What distro with working ACPI for T60 2007-FUG?

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propellen · #1 Post by **propellen** » Thu May 03, 2007 4:45 pm

Hi,

I'm on the lookout for a linux distro that is working as much out of the box as possible for my Thinkpad T60 2007-FUG.
Which one do you suggest?

Thanks.
propellen

Dead1nside · #2 Post by **Dead1nside** » Thu May 03, 2007 7:43 pm

What's the wireless chip inside it? (Sorry, I'm being lazy, can't be bothered to look up your code)

I'd suggest Fedora 7, which should be released by the end of the month. I'm sure everyone else however will suggest the new Ubuntu, Feisty Fawn is it? That seems popular with well, everybody.

I've had reasonably good experiences with Fedora Core 5,6 on my T41p, but all your hardware is different. My only major stumble was getting wifi to work, as I have the Thinkpad branded device I needed to use the madwifi drivers which aren't included by default in Fedora.

Have you had any previous Linux experience? I can point you to a very good FAQ for Fedora - http://www.fedorafaq.org/ . That'll help you with all the basic questions people have, like getting mp3 to work. Stuff like that.

Actually, when thinking about it now. If you want to install right now. Then download a Ubuntu live CD and see what works, that's the beauty of the Live CDs. Else wait till the end of the month and download the new Fedora 7 live cd. Should be good.

EDIT: You're a lucky one, just looked up your code and you've got Intel abg. That'll work out of the box to my knowledge. I don't think you'll have problems with your screen resolution, that was solved for me in Fedora Core 6. I did however have a lot of problems with suspend-to-ram, never got it to work. But we're talking about Fedora Core 6 here, as I say, wait for Fedora 7. Good luck.

EDIT2: Looks like I'm feeding you wrong information, bypass much of what I'm saying and go onto this guide. http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Installin ... inkPad_T60

propellen · #3 Post by **propellen** » Fri May 04, 2007 3:44 am

Hi,

Thanks for replying, mate!
I was hoping that Ubuntu 7.04 had acpi support right out of the box.
I am currently running the Live Ubuntu Cd, and the ACPI seems to be working ok. The fan is pretty much running all time, unlike in Windows.
Really big shame though, cause Ubuntu is a really likeable OS.

So, if anyone in here has a tip on how to tweak the ACPI to perfection I would be forever greatful.

Again thanks.
propellen

Dead1nside · #4 Post by **Dead1nside** » Fri May 04, 2007 9:11 am

Yeh good choice, the LiveCD route shows you what'll work out of the box without risking your data.

IBM-ACPI is included in the kernel these days, so it all works fine out of the box. There should be some fan control utilities around. Try asking on a Ubuntu specific board, as you can see the Linux community on Thinkpads.com is only a fraction of what there is.

Good luck.

EDIT: Doing a quick search for "linux thinkpad fan" it seems that fan control in the ibm-acpi package is experimental at the moment, looking on it's page it doesn't seem like the compatibility matrix has been updated for the 60 models, although I'm sure that other people are having the same problem as you. Have a search around, as I said. There's always someone else working on a solution - that's what is great about open source software.

EDIT 2:
'Fan

One of the major problems of the T60 is a thermal issue. The procesor is quit cool (about 50 degree celsius) and also battery (about 50 degree C) and harddisk (about 40 degree C) are absolutely fine. BUT the powerful graphiccard is a problem. In idle-mode it gets quit hot, round about 75 degree C. Playing some minutes doom3 or UT2004 brings it up to 86-87 degree. Thats still no problem for that card, it get trouble when it get hotter than 110 degrees. BUT your fan of the T60 has to cool the card all the time. also in idle mode. So it's always running. It is not too loud, but good hearable. And always running parts of a computer are fragile....

I got some mails from users that with ibm-acpi you can control the fan. That is correct. And with a current version and forcing module-load with experimental=1 you can switch on/off the fan (no more detailed control is possible right now). BUT I do not recommend to switch the fan off, becaus your graphiccard simply needs it, ALL the time ! You risk your hardware when switching it of. Keep that in your mind.'

Source: http://www.kraus.tk/installnotes/T60/ThinkPad-T60.htm

whizkid · #5 Post by **whizkid** » Fri May 04, 2007 10:06 am

I'm running Fedora 6 on my T60, and the fan runs when it needs to, which is rarely. Suspend and resume work nearly all the time if I do NOT use the 3D desktop, and about half the time if I do.

FC6 doesn't have built-in drivers for either the Intel or ThinkPad wifi cards, but F7 will have the Intel driver... and it doesn't work well yet.

There is a Fedora 7 Test 4 Live CD you should try.

propellen · #6 Post by **propellen** » Fri May 04, 2007 11:06 am

Hi,

Thanks for replying guys!

I tried out Fedora 7 Test 4 and the ACPI is working better than in Ubuntu, but still not as good as in Windows..
I'm tempted to try out the Fedora 6 Live cd, just to try out if i get the same results as you, whizkid. Fedora 7 test 4 is definitely on to something regarding the ACPI, let us hope that they will get it _proper_ when the final 7 is comming..

Thanks.
propellen

EDIT:
I've tried fedora 6, and the acpi seems to work flawless

I'm grabbing the dvd image now and will install it completely tomorrow.
Got any tips?
Some important tweaks?

I'm going to follow this install guide.

EDIT2:
lol,
Did you write that guide at thinkwiki, whizkid ?
Niceness

Dead1nside · #7 Post by **Dead1nside** » Fri May 04, 2007 6:12 pm

I'm glad everything is working fine. I'm always one to steer people to Fedora over Ubuntu.

propellen · #8 Post by **propellen** » Sat May 05, 2007 4:54 am

Fedora looks really good.
But i'm having some issues with getting online with my ethernet cable (and the wifi ofcourse).
When i installed Fedora i didnt have the ethernet cable plugged in, and now it doesnt recognize it. The eth0 fails on bootup..

It installed the wrong kernel, but as long as my eth0 doesn work I am unable to switch it...

Any suggestions would be highly appreciated

propellen

whizkid · #9 Post by **whizkid** » Sat May 05, 2007 9:23 am

I wrote some of the 600X guides, but somebody beat me to the T60 stuff. As for your ethernet, you should be able to start System->Administration->Network and see what's up there. It may be as simple as activating your network device. That program (system-config-network, IIRC) is very handy.

BUT, if you plan on using WiFi a lot, and NetworkManager (which is nice), you'll want your network devices DEactivated at startup.

First, plug in the cable. If your NIC appears and is inactive, just activate it and it should fire up. If it's not there, while on the Devices tab, click New, make sure Ethernet is selected, click Forward, and in mine, Intel Corporation 82573L Gigabit Ethernet Controller shows up.

That should get you going.

What distro with working ACPI for T60 2007-FUG?

What distro with working ACPI for T60 2007-FUG?

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