Gentoo Linux on IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad Z61p

1. Precise type and components

 Product: ThinkPad Z61m 9453-A12 Original description: Based on
	  9453-9NG: T2500(2GHz), 1GB RAM, 100GB 5400rpm HD, 15.4in 1920x1200
	  LCD, 256MB ATI FireGL V5200, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11abg wireless,
	  Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, IEEE 1394, Fingerprint
	  reader, 9c Li-Ion batt, WinXP Pro
	  # NOTE: no bluetooth!
	  

2. Setting up the base Gentoo system

Moving Windows to the far side of the disk  

A.s.a.p. I shoved Windows to the outer rim: created a boot CD and a restore DVD using the IBM ThinkVantage tools. I installed Partition magic which I had lying around and deleted the restore partition (5 GB wasted!!!), schrinking and moving windows all the way to the far side of the disk (inner sectors physically). I would be interested if anyone has a howto for doing this in a 99% reliable way with open-source tools.

Prepping the BIOS  

Before you do anything, go into the BIOS! Actually, the basic settings were fine for installation. Below I did switch of some boot options from network and USB devices. Ofcourse, set primary boot devices to CD/DVD when you are going to install...

 Bios version 1.10 (7FET50WW) Bios date
	2006-06-20 Embedded controller 1.04 
	

	  # VERY IMPORTANT !!!

	  Config Network
	  Wake on Lan Enabled
	  Flash over Lan Disabled
	  Internal Network Option Enabled
	  Hard drive DMA Enabled
	  Internal Network Devices Enabled
	  Internal	  Wireless Device Enabled
	  Internal Bluetooth Device Enabled # This model has no bluetooth chip!!! Bogus BIOS option...  
	  Internal Wireless WAN Device Enabled
	  Serial Port Serial Port Disabled
	  Infrared Infrared
	  Device Enabled
	  Infrared Enabled Modem Modem Enabled
	  Parallel Port 	  Parallel Port Disabled
	  Mode Bidirectional PCI Config INTA PCI IRQ 11
	  #1 INTA PCI IRQ 11 INTA PCI IRQ 11 INTA PCI IRQ 11 INTA PCI IRQ 11
	  INTA PCI IRQ 11 INTA PCI IRQ 11 INTA PCI IRQ 11 #8 USB
	  USB BIOS  Support Disabled # Boot from USB diskette or CD-ROM, frees 16KB of
	  high memory for loading drivers 
	  Keyboard/Mouse Trackpoint Automatic # If PS/2 mouse is attached,
	  Touchpad Automatic # built-in pointing devices are disabled
	  Fn Key Lock Disabled
	  Thinkpad Numlock Independent
	  Display Default
	  Primary Video Device Internal
	  Boot Display Device Analog (VGA) # Thinkpad LCD, Analog(VGA), VGA+LCD,Digital(DVI), DVI + LCD, VGA+DVI
	  HV expansion On # Control LCD Horiz/Vert expansion state
	  Brightness Normal
	  Power Timer Wake with Battery Operation Disabled
	  Intel(R) SpeedStep Technology Enabled
	  Mode for AC Automatic # demand based
	  Mode for Battery Battery optimized Adaptive Thermal Management
	  Scheme for AC Maximize Performance Scheme for Battery Balance
	  CDROM Speed Silent # Normal, Silent, High # Silent mode works fine e.g. with
	  DVD play
	  CPU Power Management Automatic # stop microprocessor clock when there is no activity
	  PCI Bus Power Management Automatic # stops PCI clock when there is no activity
	  Alarm Power Control Beep Enabled # beep when suspend,wake,hibernate,AC 
	  (dis)connect Low Battery Alarm Enabled
	  Volume Beep Disabled
	  Password Beep Disabled # system waits for power-on,hard-disk, supervisor password, # match/non-matching password
	  Memory Extensive Memory Test Disabled

	  Serial ATA (SATA) SATA
	  Controller Mode Option: AHCI # or Compatibility: NOTE changing this AFTER install of OS # makes system UNBOOTABLE (linux, windows)
	  CPU Core Multi-Processing Enabled

          Security Password Using Passphrase - Current setting
	  Disabled Supervisor Password Lock BIOS Settings - Current setting
	  Disabled Set Minimum Length #Password length - Current setting
	  Disabled Power-On Password Disabled Hard Disk1 Password Disabled
	  Require password after hibernate Disabled Password Reset service -
	  Current setting Enabled - States In Process Fingerprint Predesktop
	  Authentication - Current setting Enabled Reader Priority - Current
	  setting External Security Mode - Current setting Normal # Normal
	  Power-on OR supervisor password to boot if no fingerprints
	  authenticated # High Supervisor password to boot if no fingerprints
	  authenticated Erase Internal Fingerprint Data Security Chip - Current
	  setting Inactive Predesktop Area Access Predesktop Area - Current
	  setting Normal # Secure (no user/SW changes) # Normal (change, but
	  content hidden from OS) # Disabled (not usable, visible and
	  reclaimable) BIOS Update Option Flash BIOS Updating by End-Users -
	  Current setting Enabled Memory Protection - Current setting Enabled #
	  Data Exection Prevention if OS supports it: # prevent virus/worms from
	  creating memory buffer # overflows by running code where only data is
	  allowed

	  Startup Boot
	  Boot priority order [ATA HDD0 number one, all other entries excluded]
	  Network Boot priority order [I deleted all entries, don't want anyone booting from the network]
	  Boot Mode Quick # Diagnostics for trouble shooting
	  Boot device List F12 Option - Current  setting Enabled
	

Gentoo Installation - Overall experience 

Ofcourse installing Gentoo is fun as allways. The novelty of the hardware presented a few hurdles which were easily overcome.

