GNU/Linux on an IBM ThinkPad X31 Henrik Brix Andersen
brix@gentoo.org
 2004 Henrik Brix Andersen 0.4.0 2004-11-01 HBA Updated for kernel 2.6.9 and X11R6.8 0.3.1 2004-09-10 HBA Updated email address and homepage 0.3.0 2004-08-29 HBA Changed from XFree86-4.3.0 to X.Org Foundation's X11R6.7.0 Added a Related Links section Updated ipw2100 driver requirements Added a note about the experimental ibm-acpi module Added X31 type number Added conclusion 0.2.0 2004-06-28 HBA First beta version 0.1.0 2004-06-17 HBA Initial revision This document describes the process of configuring GNU/Linux for an IBM ThinkPad X31. It covers configuring the Linux kernel for the hardware of the X31 and setting up X11 for the Radeon graphics chipset. The document is also available as plain text. The Docbook XML source from which it was created is available as well. The latest version of this document can be obtained from dev.gentoo.org/~brix.
Introduction I recently bought an IBM ThinkPad X31. This document describes my experiences with configuring GNU/Linux to run on the X31. The document covers how to set up the kernel for the specific hardware found in the X31 and how to set up the graphical user interface, X11. A certain amount of experience with kernel configuration and X11 is required. Although the instructions in this document are based on my experiences with Gentoo Linux it should be fairly trivial to use them with any other Linux distribution. I've tried to be as general as possible and left out distribution specific instructions.
Disclaimer No liability for the contents of this document can be accepted. Use the concepts, examples and information at your own risk. There may be errors and inaccuracies, that could be damaging to your system. Proceed with caution, and although this is highly unlikely, the author(s) do not take any responsibility. All copyrights are held by their by their respective owners, unless specifically noted otherwise. Use of a term in this document should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. Naming of particular products or brands should not be seen as endorsements.
Feedback Feedback is most certainly welcome for this document. Send your additions, comments and criticisms to the following email address: brix@gentoo.org.
The IBM ThinkPad X31 My IBM ThinkPad X31 is a type 2672-XXH without built-in bluetooth transceiver. It has the configuration shown in the output of the lspci command in .
Output of the lspci command # lspci 0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 82855PM Processor to I/O Controller (rev 03) 0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82855PM Processor to AGP Controller (rev 03) 0000:00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) USB UHCI #1 (rev 01) 0000:00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) USB UHCI #2 (rev 01) 0000:00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) USB UHCI #3 (rev 01) 0000:00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01) 0000:00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801BAM/CAM PCI Bridge (rev 81) 0000:00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82801DBM LPC Interface Controller (rev 01) 0000:00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801DBM (ICH4) Ultra ATA Storage Controller (rev 01) 0000:00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBM (ICH4) SMBus Controller (rev 01) 0000:00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 01) 0000:00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 01) 0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M6 LY 0000:02:00.0 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev aa) 0000:02:00.1 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev aa) 0000:02:00.2 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C552 IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 02) 0000:02:02.0 Network controller: Intel Corp. PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini PCI Adapter (rev 04) 0000:02:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corp. 82801BD PRO/100 VE (MOB) Ethernet Controller (rev 81)
Kernel Configuration This section describes how to configure a Linux kernel version 2.6.x for the hardware found in the X31. The instructions found in this revision of the document has been tested with kernel version 2.6.9. Only options closely related to the X31 specific hardware are mentioned; which options to enable apart from those are beyond the scope of this document. The kernel options which I have chosen to build as modules are marked with [module]. My main reasons to compile certain functionality as modules is to enable run-time configuration through module parameters and to be able to only load a module when that particular functionality is needed.
