Compatibility with T430 ThinkPad laptop
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Hello everyone,
First off, I want to note how great the project seems, having just discovered it. To be honest, I thought using Ubuntu meant I was using 100% FLOSS, although it seems I was wrong. Great project therefore, this Trisquel.
I might be aiming to install v6.0, when it comes out -- no hurry at all, though; just a desire not to move too fast on this.
I was wondering, first, about the ease of installation. Under Ubuntu, everything has been coming pre-configured, so there has been no hassle at all, which is convenient, considering the layman I am.
The laptop I have is a T430 (http://shop.lenovo.com/products/us/tech-specs/laptop/thinkpad/t-series/t430/), although it is a basic one, meaning no camera, nor fingerprint reader. I have chosen, though "Intel Centrino Wireless" over the default, other-brand wireless card, with the hope that the driver be more "libre," or something to that effect.
Should I be worried about installing Trisquel, later on? As long as everything comes pre- installed and -configured by default, I am interested, as the layman person I am might prefer having devices working out-of-the-box to free and libre software.
It also has to be noted that audio is, as a rule, turned off on this machine -- its main purpose being text editing and paper-writing for school.
/a newcomer concerned about "free" software.
Intel wireless will not probably work. Basically everything is quite similar to ubuntu. Welcome and good luck!
Please note that indeed, your current wi-fi card will not work in Trisquel. The intel card will require non-free firmware, which Ubuntu comes shipped with.
The best two options you have are to either get a new internal wi-fi card (Atheros-based), or a USB wi-fi adapter from ThinkPenguin @ http://libre.thinkpenguin.com.
I know it sounds pointless since you already have a wi-fi card, but it's what has to be done if you want wi-fi on a fully free system. I had to do the same with my laptop, an Alienware M11x, which came with a Broadcom-based wi-fi card which had the same situation, requiring non-free firmware. Atheros doesn't have the problem of non-free firmware. Another issue might be that the BIOS won't let you switch out the wi-fi cards due to vendor lock-out.
Also, if you like Ubuntu's default interface (Unity), it doesn't come preinstalled by default. Instead, Trisquel uses a standard desktop layout running on GNOME 3. You can reinstall Unity if you wish, however, since it's in Trisquel's repositories.
Other than those two problems, it looks like the T430 should be okay for everything else, including 3D acceleration.
I am a member!
I'd recommend our G USB adapter. It's the most likely one to work the first time around. IBM/Lenovo have been implementing digital restrictions in the BIOS which lock out cards which they do not sell. This is a money driven move to profit off after market repairs. Unfortunately it hampers users move to GNU/Linux and free software.
In the future I would recommend one of our laptops or at least not purchase one from HP, Lenovo, Toshiba, or Dell. These companies have digital restrictions on the wireless cards you can install. There are other reasons not to buy from companies that sell GNU/Linux as well. One being these systems often ship with digital restrictions too and the other being they ship with components dependent on non-free software. There is a third reason for which I would advise not going elsewhere. There are digital restrictions in the CPU now. It's called trusted computing technology and unless you know what you are doing it'll be near impossible to purchase a laptop free (other than by coincidence) without this technology. Particularly at the mid to high end of the processor spectrum.
Sorry, my previous post per e-mail ended up in the wrong place and empty. Don't know why.
I too run Trisquel on a Lenovo ThinkPad (R61). Currently I live without wireless. (Bluetooth works, however.) The only other thing that doesn't work (at least not out of the box) is the fingerprint reader which didn't do so under Ubuntu either. I know that some ThinkPad users have troubles with the volume up / down / mute keys but mine work fine.
There is a wiki page about Lenovo's wireless diseases on ThinkWiki:
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_with_unauthorized_MiniPCI_network_card
The page also documents a hack to get “unauthorized” cards working but the steps involved are definitely beyond the scope of the average desktop user and might destroy the hardware.
I suggest you boot a Trisquel live system to see what issues your machine might have. This won't touch your current install. Also see my other post about that:
http://trisquel.info/en/forum/need-help-installing-tsmini-netbook-usb#comment-24146
Hope you'll like Trisquel!
I am a member!
Good advise. I wouldn't attempt the BIOS hack either. While some users might be capable of it that could make your system unbootable. It's better to just get a USB wireless adapter. This works around the problem as it is only the Mini PCIe slot which has the restriction. Should modding / flashing the BIOS fail it is not necessarily a mistake you can easily recover from. There are some new laptops which have a feature built in that makes it possible to do so in some instances although it's not something I'd want to attempt (it's not easy or fun). So if that happens you can basically trash the laptop.
The fingerprint readers actually might work. There is a lack of support within GNU/Linux distros for them though. We have a model with a fingerprint reader now and it's got a driver in the development. There are others which already have drivers too although no GUI utility integrated with the distributions. You can manually install it although the amount of work to set it up and use a basically useless feature doesn't add up. These fingerprint readers don't enhance security. They are as bad as no password at all. Breathing on them in some/maybe all cases has the same effect as the legitimate user putting a finger on the fingerprint reader.
>Sorry, my previous post per e-mail ended up in the wrong place and empty. Don't know why.
That's a silly forum bug, along with duplicate posts sometimes.
Okay -- thanks everyone for the warm welcome!
Perhaps I will stay in this state for the moment, and wish for Intel to someday release libre and open-source code for wireless functionalities, although the next time I see someone looking for a Linux laptop, I will make them aware of such projects as this one, and the need to look for compatible hardware.
Thanks again!
See you soon. ;)
And, before I forget: should the Startup Disk Creator included in Ubuntu work for such a live USB stick to be built?
pretty sure
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