First: the Gentoo 2006.1 minimal cd has a 2.6.17 kernel which doesn't play nice with the network card driver (tg3 module). The Broadcom NIC was recognized and net-config and manual configuration I both tried. So I reverted to the Gentoo 2006.0 minimal install cd with 2.6.15 kernel.

Secondly: during 2006.0 installation I could then set the profile to 2006.1 to get latest stuff anyway. To be sure I forced the installation of an older kernel which has no problems with the tg3 driver: emerge "=sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-2.6.15-r1" I configured the kernel to get basic system stuff working (see details below at each topic). Booting then went fine until ALSA started and kept looping forever: azx_get_response_timeout So I took out soundcard support from kernel: then I could boot the system.

With the basic system up, I configured and installed the latest 2.6.17-r8 kernel which actually solved both above problems.

Next I set everything in make.conf correctly (see below) and then did a emerge --deep --update --newuse world to get most of the basic stuff installed.

Finally, I copied the /etc/portage/package.keywords file (see below) from my previous laptop and then piped the old /var/lib/portage/world file to let every package not yet present (-n) be installed: emerge -a -n $(cat old_world | xargs) Only a few packages (experimental ones) didn't compile so I had to emerge --skipfirst --resume a few times. Meanwhile I wrote this document, and then I was basically done.

Disk  

 Disk /dev/sda:
	  100.0 GB, 100030242816 bytes 240 heads, 63 sectors/track, 12921
	  cylinders Units = cylinders of 15120 * 512 = 7741440 bytes

	  Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sda1 * 10890
	  12921 15361888+ 7 HPFS/NTFS /dev/sda2 * 1 5 37768+ 83 Linux /dev/sda3
	  6 271 2010960 83 Linux /dev/sda4 272 10889 80272080 5 Extended
	  /dev/sda5 272 4147 29302528+ 83 Linux /dev/sda6 4148 8023 29302528+ 83
	  Linux /dev/sda7 8024 10889 21666928+ 83 Linux

	  Partition table entries are not in disk order 

 ### NOTE: The next line is critical for boot!
	  proc /proc proc defaults 0 0

	  ### glibc 2.2 and above expects tmpfs to be mounted at
	  /dev/shm for POSIX shared memory (shm_open, shm_unlink).  ### (tmpfs
	  is a dynamically expandable/shrinkable ramdisk, and will use almost no
	  memory if not populated with files) shm /dev/shm tmpfs
	  nodev,nosuid,noexec 0 0

	  # NOTE: If your BOOT partition is ReiserFS, add the notail
	  option to opts.

	  ### Harddisk: Partitions in disk-order: ### Linux /dev/sda2
	  /boot reiserfs noatime,notail 0 0 /dev/sda3 none swap sw 0 2 ###
	  /dev/sda4 = extended partition containin /dev/hda5-7 /dev/sda5 /
	  reiserfs noatime,notail 0 1 /dev/sda6 /home reiserfs noatime,notail 0
	  0 /dev/sda7 /media reiserfs noatime,notail 0 0

	  ### Windows partition = located at end of disk ###
	  (preinstalled, was moved there before linux was installed) /dev/sda1
	  /mnt/win ntfs noauto,noatime,user 0 0

	  ### Other systems

	  /dev/hda /mnt/cdrom iso9660 noauto,user,ro 0 0 # USB Stick:
	  noatime prevents updating timestamp i.e. wear of your NAND memory!  #
	  /dev/sdb /mnt/usb auto noauto,noatime,user,exec,sync 0 0 # /dev/sdb
	  /mnt/pcmcia vfat noauto,user,noatime,exec,sync 0 0 
	

Configuration files: /etc/fstab

Memory and swap  

The swap partition is advised to be 2 x RAM size but less than 2048MB, so I set it to 2048MB. To be able to use all the RAM on a 1GB machine (or better) I set the kernel option:

To use all of the memory for the installation be sure to check:

 Processor type and
	features High Memory Support (4GB) ---> 
	

See section Gentoo Optimization below for swappines tweaking. Check that all memory is available: running top reports 1 GB.

Bootloader Configuration - GRUB  

Basically nothing to it, just follow installation manual. There is a catch, however: grub partition number follows the same order: (hd0,0) is a end of disk in my case. Only fdisk /dev/sda, and then p (see below) reveals that /dev/sda1 actually is at end of disk.

Configuration files: /boot/grub/grub.conf

Link: Think Wiki - Kernel parameters at boot time

3. Configuring all devices

Hardware Specifications  

Machine type: IBM - Z61- 9453-A12

CPU and frequency scaling (Intel Enhanced Speedstep IES)  

Install a SMP (multiprocessor) kernel. If you compile your own kernel, add SMP support to it. It's advisable also to add RTC (device drivers->character support). (NOTE: Multi-core scheduler support was not present in 2.6.15 kernel config). The Yonah core (first generation Cure Duo) doen't have Hyperthreading, so disable SMT. Centrino is Pentium M line.