CPU and Chipset Kernel support for the Pentium M CPU and the Centrino chipset of the X31 is enabled through the kernel options listed below. Subarchitecture Type (PC-compatible) (CONFIG_X86_PC) Processor family (Pentium M) (CONFIG_MPENTIUMM) Machine Check Exception (CONFIG_X86_MCE) MTRR (Memory Type Range Register) support (CONFIG_MTRR) PCI support (CONFIG_PCI) PCI device name database (CONFIG_PCI_NAMES) ISA support (CONFIG_ISA) ATA/ATAPI/MFM/RLL support (CONFIG_IDE) Enhanced IDE/MFM/RLL disk/cdrom/tape/floppy support (CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDE) Include IDE/ATA-2 DISK support (CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDEDISK) PCI IDE chipset support (CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDEPCI) Generic PCI bus-master DMA support (CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDEDMA_PCI) Use PCI DMA by default when available (CONFIG_IDEDMA_PCI_AUTO) Intel PIIXn chipsets support (CONFIG_BLK_DEV_PIIX)
SMBus The SMBus of the X31 should be supported by the kernel options listed below, but due to some rather nasty accidents with SMBus access on IBM ThinkPads in the past all SMBus access has been disabled on IBM ThinkPads in the kernel. I2C device interface (CONFIG_I2C_CHARDEV) Intel 801 (CONFIG_I2C_I801)
Graphics Chipset The X31 is equipped with an ATI Technologies Inc. Radeon Mobility M6 LY graphics chipset. The kernel has support for a high resolution framebuffer console on the Radeon chipset and a direct rendering manager which greatly improves the performance of OpenGL 3D applications under X11.
Framebuffer Console To enable the high resolution framebuffer console you need the kernel options mentioned below. The CONFIG_LOGO* options gives you a Tux logo in the upper left corner of the screen while booting. Support for frame buffer devices (CONFIG_FB) ATI Radeon display support (CONFIG_FB_RADEON) DDC/I2C for ATI Radeon support (CONFIG_FB_RADEON_I2C) Bootup logo (CONFIG_LOGO) Standard 224-color Linux logo (CONFIG_LOGO_LINUX_CLUT224) Video mode selection support (CONFIG_VIDEO_SELECT) Framebuffer Console support (CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_CONSOLE) To actually use the high resolution framebuffer you need to pass a option to the kernel at boot time like the one shown in . For more information see the documentation for the kernel and your boot loader.
1024x768 24bpp Framebuffer Configuration vga=792
Direct Rendering To enable the direct rendering manager you need the kernel options listed below. The X11 specific configuration is covered in . /dev/agpgart (AGP Support) (CONFIG_AGP) Intel 440LX/BX/GX, I8xx and E7x05 chipset support (CONFIG_AGP_INTEL) Direct Rendering Manager (XFree86 4.1.0 and higher DRI support) (CONFIG_DRM) ATI Radeon (CONFIG_DRM_RADEON)
Power Management You have two choices when it comes to power management for the X31: the older Advanced Power Management, APM, or the newer and more modern Advanced Configuration and Power Interface, ACPI.
APM To use APM you need to kernel options listed below. You will also need apmd, the Linux APM Daemon. Power Management support (CONFIG_PM) APM (Advanced Power Management) BIOS support (CONFIG_APM) Enable PM at boot time (CONFIG_APM_DO_ENABLE) Make CPU Idle calls when idle (CONFIG_APM_CPU_IDLE) Enable console blanking using APM (CONFIG_APM_DISPLAY_BLANK) RTC stores time in GMT (CONFIG_APM_RTC_IS_GMT) Allow interrupts during APM BIOS calls (CONFIG_APM_ALLOW_INTS)
APM Suspend You can make the X31 enter standby mode by pressing Fn+F3. Pressing Fn+F4 will make the X31 suspend to RAM. You can use the tphdisk utility to create a save2dsk.bin hibernation file on a primary, hidden FAT16 partition. You should then be able to make the X31 suspend to disk by pressing Fn+F12.
ACPI To use ACPI you will need the kernel options listed below instead of the ones listed in . You will also need acpid, the Linux ACPI Daemon. Power Management support (CONFIG_PM) ACPI Support (CONFIG_ACPI) AC Adapter (CONFIG_ACPI_AC) Battery (CONFIG_ACPI_BATTERY) Button (CONFIG_ACPI_BUTTON) Processor (CONFIG_ACPI_PROCESSOR) Thermal Zone (CONFIG_ACPI_THERMAL) Power Management Timer Support (CONFIG_X86_PM_TIMER)
ACPI Suspend The ACPI implementation of the Linux kernel is still not complete. Most notably the LCD back-light stays lit during a suspend. Proceed at your own risk. You can make the X31 enter standby mode using the command echo -n standby > /sys/power/state. To make the X31 suspend to RAM you use the command echo -n mem > /sys/power/state. Suspend to disk under ACPI can be achieved using the kernel options listed below. You should then be able to make the X31 suspend to disk using the command echo -n disk > /sys/power/state. Power Management support (CONFIG_PM) Software Suspend (CONFIG_SOFTWARE_SUSPEND) To tell the kernel which swap partition to read the memory dump from at boot time you need need to pass a option to the kernel like the one shown in . For more information see the documentation for the kernel and your boot loader.
