Installing Linux on the Toshiba Tecra M3

I am now running Fedora Core 4 on the M3. Here are the details.
I finally replaced my heavily-used Toshiba Tecra 8100 with a brand-spanking-new Tecra M3. This page describes the process that I followed to create a dual-boot installation of XP and Fedora Core 3 (FC3) on the new M3-S331 laptop. In the past, I've greatly appreciated the information and advice that others have shared about installing Linux on Tecra laptops. As indirect thanks, I'm sharing my FC3 installation and configuration experiences with the M3. I'm now running FC4, so look at the FC4-specific page for the most current details.

Comments, suggestions, and corrections are welcomed. Send them to dancorkill@comcast.net.

M3 Hardware Specifications

Hardware Components
Status under Linux (FC3)
Notes
Pentium M 740 Sonoma processor, 1.73GHz Works  
14.1 XGA TFT Display Works select generic 1024x768 LCD display in installer
nVIDIA 64MB GoForce Go 6200 TE Video Works generic VESA driver worked automatically on initial FC3 install; upgraded to nVIDIA accelerated driver without problems (see below)
512MB, 533MHz SDRAM, 2.5V SODIMM Works  
60GB Toshiba MK6025GA ATA-6 Hard Drive Works  
Floppy Drive Not tested optional hardware with the M3
Analog Devices AD1981B Sound Card Works "Headphone Jack Sense" must be turned off
Integrated Marvell PC Express EtherNetwork Card Not tested  
24X Max Variable CD-RW/DVD Drive Works  
Internal PRO/Wireless 2200GB Wireless Networking (Wi-FI) Works FC3 kernel modules had to be replaced with downloaded/compiled versions
i.LINK IEEE-1394 Port Not tested  
TV-Out (S-video) Not tested  
Integrated V.92 Modem Not tested  
ExpressCard Not tested  
SD Card Not tested  
4700mAh Lithium-Ion Battery Works charge reporting appears reasonable

The upgraded kernel version that was available during the installation was 2.6.10-1.770_FC3.
The last running FC3 kernel was version 2.6.11-1.27_FC3.

Basic Installation

I created the Toshiba recovery CD set, deleted the recovery CD files, defragmented the XP partition, and shrunk the partition using QtParted running on the wonderful KNOPPIX Linux Live CD. Then I set up a dual-boot system with grub on the master boot record (MBR) and the following partitions: 
/winc          (shrunken XP NTFS partition)
/wind 4GB      shared FAT partition
/boot 100MB
swap  1GB
an LVM physical volume using the rest of the disk space
  /usr       10GB logical volume
  /home      10GB logical volume
  /          2GB  logical volume
  /tmp       500MB logical volume
  /var       2G logical volume
  /usr/local 4G logical volume
Installation of FC3 CDs went smoothly (I specified the standard desktop/laptop packages selection) using the generic video driver and dual-point touchpad/mouse, with the exception of the builtin PRO/Wireless 2200GB (see below). Then I used yum and a spare Netgear MA411 PCMCIA wireless card to download the latest FC3 updates before proceeding any further.

Working Hardware without Effort

VESA Video

Video autodetected and worked fine using the Generic VESA driver (see next section for nVIDIA accelerated driver installation).

CD/RW-DVD

Reading and writing CDs and reading DVDs all worked without issue.

USB

Tested with a Microsoft wireless laptop mouse, which worked fine including the scroll wheel. Also worked fine with a 256MB Lexar JumpDrive. Palm Tungsten T5 is next to check...

PCMCIA slots

I used a Netgear MA401 wireless card to download FC3 updates and the ipw2200 sources. Worked flawlessly.

Working Hardware with Some Effort

Builtin PRO/Wireless 2200GB

The latest kernel that was available when I first installed FC3 (770) included the ipw2200-related modules, but they failed to load the 2200 firmware (as shown by dmesg output). Following advice that I found at http://www.ces.clemson.edu/linux/fc2-ipw2200.shtml, I first downloaded the ipw2200-1.0.0 Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG driver package and firmware from SourceForge. Next I removed the modules installed with the kernel: 
  # cd /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/net/wireless
  # rm -rf ieee80211 ipw2100 ipw2200
Then I compiled and installed the downloaded driver modules: 
  # make ; make install
and also copied the downloaded firmware to /lib/firmware.