	  Processor type and features
	  [*] Symmetric multi-processing support Subarchitecture Type
	  (PC-compatible) ---> Processor family (Pentium M) ---> [*] HPET Timer
	  Support (8) Maximum number of CPUs (2-255) [ ] SMT (Hyperthreading)
	  scheduler support [*] Multi-core scheduler support Preemption Model
	  (Preemptible Kernel (Low-Latency Desktop)) ---> [*] Preempt The Big
	  Kernel Lock [*] Machine Check Exception [*] MTRR (Memory Type Range
	  Register) support [*] Enable kernel irq balancing [*] Enable seccomp
	  to safely compute untrusted bytecode Timer frequency (1000 HZ) --->
	  [*] Support for hot-pluggable CPUs (EXPERIMENTAL) 

Large memory (1 GB)  

 Processor type and features
	High Memory Support (4GB) ---> Memory model (Flat Memory) ---> [
	] Allocate 3rd-level pagetables from highmem ## TODO
	

SATA Hard-disk  

	  00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) SATA AHCI Controller (rev 02) (prog-if 01 [AHCI 1.0])
	  Subsystem: Lenovo Thinkpad R60e model 0657
	  Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 218
	  I/O ports at 18c8 [size=8]
	  I/O ports at 18ac [size=4]
	  I/O ports at 18c0 [size=8]
	  I/O ports at 18a8 [size=4]
	  I/O ports at 18b0 [size=16]
	  Memory at ee404400 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]
	  Capabilities: [80] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit- Queue=0/0 Enable+
	  Capabilities: [70] Power Management version 2
	  Kernel driver in use: ahci
	

	  Device Drivers --->
	  SCSI device support --->
	  SCSI low-level drivers --->
	  <*> Serial ATA (SATA) support
	  <*> AHCI SATA support
	  

During installation I did a benchmark of the disk

	    hdparm -tT /dev/sda cached reads 2440 MB/s buffered reads 37.7 MB/s
	

AHCI = Advanced Host Controller Interface Specification for Serial ATA The Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) specification describes the register-level interface for a Host Controller for Serial ATA 1.0a and Serial ATA II. The specification includes a description of the hardware/software interface between system software and the host controller hardware

IDE - DVD reader/writer 

	  [*] Use multi-mode by default
	

I had to set the above option since I received the errormessage (documented in the Help of this option) when accessing the DVD hda:

	  hda: set_multmode: status=0x51 { DriveReady
	  SeekComplete Error } x hda: set_multmode: error=0x04 {
	  DriveStatusError }
	

Link: Gentoo Wiki - hdparm and IDE Performance

I tried out hdparm -c1 /dev/hda and found no difference using hdparm -tT. Most (but not all) newer chipsets work fine with option 1.This setting changes how the data is moved from the PCI bus to the controller. It can double your throughput.

Graphics: ATI Mobility FireGL V5200 - Xorg Configuration  

	  01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc M56GL [Mobility FireGL V5200] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
	  Subsystem: Lenovo Unknown device 202b
	  Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
	  Memory at d0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
	  I/O ports at 2000 [size=256]
	  Memory at ee000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
	  [virtual] Expansion ROM at ee020000 [disabled] [size=128K]
	  Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
	  Capabilities: [58] Express Legacy Endpoint, MSI 00
	  Capabilities: [80] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable-
	  Kernel driver in use: fglrx_pci
	  Kernel modules: fglrx
	

	  Graphics support <*>
	  Support for frame buffer devices
	  [*] Enable firmware EDID
	  [ ] Backlight &
	  LCD device support --->

	  Character devices <*>Intel/AMD/VIA HW Randow Number
	  Generator support <*>/dev/nvram support # required by # NB: no
	  agpgart or direct rendering manager!
	

Configuration files: /etc/X11/xorg.conf

This card is not yet supported by open source DRI project (since it is very new).

However, to my surprise the ATI drivers worked out of the box once I got the settings right. I followed the guide: Gentoo Wiki - HOWTO ATI Drivers . I did a emerge ati-drivers ati-drivers-extras (version 8.27.10-r1). and loaded the module: modprobe fglrx. Next I made a basic xorg.conf file using the basic xorgconf tool. Note: using Xorg -configure doesn't work since it doesn't recognize the card etc. It doesn't produce a xorg.conf file from which the ATI configuration tool can start from.] Next I let the ATI configuration tool use the resulting file and add its stuff: /opt/ati/bin/aticonfig --initial --input=/etc/X11/xorg.conf I then deleted double entries produced by xorgconf in xorg.conf (e.g. Monitor and Device sections). The resulting file allowed Xorg to start, automatically at maximum 1920x1200 resolution, yummy.

NOTE: I forgot to add opengl to my USE flags in make.conf. Recompling with this flag added Planet Pinguin Tuxracer ppracer (former tuxracer) screamed across my WUXGA TFT @ 1920x1200 without a hitch ..... smooth. The LCD shows no ghosting on the screen in games or with DVD play, very nice!

NOTE: the ATI driver automatically finds the refresh rates which I actually couldn't find (yet) for my WUXGA LCD screen (if you have them, let me know).

Configuration files: /etc/X11/xdm/xdm-config /etc/X11/xdm/Xresources /usr/lib/X11/xdm/Xsetup_my /usr/lib/X11/xdm/GiveConsole_my I let /usr/lib/X11/xdm/pixmaps/background_my be a link to the background I use on my desktop.

I checked the messages for warnings, Xorg.0.log |grep WW and errors, Xorg.0.log |grep EE. Warnings: (WW) `fonts.dir' not found (or not valid) in "/usr/share/fonts/freefont/". (WW) `fonts.dir' not found (or not valid) in "/usr/share/fonts/libdockapp-fonts". (WW) Open ACPI failed (/var/run/acpid.socket) (Connection refused) (WW) fglrx(0): board is an unknown third party board, chipset is supported (WW) fglrx(0): Only one display is connnected,so single mode is enabled (WW) LoadModule: given non-canonical module name "glesx.so" (WW) fglrx(0): Option "DynamicClocks" is not used (WW) fglrx(0): Option "VendorName" is not used (WW) fglrx(0): Option "ModelName" is not used (WW) fglrx(0): Option "AllowGLXWithComposite" is not used

Graphics: ATI Mobility FireGL V5200 - Compiz-Fusion Configuration  

Overview: Compiz-fusion works flawlessly and smooth on this machine.