Suspend to disk configuration with swap on /dev/hda2 resume=/dev/hda2
CPU Frequency Scaling To enable the dynamic frequency scaling of the Centrino chipset you need the kernel options listed below. The CPU frequency can then be adjusted through the /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/ interface. You will need a user-space utility such as speedfreq if you wish to automate the frequency scaling. CPU Frequency scaling (CONFIG_CPU_FREQ) 'performance' governor (CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_PERFORMANCE) 'powersave' governor (CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_POWERSAVE) 'userspace' governor for userspace frequency scaling (CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_USERSPACE) 'ondemand' cpufreq policy governor (CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_ONDEMAND) CPU frequency table helpers (CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_TABLE) Intel Enhanced SpeedStep (CONFIG_X86_SPEEDSTEP_CENTRINO)
USB Ports To enable the USB ports of the X31 you need the kernel options listed below along with drivers for the devices you plan to attach. Support for Host-side USB (CONFIG_USB) EHCI HCD (USB 2.0) support (CONFIG_USB_EHCI_HCD) UHCI HCD (most Intel and VIA) support (CONFIG_USB_UHCI_HCD)
FireWire The FireWire controller of the X31 supports the Open Host Controller Interface, OHCI. To enable it you need the kernel options listed below along with drivers for the devices you plan to attach. IEEE 1394 (FireWire) support (CONFIG_IEEE1394) OHCI-1394 support (CONFIG_IEEE1394_OHCI1394)
Infrared Port To use the FIR port, a Fast Infrared port, of the X31 you need at least the kernel options listed below. You may want to enable higher level IrDA protocols such as the IrCOMM protocol (CONFIG_IRCOMM) which implements serial port emulation. You will need the irda-utils software package from The Linux IrDA Project. IrDA (infrared) subsystem support (CONFIG_IRDA) [module] NSC PC87108/PC87338 (CONFIG_NSC_FIR) [module] To have the kernel module recognize the hardware correctly you need to add the contents of to /etc/modules.conf.
Infrared port related entries in /etc/modules.conf alias irda0 nsc-ircc options nsc-ircc dongle_id=0x9
If you have enabled 8250/16550 and compatible serial support (CONFIG_SERIAL_8250) in the kernel you may have to add the line to /etc/modules.conf to disable the serial driver for the infrared port.
Parallel Port To enable the parallel port of the X31 you will need to kernel options listed below. Parallel port support (CONFIG_PARPORT) [module] PC-style hardware (CONFIG_PARPORT_PC) [module] To have the kernel module automatically loaded when needed you should add the contents of to /etc/modules.conf.
Parallel port related entries in /etc/modules.conf alias parport_lowlevel parport_pc
CardBus Slot To enable the CardBus slot of the X31 you need the kernel options listed below along with drivers for the cards you plan to insert. You will need the pcmcia-cs user-space utilities for automatically loading the required drivers upon card insertion. Support for hot-pluggable devices (CONFIG_HOTPLUG) PCMCIA/CardBus support (CONFIG_PCMCIA) [module] CardBus yenta-compatible bridge support (CONFIG_YENTA) [module]
Compact Flash Slot The Compact Flash reader of the X31 is connected to the CardBus controller. Apart from the requirements listed in you will need a device driver for your Compact Flash card. For storage devices you will need the following kernel option. PCMCIA IDE support (CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDECS) [module]
Ethernet There are two drivers supporting the ethernet card of the X31: The e100 driver written by Intel and the eepro100 driver written by Donald Becker. Both are included in the Linux kernel.
