Linux on ... Toshiba 1410-801

This document describes some Linux workarounds with a toshiba laptop. Almost everything worked pretty well.. after a bunch of months i can finally say i'm 90% satisfied. (blame the size of the machine for the missing 10%.. but after all they say it was a desktop replacement.. )

PS: This is a translation of the italian document and I've made it a bit shorter :-)
Full report is available in the Italian version [newer]

News section

Kernel 2.6 section

Index

Hardware

Installation

      Partitioning
      Distros
      Running Kernel

Recognized Hardware

Nvidia GeForce420 Go, Yamaha AC97 sound card, Ethernet Intel e100, Combo Drive, PCMCIA, Acpi Periferals

Special workaround

Internal Modem, Keyboard, Mouse, APM & standby,

Not working yet

Empty, indeed :)

Not tested

IrDa, TV-OUT,

News

<top>

Hardware

Brand and model------------ Toshiba Satellite 1410-801 (Eu-It,2003)
Processor ---------------- Mobile Intel Celeron 2Gh; Ram 256 Mb ddr
Monitor ------------------- 14'' tft, 1024x768
VideoCard -------------------- Nvidia geforce 420 16 Mb ddr
SoundCard -------------------- Yamaha 82801 AC97, YMF753 Chipset
Lan ----------------------- Intel Express Pro 100
Internal modem -------- Intel AMR AC97 rev 02
Combo drive ------------ Toshiba (dvd/cd-r/rw) 8x/16x/16/x
Floppy drive ------------ Toshiba
Hard drive --------------- Toshiba 30 gb
Accessories:2 PCMCIA ports, 3 USB ports, 1 parallel port,1 IrDa, TV-out,
mic, special keys for audio cd playback.

Read lspci output on this computer

<top>

Installation

Partitions
Partitioning was easy and painless, since that so-called (preinstalled) operating system was not yet in NTFS format, as i feared, but simply FAT32.
I made all the nice work with 'drake tools, leaving a very small partition for win :)
Distros
At the present time both Mandrake 9.1 and Slackware 9 are alive and kicking on this lap.
Graphical server is XFree86 4.3.x
Running Kernel
Kernel is 2.4.21.
Since this minor number all vanilla kernels prevent you from dealing with a boring bug wich afflicts toshiba keyboard.
Problem and solution are described beyond, in the keyboard section.

[Dic 2003] Updates: Mandrake 9.2 & kernel 2.4.22
[Dic 2003] Updates: Mandrake 9.2 & kernel 2.6.0
[Feb 2004] Updates: Slackware9.1 & kernel 2.6.3

<top>

Kernel 2.6 section

Changes:

Sound: If you are using ALSA Sound System, instead of OSS, you will load module snd_intel8x0 (real improvement!!). I added this to /etc/modules.conf:

alias sound-slot-0 snd-intel8x0
above snd-intel8x0 snd-pcm-oss

Modem: Newest drivers are needed. At present time [Dic 2003], Smartlink lets out slmodem-2.9.4.tar.gz
After compiling and modules loading, this new version needs to launc the application slmodemd with country options:

modprobe slamr
slmodemd --country=59 &

The device we use with the dialer is still /dev/ttySL0

Wireless card: I am using a Hamlet wirless card, with an unexpected ADMtek chipset (it used to be "orinoco" in earlier cards: they changed it without a change of name-model). Admtek drivers are not developed since june 2003 and are stuck on version 1.05.
Kernel 2.6 support is given by an unofficial version at http://www.mines.edu/students/w/wsimmons/linux/ADM8211_src_105_2.6.tar.gz.
Moreover, you can find patches and hints to use these drivers in monitor mode at www.latinsud.com.

<top>

Recognized components

Video card

Video card is fully supported both by generic open drivers and Nvidia binaries for linux.
Nvidia driver let you access all features, like 3D acceleration. Last version available for download is now NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-4496 .Installation is just a matter of typing sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-***.run , then modify a few configuration options (all explained in README)
See my XF86Config video section

Sound card (on board)

Works with OSS and i810_audio module. Alsa module (expecially for 2.6 kernels) is snd_intel8x0

Lan

Works with e100 module.

Combo drive

All features work fine.
I use SCSI emulation for cd burning (not really necessary with newest versions of cdrecord).

PCMCIA

[added 30/11/03]
At least i tested pcmcia with a wireless card.
Actually it was a quite brief test, because the card was borrowed, but it only needed to start pcmcia service to have it work it fine.
A list of supported wireless cards is available at linux-on-laptop.

