Ubuntu 10.10 Is this the Toughbook Version?

How do I make it do that every time I start up?
There's no autoexec.bat.

 

We're talking in Ubuntu 10.10 here.

cut and paste to the empty file

The above puts a permanent file called psmouse.conf in the etc directory. What happens when Ubuntu loads is (as I understand it) it writes a kernel for that session. The program checks the hardware , grabs the drivers, then looks at all .conf files. That is when it reads the psmouse info and adds it to the kernel for that session. So if you add it as described above it will be permanent.
You should then be able to set your mouse at about 60 % on the scale. [system][preferences][mouse]

Hope this helps.

If I need to be more basic let me know. I'm an old hand at this and didn't know Linux from Ibex in February.

One more thing. If you are reading my info on Ubuntu 10.10 only use that information. I also wrote about Mint 8 and Ubuntu 9.? The information is not mix and match. If you are totally messed up, do a fresh install and then follow the steps exactly. The other night I did a fresh install and then did the Ubuntu 10.10 tweaks in 15 minutes.
It's not hard it's just different.
Let me know.

Jeff

 

Hello. I have a stack of CF-28s that I thought I would dust off when I found this thread. I don't have a cdrom for them, but I found a wonderful little tool called plop that lets me boot from USB then the MultiBootISOs tool to drop the Ubuntu 10.10 images on the USB drive. The issue I am running into though is that it gets past the initial boot. then just as it rolls to graphical mode all goes black. I can flip back to F1 and see text on a chunck of the screen and all the rest of the screens up to F7 are blank. After a while if this I do manage to get a brief flash of the Ubuntu splash on the F7 screen (with the 5 dots underneath but then all goes black and I can't flip consoles anymore. Now, granted, its a USB key and a slow port, I can't tell if its doing anything, but I left it sit for quite a while and nothing. I know there was talk of the 'black screen of death' earlier, is there anything I can do to get past this? I've tried both the latest desktop and netbook isos off the Ubuntu site. I have yet to try Xubuntu or the like.

Thoughts? The unit I'm testing on has 512M in it.

 

The CF-28 BIOS deliberately doesn't support boot from USB; I've never heard of anyone getting as far as you have trying. You'll need to get at least 1 optical drive.

If U were doing XP you could do it the old-fashioned way by copying your /i386 folder to the HDD on another PC then reinstall it and run setup from there; unless your UBUNTU has a floppy ISO with USB support as a bridge you're prolly boned.

mnem
Interesting...

 

I'm having similar issue w/an mkI cf-29, I can't see support for USB boot. The port is present and works in xp however. Is there a firmware update that fixes this? I've been looking into booting from floppy onto Usb drive, but can't seem to find a way to go about this.

 

I'm working on the same issue. I haven't gotten as far as updating the bios to see if that will add USB boot. I'd go with M on this one. I'm messing with a Mark 2 CF-29.

Mark 3 and above have USB boot.

Plop eh? I'll take a look.

Is there a way to fake out the bios to read the USB as a floppy or cd? Prob'ly not.

Jeff

 

Ubuntu 10.04 "Lucid" Blank Screen at Startup : Workaround | Ubuntu Tutorials

Take a look at this. If you can get to a grub menu tack this onto the line after quiet splash.

works on the 29's. Or nomodeset may work.

 

Go to the Pendrive Linux website, they have tutorials for setting up a usb flash drive to boot from a floppy drive or a cd/dvd drive.

 

^^I saw that, but I think the floppy made only works for Pendrive linux and not other distros...? The trick is figuring out how to make it work for other distros, but my linux skills are nill. There are also some boot cd's that mimick a virtual bios to boot from usb, but again, i'm too much of a noob as far as linux goes. I guess I'll just have to stick w/xp until i update to dvdrw.

 

I read up on that Plop a little bit.
It uses (as I understand it) a cd or floppy file to get past the bios then it switches over to the pen drive. This was 1 a.m. and I could be mixing it up with another boot loader that's talking in 'doze.
Seems workable though.
1. Put get by bios file on CDROM or Floppy, usb in port and boot from the CDROM or floppy.
2.Bootloader menu comes up and there you are.
I wouldn't be surprised if I don't try this as I want to figure out how to boot from a USB. (Mark 2 CF-29 and below)
More if I do it.

