ThinkPad R52 and Linux Mint (mint compatibility)

Hi all :hi2: A family member, whom I had given one of my first laptops to, has my old ThinkPad R52 (most likely Intel 2200 wireless card) and has been having frequent and consistent wireless drops. She is using XP SP3 (maybe SP2), has 2gb of RAM, 1.86 Pentium M, and Intel integrated graphics. As such I am a ~10 hr drive from her so I cannot be there to assess and physically work on it. My idea was for her to test the hardware first with Live Linux media. I am curious if any drivers in her XP installation or some other OS dependent settings are awry. If her wireless works well in linux then we will know it is a software dependent problem. If it is hardware I could send her an ebay link and she could order the card herself.

My question is considering the R52 is IIRC ~10 years old- which Linux Mint would work with her R52 as I heard something about how the latest linux offerings were non-usable (?) in older hardware. Not sure if Linux Mint Maya would work Any suggestions would be appreciated

Thanks!

 

Thinkpads and Linux are just about like peanut butter and jelly, so I don't see why any particular Linux distro wouldn't work on the R52.

According to this website ( IBM-Lenovo Thinkpad R52 [Linux Laptop Wiki]), the wireless card should work so long as you use the ipw2200 module.

 

I have heard that linux and ThinkPads gel together very well. My sis is not very proficient with hardware and software so this will be interesting! I specifically chose Mint for the built-in A/V codecs so she could browse youtube and other sites she might frequent. I am thinking from the last time I looked at her R52 she may have downloaded some plug in or maybe her MMORPG installed game is somehow interfering with the stability of her connection. Too early to tell so we shall see. Thanks for responding Kuroi!

 

R52 will be usable even with the latest kernels that have the PAE requirement, since 533MHz Dothan CPUs support it.

FWIW, I've had no issues with Intel 2200BG in Linux Mint. If the card is 2915ABG it will likely have a spotty reception in any OS.

Good luck being the remote desktop helpdesk...