Ubuntu 7.10 and lenovo t61p

From InstallationWiki

[edit] Please Note

There is no guarantee that this short tip works for you. It simply describes how to get gdm up and running with the highest possible resolution. Topics like the sound system and so on aren't included.

The following description worked for my t61p. I just played around to get ubuntu 7.10 up and running with this great piece of hardware. So there might be a shorter or better way to reach the goal. This is only a quickly typed tip, which might also work for you.

[edit] Installation

Boot into the bios and switch the hard disk settings in config/serial ata (sata) to compatibility. Reboot with the Ubuntu CD and choose the graphical failsafe mode.

Note, users with the WUXGA screen (does 1920x1200) may need to attach a a second screen with a smaller res for the installer to start gdm properly -- be sure to switch the display from the laptop LCD to the external port using <Fn>+<F7>. Modifying the VGA settings manually may also work (grubs option <F4> at the bottom of the initial install screen).

x server will fail to start.

However, you will see the commandline. Now we have to play around to bring up gdm.

Check if the value of: driver in the section device is "vesa" and nothing else (nv and nvidia doesn't work). (config file: /etc/X11/xorg.conf)

1st try to get it up and running:

/etc/init.d/gdm stop
/etc/init.d/gdm start
gdm tries to start and fails several times - don't interrupt - gmd tries to start up with the best possible resolution. if it works you will see the desktop with the resolution of 800x600 (with a warning of low resolution before)

Didn't work?

2nd try

/etc/init.d/gdm stop
install nvidia-glx-new
sudo apt-get install nvidia-glx-new
/etc/init.d/gdm start

</p> Again wait for a while until gdm tried out all resolutions.

If one of both ways worked for you - you have 2 challenges left:

• The first one: The installation dialog is too high for 800x600

If this is the case, you have to work with the keyboard to get the next installation screen - most of the time you have to press the tab-key two or three times (after you see the last selection on your screen).

Didn't work?

• The second one: Try to install the alternate installation CD

Now you have installed ubuntu on your harddisk. Boot up Ubuntu - there might be warnings concerning low resolution, there might be wrong keyboard and language settings - don't worry about that for now. Login with your account and download the latest linux nvidia driver (at the moment: the driver, which was released on 18th of October) - see [1] - you have to save the file (with the context menu) which starts with NVIDIA-Linux and ends with .run Switch to a console e.g. STRG+ALT+F1 and login with your account. For the following actions you have to use sudo or you have to activate the root account to switch to a root-prompt. /etc/init.d/gdm stop

install:
- build-essential
and check if:
- xserver-xorg-dev
- linux-headers-generic
are also successfully installed

chmod 755 NVIDIA-Linux[rest of the filename].run
./NVIDIA-Linux[rest of the filename].run
and follow the instructions

Reboot the system and correct settings like keyboard layout, language and so on. (There might be some configs which aren't proper - however, it is very easy to change these settings with several gnome-config-tools)

Now it should be done!!! Enjoy the great new version of Ubuntu.