I re-read your post. It may not matter what distro as long as it is bootable. Now I know I'm going to try it.

Jeff the tinkerer hmmmm zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzwhoops

 

get zorin, make it work, and then tell me all about it

 

What do you like about zorin?

 

That's the tip I needed. I'll post my results as soon as I get a chance to try it. Yes, I looked for any BIOS updates, but did not see anything USB related. Then I found that PLOP disk image and it works like a charm. Its like a mini version of linux that just helps you mount the USB drive.

As for the multiboot stuff, I had only grabbed the exe I found as all of my Linux boxen laying around where earlier than grub2. With Grub2 you can boot to any iso image you drop on the key. Mix the two togather and you have a killer tool set. There is no reason that you could not just drop an XP image on there and do the same. I've been tweeking the grub scripts by hand. All the units I have have Win2K Pro on them. They had the XP sticker on them so I may have to try bumping one up to XP and see how it does. I'd much rather have Ubuntu on them though.

I did play with a unit a few years back. I had Slackware up on it and got the touchscreen working, but then I could not get it calibrated and shelved the project for a while.

 

I tried that plop software, I was able to live boot zorin, but unable to install it. I installed fedora 13 and it's working. touchscreen works out of the box but is off by a few pixels. Touchpad works but is laggy, needs to move faster IOW. Wifi worked out of the box.

What's got me worried is the resources are way high...i'm seeing 50+ cpu usage just surfing..definitely not like that under xp.

 

I kind of fumbled my way through Plop, finally decided I only needed the boot manager. Burnt that to CD and from there installed it on the hard drive. I'm sure I did an extra step or two but I wanted the boot manager portable for the next one.
I used it to dual boot U10.10 alongside XPPro. I haven't seen the boot manager since. And I haven't started XP yet....maybe I should do that. Wouldn't miss it anyway.
Thanks for the heads up on it. PLEASE report your findings in the new thread or start a new one for 28's. There's a lot of people needing it.

Thanks again.

Jeff
XP's fine wouldn't you know.

 

I've been using Linux since SuSE 5.2 (1998) and have been running various distros on my CF-74 for about 3 years now. I settled on Ubuntu with 8.10 and it's gotten progressively better over the last few releases. I'd been running 10.10 since Beta 2 on it and am really happy with it. Up until my touchscreen died, it ran it perfectly (once you calibrated it). On my machine, literally everything works perfectly out of the box (short of the modem). It's my personal machine, yet I find myself using it at work because it runs circles around my much newer (and supposedly faster) Dell Latitude running Win7, both in usability and just plain speediness.

I consider this to be my "bleeding edge" machine and am running the latest versions of Gnome Shell, Nautilus Elementary, Firefox 4 nightlies, custom Plymouth boot screens, and a bunch of other stuff that makes it a really neat environment. I got into computers as a kid because I loved to tinker and this really gives me an opportunity to play.

I don't have much to offer some of the model specific issues that others in this thread have experienced, but my wife's laptop (Dell Inspiron) required the "i915modeset" fix in order to boot properly as well.

Also, if anyone has an issue with the laptop either powering off or going into hibernate/sleep when unplugging the power cord (when there's a battery), there's a small fix you have to do:

1. hit ALT+F2 and run "gconf-editor" (without the quotes)

2. Navigate to /apps/gnome-power-manager/general and uncheck "use_time_for_policy." Close the box and your issue should be resolved (no reboot).

 

the cf-74...is that semi-rugged? The specs are quite a bit better compared to the poor cf-29. Fedora was crawling kind of bad on it, and it's supposed to be less resource hungry then ubuntu. I tried win 2000 but was having a hard time setting the wlan. Ended up reverting to xp pro.

I've yet to try puppy linux, but I was having issues w/the touchscreen calibration on other distros....we'll see.

 

yea- it's semi-rugged. It's got a Core Duo 1.8Ghz w/ 4GB of ram, so while it's not the latest and greatest, it's no slouch either.

You might want to consider using XFCE, Blackbox, or some other lighweight window manager instead of Gnome. Or at least turn off all the Compiz effects.


What are the cpu/ram specs on your machine?

