t400 lenovo - is intrepid dangerous?

[Paul Gupta]

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I'm highly interested in purchasing this laptop, is this a "safe"
purchase in terms of lots of money going into a machine.  The linux
laptop sites have not as of yet been well updated, nor has the thinkwiki
article...

But I like thinkpads...

They usually end up supported...

What I'm asking is, if I bite the bullet and just buy the darn thing
with my fingers crossed, by, say march, will the computer be
well-supported in terms of wireless and such?

I believe it uses an intel 5300agn wireless chip, how well supported is
that?

Is this a wildly innappropriate place to be asking these questions? I
apologize if it is! I just figured that kernel devs know the most about
drivers and such for my favorite distribution! (three years running now!)

Thank you!

Paul

Jonathan Carter (highvoltage) wrote:
> Hi Paul
> 
> The issue hasn't been quite resolved yet, but the modules that are
> potentially dangerous have been removed from the daily builds. So, while
> the daily builds won't be dangerous to your machine, your ethernet won't
> work just quite yet either. The issue will probably be resolved by the
> time Intrepid is released. The issue is an upstream problem in the Linux
> kernel, so I'm quite sure that many people are doing whatever they can
> to get it fixed.
> 
> -Jonathan
> 
> Paul Gupta wrote:
>> I have heard, from the following forum, and several others, that the
>> upcoming kernel in intrepid as well as the e1000e (or e1000 driver, I'm
>> not sure which one ubuntu includes)
>>
>> is !!!_DANGEROUS_!!! for the t400 series computer's wired ethernet card,
>> and that the wireless  may be buggy
>>
>> are these things still true? I'm not sure if this bug is getting the
>> attention it deserves...nor do I even know how to check the current status!
>>
>> Could you help me figure out if the upcoming kernel (and provided
>> drivers) will be compatible with this laptop computer? (and safe!!?)
>>
>> Thank you,
>>
>> Paul Gupta
>>
>> (information gathered from below)
>> ----
>>
>>
>> taken from this forum post:
>> http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?p=178498&sid=ecffeefb62e130c41779d02a141a2e83
>>
>> An update:
>>
>> No, I actually haven't got linux onto this thing yet, for several reasons.
>>
>> Here's the first:
>>
>> WARNING!!!
>>
>> Some websurfing revealed that there's been a bug discovered that can
>> permanently damage hardware when the 2.6.27 experimental kernel is run
>> with chipsets that need the e1000e module (like the one my ethernet
>> hardware would have to use).
>>
>> Read carefully:
>> http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3969220&postcount=18
>>
>> In other words: My sense from surfing around the web is that other T400
>> users have not yet consistently been able to use the Intel 5300 WiFi
>> Link for their wireless without resorting to the 2.6.27 kernel, which we
>> now know has a bug that would probably fry my ethernet card.
>>
>> Until people who know more than me get these problems sorted out, I'm
>> going to hold off on linux on my T400.
>>
>> Otherwise the machine is great. And yes, the brightness of the LED
>> monitor is easily adjustable. If you're really set on it, I would get
>> one with one of the less-new wireless devices - seems like there's
>> better support for those.
>>
>> BTW, I had to fool around in the BIOS to get the debian install cd to
>> work. I set the Display to disable switchable graphics, and held them at
>> "Discrete" (the ATI video card). I also needed to switch the SATA
>> settings to "Compatibility" in order for the cd to be recognized. I do
>> not know why.
>>
>> -BBB
>>
>>
> 
> 
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