FreeBSD on a Thinkpad X31

This describes my experience installing and running FreeBSD 6.1 on an IBM ThinkPad X31. The exact model number is 2672-CBU.

I'm assuming you already know how to install a port.

Install

Straightforward, using an external USB CD-ROM.

(Tip from Travis McArthur): if the machine is freezing at startup when it probes the ATA Bus, disable the ATA bus that is used for the docking station. An altenative solution is to boot off the docking station.

Display

No special issues (but see suspension below).

Ethernet

Works out-of-the-box (fxp driver).

Wireless

Works with the ipw driver. I also added this to /etc/rc.suspend:
ifconfig ipw0 down
 And this to /etc/rc.resume:
( sleep 2 ; ifconfig ipw0 up ; sleep 3 ; dhclient ipw0 ) &

Modem

Doesn't work.

USB

Works.

infrared

Not tested.

Audio

Works. Drop this in /boot/loader.conf.local:
snd_ich_load="YES"

APM/ACPI

Suspend, resume, battery status - all work.
If you want to access the hotkeys, add this to /boot/loader.conf.local:
acpi_ibm_load="YES"

To turn off the backlight during suspend, install the Radeontool and sudo ports, and add this to /etc/rc.suspend::
/usr/local/bin/sudo /usr/local/bin/radeontool light off

Here are some power-saving tricks:

  • Mount your filesystems noatime.
  • Change the atrun line in /etc/crontab to start with */30 so at(1) wakes up only once in 30 minutes, instead of 5. Or just comment the whole line out, if you don't want at(1) to run.
  • If you use postfix, increase the "wakeup" values for the "qmgr" and "pickup" services. I use 600 (meaning 10 minutes) for both.

    • CF slot

    Works without problems. I've set up pccardd to mount it as soon as it's inserted, copy the contents to local disk and then unmount it. You can find the whole story in this DaemonNews article regarding Compact Flash on FreeBSD.

    If you have comments, be my guest.

    A similar guide I wrote about a thinkpad X23.
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