 

1.2 ghz centrino single
1.2gb ddr shared video
that's pretty much all that matter i think

 

yea, that's a pretty lightweight machine (especially if the desktop effects are turned on). I might suggest trying Xubuntu (or at least installing the Xubuntu desktop from your existing install) and see if that runs any better. XFCE is the default desktop for Xubuntu.

 

Another option is Anti-X . It's made as a light weight OS based on Mepis Linux.

 

On a CF-28 you will have to add "i915.modeset=0" to the grub menu after quiet splash to avoid the black screen of death. The mouse works just fine with no modifications.


This worked for Linux Mint 10 RC which has the Unbuntu 10.10 base. Keep us posted.

 

I'm going to bump this to make it easier to find as I am working PM with a TBer installing to a CF-29L.

!. Anyone out there running Ubuntu 10.10 on a CF-30?

2. Please, please, please post back if you find something that works here or vice-versa. This is a learning experience for us all. We need the feed-back.




Thanks.

 

See the edits post 4 and especially 23. 11/22/2010. The info was there but I emphasized the changes.

Gork!

 

Greetings from very snowy Edinburgh. Half a metre (18inches) of the stuff lying here, very early and very unusual.

This is really a message for Gork

This thread is enormously helpful. Thank you and well done for sharing your knowledge.

However I am toiling mainly I guess through my own ignorance to successfully insert the settings to make touchscreen calibration permanent.

Sorry if other members feel this post is not appropriate to the thread but I don't understand this ping business and there is an eight hour time difference between our locations.

I am hoping you will be kind enough to help me out.

Have just got hold of a CF29 Mk2 (CF29ETPGZBM), which is an ex-cop machine, refurbed and in good condition.

I have loaded Ubuntu 10.10 as dual boot with the original XP Pro. Have downloaded the touchscreen calibrator you recommend which works really well. However I am struggling due to my lack of experience with Linux to insert the setting in the right place.

I think I have managed to create x.org.conf file in the root. If I now start the machine in recovery mode, go to root and type 'X -configure' I get the following:

“sis
trident
vesa

(EE) Failed to load module “vmwgfx” (module does not exist, 0)
(EE) vmware: Please ignore the above warnings about not being able to load module/driver vmwgfx
(++) Using config file ”/root/xorg.conf.new”
(==) Using system config directory “/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d”
(EE) intel (0): No kernel modesetting driver detected
(EE) intel (1): No kernel modesetting driver detected

Xorg detected your mouse at device /dev/input/mice.
Please check your config if the mouse is still not operational, as by default xorg tries to autodetect the protocol.

Xorg has configured a multihead system, please check your config.

Your config file is 'x -config /root/xorg.conf.new

To test the server, run 'x -config /root/xorg.conf.new'

ddxSigGiveUp: Closing log.'

However when I typed x -config /root/xorg.conf.new and pressed enter I got a blank screen. I had to pull the power and remove the battery to get out of it.

Have I completed the “where is x.org config file in Ubuntu” procedure correctly?

How do I insert the settings from the calibration program into /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-calibration.conf?

I tried using terminal but I guess I do not have all the commands I need, or the experience of using it . A little bit of step by step help would be greatly appreciated.

The toughbook is the first laptop I have owned. Being in a construction related business I thought it wise not to get anything girly as it wouldn't last. Ubuntu 10.10 is brilliant on it save for this little glitch.

Thanks in anticipation.

 

Hello all,

CF-30 with ubuntu 10.10:

suspend/resume ______ - ok
hibernation _________ - ok
shutdown/reboot _____ - ok
touchscreen _________ - ok (with xinput_calibrator)
brightness up/down __ - ok with "acpi_osi=" added in grub
volume up/down ______ - ok

standard installation and updates without problems.

greetings

 

You back out of the desktop before running X - and so on. O.K. you did that.
Make sure you are using a capital X. I think you did this cp /root/xorg.conf.new /etc/X11/xorg.conf.new or the cp (copy) did not work hence the use of /root/xorg.conf.new by the system. The new on the end is wrong.
I'd try it again with a capital X. What time is it?

Alternate method.
Down below is information from 23. A cut and paste. This is the code for the operation described.

