Ubuntu Wiki

• Contact: wolfchri

• Make: IBM
• Brand: Thinkpad
• Model: 600E

• Website: http://www.lenovo.com

Current Issues

Hardware details

Notes

Your main ressource for Linux on the Thinkpad 600E is the Thinkpad Linux Wiki. Very useful for a deeper understanding also the IBM guide for RedHat Linux on the Thinkpad 600E.

I. Sound

Since hardware detection routines on Linux misinterpret the built-in soundchip, sound does not work out of the box, although the sound chip is perfectly supported in Linux.

So you need to tell the system manually to use the right sound driver.

* First, you need to make sure that the wrong sound driver is not being loaded from the hardware detection routine. Edit the driver blacklist in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist and add these lines:

# To fix the sound issue on the Thinkpad 600e

blacklist snd_cs46xx

* Second, tell the system which drivers to load instead by adding the following lines to /etc/rc.local:

modprobe ad1848

modprobe uart401

modprobe snd-cs4236

* Third, you need to tell the system that you want to use a specific driver for your sound card and some hardware details about the sound device. Add to your file /etc/modprobe.d/sound the following lines:

alias snd-card-0 snd-cs4236

options snd-cs4236 port=0x530 cport=0x538 isapnp=0 dma1=0 dma2=1 irq=5

There is now a fine script available for Ubuntu that can do step 2 and 3 automatically, similar to what alsaconfig does (which is, for some unknown reason, not available for Ubuntu, so this script is very useful).

Attention: If, for some reason, the script should not work for you, you might have to find out the right hardware addresses, IRQ and DMA channel of your sound device manually via the Windows Thinkpad setup program. You can also use the PS2.exe program (DOS) that comes with the Thinkpad's Windows98 installation in order to do so; it can also used to re-assign IRQs and stuff. The PS2 program can be downloaded from the Lenovo support websites.

In all cases, turn off the "Quick-Boot" option in the Thinkpad BIOS to get the sound to work. In order to get into the BIOS menu, with the unit powered off, hold the F1 key and power the unit on. Keep F1 held down until Easy Setup appears. Note that the "Initialise" option will re-enable "Quick-Boot"!

You might have to update your BIOS - go here or here for more information how to do that. Keep in mind that a BIOS upgrade IS DANGEROUS!!! - it can destroy your Thinkpad!

Links to external resources that might be helpful:

http://hardware.mcse.ms/message161125.html

http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/doc-php/template.php?company=Cirrus+Logic&card=CS4237B&chip=CS4237B&module=cs4236#modp

http://augart.com/thinkpad600/thinkpad-600-sound.html

http://www.mueller.ch.vu/misc/tp600e_en.html

If this all does not help, try out different kernel boot parameters, see the "II. PCMCIA" section just below.

II. PCMCIA

In order to get PCMCIA working, you need to add at least the following kernel parameter (in /boot/grub/menu.lst): pci=noacpi

Some people (depending on your BIOS settings) also need in addition: pnpbios=off acpi=off

Add that to the end of the line in which your kernel is being loaded, i.e.:

kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-20-amd64-generic root=/dev/sda7 ro quiet splash pci=noacpi

This line can typically be found close to the ## ## End Default Options ## tag.

Other combinations that might work for you:

1) noapic nolapic OR 2) noapic acpi=noirq OR 3) noapic acpi=off OR 4) noapictimer OR 5) noapictimer irqpoll OR 6) noapic acpi=off OR 7) noapic acpi=noirq nolapic OR 8 ) clock=pmtmr notsc OR 9) notsc

Some basic information about kernel parameters on the Thinkpad can be found here.

Keep in mind to turn off all devices via PS2.EXE or the IBM Thinkpad centre in windows98 that you do not need to limit the possible IRQ problems.

III. PCMCIA network cards

For the FA511, get the FA511 Windows drivers from the Netgear webpage or from your driver CD. Unzip them to a local directory. Use ndisgtk to install them for ndiswrapper. The card will be identified as a WLAN device in the network setup, but is working perfectly. Just make sure you leave the fields for SSID and the WEP setup empty.

In order to avoid loading of the Tulip drivers that come with Ubuntu but do not correctly work for the FA511, do not forget to add blacklist tulip to your /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist file.

2. Netgear WG511 (WLAN)

First try if the prism54 driver that comes with Ubuntu is working for you. Chances are good since all the older WG511 cards have no problems with this driver. Keep in mind that the prism54 driver does NOT support WPA, only WEP encryption is supported. If the the prism54 driver is not working for you or you need WPA, ujse the ndiswrapper together with the Windows drivers for the card.

If you use ndiswrapper, you have to prevent that the prism54 driver is being loaded at startup.

Add blacklist prism54 to your /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist file.

Get the Windows drivers from a Windows installation where you have installed the WG511 driver (not necessarily the card) since it comes as a .exe. You can find the driver after installation somewhere at C:\Programs\Netgear\WG511.