeeva]

a little bit off topic, but a german shop: nofost (www.nofost.de) sells dual-boot preloaded IBM T and R Notebooks with Linux. These guys add Linux and sell the notebooks with a restore CD which has an image of the installed Linux and add the right install media of (SUSE Linux 9.2 from Novell. But these are not true Linux-Notebooks.

By the way, the wrote that about the modem:

Das Modem funktioniert mit gepatcheten smartlink Treibern.
Unter SUSE LINUX 9.1 sind bereits die richtigen Treiber integriert.

Translated:
The modem works with patched "smartlink" drivers, these are already included in SUSE Linux 9.1 what means they will work without problems.

On other distros you probabbly have problems, unfortunately I cannot help, because I never needed the modem (what a luxury: W-LAN and Ethernet everywhere I am).