Then calibrate, then cut and paste the snippet to the empty 99-cal..tion file. [Save] Reboot.

ping is my way of saying write or PM.
Small edit here. I was going to compress this post again but got side-tracked with a GPS issue. I may do it yet.

Jeff

 

HBert,
Can you expand on the acpi_osi?
Good show thanks for the report.

 

Hello,

without the "acpi_osi=" added in /etc/default/grub or as boot kernel option You won't be able to adjust the brightness of the lcd with the Fn + F1/F2 keys.

greetings

 

Do you have time to insert the code required for this operation so that a new user would be able to use it? Please don't use the words "simply" "just" "easy". It's not for me unless I can scrounge up a CF-30.

Thank you.

Jeff

 

Hello,

CF-30 ubuntu 10.10 - lcd brightness control:

edit /etc/default/grub
sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

add "acpi_osi=" to this line -> GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX= so that it reads
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="acpi_osi="

save and update grub by running
sudo update-grub

reboot and enjoy

greetings

 

And we thank you very much.

Jeff

 

All I needed was sudo gedit. Everything else was OK.
Everything now tickety boo including changing pointer speed.
Thank you for the help.
Time in snowy Edinburgh is 17.05 GMT.
Just need to find a program to allow drawing on the screen similar to MS package that comes with the machine in dreaded XP. Will search threads or open a new one.
Regards
Peter

 

Did you search the Ubuntu Software gizzy? I like Synaptic Package Manager better.
As for a program at this time Ah dinnae ken.

Thank you for the reply.

Jeff

 

Just got my new to me MK5. Tried 10.04 from an ISO disc I had laying around and wireless wouldn't work. D/L the 10.10 and everything is working without problems......except I can't figure out how to rejuvenate the battery and don't see anything in the bios to do this so I'm guessing that was only on earlier MK's. Anybody have a app that will do that without windoze?

Thanks in advance.

 

Hello,

try F9 at the bios boot screen ...

greetings

 

Do it from Bios. Re-boot and tap [F9] during blue (Bios) screen and then let it run. It takes a quite a while. Less time if your battery is fully charged when you start.

 

Copy cat. 10 characters

 

Has anyone had any trouble trying to get the sound to work on 10.10. ( Toughbook cf-29htqgzbm (mk3,1.4) I downloaded the desktop image and running it live still. I plan on a dual boot, but haven't messed with Linux a ton, still don't have a machine dedicated to it.

 

One thing about running the live cd is you don't get the most modern updates. They have fixed some issues primarily for us the black screen caused by the 855GM chip-set on the Mark 3. I'm up to

and all screen issues have been resolved. It also runs fine on Mark 2. CF-29 E and F.

The very first thing to look at is if you have the sound muted in the second program on the HDD. I had a problem with sound once, found the thing muted in XP and by wife said "Oh, I knew that". She is running dual boot Ubuntu 10.10 /XPPro.

Jeff

 

I checked XP and sure enough it was muted. I would of never thought of checking that. That has got my sound problem fixed. Does anyone know why just because you have it off in another OS (software) it doesn't work in another?

I don't know how many posts in the Ubuntu forum i looked though last night for the answer, lol. Guessing now it's time to start reading up on dual booting again and see if i can get it installed.

If i mess up it won't be bad. I have the XP restore disk at home and i don't have much on this pc. Been playing with it before i get my 7200 rpm HD for it.
Maybe i can get wine working on it and try out a couple of the older games i play under XP on it sometime this week.

 

Weird how it dropped the Linux 2.6.32-26 Generic quote.
Dual booting is a piece of cake. You can choose how much space you want Linux to take up and the rest is a 17 minute wait. There is an option to upgrade while installing. It will take more time but is a good idea I believe. Then UPGRADE before you reboot if you can and then do any tweaking you may have found in the above thread.
I believe after the upgrade that the black screen will be a non-issue. Your touchpad will be crawly. Fix is above.
Let us know.

 

Here it is...latest and greatest.
I needed to re-install XPPro due to some issues. So I saved all the files I wanted to USB stick and proceeded to do a factory re-install of XPPro. Finishing that four hours later...don't ask.... I shut it down.
Now to the issues or lack thereof.

