Ubuntu

[derke92]

Hi all,

Has anyone installed, and got running, Ubuntu on a Thinkpad 600e?
If you have please tell me how because I am having a nightmare trying.

[tomh009]

What kind of problems are you having?

[derke92]

Hi thanks for the reply.
I just cannot get it to run. I install it and then get told to reboot to get it to run.
But when it reboots I get a screen that tells me to press esc. .
When I do I get several options and press the install normally and I just get a blank screen.
When I tried it on my 600X I got it installed and then I got a brown screen and my cursor froze and I could do nothing.
BTW it is the 8.04 that I am trying to install but I am waiting for delivery of the latest 9.04 to arrive but it will be weeks before that arrives.
I am going to try to download the 9.04 tomorrow as the previous downloads did not burn on to the CD correctly as I have just learnt that I need to burn an ISO file.

Regards,
Derek.

[tomh009]

OK, so that's not so good, but unfortunately also rather mysterious. If it makes you feel any better, I had Ubuntu install problems with three different virtual machines (Virtual PC, VMWare, Virtual Box) ... have you previously tried any other Linux/UNIX install? If so, with what results?

[derke92]

No previous installs, just this one.

[tomh009]

If the 9.04 doesn't work for you, you could try Fedora or DesktopBSD ...

[derke92]

Thanks I will try that later.
Regards,
Derek.

[derke92]

Hi,
I have been trying all day to get the Fedora downloaded to the 600e but it will not work.
I downloaded it from the web on my desktop and burnt it to a disc. When I put it in the thinkpad it starts to install and I get as far as install on hard drive part. When I click on this icon the disc drive just keeps making it's zip-zip noise and, at one point, I had this for about 2 hours but it would not load.
I stopped it and checked to see if had been installed on to the HDD but there was nothing.
Any idea what I am doing wrong please?

Derek.

[Neil]

Are you using a CD-RW or CD-R disc. My 600e usually won't read RW discs well enough. And a few CD-R discs won't work. Sometimes they will start the boot process, but fail to complete. I find that even with CD-R discs I have to burn them at no more than 2X or the 600e drive won't read them, when newer drives don't have any trouble. Don't know if that will help, it's just a thought. I don't think I've ever tried installing Ubuntu, I've always used lighter distros like Puppy or DSL on the 600e.

[derke92]

Hi Neil,
Thanks for the reply.
I do not know about Puppy or DSL so I will look them up and try later.
Thanks, I will let you know.

Derek.

[derke92]

Hi Neil,
Been trying to install Puppy linux all day and have got nowhere.
When I get to booting kernel it just freezes on me and will not go any further.
I cannot try DSL because I have run out of CD to burn, wasted at least 10 with the downloads. I have a CD/RW and a CD-DVD/RW drive on my desktop and I will buy better discs next time I buy.
Any ideas please?

Derek.

[Neil]

Are you able to boot from the live CD and have a working system, before proceeding with installation? How much RAM do you have in that 600e? Puppy needs 256MB to run completely in RAM, and DSL will load to RAM with 128MB. Either should boot with less, though, by working from the CD. Both have installers that can be used once you have booted from the CD.

Another thought, have you run Memtest or some such, to check your RAM for defects? Just throwing some ideas out, I'm really at a loss here as to what is causing your trouble.

I just went a booted my 600e (288MB RAM) with Puppy 4.0, worked fine. I tried a CD-R of Puppy 4.1, and it would stall while looking for files on the HDD (files that are not there BTW). I also have Puppy 4.2 on a CD-RW and it will start to boot, then stall loading initrd.gz. I don't know why, but my 600e seems to have some trouble with the newer releases. Might be worth it to download an older version, burn a CD-R (when you get more), and try that. Maybe, just maybe, that will work.

[derke92]

Thanks Neil,
I have 230mb Ram on the E, full loading.
The DSL sounds good so when I get some discs, tomorrow hopefully, I will try that as well. I will take on board all you recommend and give it all another go as the Puppy sounds interesting.
I will let you know in a day or two how I get on, if I can find the time to do them.

Derek.

[oski]

Hi,
I have installed PClinuxOS (minime) using UNetbootin, and an PCMCIA Lan card. No need to burn CDs. Mine is a 240x with w2k.