Currently, I'm running compiz-fusion with ATI fglrx drivers using AIGLX (desktop-effects overlay + latest ATI binary drivers). This works fine apart form some slight performance lapses with certain compiz animation, which I'm sure will be ironed out (ATI driver issue with AIGLX). Image quality is superb and the setup is much easier. IMPORTANT: AIGLX is the office Basically follow the guides (I will post details later on) and look at my xorg configuration file. Note: suspend to RAM works pretty good from within X as well!

Previously, binary ATI drivers (fglrx) required one to use the Xgl x-server in order to use the compiz-fusion compositing window manager.

Before you get started with either GLX or AIGLX, you need direct rendering or DRI to work in X. So in a regular e.g. xfce session, check by running glxinfo |grep direct. If it is not working see above. Be sure that you ran eselect set opengl ati.

XGL setup: Ofcourse, I assume you boot into the console. Using the following steps you can set Xgl with compiz-fusion up in a clean way, fully independent of the default Xorg with xfwm4, by running either startxgl-xfce4 or startxfce4. In fact, if you run these commands from two different terminals (accessible via Ctrl-Alt-F1,Ctrl-Alt-F2,..Ctrl-Alt-F5), then you get two sessions running, and you switch between them using Ctrl-Alt-F7 (Terminal 0 = X / xfwm4) and Ctrl-Alt-F8 (Terminal 1 = Xgl / compiz-fusion). This is very handy for e.g. reading documentation while testing!

• Set up the layman overlay manager (skip if you got it already). (Note that the Gentoo Wiki pages differ on where layman configuration resides). Therefore I add my consistent, up-to-date setup here. First emerge -av layman. Add to the end of your /etc/make.conf: source /usr/local/portage/layman/make.conf Then layman -L|grep xeffects should list xeffects (don't take xeffects-experimental). Get it with layman -a xeffects (later on you update this overlay using layman -s xeffects and them emerge -uav xgl).
• Install Xgl, following the guide Gentoo Wiki - HOWTO XGL up to the section Running Xgl.
• Install compiz-fusion from the xeffects overlay, following the Gentoo Wiki - HOWTO compiz-fusion . Use the stable branch for all packages with the sole exception of using the development version of fusion-icon (which is not in the stable branch yet).
• Set up a script /usr/bin/startxgl-xfce4 somewhere in your executable path (e.g. /usr/bin). This script starts the Xgl server (rather than X) and then runs xfce4, using a separate configuration directory for xfce4 (by setting the XDG_CONFIG_HOME variable).
• Create a separate configuration directory for xfce4 for use with compiz. cp -r ~/.config ~/.config-compiz Configure xfce4 to start the compiz compositing manager: cp /etc/xdg/xfce4-session/xfce4-session.rc ~/.config-compiz/xfce4-session/xfce4-session.rc Replacing only the line starting the window manager Client0_Command=xfwm4 with Client0_Command=compiz-manager It is actually usefull to to keep separate configurations for xfce4 when using compiz or xfwm4, I tend to set things up differently.
• Now you run startxgl-xfce4. Once xfce4 is up, the window decorations are still missing. Start compiz-fusion, either from a terminal run fusion-icon, or via the xfce4 menu (System, Compiz Fusion Icon). It should now work. Make this permanent by going to Settings, Autostarted Applications, Add. Add fusion-icon to the list and select it. Now exit and check that upon next startxgl-xfce4 compiz-fusion starts immediately.

[Obsolete] Sometimes, when fooling around for a long time, it is usefull to deleting cached information from previous sessions, before starting xfce4: rm -rf ~/.cache/sessions/* The removal of sessions files fixed my mousecursor one time.

[Obsolete] XGL seemed to crash when pressing Shift Backspace. Actually it tries to restart Xgl and then fails (dunno why), which is a feature, not a bug :). Workaround put in in .Xmodmap: keycode 22 = BackSpace BackSpace

Sound - ALSA 

	00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
	Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T60/R60 series
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 22
	Memory at ee400000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
	Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
	Capabilities: [60] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable-
	Capabilities: [70] Express Root Complex Integrated Endpoint, MSI 00
	Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel <?>
	Capabilities: [130] Root Complex Link <?>
	Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
	Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel
      

 <*> Sound card support Advanced Linux
    Sound Architecture---> Open Sound System--->

    <*> Advanced Linux Sound Architecture <*>
    Sequencer support < > Sequencer dummy client <*> OSS Mixer
    API <*> OSS PCM (digital audio) API [*] OSS Sequencer API [ ]
    Verbose printk [ ] Debug Generic devices---> PCI devices---> ALSA USB
    devices---> PCMCIA devices--->

    PCI devices---> <*> 

The problem during initial install was solved by using a newer kernel 2.6.17-r8. Used ALSA kernel modules (not alsa-drivers package), emerge alsa-utils and then did alsaconfig. Finally, rc-update add alsasound boot

DVD and video playback, video out  

      <M> Video For Linux  Video For Linux--->
      [*] Enable Video For Linux API 1 (DEPRECATED)
    I2C support
    <M> I2C support
    

Playback was with xine and mplayer initially hung up after opening scene of dvd. hdparm -i /dev/had revealed that DMA (direct memory access) was not turned on. I had not compiled the PCI controller driver (see elsewhere in document) and hence DMA was not turned on automatically (nor manually).

After fixing this DVD and video plays very smooooth with xine dvd:// and mplayer dvd://.