ACPI

[updated Apr2004]

Good news for ACPI: since 2.6 series there is great support for toshiba power-saving tools: battery life is improved and software suspend is working. Access to some bios settings is possible via kde 3.2 "klaptop"

Other supported peripherals:

Benq USB mini optical mouse
HP 3280 USB printer
Multimedia Fun-Touch USB external keyboard
Agenie USB pen
Cisco Pcmcia Wireless Card
Hamlet Pcmcia Wireless Card
Netgear MA111SE Wireless USB

<top>

Special workaround

Internal modem

Modem works!!! It's true :)
If your lspci shows something like Intel Corp. 82801CA/CAM AC'97 Modem (rev 02), then all you need to do is to get the right version of Smartlink drivers and follow instructions.
[They should fit on all mobo with YMF753 sound chipset, but i can't be sure.]
Don't download last version of the drivers unless you want to test.
AFAIK there are now two version that works properly: they are slmdm-2.7.10(the one I'm using) and slmdm-2.7.8 as reported by Thorsten in this page (grazie!)

[News 24-12-2003]
Last working package with up-to-date drivers (works with 2.6 kernel) is slmodem-2.9.4.tar.gz

Keyboard

There is a known bug in Toshiba keyboard that makes writing very hard, expecially if you are a "fast typer": pressed keys get echoed more than one time (eg. if you intend to digit a simple "ls" you will often get "llls"). Newest kernels (original, not distro-patched kernels) since 2.4.21 definitely solve this problem. Again, you can take a look to this page for further hints.

Mouse

You can easily use both external mouse and mousepad adding some line to XF86Config. This is my configuration

APM

APM is working but not always. It's ok for battery level but fails when you try to use features like standby.

Seems that nvidia drivers are to blame for this, so if you want to get apm standby working you will have to unload them.
I simply keep nvidia drivers installed and put 2 video device sections in my XF86Config, using "nvidia" when i need nice 3d acceleration and "nv" most of the time.

Section "Device"
    Identifier "nvidia1"
    VendorName "nVidia Corporation"
    BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce4 (generic)"
    Driver "nv"
    Option "DPMS"
EndSection
#
Section "Device"
    Identifier "nvidia2"
    VendorName "nVidia Corporation"
    BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce4"
    Driver "nvidia"
    Option "UseFBdev" "true"
    Option "NoLogo" "true"    #nvidia drivers
    Option "IgnoreEDID" "true" #nvidia drivers
    Option "DPMS"
EndSection

You should remember to comment/uncomment modules section too, since nvidia drivers don't want Load "dri" options and need "glx"

Section "Module"
    Load "dbe" # Double-Buffering Extension
    Load "v4l" # Video for Linux
    Load "extmod"
    Load "type1"
    Load "freetype"
    Load "glx" # 3D layer
    #Load "dri" #remove w/"nvidia"
EndSection

So, to use apm properly,
change XF86Config device, #modprobe -r nvidia, refresh X, then try apm -s to see if it's all ok

<--- See more

Multimedia Keys and special laptop functions

Compile Toshiba options in kernel [ACPI section] and try out FnFX utility by Timo Hoenig http://fnfx.sf.net

<top>

Not working yet

[todo] Nothing more here.. better look at "Special Workarounds" :))

Not tested

IrDa

Didn't test IrDa yet. I tried to configure it for the future ^_^

## install "irdautils"
#### add these to /etc/modules.conf
alias tty-ldisc-11 irtty
alias char-major-161 ircomm-tty
alias irda0 toshoboe #device driver per i laptop toshiba
##### load modules
modprobe irda
modprobe irtty
modprobe ircomm
##### check /etc/irda or /etc/sysconfig/irda file
###### activate irda service
irattach /dev/ttyS2 -s
##if you use kppp with irda: ln -s /dev/ircomm0 /dev/modem

<--- See more

TV-OUT

[todo]
links a tutorial
... ...

News

This is still a work in progress
If you notice some mistake, or some bad or missing links, please tell me.
All of your comments are really useful and welcome.

Take a look to my home page for Italian version and updates

Finally, thanks to everyone that spent his/her time making all the other tutorials that helped me and inspired me :* You can find some of them in the links section.
Happy Linux!

Last updated: 22/04/2004
This report is listed at TuxMobil - Linux on laptops, PDAs, mobile phones.

<top>

Written with Quanta Plus and Vim

Please, send me your comments