IBM Thinkpad 380...Dsl support for PCMCIA Wireless
Forum: Laptops
Topic: IBM Thinkpad 380...Dsl support for PCMCIA Wireless
started by: simpletech
Posted by simpletech on June 11 2006,22:48
Hey....Just got Dsl (latest ver) installed to Hda1 on my IBM 380ed laptop after cleaning off the HD and re-formatting, etc. Installed fine with fb800x600 boot for the display. I'm such a noob yet and am still gingerly finding my way around the desktop, but had a couple of questions relating to net connectivity via wireless cards, as I plan to use this stripped down machine just for mobile surfing and email while working.
There are a lot of the "recommended" PCMCIA wireless cards available on Ebay -- Orinoco Gold, etc.etc. but I'm curious --- I'm assuming that the latest kernel Dsl will support them, but will this old clunky Thinkpad 380 support these cards? There was something about cardbus not being supported, etc. ?? Oh, by the way, when I look at PCMCIA Card Control in System, and click on the status tab, they recognize the two cards I have (one is a net card) and they say ready.....is this positive news?
Anyone else have a 380 and have luck with wireless?
Also, I happen to have an old PCMCIA 56k modem card that actually used to work with this laptop when it had win98....Any reason it should not work now for dial tone connectivity?
Thanks in advance !!
Posted by jonam on June 12 2006,00:20
My experience has been with two old laptops - a Compaq 1530D and an HP 5700CT and a DWL-G650 Wireless card (Atheros Madwifi drivers). Both refused to work with the wireless card under DSL 2.2 or later but under DSL 2.1b worked fine. This is probably because of the Cardmgr in DSL 2.1b which is version 3.2.5 while later DSL's have reverted to Cardmgr version 3.2.2.
I also tried standard wired ethernet cards and these worked OK on either version of DSL. A newer laptop (Compaq N610c) worked fine with the wireless and wired ethernets on DSL 2.4.
Give 2.1b a try first would be my recommendation if you want to use wireless with old laptops.
Regards,
Jonam
Posted by simpletech on June 12 2006,12:13
Thanks, Jonam.....I'll try that. Kind of loathe to install another Dsl as it was like pulling teeth to find the proper comination of events to allow it to install to my HD the first time, but I suppose that now I know how to do it, it shouldn't be all that bad. Actually, I was just wondering if anyone had any luck at all with the Thinkpad 380ed, specifically? I'd like to get an anecdotal thumbs up before I commit some cash to a wireless card.
Also, perhaps (somewhat) unrelated....I'm attempting to configure my 56k modem/dial up settings and when I attempt to connect, it gives me error messages, in/out error, etc. It's not automatically detecting my port for the modem -- I have to do it manually from a list, but I've tried every port. No luck....ideas?
thanks!
Posted by jonam on June 19 2006,07:44
simpletech,You can have a look at this website which has a lot of links to others who have tried Linux on your type of laptop.
< http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/ibm.html >
Sorry I can't help you with your modem problem as I haven't set one up.
Regards,
Jonam
Posted by dougz on June 19 2006,11:52
Good suggestion --| Quote |
| http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/ibm.html |
Also consider "Linux PCMCIA/CF/CardBus Card Survey" as your issues are more with support for the modem and wireless cards, rather than the lappy. Lots of compatibility info < here. >
A "no driver" required laptop modem, from the compatibility list, is like an external, controller-based modem for a desktop. A real no-brainer.
However, it is likely that your old modem is a "Winmodem" that required code in the Windows driver to replace the missing hardware controller. Winmodems are problematic, at best, with any Linux. Still, there is a small chance that it may be supported. < Winmodem overview >
I think I would start by finding modem and wireless cards that are well-supported by Linux, preferably widely used models. (Widely used translates to lots of info on the web plus easy and cheap to find.)
I'd then try to see whether there is any experience running the cards under DSL, or running them under the same Linux kernels with other distros.
Search engines can be tremendously hepful with these kinds of problems.
Posted by jxjx on June 20 2006,20:44
simpletech,I have a 380ed, and I recently did a frugal install of DSL on this machine. Like you, I wanted to revive this old laptop to use for web browsing and simple tasks.
Cardbus is not supported, but 16-bit pcmcia cards should work on the 380ed. I picked up a Netgear MA401 wireless card, and it is recognized and works great without any manual configuration. I also have a pcmcia ethernet adapter that was functional in Win95 that also works in DSL. I haven't used any dial-up modem cards.
Look for a 16-bit wireless card, and see if it is on the Verified Cards page on the wiki: < http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/index.php/Verified_Wireless_Cards >
Cardbus devices have a connector that is slightly different from 16-bit cards, and they won't even fit in the 380ed's slots.
I hope this is the thumbs up that you were looking for. Good luck.
Posted by jonam on June 21 2006,02:58
Here is the IBM website providing information on the 380ED. < http://www-307.ibm.com/pc....ype=All >
If you look down the bottom, the PC card slots do support Cardbus. The Texas Instruments PCI1131 controllers in the 380ED are exactly the same as in my HP5700 and Compaq 1530. Both computers failed to support Cardbus under DSL 2.4 but work absolutely fine under DSL 2.1b with the D-link DWL-G650 wireless card.
Regards,
Jonam
Posted by jxjx on June 21 2006,04:20
| Quote |
| If you look down the bottom, the PC card slots do support Cardbus. The Texas Instruments PCI1131 controllers in the 380ED are exactly the same as in my HP5700 and Compaq 1530. Both computers failed to support Cardbus under DSL 2.4 but work absolutely fine under DSL 2.1b with the D-link DWL-G650 wireless card. |
The 380ed will support cardbus only if you have it connected to the port replicator device. The port replicator adds extra peripheral support such as usb and cardbus to the 380ed which are not included on the standard system.
Search for the port replicator if you are interested.
The pcmcia slots on the left side of the laptop are not the Texas Instruments PCI1131 slots and will not support cardbus.
Posted by jonam on June 21 2006,04:54
jxjx,Sorry, my mistake, not having access to the machine, I could only go by the specs which have references to 32 bit buses and PCMCIA 2.1 (Cardbus) compliance (see below). The PCI1131 would then probably be part of the port replicator.
I did find out that the ED was the last of the 3XX series not to have Cardbus support on board.
Regards,
Jonam
========
Architecture PCI 2.1 / 32 bit / 33 Mhz (EIDE, graphics, PCMCIA, Port Replicator)
ISA (audio, diskette, serial, parallel, infrared)
Intel Mobile Triton 82430 PCIset / Intel 82371MX PIIX / NS PC87338
PCMCIA slots 2 Type I or 2 Type II or 1 Type III / Zoomed Video support in lower slot /PCMCIA 2.1 compatible / PC Card Standard 95 / Cirrus Logic CL-PD6729 (PCI)
==========
Posted by Doud on June 21 2006,08:13
Hi thereJust been runnig DSL for few weeks, but managed to get a toshiba 460CDT almost working.
Last step was to activate the PCMCIA, the solution was relatively easy : change the BIOS from 16bits carbus to compatible PCIC something
Worth a look... but then the internal modem is not working anymore
Still a bit of work : CDROM is not working and alsa is complaining about some modules.
Cheers
Edward