Cheers

[derke92]

Hi Oski,
That sounds ineresting.
Can you tell me how to install Linux directly without the boot disc please?
I was wondering if this could be done and I have been wading through page after page looking for a reference to enable me to do this, with no luck. I have an ethrnet card, somewhere, so I will go hunting for it as I have found a page with the drivers, which is why it never got used before
Your help would be most welcome.

Derek.

[tim S]

I think that if one version of Linux won't run then there's a good possibility that other versions will give you trouble as well. Basically it's the same core, assuming the same distro version, in different packages. Of course your laptop has to be 100% as well.
If you have a floppy drive then you should make a copy of 'super fdisk' onto a floppy and boot your laptop with it. You'll get to a GUI that will allow you to erase your hard disk's MBR or master boot record and also format the drive to Fat32. It only takes a minute and will get rid of all vestiges of Windows, or at the very least will completely wipe your drive.
I found that doing this lets you really start from scratch, and nine times out of ten most Linux versions will install without a problem.
Maybe choosing an older Linux version would help as well. As an example I'm writing this on an X41 with Kubuntu 8.04 installed. In spite of there being two newer OS versions + one beta available, not one of them works with everything (that I use) as well as 8.04 does.
By the way there is free software available to burn CD's including ISO files. Just search for InfraRecorder, it's small, powerful and easy to use software. The downside is it's Windows software but if you have a Windows computer as well it will work just fine.
Tim S

[derke92]

Thanks Tim I will try all that tomorrow when I get achance and let you knoe how I get on.
I was wondering if all the versions would not work if one does not and I guess I got that one right. Makes a change for me with computers.
I'll let you know if I get it going.

Derek.

[oski]

Hi,

Google for unetbootin and you will find all the guidence you may need.

Cheers!

[derke92]

I have got the Ubuntu 9.04 disc and it installed and it ran perfectly on the 660E.
I am still having problems connecting the router to this as well as W2K.
I have tried several installs of drivers for all sorts of PCMCIA cards that I have and after looking in the unbuntu forums it tells me that I should be able to connect directly with an ethernet cable.
I put in my Xircom RE-100 card and tried it but still no connection. I have very little hair left now after nearly pulling it all out trying all the different options with no luck.
I took of the w2k and just installed the linux with no luck, and at the moment I am trying to get the w2k to install but it keeps telling me it will not install on the newly formatted HDD. If this will not install I will go back and re-install the ubuntu and try again to get the router connected.
If you have any ideas,help,suggestions, in fact anything you can think of to try, I am open to anything worth a go.

I will keep smiling through all this and keep my sanity.

Regards to all.
Derek.

[whizkid]

Hi Derek,

I just finished installing Ubuntu 8.04.2 on a 600E from the LiveCD. I have 224MB RAM, and the install went with no surprises.

I have since found out that it is tricky to get sound working on this machine, but other than that it seems to work OK. I haven't tried suspend/resume yet.

Ubuntu even recognized and configured a no-name WiFi card perfectly.

I'd be happy to answer any specific questions you might have.

[derke92]

Hi whizkid,
Thanks for the reply.
I have got the Ununtu installed into the 600E with no problem. Like yourself I used the CD that I had sent to me.
The sound was no problem either it just worked but the wifi card will not work for me.
I have about four wifi cards, all of them have reputable names, and have tried them all but they will not do anything. I have also tried some USB dongles and they will not work for me.
I think the problem is the computer rather than the Ubuntu as I could not get any to work with W2K installed, which I have now removed from laptop.
I admit I have not tried anything on the 600E for some time so I might just dig it out and have another go. I tend to use my 600X whenever I need a laptop.
But thanks again for your reply. I will give you a shout if I need help.

Regards,
Derek.

[whizkid]

I have got the Ununtu installed into the 600E with no problem. Like yourself I used the CD that I had sent to me.
The sound was no problem either it just worked but the wifi card will not work for me.

I used a downloaded CD (8.04.2 Alternate). I'm wondering which version you installed because if 9.04 made the sound work, then I will install that.