E100 Driver To use the e100 driver written by Intel you need the kernel options listed below: Ethernet (10 or 100Mbit) (CONFIG_NET_ETHERNET) EISA, VLB, PCI and on board controllers (CONFIG_NET_PCI) Intel(R) PRO/100+ support (CONFIG_E100) Use Rx Polling (NAPI) (CONFIG_E100_NAPI)
EEPRO100 Driver To use the eepro100 driver written by Donald Becker you need the kernel options listed below instead of the ones listed in : Ethernet (10 or 100Mbit) (CONFIG_NET_ETHERNET) EISA, VLB, PCI and on board controllers (CONFIG_NET_PCI) EtherExpressPro/100 support (eepro100, original Becker driver) (CONFIG_EEPRO100)
Wireless Network The kernel does not yet support the Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 Network Connection mini PCI adapter, but Intel has started an open source driver project for it. Apart from the ipw2100 driver itself you will need the Linux hotplug scripts for loading the firmware of the IPW2100 and the wireless-tools for setting up the connection. The ipw2100 driver depends on the kernel options listed below. Hotplug firmware loading support (CONFIG_FW_LOADER) [module] Wireless LAN drivers (non-hamradio) & Wireless Extensions (CONFIG_NET_RADIO) Cryptographic API (CONFIG_CRYPTO) ARC4 cipher algorithm (CONFIG_CRYPTO_ARC4) [module] Michael MIC keyed digest algorithm (CONFIG_CRYPTO_MICHAEL_MIC) [module] AES cipher algorithms (i586) (CONFIG_CRYPTO_AES_586) [module] CRC32 functions (CONFIG_CRC32) [module]
Sound Card There are two different drivers supporting the sound card of the X31: The Advanced Linux Sound Architecture, ALSA, and the deprecated Open Sound System, OSS.
ALSA Driver To use the ALSA driver for the sound card you need the kernel options listed below. They include a backwards compatible OSS API enabling legacy applications which has yet to be ported to the ALSA API to function correctly. You will also need the alsa-utils software package from The ALSA Project. Sound card support (CONFIG_SOUND) [module] Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (CONFIG_SND) [module] OSS Mixer API (CONFIG_SND_MIXER_OSS) [module] OSS PCM (digital audio) API (CONFIG_SND_PCM_OSS) [module] RTC Timer support (CONFIG_SND_RTCTIMER) [module] Intel i8x0/MX440, SiS 7012; Ali 5455; NForce Audio; AMD768/8111 (CONFIG_SND_INTEL8X0) [module] To have the alsa-utils load the correct modules you need to add the contents of to /etc/modules.conf.
ALSA related entries in /etc/modules.conf alias char-major-116 snd alias char-major-14 soundcore alias snd-card-0 snd-intel8x0 alias sound-slot-0 snd-card-0 alias sound-service-0-0 snd-mixer-oss alias sound-service-0-1 snd-seq-oss alias sound-service-0-3 snd-pcm-oss alias sound-service-0-8 snd-seq-oss alias sound-service-0-12 snd-pcm-oss alias /dev/mixer snd-mixer-oss alias /dev/dsp snd-pcm-oss alias /dev/midi snd-seq-oss options snd cards_limit=1
OSS Driver To use the deprecated OSS driver for the sound card you need the kernel options listed below instead of the ones listed in . Sound card support (CONFIG_SOUND) Open Sound System (DEPRECATED) (CONFIG_SOUND_PRIME) Intel ICH (i8xx) audio support (CONFIG_SOUND_ICH)
PC Speaker While technically the PC speaker isn't part of the sound card I have listed it here for completeness sake. To enable the PC speaker you need the kernel options listed below. Misc (CONFIG_INPUT_MISC) PC Speaker support (CONFIG_INPUT_PCSPKR)
Modem There are two drivers supporting the modem of the X31: the proprietary Smart Link driver or the experimental in-kernel ALSA driver.
Smart Link Driver To use the proprietary Smart Link modem driver under kernel 2.6.x you need the latest beta version of the Smart Link Linux drivers.
ALSA Driver To use the ALSA driver instead of the proprietary Smart Link driver you need the kernel option listed below (see for more information on ALSA kernel options). You will still need the open source slmodemd application from the Smart Link driver. Intel i8x0/MX440; AMD768/8111 modems (EXPERIMENTAL) (CONFIG_SND_INTEL8X0M) [module] To have the alsa-utils load the correct module for the modem you need to add the contents of to /etc/modules.conf.