During DVD play, the drive apparently buffers data and then spins down. Movie then pauses when it buffers the next chunk of data. Will try the Silent BIOS setting.

UltraNav trackpoint 

ThinkWiki HOWTO: Configure Trackpoint

UltraNav - Synaptics Touchpad 

emerge tpconfig utility. Linux touchpad driver home

External monitor and beamer 

My previous IBM Thinkpad A31 with Radeon 7500 had trouble with many beamers (wrong resolution etc). I will report my experience with new card here.

Network card - internal  

	  [*] Network device support
	  <M> Dummy net driver support Ethernet (1000 Mbit) --->
	  <M> Broadcom Tigon3 support 
	

	  02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5752M Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express (rev 02)
	  Subsystem: Lenovo Unknown device 2020
	  Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 217
	  Memory at ee100000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
	  Capabilities: [48] Power Management version 2
	  Capabilities: [50] Vital Product Data <?>
	  Capabilities: [58] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/3 Enable+
	  Capabilities: [d0] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
	  Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting <?>
	  Capabilities: [13c] Virtual Channel <?>
	  Kernel driver in use: tg3
	  Kernel modules: tg3
	

As stated above: the tg3 module for this card has a problem with 2.6.17 kernel (on Gentoo 2006.1 minimal install CD), but this was patched in (at least) 2.6.17-r8 so it worked fine once I had the system setup and compiled this newer kernel.

Wake On Lan (WOL) Can be set in the BIOS (above). TODO: test WOL

Network card - Intel Pro/Wireless 3945ABG (kernel 2.6.22 and below)  

Works fine, but note the workaround for the suspend to RAM below. NOTE: you need to re-emerge the drivers after each kernel compilation.

Trivial point: don't forget to switch on the wireless card with the switch on the left front of the laptop...

I use the driver package (the one in kernels > 2.6.22 has some troubles and these kernels didn't play nice yet for me..): emerge ipw3945 Note: this adds a daemon / service ipw3945d which has to be stopped to unload the module.

Followed the chapter Wireless Networking (Gentoo Handbook) . Basically all you need to do is: emerge wpa_supplicant wireless-tools

To easily switch wireless networks I followed NetworkManager HOWTO

In Xfce Configuration, Sessions and Startup, Advanced tab, select Launch Gnome services at startup. Then start the gnome applet from a terminal: nm-applet --sm-disable and it is added to the Xfce toolbar and stays there after logout. User needs to be in plugdev group? xfapplet: can not select nm-applet from list?

	    Networking --->
	    [ ] Generic IEEE 802.11 Networking Stack

	    Device Drivers --->
	    Network Device support --->
	    Wireless LAN (non-hamradio) --->
	    [*] Wireless LAN drivers (non-hamradio) & Wireless Extensions

	    Cryptographic options ---> [*] Cryptographic API
	    <*> AES cipher algorithms
	    <*> ARC4 cipher algorithm
	    <*> Michael MIC keyed digest algorithm
	

	  03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (rev 02)
	  Subsystem: Intel Corporation Thinkpad  X60s, R60e model 0657
	  Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 22
	  Memory at edf00000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	  Capabilities: [c8] Power Management version 2
	  Capabilities: [d0] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable-
	  Capabilities: [e0] Express Legacy Endpoint, MSI 00
	  Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting <?<
	  Capabilities: [140] Device Serial Number 1f-82-b8-ff-ff-02-13-00
	  Kernel driver in use: ipw3945
	  Kernel modules: ipw3945
	

	  # dmesg
	  ipw3945: Detected geography ABG (13 802.11bg channels, 23 802.11a channels)

	  # ipw3945d
	  ipw3945d - regulatory daemon
	  Copyright (C) 2005-2006 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.
	  version: 1.7.18
	  Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection found at:
	  /sys/bus/pci/drivers/ipw3945/0000:03:00.0
	  Daemon launched as pid 6441.  Exiting.
	

	  ipw3945: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945 Network Connection driver for Linux, 1.2.2mpr
	  ipw3945: Copyright(c) 2003-2006 Intel Corporation
	  --
	  ipw3945: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
	  ipw3945: Radio Frequency Kill Switch is On:
	  Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
	

For kernel > 2.6.23 the drivers are in the kernel package. Didn't get these kernels to play nice yet. Link: Gentoo Wireless Networking and Gentoo Wiki - HARDWARE ipw3945

USB 2.0 and 1.1 general setup  

NOTE: initially I didn't compile the options SL811HS HCD support below. It is not that obvious that they are needed. The USB mouse would not work (no light went even on when I plugged it in). Now it works excellent: during Xorg operation I can plug and unplug and mouse works immediately.

	  <*> Support for Host-side USB
	  ---   Miscellaneous USB options
	  [*]   USB device filesystem
	  ---   USB Host Controller Drivers
                  <*>   EHCI HCD (USB 2.0) support
	  [*]     Root Hub Transaction Translators (EXPERIMENTAL)
	  <*>   OHCI HCD support
	  <*>   UHCI HCD (most Intel and VIA) support
	  <*>   SL811HS HCD support
	  < >     CF/PCMCIA support for SL811HS HCD
	  ---   USB Device Class drivers
	  <*>   USB Printer support
	  --- NOTE: USB_STORAGE enables SCSI, and 'SCSI disk support'
	  --- may also be needed; see USB_STORAGE Help for more information
	  <*> USB Mass Storage support
	  <*> USB Human Interface Device (full HID) support
	  [*]   HID input layer support
	  [ ]   /dev/hiddev raw HID device support
	  [*] USB Monitor
	

	  00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
	  Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T60/R60 series
	  Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
	  I/O ports at 1800 [size=32]
	  Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

