=head1 NAME How to install Debian GNU/Linux on an IBM Thinkpad T22 Laptop =head1 OVERVIEW Thanks to the L students of many departments can get a laptop at very cheap cost. As a student of the Department of Computer Science, I was happy to hear, that the laptop our department offers was an IBM. Unfortunately, this Thinkpad came shipped with Microsoft Windows 2000. =head1 DESCRIPTION This article describes how to remove the unwanted operating system and install and configure Debian GNU/Linux on it. I will not provide guidance in how to install Linux in general. If you leak of basic skills, try L and the homepage of the L. =head2 Hardware configuration =over =item CPU Intel Mobile Pentium III (Coppermine) with SpeedStep Technology 900MHz =item Cache 256KB =item RAM 128MB SDRAM (upgraded to 256MB) =item Chipset Intel 440BX =item Display 14.1" active matrix TFT (1024x768) =item Video Chip S3 Savage IX-MV (8MB SGRAM, AGP 2x) =item Harddisc IBM Travelstar 30GN (20GB) =item DVD 8x Matshita (Panasonic) DVD-ROM (SR-8175-M) =item Soundcard Cirrus Logic CS 4614/22/24 =item PCMCIA bus Texas Instruments PCI1450 =item USB Controller Intel 82371AB PIIX4 =item Network Interface Card 10/100MBit EtherExpressPro (onboard) =item Modem Lucent WinModem =item IrDA NSC PC87338 Controller =back =head2 Partition overview Before installing GNU/Linux, we want do do some preparations. In case you don't want to switch completely to GNU/Linux (as I did) you should take care that you can restore the preinstalled operating system. The Thinkpad was shipped I a Windows CD! However, IBM has included a restore partition: Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/hda1 * 1 2422 18310288+ c Win95 FAT32 (LBA) /dev/hda2 2423 2584 1224720 1c Hidden Win95 FAT32 (LBA) The restore partition is booted from a bootloader in the MBR (press C at boot). I strongly recommend that you create a restore floppy (press C and follow the instructions). Once overwritten (like Windows 9x/Me and most Linux installations do) you almost have no chance to boot from this partition. After the IBM bootloader was overwritten, you can still create a recovery boot disk as follows: boot from a Linux floppy/CD, mount F, C to the recovery directory, copy F and F to a floppy, boot DOS or Windows and write the bootdisk with "C". The restore partition is capable of fully restoring the first Windows partition, so we can do there everything we want. =head2 Removing the region code protection from your DVD drive My Thinkpad came with a I (check if your's is the same!). Unfortunately this drive is RPC2 protected. The RPC2 firmware is capable of handling region codes. The drive will refuse to play DVD's which have no equal region code than the one stored inside your DVD-ROM. This region code can be changed 5 times. After the last set, the drive will be locked on this code. This has nothing to do with the software or operating system you use! =for html Legal note: I will not take any responsibility for any damage you cause (to your DVD, your Thinkpad or your dog) by reading this howto! Patching your DVD voids the warranty of IBM. If you fuck up your DVD, then it's your fault, not mine. Nobody will pay you another drive to play around. First you should check whether your DVD is working. Do this using the DVD playback software IBM has included. This will also set an initial region code, which is important for the firmware patch to work. Second, you must find out which firmware you have. Under Windows 2000 you cannot get this information -- you have to install Windows 98 (which is no problem since the first partition is formated with FAT32). Use L or L to find out which firmware you have and whether your drive is RPC2 protected (My firmware was G228). Then go to L and get the appropriate patch. Flashing the wrong type of firmware will cause your drive to malfunction or refuse operation! You have been warned. =for html

You can also download the local copy of the G228 patch.

You B run the patch software in B DOS mode (and B in a DOS-Box). The DVD is attached to the secondary IDE master, so "C" should just work fine. Make sure that you don't accidently turn your Thinkpad off during flashing -- this will certainly destroy your drive. Make sure your drive is now RPC1 by running Drive info. You win, when get an "This drive has NO region protection" message. It means your drive has become RPC1. Note: under Windows you will still have to deal with region codes. This is because the playback software checks the region code and refuses to play -- a good reason to upgrade to Linux. =head2 Partitioning the harddrive I did the partitioning in the following way: Disk /dev/hda: 240 heads, 63 sectors, 2584 cylinders Units = cylinders of 15120 * 512 bytes Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/hda1 * 1 37 279688+ 6 FAT16 /dev/hda2 38 72 264600 82 Linux swap /dev/hda3 73 2584 18990720 83 Linux The first partition is for hibernation. It must be a FAT formated partition big enough to hold a hibernation file of the size: C. This makes 266MB for me (256 + 8 + 2). My F is now filled by 98%. A hibernation partition doesn't work! . IBM provides a L (which extracts onto a floppy disk when run under windows). After formating your hibernation pratition, you can boot anytime from this floppy disk and set up a swap file. After rebooting, C should work. As you can see, I removed the restore partition from IBM. If you want the option of restoring Windows, leave it untouched. =head2 Installing Debian GNU/Linux The installation went surprisingly smooth. I installed Debian 2.2r3 (potato) from floppy disk and upgraded to woody using the C tool. Check out L for a local mirror. A sample sources.list for the local mirror of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich can be found at L. You need to install the Ethernet module which is called C (see below). =head2 Configuration =over =item Network The integrated Ethernet Pro 100 works with "C". =item DVD Is supported just like a normal ATAPI CD-ROM. =item PCMCIA Works fine (install the package pcmcia-cs). =back =head2 XFree86 The S3 chip is well supported. Although the driver is quite stable, X freezed twice after some hours of work. I think with the line "C