First: Sorry for the typos: it is Toshiba Satellite M35-S456 ;-)
It took me a little time to figure out how to make everything work but now it does:
- wireless -> ipw2200 available from debian repository:
download ipw2200-source, unpack it, do 'module-assistant ipw2200', then 'modprobe ipw2200', you'll also need to add an entry to /etc/network/interfaces and to install the wireless-tools package to get iwconfig.
This worked fine right away but I got a problem: the name of the wireless interface seemed to change at each reboot (or modprobe), I solved it by recompilig the kernel and compiling the driver for the ethernet card (Intel 100...) *within* the kernel and *not* as a module, therefore, the driver of the ethernet card is loaded first and take the name eth0 all the time... ipw2200 will just take the next (eth1 in my case).
- modem -> seems rather easy to make it work but I did not test it yet ( I will soon and I will update this part...): just download the sl-modem-daemon and that's it... alsa will do... if you use a kernel < 2.6, you need to compile sl-modem-source also I think.
- video card: It's a Nvidia so you need to recompile your kernel with the nvidia source:
download kernel-source, nvidia-kernel-source, nvidia-kernel-common, nvidia-glx, (alsa nvidia-seetings if you want but it's not essential...), then: unpack the kernel-source & nvidia-kernel-source.
then just rebuild your kernel:
#ln -s /usr/src/kernel-source-2.6.x /usr/src/linux
#cd linux
#make menuconfig
--> configure your kernel:
choose at least Pentium M, compile Intel ethernet driver as Y (not M), do not select riva driver (problem with the nvidia driver) and EFI filesystem (if you want to connect an ipod, the EFI option can be a problem). Also, if you want to use the AGP of your card desactivate the AGPGART!
#make-kpkg clean
#make-kpkg --initrd --append-to-version=yourkernelname kernel_image modules_image
#then install the 2 packages (kernel and nvidia)
#rerun lilo (and make sure you will have a prompt to boot another kernel if this one fails...)
The, reboot in your new kernel.
*by the way if you do not wish to recompile your kernel and apply the different modifications I point in this review just use the kernel headers of your kernel ( same version), it will do :-)
- Also, in your /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file, you will need to add 'Load "glx" in the modules section, remove 'Load "dri" ', and 'Load "GLCore" ' (check the doc of nvidia-glx), and change the driver of the video card to "nvidia". You can also add the option: 'Option "NvAGP" "1" ' in your device section, but if you wish to use the AGP from the nvidia driver you will need to desactivate AGPGART in your kernel; otherwise, it won't work!
- for the 1280x800 resolution you need to add:
Modeline "1280x800" 83.91 1280 1312 1624 1656 800 816 824 841
in the monitor section of /etc/X11/XF86Config-4.
- to get tapping etc.. with the touchpad, install xfree86-driver-synaptics and follow the read me... it works great!
-to get an USB flash drive working create a new entry in /etc/fstab like
/dev/sda1 /mnt/USBdrive auto user,rw,noauto 0 0
if you plan to put files that have names in korean, japanese etc... add the option iocharset=utf8
more info can be found there: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/answers.php?action=viewarticle&artid=115
- to get an ipod working, add an entry to /etc/fstab like
/dev/sda2 /mnt/iPod vfat rw,users,noauto 0 0
and install gtkpod.
more info can be found there:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/answers.php?action=viewarticle&artid=327
This review is very good but I found it easier to compile usb-mass-storage within the kernel and NOT as a module; otherwise you will have to go through this headache of loading/unloading the usb-mass-storage module!!
- LAST BUT NOT LEAST: all toshiba laptops have a bugs related to the keyboard: when we are typing, some keystrokes tends to get blocked and got repeated, that is very annoying but there is a simple solution: just need to edit a file in your kernel source *before* recompiling it:
-edit the file drivers/input/mouse/psmouse-base.c and make this bloc of code look like that:
if (set_properties) {
psmouse->vendor = "Synaptics";
psmouse->name = "TouchPad";
}
if (max_proto > PSMOUSE_IMEX) {
if (!set_properties || synaptics_init(psmouse) == 0)
return PSMOUSE_SYNAPTICS; */
/* max_proto = PSMOUSE_IMEX;
} */
/* synaptics_reset(psmouse);
} */
Basically just add /* and */ where it is necessary...
After the recompile the keyboard will work perfectly :-)
more info there: http://julian.coccia.com/blog/index.php?p=68&more=1
ok, I know it may seem a little scary to someone not familiar with that but just follow this instruction it is very easy and you'll be happy... the bug with the keyboard will drive you crazy otherwise ;-)
In conclusion, I found that it is a great laptop, though I found the hard drive a little slow, but I am really happy with toshiba because I did not get any compatibilty issue :-)
If you want/need more information or if you feel I was not clear enough please let me know and I will improve it, if I forgot something I will edit it quickly.
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