	  00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
	  Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T60/R60 series
	  Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 22
	  I/O ports at 1820 [size=32]
	  Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

	  00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
	  Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T60/R60 series
	  Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 23
	  I/O ports at 1840 [size=32]
	  Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

	  00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
	  Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T60/R60 series
	  Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 21
	  I/O ports at 1860 [size=32]
	  Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

	  00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
	  Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad T60/R60 series
	  Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 21
	  Memory at ee404000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]
	  Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
	  Capabilities: [58] Debug port: BAR=1 offset=00a0
	  Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
	

USB stick 

The stick is recognized by USB drivers. dmesg output:

PCMCIA Cardbus 

Biometric chip - Fingerprint reader 

emerge bioapi pam_bioapi tfm-fingerprint after putting packages in /etc/portage/package.keywords and adding flag qt for bioapi in /etc/portage/package.use. I had trouble emerging bioapi with USE=qt flag, some sandbox violation. FEATURES="-sandbox" emerge bioapi Next I ran (after finding) /opt/bioapi/bin/QSample and got. BioAPI Error Code: 0x3 This doesn't appear when I run it as root. here As root I did a export PATH=$PATH:/opt/bioapi/bin to get the mod_install script in my path which the install.sh script of the driver needs. sh install.sh /usr/lib Next I ran /opt/bioapi/bin/QSample and tried couple of times. Swipe slowly. After 3 succesfull scans it was satisfied. Now you can proceed with installing the .bir-file(try as root, if you get an "BioAPITest: command not found", take your user account. you will have to copy the SERIAL={5550454b-2054-464d-2f45-535320425350} into the root console for editing a file in /etc later on)

HDAPS Hard-Disk Active Protection System a.k.a. motion detector 

	  Device Drivers > Hardware Monitoring Support > IBM Hard Drive Active Protection System (hdaps)
	

Simply loading the hdaps module: #modprobe hdaps FATAL: Error inserting hdaps (/lib/modules/2.6.18-gentoo-r2/kernel/drivers/hwmon/hdaps.ko): No such device # dmesg hdaps: supported laptop not found! hdaps: driver init failed (ret=-19)! So wait probably until it will be recognized by standard kernel, don't want to be patching kernels ... The Z61p is not mentioned in the list in /usr/src/linux/drivers/hwmon/hdaps.c. # Your kernel has NOT been patched for blk_freeze * The ebuild can attempt to patch your kernel like so * emerge --config =hdapsd-20060409 Configuring pkg... * Determining the location of the kernel source code * Found kernel source directory: * /usr/src/linux * Found sources for kernel version: * 2.6.18-gentoo-r2 * We don't have a patch for kernel 2.6.18 yet # Edit /etc/conf.d/hdapsd (change your harddrive if neccessary: mine is sda, and change the value from 5, 5 is to sensitive, 12 is a good value in my opinion). # start deamon with: # /etc/init.d/hdapsd start # Optional: add to default runlevel: # rc-update add hdapsd default, rc-update add hdapsd battery

Hard-disk parking ThinkWiki - Protect harddisk through APS Theft-alarm ThinkWiki - Theft alarm using HDAPS Slaptop Wave-correction

IEEE 1394 - Firewire 

	  15:00.1 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments PCIxx12 OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394
	  Host Controller (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
	  Subsystem: Lenovo Unknown device 207f
	  Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 11
	  Memory at e4302000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=2K]
	  Memory at e4304000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=16K]
	  Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2
	

Texas Instruments 5-in-1 Multimedia Card Reader 

	  15:00.2 Mass storage controller: Texas Instruments 5-in-1 Multimedia Card Reader
	  (SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO/xD)
	  Subsystem: Lenovo Unknown device 207c
	  Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11
	  Memory at e4301000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	  Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2

	  15:00.3 Class 0805: Texas Instruments PCIxx12 SDA Standard Compliant SD Host Con
	  troller (prog-if 01)
	  Subsystem: Lenovo Unknown device 207d
	  Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11
	  Memory at e4302800 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
	  Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
	

IRDA Connection 

Probably never going to do that. If you know how to, send me the infos and I will try and document it here.

4. Powermanagement using ACPI

Overview 

Powerconsumption: roughly 20.800 W Capacity: 80.0 W hour Effect of: ACPI throttling CPUFREQ frequency scaling ATI GPU powerstate When X is not running: This indicates the effect of the LCD backlight.

The first thing I checked is whether the DSDT firmware in the BIOS is buggy, following the guide Gentoo Wiki: HOWTO Fix Common ACPI Problems . After recompiling the DSDT with the Intel compiler (instead of shitty Microsoft compiler) I found that there were no bugs in this DSDT! Good job IBM!

Suspend / hibernate to RAM (ACPI S3 state) 

I started with only basic hardware working (video, network, sound). Kernel configuration essentials to get acpi sleep to work. "Hotpluggable CPU" (see CPU above) I emerge hibernate-script and used the hibernate -ram command to test out suspend to RAM a.k.a. sleep or S3 state after configuring: /etc/hibernate/ram.conf , /etc/hibernate/common.conf , /etc/hibernate/hibernate.conf . I commented out EnableVbetool yes, since trying to suspend using Vbetool it Segfaulted (version 0.7). Probably not needed.

Suspending from text mode. hibernate-ram would make the machine sleep, but waking up the screen is blank.

Next I tried acpi_sleep=s3_bios,s3_mode boot parameter. See the grub bootloader configuration /boot/grub/grub.conf . Here s3_bios and s3_mode calls the video BIOS during resume to initialize the video card and reset the text mode, respectively.

