T40: Hard drive, WLAN card and Linux

[jk7410]

Hello,

I have a few questions that I hope you can answer for me…

I have an IBM T40, Type 2373-14G with BIOS version 2.02

When I bought the machine, it came with a 30 GB hard drive. Later I replaced that drive with a 40 GB Seagate drive. That worked fine.

Now I would like to install a 120 GB drive (http://kortlink.dk/3ey8 - Danish site), but I’m in doubt if will work in my machine?


My T40 was born without a WLAN card. I would like to install an Intel Pro Wireless LAN 2200BG (73P2802) card. But will it work out of the box – or do I need to crack my BIOS to get it work?


I have installed Linux Mandriva Free 2007, and it works fine, but I find the power management disappointing. It runs 4 hours on battery in Windows XP, but only 2 hours in Mandriva.

Are there any better solutions for the T40 when it comes to Linux (Kubuntu, SuSe, Knoppix etc.)?
I prefer the KDE-desktop.


Best regards

John

[crazyfrog]

T40 will pick up the 120GB hard drive without problem (need confirm from someone else).

You do need to do some hacking before you can add a mini-pci wireless card into your T40. The easiest way is to use the small no-1802 utility which will set a certain bit in the CMOS memory. It is safer than hacking BIOS. For more information see: Problem with unauthorized MiniPCI network card

No experience of running Linux directly in a T4X, instead I use vmware to run FreeBSD/Linux/Solaris in my ThinkPad. Maybe this will help?