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Linux on the TI-TM6030

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UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Contents:

• What is this page about?
• Problems With The TravelMates
• Installing Linux
• Configuring X Windows
• Configuring The Kernel
• Installing The PCMCIA Modules
• Other Links

What is this page about?

This is an attempt to provide information to people wishing to configure their TI-TM6030 to work with Linux. If you are one of the lucky ones who have had more success with setting up Linux on your TravelMate or you have some ideas on how I could improve this page, please feel free to email me.

I feel that the Texas Instruments laptop has some serious flaws. I'll stick to the ones that deal with setting up Linux, but if you or someone you know are interested in purchasing one (or can still take theirs back) check out this page: Venting about my TravelMate

APM Standard not Supported Because TI appears to think that the future is with Windows95, it seems they have completely ignored the APM industry standard and have created a power management enviroment that can only be controlled by their Windows95 drivers. Here are a couple of the problems that you can't get rid of:

• Suspend: While in suspend mode, the disk still produces heat and the battery gets burned up in roughly the same time as it would without suspend.
• Suspend to Disk: The only thing we can get Suspend to Disk to do is crash the machine if anything. Normally, it ignores the Zz button when it is setup for Suspend to Disk.
  • I can't get suspend-to-disk to work with a STD partition either. It worked under Win95, but crashed the machine under Linux. I believe it was also responsible for corrupting the Linux partition.

Modem Not Supported

Again, this is another example of TI's narrow minded thinking that only Windows95 needs to be supported. The modems that they give you are WinModems. These modems will never be supported by Linux. You might as well throw yours away (because thay refuse to exchange them or give you credit for them torward another purchase).

Dell Lattitudes are nice!
We have 14 Dell Lattitude XP portables that have been just great. We would have purchased the newest Dells, but they weren't out at the time we got these.

For now, consult the Linux Installation-HOWTO.html. I had my own hack way of getting it installed because the pcmcia controller chip wasn't supported in any of the install disks I used. Dave Hinds has come through with support for it, so most of the newest distribution releases (post December '96) should support it.

X Windows

What's Working?

I have got 800x600 mode working, but can't get more than 256 colors. I am using version 3.2 of XFree86. There is a newer version out (3.2A) which I believe supports it. If you have the config file for that, please mail it to me. Thanks.

Configuring X
To configure X Windows, copy this configuration file to /etc and save it as XF86Config. Then make a link under /var/X11R6/bin to /usr/X11R6/bin/XF86_SVGA and call it X. Thanks to Jody Pelzel, here is a solution to getting X Windows to work with version 3.3.

bash# ln -s /usr/X11R6/bin/XF86_SVGA /var/X11R6/bin/X

Type in startx and cross your fingers.

Kernel:

You can easily find a generic kernel to support most of the features on the laptop (especially since you can't use the apm drivers even if you did have them in the kernel!) A customized kernel can give you sound support though, as well as triming down the core size of the kernel and reducing the number of modules that you will never use.

I am using kernel version 2.0.27. The following pertains to that version.

Sound
First, you have to hack away at some source code. The file that needs to be modified is found under:

/usr/src/linux/drivers/sound/sb_mixer.h

You have to modify line number 206 to read

  0x0000,                       /* Mic */

This will eliminate feedback caused by the microphone being so close to the speaker. If you have a different version of the sb_mixer file, you should look for the assignment called "default_levels[SOUND_MIXER_NRDEVICES]" which is the one under the "#else" directive for the "#ifdef SM_GAMES" directive. Remember, there are two places that have this assignment. You can change both if you want and it won't make a difference.

Configuring the Kernel

If you have never compiled a kernel before, you should read over the Linux Kernel-HOWTO first.

If you have the 2.0.27 source code you can use my config file. Put a copy of this Kernel config file into the kernel source directory ( /usr/src/linux ). Next, rename the file .config and do a make config.

bash# cp config.kernel .config
bash# make xconfig

You have to be running XWindows to take advantage of this command. Otherwise, just type in the following:

bash# make config

Make any site specific changes. (don't change anything unless you know what your doing) After your done, choose "Save and Exit."

Compiling the Kernel

Then, compile the kernel, put it on a floppy disk, and install the kernel version modules. To do this, type in the following commands:

bash# make depend 
bash# make clean 
bash# make zdisk 
bash# make modules 
bash# make modules_install

When it finishes writing the kernel to the disk, reboot the machine off of the floppy disk. If everything seems to work, you can install the kernel. Before you do, MAKE SURE PCMCIA MODULES ARE INSTALLED for this version of the kernel. See below. To install the kernel, do the following:

bash# cd /usr/src/linux
bash# make install

Having Trouble?

If you have any trouble with these directions, please consult the Linux Kernel-HOWTO for information on how to compile a kernel.

PCMCIA Support

When you install a different version of the kernel, you have to install the correct pcmcia modules. The best way to do this is to download the latest version of Dave Hind's Card Services. Download these, shove them into a directory and compile them. After you compiled them and installed them, you will have to make changes to your /etc/pcmcia/*.opts files. Read the PCMCIA-HOWTO for more information.

• Linux Home Page -- All the answers to all questions about Linux (or at least a link to them)
  
• The Linux Laptop Home Page -- Information on installing and configuring Linux on many laptops
  
• PCMCIA Information Page -- Get the latest information about Card Services and support for PCMCIA cards here.
  
• TI TravelMate 6000 Series Information -- This is at TI and has poor documentation, but here is the link since it is related.