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Installing Fedora Core 5 on a Toshiba M105-S3041

Last updated: August 2006

Hardware Components
Status under Linux
Notes
Intel Core Solo T1350 (1.86 GHz); Intel 945GM chipset Works No special procedure required during installation.
14.1 inch 1280x800 TruBrite WXGA display Works Select "Generic LCD" Display, 1280x800 resolution, when installing
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 Works The VESA driver works. The new Xorg i810 driver is excellent. (details)
Suspend to RAM Works Requires update to 2.6.17 kernel. Requires a little configuration to be completely reliable. (details and fine tuning)
Hibernate to disk Works Requires update to 2.6.17 kernel. Requires a little configuration to be completely reliable. (details)
"Fn + key" functions Most work Requires a little configuration to enable Fn-ESC (Volume mute) and Fn-F1 (Lock screen). (details)
1GB RAM (512MB is stock; 4GB is max) Works No special procedure required during installation. If you intend to add more RAM after installation, then during installation you need to manually set size of your swap partition to accommodate it.
80 GB SATA Hard Drive Works No special procedure required during installation
Intel PRO/100 Ethernet Works No special procedure required during installation
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Works Requires ipw3945 driver download, installation, and configuration. (details and fine tuning)
Toshiba Software 56k Modem Works Requires slmodem-alsa download, installation, and configuration. (details)
Touchpad Works No special procedure required during installation. (fine tuning)
DVD/CD RW optical drive Works No special procedure required during installation. The kernel parameter ide=noprobe improves its performance.
Realtek ALC861 sound card Works No special procedures required during installation. The roller volume control on the front of the computer works and is easier to use than software controls
CD player buttons (Music, pause/play, stop, next rack, previous track) Work with no OS booted. Don't work with FC5 running. No scancodes for these or the "Internet" button
PCMCIA (PC card slot) Works, at least with a Compact Flash Adapter No special procedure required during installation. A compact flash appears as /dev/hda1. It can be configured to mount automatically. (details)
5 in 1 bridge Media Adapter Works, at least with SD cards Requires download, installation, and configuration of TI FlashMedia xx12/xx21 driver. (details)
S-video port; ieee1394 (Firewire) connection Untested Firewire is detected and a driver is inserted on installation, so there is a good chance that it would work.
RGB external monitor port Works No special procedure required during installation
4 USB Ports Work

No special procedure required during installation

6 cell 4000mAh battery rated at 5 hours, 41 minutes Works No special procedure required during installation; actually lasts about 4 to 4.5 hours, which is pretty good.

This laptop is currently running kernel 2.6.17-1.2157_FC5.i686.

I've also tested the i686 version of the Suspend2 enhanced kernel 2.6.17-1.2157_1.rhfc5.cubbi_suspend2 as compiled by Matthias Hensler. It also works perfectly.

Things to know before starting:
Basic FC5 Installation:

To follow this procedure, you need to have a router or modem with Internet access that can be connected to your computer using an ethernet cable. The part of the installation in this section is routine.

Finish the Installation
Improvements
Contact Information
stanley at math dot sjsu dot edu
Links: