IBM Thinkpad 760 XL
Forum: Laptops
Topic: IBM Thinkpad 760 XL
started by: bubazoo
Posted by bubazoo on Mar. 12 2006,20:27
I have an IBM Thinkpad 760 XL32 mb RAM
2.1 gig HD
I am trying to put DSL 2.2b on (current version), but am not having very good success at all
I first tried to boot using
dsl vga=normal lang=us
and selecting "framebuffer" xfbdev xserver I get "missing module fb0 errors.
when I select xfvesa xserver, it hangs X entirely, regardless of the display resolution I try.
umm, now what? won't boot into X, either it hangs, or I get this missing module error.
has anyone gotten an IBM THinkpad 760 XL or similar to work with DSL? because I am having a very hard time over here with it, won't boot into X at all.
are you SUREEEEEE DSL will boot an X server with as little as 16mb of RAM? because I'm having a hard enough time getting X to boot with 32 meg over here..
either that, or the distribution is missing the xfb* modules
I don't understand it either, the .iso image passed md5 checksums (shrugs)
I had to do the "poor mans install" though, because my thinkpad 760 wouldn't detect the pcmcia CD-ROM until the \knoppix and \boot directories were copied to the hard drive. It detected the CD-ROM just fine after that though. Boot managers just don't detect the pcmcia device at all for some reason.
now X won't start, and I'm about ready to throw this damsmalllinux distro disk out the freakin window!!!
take care,
Tom
Posted by cbagger01 on Mar. 13 2006,18:03
You can't run the framebuffer server xfbdev if you don't specify a framebuffer at boottime.Whenever you select vga=normal, you are disabling the startup of the framebuffer.
Either boot by typing:
fb640x480
fb800x600
dsl vga=xxx xsetup
(where xxx is the 3 digit code from the "F3" menu at boot time.
Posted by bubazoo on Mar. 13 2006,19:57
ahh, gotcha! thanks, I will try combinations of those to see which works the best 
thanks so much for the reply I ran xsetup.sh from the command line, and tried switching to fb 640x480, that didn't work so I tried switching to fb 800x600, again it didn't work (X freezes) so I'll try booting with those options see if it changes any.
Posted by bubazoo on Mar. 13 2006,20:24
nope, didn't workfb640x480 and fb800x600 give me the following error message:
| Code Sample |
modprobe: modprobe: can't find module fb0 X10: fatal IO error 104 (Connection reset by peer) on X server ":0:0" after 0 requests (0 known processed) with 0 events remaining |
that is the EXACT error I get every time I try to run in framebuffer mode,
no matter what I do.
I then tried
dsl vga=788 xsetup
selected xfbserv, MPS/2 mouse, and language=us,
again I get the following error
| Code Sample |
modprobe: modprobe: can't find module fb0 X10: fatal IO error 104 (Connection reset by peer) on X server ":0:0" after 0 requests (0 known processed) with 0 events remaining |
HELP!!!
Posted by cbagger01 on Mar. 14 2006,06:17
Reading up on your video chipset (google thinkpad 760xl linux), it appears that it does not support VESA video modes.However, the old XFree86 SVGA server does work with your chipset and someone is working on a SVGA extension for their Thinkpad here:
< http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin....49;st=0 >
Also, it might be possible to get the "Trident framebuffer" to work with your laptop instead of the VESA one:
< http://developer.osdl.org/dev....tfb.txt >
Basically, you would start your computer up with a command like this one:
dsl vga=normal 3
and get to text mode. Then type something like this:
sudo su
modprobe tridentfb mode=800x600 bpp=16 noaccel fp
exit
xsetup.sh
(choose the xfbdev driver)
startx
It probably won't work, but it doesn't hurt to try.
Posted by bubazoo on Mar. 14 2006,23:16
I looked thru that XFree86 SVGA server thread, and I'm TOTALLY confused on all that...isn't there a simple 1 page wiki or something? because I'm sitting here reading all 4 pages, being passed from one link to the other, seeing nothing but discussion, but no actual instruction....
I may end up going with another distro if I can't figure this out, DSL was my last hope at getting an OS installed on this laptop though
why do they use vesa instead of XFree86 anyway is what I don't understand. XFree86 as I understand it, is the most compatible with all displays, so why did they even switch to vesa for, strange.I give up!