When resuming the screen now did not blank anymore! ThinkWiki Problems with ACPI suspend-to-ram

However, I did get permission denied errors when doing a simple ls as root. This was reported to be related to SATA drivers not supporting powersaving correctly (or at all). The first disk access hangs system. I Waited some time for SATA drivers in newer kernels which support powersaving modes. This fixed the problem. Kernel 2.6.20 seems to be ok. Now everything works when suspending from console.

Next, the tg3 NIC module had a bug. Let it be un- and reloaded by hibernate

• network didn't work any more. I did rmmod tg3 and modprobe tg3 to reload the NIC module.dmesg now reported a BUG: tg3.c:v3.72 (January 8, 2007)
• The network card module ipw3945 is in the blacklist /etc/hibernate/blacklisted-modules hibernate-ram gives: Some modules failed to unload: ipw3945 hibernate-ram: Aborting suspend due to errors in ModulesUnloadBlacklist (use --force to override). http://bugs.archlinux.org/task/7900 To be safe, better leave it blacklisted but add to /etc/hibernate/common.conf RestartServices ipw3945d StopServices ipw3945d
• Currently, I'm running compiz-fusion with ATI fglrx drivers using AIGLX (see above). Suspend to RAM works pretty good from within X. A few times the machine boots after resume but no serious problems so far. # TODO figure out the problem with suspend is when it reboots at resume.

APM (obsolete) 

	  <*> APM (Advanced Power Management) BIOS support
	  [ ] Ignore USER SUSPEND
	  [*] Enable PM at boot time
	  [*] Make CPU Idle calls when idle
	  [ ] Enable console blanking using APM
	  [ ] RTC stores time in GMT
	  [*] Allow interrupts during APM BIOS calls
	  [ ] Use real mode APM BIOS call to power off
	

Battery monitoring states, powerdrain 

	  # cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0/state
	  present:                 yes
	  capacity state:          ok
	  charging state:          charging
	  present rate:            12185 mW
	  remaining capacity:      78690 mWh
	  present voltage:         12511 mV

	  # cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0/info
	  present:                 yes
	  design capacity:         84240 mWh
	  last full capacity:      83920 mWh
	  battery technology:      rechargeable
	  design voltage:          10800 mV
	  design capacity warning: 4196 mWh
	  design capacity low:     200 mWh
	  capacity granularity 1:  1 mWh
	  capacity granularity 2:  1 mWh
	  model number:            92P1133
	  serial number:            2862
	  battery type:            LION
	  OEM info:                Panasonic

	  # cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0/alarm
	  alarm:                   4196 mWh
	

I used xfce4 battery plugin which is simple but sufficient (no configuration required, just works). The battery reloads quite fast.

TODO see what thinkpad script tp_smapi can do Independently of APM or ACPI, the battery status is also accessible through the tp_smapi driver. The tp_smapi kernel module provides battery status (and other features) via the sysfs interface in /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT{0,1}, and includes some information not accessible through APM or ACPI (e.g., cycle count and momentary power draw).

CPU frequency scaling 

Frequency scaling: Enabling the frequency scaling governors (see CPU kernel config above) did produces the standard entries in /sys/ (at least for kernels > 2.18 the frequency scaling seems to be supported for the Yonah Core Duo Centrinos). Default governor in config is userspace. Added acpi-cpufreq to /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6.

cpufreq-info
	  analyzing CPU 0:
	  driver: acpi-cpufreq
	  CPUs which need to switch frequency at the same time: 0
	  hardware limits: 1000 MHz - 2.00 GHz
	  available frequency steps: 2.00 GHz, 1.67 GHz, 1.33 GHz, 1000 MHz
	  available cpufreq governors: conservative, ondemand, powersave, userspace, performance
	  current policy: frequency should be within 1000 MHz and 2.00 GHz.
	  The governor "userspace" may decide which speed to use
	  within this range.
	  current CPU frequency is 2.00 GHz (asserted by call to hardware).
	  analyzing CPU 1:
	  driver: acpi-cpufreq
	  CPUs which need to switch frequency at the same time: 1
	  hardware limits: 1000 MHz - 2.00 GHz
	  available frequency steps: 2.00 GHz, 1.67 GHz, 1.33 GHz, 1000 MHz
	  available cpufreq governors: conservative, ondemand, powersave, userspace, performance
	  current policy: frequency should be within 1000 MHz and 2.00 GHz.
	  The governor "userspace" may decide which speed to use
	  within this range.
	  current CPU frequency is 2.00 GHz (asserted by call to hardware).
	

Gentoo Wiki How to make use of Dynamic Frequency Scaling#Using Frequency_Scaling_Governors

ACPI CPU throttling (T-states) 

Throttling keeps your laptop cool and quiet and saves energy in this way. The processor does run at full speed. The ACPI processor states do function already. Load Processor P states acpi driver module (not possible to bake into kernel) modprobe acpi-cpufreq. Put later in /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6. After booting new entries appear:

	  # cat /proc/acpi/processor/CPU0/info
	  processor id:            0
	  acpi id:                 0
	  bus mastering control:   yes
	  power management:        yes
	  throttling control:      yes
	  limit interface:         yes

	  # cat /proc/acpi/processor/CPU0/limit
	  active limit:            P0:T0
	  user limit:              P0:T0
	  thermal limit:           P0:T0

	  # /proc/acpi/processor/CPU0/power
	  active state:            C3
	  max_cstate:              C8
	  bus master activity:     00000000
	  states:
	  C1:                  type[C1] promotion[C2] demotion[--] latency[000] usage[00000010] duration[00000000000000000000]
	  C2:                  type[C2] promotion[C3] demotion[C1] latency[001] usage[00007061] duration[00000000000006472973]
	  *C3:                  type[C3] promotion[--] demotion[C2] latency[017] usage[01110633] duration[ 00000000001825590135]