Note that until the FC3 ipw2200 kernel modules start working, a kernel upgrade will require repeating the module deletion and the make install steps. (This was not required with the 2.6.11-1.14_FC3 and 2.6.11-1.27_FC3 kernel upgrades.)

Sound

As installed, the snd_intel8x0 and snd_mixer_oss modules are properly loaded, but there is no sound output. Use alsamixer to turn "Headphone Jack Sense" off and you should have sound (from a tip posted by Marc Deslauriers).

nVIDIA Video

The accelerated nVIDIA drivers work fine on the M3. I opted to install the latest nVIDIA accelerated Linux driver (version 1.0-7167) using the *.run file downloaded directly from nVIDIA (http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux.html). (The last FC3 driver used was version 1.0-7174.) Here is the procedure:
  • download nVIDIA *.run file
  • Change to run level 3: 
         # init 3
  • run the *.run script: 
         # sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86.1.0-7174-pkg1.run
    • the nVIDIA kernel module wasn't present from the FC3 installation, nor was a compatable module found by the script on the nVIDIA FTP site
    • the script thoughtfully compiled the kernel module from sources and installed it
  • edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf:
    • Change Driver "vesa" to DRIVER "nvidia"
    • Be sure that Load "glx" is present (it was for me)
    • Remove Load "dri"
  • The nVIDIA module should load without error: 
         # modprobe nvidia
  • reboot (rather than init 5, just to be safe)
  • you should see the nVIDIA splash screen (briefly) as X11 initializes
  • check that all is well
    • check for direct rendering: 
           # glxinfo | grep direct
     direct rendering: Yes
    • run gears: 
           # glxgears
     11665 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2333.000 FPS
     12081 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2416.200 FPS
     12479 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2495.800 FPS
     12461 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2492.200 FPS
     12439 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2487.800 FPS
       . . .

Note that a kernel update will require reinstalling the nVIDIA drivers again: 

     # sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-7174-pkg1.run
Upgrading to kernel 2.6.11-1.14_FC3 required downloading and installing the latest nVIDIA driver (1.0-7174).

Touchpad

Upgrading to kernel 2.6.11-1.14_FC3 required adding the psmouse.proto=exps kernel option to /etc/grub.conf in order to maintain double-tap-to-click functionality.

Not yet working

Power Management

My initial attempt at ACPI suspend to RAM didn't resume well. Something else to look into. I haven't tried suspending to disk. Also, I haven't tried disabling ACPI and reverting to APM (and I don't want to lose other ACPI capabilities).

Touchpad scrolling

I haven't looked into enabling scrolling actions on the touchpad.

Untested

Integrated Ethernet

Fast Infrared (4Mbps) port

TV-out (S-video)

i.LINK IEEE-1394

ExpressCard

SD card

Integrated V.92 modem

Parallel Port

Additional Installation Items

FnFX: Toshiba Fn-Keys/Hotkeys

I downloaded and installed the FnFx V0.3 RPM for FC3 from http://fnfx.sourceforge.net/. Then I checked and started the fnfxd daemon in "Applications: System Settings: Server Settings: Server." As installed, FnFx lets me toggle the fan (Fn-3), decrease/increase LCD brightness (Fn-F6/Fn-F7), lower/raise/mute the volume (Fn-1/Fn-2/Fn-Escape), and toggle the video output (Fn-F5). I left the CPU, Suspend, and Hibernate hotkeys commented out in /etc/fnfx/fnfxd.conf, as those ACPI capabilities are not yet working. I prefer to keep a cooler laptop by having the fan on (using Fn-3) whenever I'm working from AC power.

Links

Back to my home page.

Last updated: June 20, 2005