Last modified 28 Dec 2001
Earlier version for Red Hat 6.2 is available. This includes some extra info, eg how to install Thomas Hood's TPCTL package, and how to make a serial PPP connection between two computers using a null model cable.
I am not very happy with RH7.1. The main change from RH6.2 is that
the X server hangs regularly, and I am forced to reboot because
CTRL+Backspace has no effect. And RedHat has decided to stick
to old versions of important components like Python, so there
is no real advantage to upgrading.
I have found that filesystem problems are minimized if I hit
Fn+F4 (hibernate) after it hangs, as this seems to flush some
buffers. Then I reboot.
I found much of what I needed to know on the Linux on laptops page, especially the amazing Thomas Hood's Thinkpad page
Notation: I use '----' to mark the beginning and end of bits of text that go in files.
It will make future reinstallations much easier if you create /home and /usr/local partitions, separate from the root partition / and/or /usr. That way you can reinstall the operating system, while leaving users unmolested and keeping most the special customizations you have introduced.
I had previously done this when I installed Red Hat 6.2, so installation of Red Hat 7.1 on top of it was straightforward.
Boot with RH7.1 CDROM in DVD drive English Generic 101 Key PC US English Disable dead keys Generic 2-button mouse Install Custom Manual partition-Disk Druid / hda2 2000 M /dos hda1 2000 M /import hda5 980 M /home hda6 500 M /usr/local hda7 500 M Format /dev/hda2 only (leave /home,/import,/usr/local alone, they contain the stuff we want to keep from Red Hat 6.2) LILO: on /dev/hda MBR, not linear Medium security, default rules English, USA Europe/London, sys clock on UTC Add user accounts corresponding to previous users. (maybe good to add a fresh acct too, in case of problems caused by old crap in existing account's .cshrc, .xinitrc etc.) MD5 and shadow passwords, no NIS, LDAP, Kerberos X Config: Neomagic 256, 2MB Monitor: unprobed, 31.5-48 kHz, 50-70 Hz 16 bit color, 1024x768 Login: text select packages: exclude lm-sensors, since it can damage thinkpad 600I got Some funny error messages from X about the "dead keys". I regenerated XF86Config-4 using Xconfigurator, and all was well. Since I switched from using KDE to Gnome, I also had to remove some old KDE-related stuff from the .Xclients files of the users.
> cd /usr/src/linux > make mrproper > make xconfigxconfig lets you change kernel parameters. First, get the options that (presumably) were used for the current RedHat default kernel:
load -> configs/kernel-2.4.2-i686.configAlter the following settings in General Setup:
| Parameter | Setting | |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced power management | y | |
| Ignore user suspend? | n | |
| Enable PM at boot? | y | |
| Make CPU calls when idle? | y | |
| Enable console blanking by APM? | y | |
| RTC time in GMT? | y | |
| Allow interrupts during APM BIOS calls? | y |
> make dep > make clean > make bzImage |& tee /root/make_bzImage_output > cp /usr/src/linux-2.4.2/arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz_freshSince I am using the kernel that came with RedHat 7.1, I don't need to make the modules. Edit lilo.conf to add the new kernel, calling it 'fresh':
---- image=/boot/vmlinuz_fresh label=fresh read-only root=/dev/hda2 ---- > liloreboot and type 'fresh' at the lilo prompt. If it works, make the new kernel the default:
> cp /boot/vmlinuz_fresh /boot/vmlinuz_thinkpadinclude it in lilo.conf:
---- boot=/dev/hda map=/boot/map install=/boot/boot.b prompt timeout=50 message=/boot/message default=linux_thinkpad image=/boot/vmlinuz_thinkpad label=linux_thinkpad read-only root=/dev/hda2 other=/dev/hda1 optional label=dos image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.2-2 label=linux_original read-only root=/dev/hda2 ---- > liloNow the ability to suspend and hibernate is in the kernel. Use Fn+F4 to suspend and Fn+F12 to hibernate, just like in Microsoft Windows. Hold down blue Fn key to unsuspend. Use on/off switch to unhibernate. Note that hibernate will fail reporting a BIOS error if the AC power cord is plugged in and there is a PCMCIA card in.
To make PCMCIA card come back to life after hibernation, edit /etc/sysconfig/apmd, and set
---- PCMCIARESTART="yes" PCMCIABIOSBUG="yes" RESTORESOUND="yes" RESTORESOUNDPROGS="no" SOUNDMODULES="cs4232" ANACRON_ON_BATTERY="yes" ----
The solution is to create /etc/ppp/ip-up.local, containing
---- /sbin/ifconfig eth0 down ----And make it executable. This kills eth0 when PPP starts. You could create a similar /etc/ppp/ip-down.local to bring eth0 back up again when PPP disconnects.
> ps2 audio enableTo /etc/modules.conf, add:
---- alias sound-slot-0 cs4232 options sound dmabuf=1 alias midi opl3 options opl3 io=0x388 options cs4232 io=0x530 irq=5 dma=1 dma2=0 mpuio=0x330 mpuirq=9 ----Create /etc/isapnp.gone:
---- # COM1 # MGA: you can comment out COM1, not much diff IO 0x3f8,8 IRQ 4 # # COM2 IO 0x2f8,8 IRQ 3 # # Parallel IO 0x378,2 IRQ 7 # # PS2 mouse IRQ 12 # # Sound ##IO 0x220,16 IO 0x530,4 IO 0x538,4 IO 0x388,4 IO 0x220,4 IRQ 5 IRQ 9 DMA 1 DMA 0 ----Create the following file, as /etc/rc.d/init.d/cs4232
----
#!/bin/bash
# chkconfig: 345 84 16
# description: Starts/stops the CS4232 driver at boot time and shutdown
HOME=/etc
case "$1" in
start)
echo "Starting CS4232 driver"
rmmod cs4232
modprobe cs4232
;;
stop)
echo "Stopping CS4232 driver"
rmmod cs4232
;;
restart)
$0 stop
$0 start
;;
status)
echo "Status (NO-OP)"
;;
*)
echo "Usage: cs4232 {start|stop|status|restart}"
exit 1
esac
exit 0
----
Create some links to this file, to run it when runlevel changes:
> cd /etc/rc.d/rc3.d/ > ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/cs4232 S83cs4232 > cd /etc/rc.d/rc5.d/ > ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/cs4232 S83cs4232Now do a reboot, and test:
> play /usr/share/sounds/info.wav > play /usr/share/sounds/startup3.wavI still see error messages in /var/log/messages:
kernel: ad1848: Interrupt test failed (IRQ5)but everything seems to be working. Now you can listen to streaming audio on the web, via Real Player.
If sound stops working, reload the module:
> /sbin/rmmod cs4232; /sbin/modprobe cs4232
> mv /usr/share/mimelnk/audio/x-wav.kdelnk /usr/share/mimelnk/audio/x-wav.kdelnk.orig > rpm -ivh --force rp7_linux20_libc6_i386_cs1.rpmI told the dialog box that I have a 28.8k modem.
Now listen to something worthwhile. Try The Connection.
If the sound skips, you need to reactivate the sound module,
> /sbin/rmmod cs4232; /sbin/modprobe cs4232
---- anacron -s ----add this line to /etc/rd.d/rc.local:
---- anacron -s ----
> cd /var/log; chmod +r messagesOn my desktop I keep a window running tail -f /var/log/messages. It is very useful, but needs to be restarted after logrotate runs.