This guide is intended to provide you details on how well this laptop works with Linux and which drivers you need to configure. For details on how to actually install and configure the required drivers have a look at our guides section for distribution specific instructions.

Page Contents Introduction Editing This Page Specifications Linux Compatibility Notes Related Resources Summary

If you are looking to purchase this laptop you can visit Lenovo's ThinkPad T series page.

Introduction

This is a guide to running Linux with the IBM-Lenovo Thinkpad T42 laptop.

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Specifications

Processor	Intel Pentium-M 1.7GHz
Screen	14.1" XGA
RAM	512MB
HDD	40GB
Optical Drive	DVD-ROM/CD-RW
Graphics	ATI Mobility Radeon 7500
Network	10/100/1000 Ethernet, Intel 2200 802.11g Wireless
Other	2 x USB2.0

Linux Compatibility

Device	Compatibility	Comments
Processor	Yes
Screen	Yes
HDD	Yes
Optical Drive	Yes
Graphics	Yes
Sound	Yes	Use the snd-intel8x0 driver
Ethernet	Yes
Wireless	Yes	Use the ipw2200 driver
56K Modem	Not Tested
USB	Yes
PCMCIA	Not Tested

Notes

For the graphics chip you can use either the open source radeon driver or ATI's proprietary fglrx driver. For installation instructions, you can view our Configuring an ATI graphics chip guide. For 3D support, you will need the proprietary driver.

Related Resources

Preparing your laptop for Linux
Configuring an ATI graphics chip
Increasing battery life

Summary

There were no problems in getting this laptop working when used with an up to date Linux distribution. It is recommended to use a Linux distribution with kernel version 2.6.16 or greater, such as Fedora Core 5 or Ubuntu 6.06.


Have you installed Linux on this laptop? If so how about leaving a comment about your success in the comments section below.