Copyright © 2010 Bojan Smojver, Rexursive.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the licence is here.

Introduction

Here is a brief summary of hardware:

• Intel Core i5 CPU M 520 @ 2.40GHz, stepping 2
• 8 GB PC3-10600 DDR3
• 1600 x 900 screen (anti-glare)
• Seagate ST9500420AS 7200 RPM 500 GB SATA disk
• HL-DT-STDVDRAM GT30N ATAPI CD/DVD-ROM drive
• Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset
• Intel Corporation 82577LM Gigabit Network Adapter
• Intel Corporation Centrino Ultimate-N 6300
• Intel Corporation Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller
• Ricoh FireWire/SD Controller
• Fingerprint reader
• Integrated webcam
• 5616 mAh battery (Sanyo)
• ThinkPad GOBI 2000 Broadband Option

The notebook had a bit of a keyboard flex in the upper left corner (under the ESC key) and a really slight one under the right SHIFT. Fixed with some 3M command strip. Not perfect, but better than before.

There was also a bit of a creaking noise coming from under the right palmrest. Fixed with - you guessed it - a bit of 3M command strip.

For the first fix, the keyboard had to be taken out. For the second one, both the keyboard and the keyboard bazel assembly.

Overall, I'd say that internal construction of the laptop is excellent. External shell, however, is rubbish. Not something I'd expect from a manufacturer that is supposed to be known for robust machines.

Fedora 16

Upgraded to what will most likely become Fedora 16 x86_64 using yum, without issues. Most things still work, however, I lost mutter as a 3D accelerated window manager in fallback mode: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=750476. Compiz does work.

I am yet to test hibernate functionality properly, but if vanilla kernels are any indication, it will still be broken.

The suspend problem that I had with F-15 and F-16 and newer kernels (see below) is now marked as fixed by a patch to GTK 3, but it will take a while to confirm, given it was very intermittent on F-16.

Fedora 15

Upgraded to Fedora 15 x86_64 using yum without issues. Most things work, including suspend (although, with most recent kernels, based on 3.0.x and versioned 2.6.40.x for F-15, there are problems with programs dying on resume: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=728044). Hibernation still has issues. After a few hibernate/thaw cycles, memory becomes corrupt. You can track that issue in multiple places, one of them is: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=37142, another is: https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=41705.

Fingerprint reader appears to work with fprintd (although I did not bother to set up authentication yet).

Nokia E72 can be used as a broadband modem without any additional software, when connected in PC Suite mode.

I now have a ThinkPad GOBI 2000 Broadband Option (78Y1399) in the system. It does indeed work once you have:

• gobi_loader RPM installed (see: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=736163)
• firmware files copied to /lib/firmware/gobi from the Windows driver

Note that:

• I used generic UMTS files copied from directories 6 and UMTS located under under C:\Program Files\QUALCOMM\Images\Lenovo and they worked fine
• if you want to package those files into an RPM for your convenience, you can find the spec file here: ftp://ftp.rexursive.com/pub/gobi_loader/gobi2000-firmware.spec
• obviously, the firmware files themselves cannot be distributed - they are proprietary

The newer card, ThinkPad Mobile Broadband (0A36186), won't work in this machine (gives error 1804: unauthorized card), unless you are willing to hack your own BIOS to avoid this (which I'm not - too valuable to risk bricking). The card physically fits into the machine and it would probably work, were it not for Lenovo's obnoxious device white list.

Fedora 14

Upgraded to Fedora 14 x86_64 using yum without issues. Most things work, including suspend. Hibernation still has issues. After a few hibernate/thaw cycles, memory becomes corrupt.

The system also feels a bit snappier than with F-13, which is always welcome.

Fedora 13

Installed Fedora 13 x86_64 without issues. Most things work, including suspend. Hibernate is also working better these days, but still has issues.

Occasionally, however, the graphics mode switch is unsuccessful: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=624236.

For wireless to work (and not hang the box), install the updated kernel. This can be selected during installation as well.

Integrated webcam appears to be detected as well. Bluetooth works. Haven't tried fingerprint reader yet.