Setting up Linux on a P Series Lifebook

Since I was checking out Linux on Laptops for something on the P Series and I couldn't find anything, it became my time to contribute.

What currently works

So, here's what I've done so far (and this will be updated as I get other features working):

What needs to be working

The most difficult part is getting something that works

So, to get started, the only distribution of UNIX I found to work is Debian through the CDs. Debian on disk doesn't work (the USB floppy will not run the root disk), and both Redhat and Mandrake CDs hang (it doesn't matter because I like Debian better anyway). I went as far as NetBSD, but that get me "invalid disk partition" error and wouldn't boot from the hard disk.

My partition table

Since it's a small hard drive by today's standards, I have a very simple partition strategy:

Disk /dev/hda: 255 heads, 63 sectors, 2432 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 bytes

Device Boot       Start       End    Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hda1             1       498   4000153+  83  Linux
/dev/hda2           499       622    996030   82  Linux swap
/dev/hda3           623      2432  14538825   83  Linux

The first partition is the root /, the next partition is swap space, and the last partition is /self.

I also played around with my partitions so I'm running ext3. Gotta love the journaling. :) I'll eventually work on writing this up.

Installation process

To get the basic distribution working, go through the Debian install process (format the disks, partition the disks, install the drivers, install the software packages).

Make sure you have SCSI support (general and emulation) to get the external disks and CD-RW working.

After doing the basics, you'll have to setup a user and root password, etc. See the Debian installation docs for more details on how to install from a CD-ROM.

Kernel upgrade to 2.5.7

To upgrade your kernel, download the source from http://www.kernel.org. My .config file is here, which contains all the good stuff you need to have (including sound, because the 2.5 kernels include the alsa drivers for sound).

Sound support

Use the Alsa sound drivers to get sound. The sound controller is Multimedia audio controller: Acer Laboratories Inc. [ALi] M5451 PCI South Bridge Audio (rev 01), so use the ALi drivers. Make sure you use alsaconf to configure your network card and alsamixer to turn on the sound.

Networking

Then after you're done, make sure you have networking working. To configure your network card, edit the /etc/network/interfaces card to have your valid network card and information: 
# /etc/network/interfaces -- configuration file for ifup(8), ifdown(8)

# The loopback interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# The first network card - this entry was created during the Debian installation
# (network, broadcast and gateway are optional)
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
        address 10.10.120.20
        netmask 255.255.255.0
        network 10.10.120.0
        broadcast 10.10.120.255
        gateway 10.10.120.254

If you're running a second ethernet card (as I am for wireless), it will be eth1 instead of eth0 if you run them both at the same time. Since I don't load the Realtek network drivers for the builtin ethernet at startup, usually my eth0 is my wireless card.

Package installation

Once you have your networking working, make sure you have the following lines in the /etc/apt/sources.list:

deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main non-free contrib
deb-src http://http.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main non-free contrib
deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US unstable/non-US main contrib non-free
deb-src http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US unstable/non-US main contrib non-free

This will let you download the latest packages from Debian (don't use stable as it's really outdated. Use the unstable. If you want really the latest, use testing).

Now run the following commands:

# apt-get update
# apt-get upgrade

X server

Don't forget to install the X server (xserver-xfree86, xfree86-common, and xbase-clients). Use the debconf to configure X, and use the advanced option (use 30-130 and 60-160 for the graphical ranges). Then launch the X server, and you should be set. Here's my XF86Config-4 if you want to use it.

Again, see the Debian docs for more information setting up an X server.

CD-RW

It works fine once you have your kernel compiled with SCSI support. I only use CD-Rs, so I use xcdroast without any special handling. Make sure that you have all your CD-ROM and CD-RW drivers installed as modules or it won't work.

What? No more?

I'll have more once I figure out how to get the other things working.

Last updated: Mon Apr 1 14:34:37 PST 2002