DSL on a ThinkPad A20m, how to add USB support and suspend/resume?

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[ThinkPadder]

I've been able to install Damn Small Linux on an IBM A20m (2628) and it runs well! It's fast and stable.

But, I am having issues with this: there is no suspend/resume function, and no USB support, that I can see.

Does anyone know how to solve/add these?

[CNK]

I don't know of any way to use suspend or resume with the DSL GUI. This page (http://acpi.sourceforge.net/documentation/sleep.html) describes commands to trigger different sleep options (note that DSL uses the 2.4 kernel, so options "s3" and "s4" won't work). I haven't tried the commands myself, but I think I'll give them a go on my ThinkPad R31 tonight. If "s1" works for you, then you could make a one line script with the command and place a link to it on the desktop.

Actually, this page (http://dag.wieers.com/howto/thinkpad/a20m/) indicates that ACPI suspend can be triggered with the "fn-F4" keyboard combination. That doesn't work on my ThinkPad though.

As for USB, the above page indicates that it works, and they used the 2.4 kernel. Thinkwiki usually has some good information and there is a page on the A20m (http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:A20m), but it doesn't have the USB chipset anywhere. To find this out, open "System>System Specs" in the DSL menu and click on the "pci" tab, then read off the text after "USB Controller:". You can also use the command "lspci" in the terminal. With that info, you can look up what Linux support there is for it in the 2.4 kernel.

Also, what are you using to test the USB? Some USB devices aren't supported by DSL.

[ThinkPadder]

Thanks for the detailed reply.

I may try that script, if I keep DSL on the machine. I'm thinking of taking it off, as I've tried 3 different USB drives and no luck. I did already read through the pages you listed, but I didn't get anywhere.  I was hoping for a more user-friendly distro. And, if I can't get sleep/wake and USB with this OS, I may have to ditch it,  which is a shame, as it runs really well on the machine.

[CNK]

Sometimes it helps to turn off an option in many BIOSs called something similar to "USB Legacy Support". If you search for support of your USB controller in the 2.4 kernel (based on the "lspci" listing), you can at least know if your USB is supposed to be working.

[awantialold]

What is the difference between the Li-ion and the Ni-mhI think thats what the second is called, or atleast something similar?