ALSA modem related entries in /etc/modules.conf alias snd-card-1 snd-intel8x0m options snd cards_limit=2
Trackpoint Mouse The Trackpoint mouse is connected to an internal PS/2 controller. To enable it you need the kernel options listed below. The device will be called /dev/input/mouse0. A common device for all mice is available as /dev/input/mice which replaces the legacy device /dev/psaux. Mouse interface (CONFIG_INPUT_MOUSEDEV) Mice (CONFIG_INPUT_MOUSE) PS/2 mouse (CONFIG_MOUSE_PS2)
ThinkPad Buttons The state of the ThinkPad specific buttons is reported through a non-volatile RAM chip. To enable the buttons you need the kernel option listed below. You will also need the tpb utility. /dev/nvram support (CONFIG_NVRAM) To use the ThinkPad specific buttons under ACPI you'll need the experimental ibm-acpi module.
IBM Security Chip The IBM Security Chip, a TCPA chip, is not supported by the kernel. IBM has released an open source TCPA driver for Linux, which I have yet to try out.
X11 Configuration This section describes how to configure X11R6.8.0 to work with the hardware of the X31.
Configuration File The configuration listed in includes a setup for Multihead and Xinerama. Uncomment the appropriate in the section if you wish to enable it. You will need to adjust the and options for the external monitor according to it's specifications.
Contents of /etc/X11/xorg.conf # /etc/X11/xorg.conf # # 2004-09-12 Henrik Brix Andersen # # Notes: # * Config for the X.Org Foundation X11R6.8.0 release # # Hardware: # * IBM Thinkpad X31 Section "Files" # location of RGB database RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb" # local font server on unix socket FontPath "unix/:-1" EndSection Section "ServerFlags" # using acpi-enabled kernel - /dev/apm_bios not present Option "PM" "off" EndSection Section "Module" Load "dbe" # double-buffering extension Load "extmod" # commonly used server extensions # Load "fbdevhw" # functions for talking to framebuffer device Load "dri" # direct rendering infrastructure Load "glx" # OpenGL X protocol interface Load "v4l" # video4linux Load "record" # Xevent recorder # following two modules needed if not running xfs #Load "freetype" # freetype font rasterer #Load "type1" # type 1 font rasterer EndSection Section "Extensions" Option "Composite" "on" EndSection Section "InputDevice" Identifier "Keyboard" Driver "kbd" # the microsoftinet model has support for the # forward/backward buttons Option "XkbModel" "microsoftinet" Option "XkbLayout" "dk" EndSection Section "InputDevice" Identifier "Mice" Driver "mouse" Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice" Option "Protocol" "Auto" Option "Emulate3Buttons" "off" Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "ATI Radeon" Driver "radeon" VendorName "ATI Technologies Inc" BoardName "Radeon Mobility M6 LY" Option "AGPMode" "4" Option "AGPFastWrite" "on" Option "EnablePageFlip" "on" Option "RenderAccel" "on" Option "DynamicClocks" "on" # enable radeon specific xinerama # Option "MergedFB" "on" Option "MergedFB" "off" # external monitor timings Option "CRT2HSync" "30.0-68.0" Option "CRT2VRefresh" "50.0-110.0" Option "CRT2Position" "Clone" # Option "CRT2Position" "LeftOf" # Option "CRT2Position" "RightOf" # Option "CRT2Position" "Above" # Option "CRT2Position" "Below" EndSection Section "Monitor" Identifier "Monitor" VendorName "Unknown" ModelName "Unknown" # comment this out when using MergedFB DisplaySize 245 185 Option "dpms" EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "Screen" Device "ATI Radeon" Monitor "Monitor" DefaultDepth 24 Subsection "Display" Depth 24 Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" # uncomment this for MergedFB # Virtual 1024 1536 EndSubsection EndSection Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "ServerLayout" Screen "Screen" InputDevice "Mice" "CorePointer" InputDevice "Keyboard" "CoreKeyboard" EndSection Section "DRI" Mode 0666 EndSection
Conclusion All the hardware of the IBM ThinkPad X31 (perhaps except for the IBM Security Chip?) works perfectly well with GNU/Linux. Given the instructions in this HOWTO it should be pretty straight forward to set up the kernel and X11 as long as you have a bit of experience with GNU/Linux.