[sqmaster1234]

Ohhhh, I feel your pain.
Trust me, installing any modern (post 2003) linux distribution on a legacy ThinkPad is a headache of epic proportions. If you can ever get the installer to properly load all the core files and get a gnome/kde desktop running in x (which is not as hard as the installer,unless you're using server XD), you usually have display problems. I have a standard 1024x768 resolution built-in LCD display on my 770z, but the Windows 2k boot screen with the flag and the little blue bar is only at 640x800 or the like, and so is every linux distro (constantly) other than Puppy (the latest working version on a 770z is like 3.0, all others get kernel panic) and DSL. You can look for solutions as long as you want, but it seems that people just don't seem to be interested anymore...
HOWEVER, i did get the latest Ubuntu server release working, which might work for you, but you're going to have to manually install the gnome/kde desktop through a terminal on startup which takes, literally, HOURS on a 500-800kbs connection. For someone with moderate linux skills, It might be an option, but i recommend Redhat versions (I can get you an archive link if you want ) or, as previous posters have recommended, Puppy or DSL.

But Ubuntu....

I'd shy away, but if it is your aim, Good luck and Godspeed.

I might be able to help with others.

EDIT: Why are you ordering the CDs? I usually dl and burn it, it takes like ~10min
Do you have slow/unreliable internet?

[moronoxyd]

Ohhhh, I feel your pain.
Trust me, installing any modern (post 2003) linux distribution on a legacy ThinkPad is a headache of epic proportions.

That's strange.
I installed current versions of Ubuntu on a 240x, a 570E, a T23... all without major problems.

One has to do a little manual tweaking, but people at user forums and the information on thinkwiki.org are very helpful.

[sqmaster1234]

That's strange.
I installed current versions of Ubuntu on a 240x, a 570E, a T23... all without major problems.

One has to do a little manual tweaking, but people at user forums and the information on thinkwiki.org are very helpful.

Oh yes, They are extremely helpful, along with The guys&gals at Linuxquestions.org, but maybe i just have bad luck
I can never seem to get any linux install, for that matter, to work properly without some major tweakage XD

I've never tried installing on the models you listed, but on a T20, the drivers were a pain in the *donkey* to get working, especially for the cisco aironet 350, but after that passed, I STILL had trouble connecting to a friend's wifi network, even mine.

Maybe it's just a 770z thing, but the resolution is a killer. I'll try to upload some pics, but windows startup, command.com in windows recovery, and linux live CD init all incorrectly determine my resolution as 800x640 or the like. Windows and Puppy linux are the only ones that get the resolution right when the desktop loads up. In the others, 4 hours of google doesn't help, there isn't even an option for 1024x768 in the res. box.


Hope don't discourage anyone from trying Linux on a ThinkPad, though... It's great when it works!

[Insomniac1971]

Add the following to your xorg.conf, but make sure to make backup of it first:) Then reboot, and you should have full screen.

With kind regards

JBJ

# xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "Files"
EndSection


Section "Device"
Identifier "Trident Microsystems CyberBlade XPAi1"
Driver "trident"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Generic Monitor"
Option "DPMS"
HorizSync 28-51
VertRefresh 43-60
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "Trident Microsystems CyberBlade XPAi1"
Monitor "Generic Monitor"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection

[loyukfai]

Are there much differences between 600E and 600X? Cause I just installed 9.04 on a 600X (500MHz, 256MB RAM) the other day and, other than that it's kind of sluggish, most things work out of the box, including the PCMCIA WLAN adapter (Ralink-based).

Cheers.

[Neil]

Yes there are some differences between the 600e and 600X. Most notably, the 600X has a different sound card that works well with most Linux distros, whereas the 600e requires a lot of configuration to get working.

[whizkid]

Yes there are some differences between the 600e and 600X. Most notably, the 600X has a different sound card that works well with most Linux distros, whereas the 600e requires a lot of configuration to get working.

(Veering off topic here - sorry) Yes and no. The sound chip in the 600X works well, until you suspend and resume. The bug (Alsa #305) has been reported for about five years, but there is a fix in the works, and hopefully it will be in the mainstream kernels very soon.

[Neil]

Is this fix expected to just affect the 600X sound chip, or will there be support for the 600 and 600E also?