This is a guide to running Linux with the Toshiba Satellite M115 laptop. Toshiba has targets the Satellite M115 as a mid to lower range laptop but it still has a decent set of components.
This guide is intended to provide you details on how well this laptop works with Linux and which modules you need to configure. For details on how to actually install and configure the required modules have a look at our guides section for distribution specific instructions.
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| Name | Toshiba Satellite M115 |
| Processor | Intel Core Duo Processor T2050 1.66GHz |
| Screen | 14.1” WXGA |
| RAM | 512MB |
| HDD | 80GB |
| Optical Drive | DVD+-RW |
| Graphics | Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 |
| Network | 10/100 Ethernet, Intel 3945 802.11g Wireless |
| Other | 4 x USB2.0, 1 x Firewire |
| Device | Compatibility | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Yes | |
| Screen | Yes | |
| Optical Drive | Yes | |
| Graphics | Yes | |
| Sound | Yes | Use the snd-hda-intel module |
| Ethernet | Yes | |
| Wireless | Yes | Use ipw3945 module |
| Bluetooth | Not Tested | |
| 56K Modem | Not Tested | |
| USB | Yes | |
| Firewire | Not Tested | |
| Card Reader | Not Tested | |
| PCMCIA | Not Tested |
The Satellite M115 has a native screen resolution of 1280×800. However due to how the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 functions this resolution would not be usable right away until you configure the laptop with the 915resolution tool. You can see the Configuring the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 & 950 guide for more information on the 915resolution tool.
There was some slight configuration work required for the Toshiba Satellite M115 but after this is done Linux works without issue at all.
Discussion
Running Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy). Same issues. Battery life is not good. Power button does work to bring up the menu to suspend, hibernate, etc. I also have the occasional problem where the fan will constantly run at high speed. I think this is a hardware issue as it did it sometimes with the windows XP install. When I first installed, I had to downgrade firefox to version 2 because Flash crashed the browser. I've upgraded Flash since (which was a pain as I had to manually install the .so file in the firefox extension directory) but haven't tried to upgrade to the newest Firefox, so I'm not sure if that issue has been corrected. I also got virtualbox running so I can run Windows if I have to (this was a little tricky to keep running between kernel upgrades, but I think I added a package repo entry for Sun and installed the version directly from them…can't remember tho). I've used a projector in a dual-monitor scenario w/o issue. Wifi messes up every once in a while (requiring reboot). Sometimes I lose my file share w/ my windows desktop and it doesn't come back (requiring reboot). VPN connectivity w/ the kvpn client is a little flaky (sometimes requires reboot).
Overall, I've been running Hardy on my laptop for about 8 months now. I'm happy w/ it because it's one step closer to being free from Windows.
I had no problems running Ubuntu 7.04 on M115 with screen resolution nor with wireless. They were working 'out of a box'. However I was not able to run buttons (hibernation, screen brightness and so on) and I could not change processor frequency to lower. The battery life time due to problems with setting power consumption (CPU running full power) was very low comparing to Windows (1.5 vs 2.5 h).