Slackware on Thinkpad T420

Indra777 · 07-07-2014, 08:42 AM

Hello,
I just bought a second hand Lenovo Thinkpad T420.
I would like to install Slackware on it. I wonder If I would encounter many problems or the installation will be as smooth as with Ubuntu for example.

Thanks.

turboscrew · 07-07-2014, 09:01 AM

Probably not, if you don't rush it. (You may miss something if you rush. I did.)
I installed 14.04 on T42 quite recently.
Just some points to figure out so that those don't take you by surprise:
- Figure out which desktop environment you want (KDE is default).
- Network manager or wicd (I'd recommend Network Manager, it's default).
- Which package groups do you want to install (I'd recommend the default - all SW on the disk)
- Checkout how to use fdisk or cfdisk - no gparted or such.

gor0 · 07-07-2014, 09:02 AM

Hi!

seems you need a lot of readin first:

http://www.slackbook.org/html/

slackware it's not like 'Buntus' !!!

Quote:

I wonder If I would encounter many problems or the installation will be as smooth as with buntus for example

Indra777 · 07-07-2014, 09:04 AM

Thanks Turboscrew.

Quote:

Originally Posted by turboscrew

- Checkout how to use fdisk or cfdisk - no gparted or such.

This is because there is no gparted in this distro? or because it is not recommended?

gor0 · 07-07-2014, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indra777

I would like to install Slackware on it

Try http://distrowatch.org/table.php?distribution=slackel or http://distrowatch.org/table.php?distribution=salix

Indra777 · 07-07-2014, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gor0

Try http://distrowatch.org/table.php?distribution=slackel or http://distrowatch.org/table.php?distribution=salix

Are those easier to install?

Philip Lacroix · 07-07-2014, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indra777

This is because there is no gparted in this distro? or because it is not recommended?

GParted is not included in Slackware (but is available as a SlackBuild) and the partitioning tools mentioned by turboscrew are the ones which are mainly used with this distribution. Besides, the installer is not GUI-based like in *buntu, and GParted needs a GUI (but we don't need it). Don't expect Slackware to be like *buntu, but I guess that you know this already. So, why you don't try it yourself, and see how "smooth" the installation goes? If you feel insecure, then look at some documentation first:

Slackware Linux Essentials
The revised slackbook project (beta)
Slackware Documentation Project

magicm · 07-07-2014, 11:07 AM

There shouldn't be any issues with the T420 - I run a dual boot between Windows 7 and Slackware 14.1 as my main machine. Outside of the aforementioned partitioning, everything is straightforward. Good Luck and Welcome

turboscrew · 07-07-2014, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indra777

Thanks Turboscrew.

This is because there is no gparted in this distro? or because it is not recommended?

Installer doesn't give the option.

Didier Spaier · 07-07-2014, 01:52 PM

If you intend to have only Slackware installed on your T42, there is no need for GParted.

If instead you ave other(s) system(s) installed that you intend to keep, then use GParted (as a live CD or USB) to restructure your disk's layout (e.g. if you need to re-size partitions) before running Slackware's installer.

turboscrew · 07-07-2014, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Didier Spaier

If you intend to have only Slackware installed on your T42, there is no need for GParted.

If instead you ave other(s) system(s) installed that you intend to keep, then use GParted (as a live CD or USB) to restructure your disk's layout (e.g. if you need to re-size partitions) before running Slackware's installer.

I was trying to be helpful to OP. I've been running Slackware for a week now.
I've used fdisk since RedHat 3.0.3.

Indra777 · 07-07-2014, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Didier Spaier

If you intend to have only Slackware installed on your T42, there is no need for GParted.

If instead you ave other(s) system(s) installed that you intend to keep, then use GParted (as a live CD or USB) to restructure your disk's layout (e.g. if you need to re-size partitions) before running Slackware's installer.

Actually I intend to use only Slackware (BTW it is a T420 not T42). I have two computers with dual boot and I never boot to Windows. But I was taught to do different partitions before installing linux (/, /home, swap and another for keeping files), although I'm not sure if this has any benefit on modern computers just for home use.
The partitioning is not a problem. I can learn to use fdisk, It won't be that difficult. My main concern is to encounter problems of drivers and so, or to go through a nightmare to fix something.
The reason that I want to use slackware is because, through an unix shell account, I have got used to unix. I don't like the anti-intuitive changes in the command line that modern distros include. I will give it a try. If I manage to set the system in a couple of days, the printer works and I can install the most needed software (gcc,latex compiler, octave, thunderbird, dropbox...) I will stick to Slackware.

Didier Spaier · 07-07-2014, 03:17 PM

Sorry for the typo. You shouldn't have any issue installing and using Slackware on a Lenovo T420. Just be aware that if it has Optimus technology some additional configuration steps will be necessary, visit http://docs.slackware.com about that and other Slackware documentation needs.

I am personally happy with just two partitions: / and swap. A partition for swap may not even be necessary if you use a swap file, but I have no experience doing that.

onebuck · 07-07-2014, 07:30 PM

Hi,

Slackware does have 'parted';

Quote:

man parted;
GNU Parted - a partition manipulation program

SYNOPSIS
parted [options] [device [command [options...]...]]

DESCRIPTION
parted is a disk partitioning and partition resizing program. It allows you to create, destroy, resize, move and copy ext2, linux-swap, FAT, FAT32,
and reiserfs partitions. It can create, resize, and move Macintosh HFS partitions, as well as detect jfs, ntfs, ufs, and xfs partitions. It is use-
ful for creating space for new operating systems, reorganising disk usage, and copying data to new hard disks.

This manual page documents parted briefly. Complete documentation is distributed with the package in GNU Info format; see near the bottom.

OPTIONS
-h, --help
displays a help message

-l, --list
lists partition layout on all block devices

-m, --machine
displays machine parseable output

-s, --script
never prompts for user intervention

-v, --version
displays the version

-a alignment-type, --align alignment-type
Set alignment for newly created partitions, valid alignment types are:

none Use the minimum alignment allowed by the disk type.

cylinder
Align partitions to cylinders.

minimal
Use minimum alignment as given by the disk topology information. This and the opt value will use layout information provided by the
disk to align the logical partition table addresses to actual physical blocks on the disks. The min value is the minimum aligment
needed to align the partition properly to physical blocks, which avoids performance degradation.

optimal
Use optimum alignment as given by the disk topology information. This aligns to a multiple of the physical block size in a way that
guarantees optimal performance.

Be sure to look at: Slackware Doc Project plus other Slackware links in my sig below.

Hope this helps.
Have fun & enjoy!

turboscrew · 07-08-2014, 01:31 AM

I was just telling OP what to expect in the installation.
What to get ready for; what's different from Ubuntu installation.

It's irritating, when in the middle of the installation, the installer asks something
you don't have the answer for, or you don't know what to do.

As such I don't think it makes a difference if it's a graphical installer or curses-based, as long as it's dialog based: It asks questions and shows the alternatives.

Then it comes to the question of what's automagic and what's asked.