The IBM Thinkpads are quite popular for linux use, and even though they work pretty well out-the-box, there are some things that could be done to make this better.
1)Thinkpad drivers The thinkpad drivers implement devices to access some Thinkpad-specific hardware/features: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=1212&release_id=123594 I have an SRPM: http://ranger.dnsalias.com/mandrake/cooker/thinkpad-4.1-1mdk.src.rpm But rpmlint complains that kernel modules should not be in the kernel, so can someone take a look at getting them into the kernel? The srpm may be a good starting point ... 2)tpctl utility The tpctl utility uses the thinkpad devices to configure the thinkpad (enabling/disabling and configuring devices). Also included is the apmiser utility which will throttle the CPU when on batteries and idle - this may be obsolete with acpi (I haven't played with acpi since my thinkpad runs 9.0 and I haven't had time to test acpi in 2.4.19-24mdk)? SRPM: http://ranger.dnsalias.com/mandrake/cooker/tpctl-4.2-1mdk.src.rpm If someone can get the thinkpad drivers in the kernel, I will upload tpctl to contrib. 3)Some thinkpads (600 series, at least my 600X) have Lucent Technologies winmodems, it would be nice to see these semi-open-source drivers in the commercial packs and the MandrakeClub http://www.heby.de/ltmodem http://www.sfu.ca/~cth/ltmodem/ltmodem-8.26a9.tar.gz I will probably make up an rpm sometime based on the RPM generated by the script in the tarball. While we're discussing propietary drivers, can someone make a list of which drivers will be in the commercial versions? For those with Thinkpad's running 9.0, please try: http://ranger.dnsalias.com/mandrake/mandrake9.0/thinkpad-2.4.19-24mdk-4.1-1mdk.i586.rpm http://ranger.dnsalias.com/mandrake/mandrake9.0/tpctl-4.2-1mdk.i586.rpm (my /etc/devfs/conf.d/thinkpad file doesn't seem to work, anyone know why not: [root@bgmilne-thinkpad bgmilne]# lsmod|grep thinkpad [root@bgmilne-thinkpad bgmilne]# ll /dev/thinkpad/ total 0 [root@bgmilne-thinkpad bgmilne]# cat /etc/devfs/conf.d/thinkpad REGISTER ^thinkpad/.*$ PERMISSIONS root.thinkpad 0664 [root@bgmilne-thinkpad bgmilne]# modprobe thinkpad [root@bgmilne-thinkpad bgmilne]# ll /dev/thinkpad/ total 0 crw-r----- 1 root root 10, 170 Jan 1 1970 thinkpad ) Regards, Buchan -- |--------------Another happy Mandrake Club member--------------| Buchan Milne Mechanical Engineer, Network Manager Cellphone * Work +27 82 472 2231 * +27 21 8828820x121 Stellenbosch Automotive Engineering http://www.cae.co.za GPG Key http://ranger.dnsalias.com/bgmilne.asc 1024D/60D204A7 2919 E232 5610 A038 87B1 72D6 AC92 BA50 60D2 04A7