DUAL BOOT FROM USB STICK OR CD.
CHECK THE BOXES THAT ASK IF YOU WANT TO UPGRADE WHILE INSTALLING.
EAT BREAKFAST.
MINE BOOTED WITH 2.6.35-22-GENERIC
TWEAK THE TOUCH PAD. SAVE AND RE-BOOT.
AT THIS POINT MY CF-29H WAS SPOT ON WITH THE TOUCHSCREEN NO TWEAKS!

ADDENDUM TO ABOVE. I THEN ATTEMPTED TO UPGRADE AND WHILE THAT WAS GOING ON I SWEPT THE FLOOR, TOOK OUT THE TRASH ETC. AND WHEN I RETURNED THE POINTER WAS FROZEN. SHUT DOWN WITH THE SWITCH AND RE-STARTED. BACK TO 35-22 AND EVERYTHING WORKS.
I THINK THE MACHINE WENT INTO SUSPEND AND LINUX DOESN'T LIKE THAT SO IT FROZE.

LEFT CLICK BATTERY PREFERENCES
SET TO SHUTDOWN NEVER
SET ALL OPTIONS TO SHUTDOWN INSTEAD OF SUSPEND OR HIBERNATE
SET AS DEFAULT

F KEYS WORK TOO.

THIS IS THE EASIEST INSTALL I HAVE HAD WITH 10.10 PRIMARILY DUE TO TWO THINGS. LINUX/UBUNTU HAS UPGRADED THE KERNEL AND NUMBER TWO I CHECKED THE UPGRADE WHILE INSTALLING BOX. EDIT: ADD IMAGE OF UPGRADE BOXES.

THERE IT IS. MERRY CHRISTMAS.

JEFF

 

Finally got around to doing the dual boot. Was wanting to hold off because i only had a 40GB drive in it and it was getting full. After making about 20GB of space in installed. Working good, still updating. Today I need to do the fixes described in the first of this thread. I had a extra 250GB SATA drive and a adapter. Got it to fit in the case with out any padding but couldn't never see the drive in BIOS. I will just have to brake down and buy the proper drive later on.

 

If you follow the post in red #93 you should be good to go. Don't overlook the touchpad (mouse) tweak. The first ninety some posts are becoming outdated.

Jeff......let me know.

 

Thanks for all the hard ongoing work on this subject.
I'm new to TB and planning a TB project for myself, (once the configurator is working again so I can get more info on my CF-29).
I've been a Ubuntu Linux user for years and just recently swapped in Mint 10 which I love and I am looking forward to dual booting LM10 and W7.

 

What's the model #. Someone will have it. Also look at Toughbook Wiki.....it's in JB007rules signature. Welcome and thanks.
I started with mint then went to ubuntu and never went back. I've got this machine triple boot 10.10, 10.04 and Crunchbang#! Linux based on 9.04 I think.

Jeff
From Azrial's sig. TEST site:forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic - Google Search
replace TEST with your model # and see if you get a hit

 

On my CF-30, once I downloaded the touchscreen config utility, it was spot on!

 

Thanks Jeff, the test link didn't net me anything but here's the model number;
cf-29hqlgrbm
Obviously a Mk3 with a 855 chip set which means my RAM is limited to a max of 1.25g as it is right now. Windows Ult 7 is loaded right now but XP will be better for this chip set.
I bought this used with a Mk1 as a parts box.
Touchscreen, bluetooth, GPS, backlit chicklets are previous owner upgrades but many don't have full installs. Even the sound card is waiting for a driver that's expected in April 2011.
Where do I find your tweaked disro on 10.10?
It may be a better match for my TB then what I was hoping for.
I'm not super savvy with computers but I can 'do work' when I need to.

 

I never got the tweaked distro off the floor as they were changing kernels faster than I could keep up. (and there-by eliminating the tweaks necessary) Do a fresh download of Ubuntu 10.10 (I use desktop version) burn the iso to a USB stick and install. Follow directions in post 93 especially the part where you are asked to check the two boxes. Install takes a long time due to the upgrades but is worth it.
This works for Mark 3,4,5 and CF-30C. I'm just finishing one on the CF-30. Mouse(touchpad) is good out of the box. Needs calibrate_touchscreen only.
I also have a way to boot from a stick on a Mark 2. That post is around somewhere. Uses Plop.

Jeff......now where is the post on calibra.....