	  # /proc/acpi/processor/CPU0/throttling
	  state count:             8
	  active state:            T0
	  states:
	  *T0:                  00%
	  T1:                  12%
	  T2:                  25%
	  T3:                  37%
	  T4:                  50%
	  T5:                  62%
	  T6:                  75%
	  T7:                  87%

	

# NOTE: there is no performance entry to set the ACPI Processor P states, which are deprecated. Performance scaling done through cpufreq

	  # Put this on a single line in an XFCE4 Launcher:
	  xterm -e su -c 'for i in 0 1; do
	     echo -n "0:7" > /proc/acpi/processor/CPU$i/limit;
	  done;
	  /opt/ati/bin/aticonfig --set-powerstate 1'
	  # This is really maximal throttling state for my machine
	

TODO: play around with acpi scrips in Gentoo's package set wmacpi wmacpiload-ac wmacpimon acpi gkrellm gkacpi (for this package add FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/libdockapp-fonts" in xorg.conf) acpi_available acpi_listen

Kernel configuration 

	  --- Power Management support
	  [*]   Legacy Power Management API
	  [ ]   Power Management Debug Support
	  [ ] Software Suspend
	  ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) Support  --->
	  APM (Advanced Power Management) BIOS Support  --->
	  CPU Frequency scaling  --->

	  [*] ACPI Support
	  [*]   Sleep States
	  [ ]     /proc/acpi/sleep (deprecated)
	  <*>   AC Adapter
	  <*>   Battery
	  <M>   Button
	  <M>   Video
	  < >   Generic Hotkey (EXPERIMENTAL)
	  <M>   Fan
	  <M>   Processor
	  <M>     Thermal Zone
	  <M>   IBM ThinkPad Laptop Extras
	  (0)   Disable ACPI for systems before Jan 1st this year
	  [ ]   Debug Statements
	  <M>   ACPI0004,PNP0A05 and PNP0A06 Container Driver (EXPERIMENTAL)
	  # TODO what is ACPI0004 Containter Driver for?

	  [*] CPU Frequency scaling
	  [ ]   Enable CPUfreq debugging
	  <*>   CPU frequency translation statistics
	  [ ]     CPU frequency translation statistics details
	  Default CPUFreq governor (userspace)  --->
	  <*>   'performance' governor
	  <*>   'powersave' governor
	  ---   'userspace' governor for userspace frequency scaling
	  <*>   'ondemand' cpufreq policy governor
	  <*>   'conservative' cpufreq governor
	  ---   CPUFreq processor drivers
	  <M>   ACPI Processor P-States driver
	  <*>   Intel Enhanced SpeedStep
	  ---     Built-in tables for Banias CPUs
	

Radeon powersaving states 

/opt/ati/bin/aticonfig --lsp Shows powersaving states:

	  core/mem      [flags]
	  -----------------
	  1: 128/135 MHz  [low voltage]
	  2: 324/135 MHz
	  * 3: 398/324 MHz  [default state]
	

Set the powerstate: /opt/ati/bin/aticonfig --set-powerstate 1 Setting powerstate 2, just does what it should, but 1 gives:

	  core/mem      [flags]
	  -----------------
	  1: 128/135 MHz  [low voltage]
	  *    209/135 MHz  [low voltage]
	  2: 324/135 MHz
	  3: 398/324 MHz  [default state]
	

Automating Powermanagement using laptop-mode 

TODO: create different runlevels and scripts? I want switch the following: video card powerstate, cpu frequency governor, hard-disk spin-down (SATA driver doensn't support it yet) screen blanking and screen powerdown.

Configuration files: /etc/laptop-mode/laptop-mode.conf /etc/laptop-mode/batt-start/batt-start /etc/laptop-mode/batt-stop/batt-stop

Hard-disk spindown: from here I learned... Desktop hard drives are usually rated for only 40,000-50,000 spinups, and one spinup every 10 minutes will kill your 40,000-spinup HD in 277 days. So this is NOT recommended for server use, unless you increase the spinup interval dramatically, to say once every hour or two. Laptop hard drives are usually rated for around 300,000 spinups, so those will last about 2083 days or 6 years if you have them powered on 24-7.

IBM Thinkpad specific tools and tweaking 

tpb = ThinkPad Buttons utility

	  tpb --verbose --thinkpad="/usr/bin/xterm"
	

	  Character devices
	  /dev/nvram support
	  

	  tpb --verbose --thinkpad="/usr/bin/xterm"
	

tpctl = ThinkPad Control utility

BTW, I installed the ibm_acpi RPM, added it to /etc/modprobe.preload, and now I have direct access to many of the Thinkpad's internal functions directly through /proc/ibm. Neat! IBM-ACPI Kernel driver

	  Kernel configuration
	  Powermanagement
	  ACPI Support
	  IBM Thinkpad laptop extras
	

UltraBay hotswapping 

Hotswap not supported yet stable in 2.6.17 kernel it seems.

5. Gentoo Optimization

The default swappiness is 60. A value of 0 gives something close to the old behavior where applications that wanted memory could shrink the cache to a tiny fraction of RAM For laptops which would prefer to let their disk spin down, a value of 20 or less is recommended. As a sysctl, the swappiness can be set at runtime with either of the following commands:

	  sysctl -w vm.swappiness=30 echo 30 >
	  /proc/sys/vm/swappiness
	

The default when Gentoo boots can also be set in /etc/sysctl.conf. vm.swappiness = 30

Configuration files: /etc/make.conf