Posted by cbagger01 on Mar. 15 2006,05:17
They use VESA because it is smaller and uses less RAM and also there is not enough room to put the full Xfree86 on a 50MB livecd.If you go to another distro, make sure that it comes with XFree86 version 3.3 and not version 4.x or newer.
For example, some old Red Hat or Slackware will come with this. You can also install it in Debian if you are patient.
But your best alternative would be to try something like Deli Linux.
Posted by bubazoo on Mar. 16 2006,19:56
I cannot afford another laptop. I have no credit score, thats why I'm having to fight with this one, I don't have a spare $1000 lying around.| Quote |
For example, some old Red Hat or Slackware will come with this. You can also install it in Debian if you are patient. |
no I cannot install it in Debian, I cannot boot from the CD-ROM drive, remember??!! That's why I can't use the other distros out there, because they all require booting from the CD-ROM drive, slackware and redhat won't detect the pcmcia CD-ROM I've tried that, I've been trying to get an OS on here for the last 3 years now!! nothing works except a win95 28 disk floppy install.....so its hopeless.
Posted by cbagger01 on Mar. 18 2006,18:11
Really old versions once had the ability to do a floppy or floppy + network install. Also, you could pull the hard drive from the laptop and then use a cheap laptop HD to IDE converter ($5-10 US) to do the installation on a friend's desktop PC. Then put the hard drive back into your laptop and you are in business.I would expect that this would work fine for an older version of KNOPPIX with an older Xfree86 version. You could even do a "poorman's install" on the other computer and then boot up from floppy on your thinkpad with full autodetection.
But then again, I think that it is still possible to get DSL up and running with such a laptop + 3rd party Xfree-SVGA driver. I just don't have any specific help that I can give you on the subject.
Posted by bubazoo on Mar. 18 2006,18:24
its ok, thanks for the help though I don't know how to pull the HD out of the laptop. I can pop the keyboard open and see the HD sitting in there, but have no clue how to remove it, and I'm afraid to try it, for I am afraid I won't be able to get it back in there once I take it out, I have not been trained on taking apart laptops so I have no clue how to do it. I took a troubleshooting college course a few years ago on how to take apart desktop PC's, but it didn't cover laptops, so I'm afraid to even try it unless I am with someone who knows what there doing.
as for the "poormans install" I did do that, it detected the pcmcia CD-ROM just fine, but I cannot have the network card and pcmcia cd-rom in the machine at the same time otherwise I get an IRQ conflict, thats how I got that "f0" error in the first place was by performing a poor mans install....
someone on the IRC channel said I could always "modprobe" it, but I don't know all the command parameters of that.
Posted by Ageek on Mar. 23 2006,02:31
I have a Thinkpad 760ED and I got the Tridentfb to work but only in 640x400 mode which is small on the 1024x768 screen. I played with the Tridentfb modes but no luck. I guess I will have to xfree86 it. Unless someone has other Ideas. Also, I got this machine to boot from the CD-Drive and the PCMCIA sd card reader(USB-Zip boot).The CD drive does not like today CD disks(makes a lot of seek crunching noise).
Posted by bubazoo on Mar. 26 2006,17:27
thats strange, how did you get your 760 to boot from a pcmcia device?I can't even get in to CMOS on mine, to see why I am having an IRQ conflict having more then one pcmcia device connected at a time. been trying to hit F12 at bootup but nothing happens
Posted by Linuturk on April 06 2006,06:42
I have a thinkpad 600DSL 2.3
My system will boot to the live cd using the xfbdev server, at 1024x768 at 32 bit.
xvesa shows a 1024x768 at 32 bit, but you can't see anything.
After I did a frugal install, i ran into the same errors the previous person did.
| Code Sample |
| modprobe: modprobe: can't find module fb0 X10: fatal IO error 104 (Connection reset by peer) on X server ":0:0" after 0 requests (0 known processed) with 0 events remaining |
Can anyone help?
Solution: I found that by using the boot option vga=791 will fix this problem. On DSL version 2.3, on the GRUB loader, if you select DSL fb1024x768, it will automatically work.