This document describes how I installed and configured GNU/Linux (openSUSE 10.3 distribution) on a Lenovo ThinkPad T61 laptop.
The ThinkPad T61 is available in various configurations. My system has the following components:
| Component | Details |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core2 Duo T7300 @ 2.00 GHz |
| RAM | 2 GB |
| Hard disk | 60 GB |
| Display | 15.4" TFT widescreen; 1680×1050 (WSXGA+) resolution |
| Graphics controller | NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M |
| Modem | unknown |
| Ethernet | Intel 82566MM Gigabit |
| Wireless LAN | Intel PRO/Wireless 4965 AG |
| DVD drive | Matshita DVD/CDRW UJDA775 |
| Sound | 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller |
| Touchpad | SynPS/2 Synaptics Touchpad |
| Pointing stick | TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint |
| Fingerprint reader | SGS Thomson Microelectronics Fingerprint Reader |
| Ports | IEEE 1394 (FireWire) |
| 3× USB 2.0 | |
| PCMCIA | |
| RJ45 (Ethernet) | |
| RJ11 (modem) | |
| VGA | |
| headphone | |
| microphone | |
| memory card reader |
| Component or feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Suspend-to-disk/RAM | not working |
| DVD | works out of the box |
| USB | works out of the box |
| Ethernet | works out of the box |
| WLAN | works out of the box |
| Bluetooth | not tested |
| FireWire | not tested |
| graphics | works after some configuration |
| hard disk | works out of the box |
| modem | not tested |
| PCMCIA | not tested |
| sound, MIDI | works out of the box |
| sound, wave | works after some configuration |
| memory card reader | not tested |
| touchpad | works out of the box |
| pointing stick | works out of the box |
| fingerprint reader | not tested |
Most components and features work out of the box. Here is a description of some components which required some configuration, or which I have not yet gotten to work.
SaX defaults to using VESA drivers because SUSE is not permitted to distribute the NVIDIA drivers. The VESA drivers limit you to a resolution of 1280x1024, whereas the computer's NVIDIA card actually supports resolutions up to 1680×1050 with the correct drivers. The easiest way to install the NVIDIA drivers is to visit the NVIDIA page on the openSUSE wiki and follow the "Install NVIDIA via 1-click" link, which will launch YaST. I got an ugly conflict warning; I selected "Ignore this requirement just here" and YaST eventually solved the conflict on its own.
The Fn-F7 key combination to switch the display to an external monitor does not work. However, the proprietary NVIDIA driver comes with a tool, nvidia-settings, which can be used to extend or clone the desktop to an external monitor.
Note that the Matshita DVD/CDRW UJDA775 is a CD writer but not a DVD writer!
Sound works, but the default settings leave the machine mute. In KDE, right-click on the speaker icon in the system tray and click "Show Mixer Window". In the "Switches" tab, be sure that the speaker output is enabled, and in the "Output" tab, be sure that the PCM volume is turned up. Likewise I needed to fiddle with the microphone settings in order to get microphone input working. Then right-click on the speaker icon in the system tray, click "Select Master Channel…", and be sure that "PCM" is selected. If you do not hear any sound, press the special volume-up or volume-down button, which are located to the right of the Esc key on the keyboard.
The keyboard includes three volume control buttons, a Windows key, a context menu key, page forward/backward keys, and various Fn-key combinations.
The keyboard includes three special buttons for muting the speaker and raising and lowering the volume. In the default configuration, pressing the mute button mutes the sound output, but pressing it again does not unmute it. The output can be unmuted by pressing the volume-up or volume-down button. The volume-up and volume-down buttons have otherwise no effect on the sound volume. I have not yet figured out how to properly configure these buttons.
The context menu key works out of the box; it seems to be mapped to right-click. The Windows key and page forward/backward keys don't seem to do anything. I haven't yet figured out how to configure them.
ACPI seems to be working insofar as it correctly reports battery life and can turn off the LCD and external monitors. However, suspend-to-RAM (Fn-F4) and suspend-to-disk (Fn-F12) do not work at all; pressing the buttons have no effect. I have been trying various fixes but to no avail:
The following pages contain further suggestions for getting suspend to work, some of which I have not yet tried: