IBM-Lenovo Thinkpad X61 [Linux Laptop Wiki]

This is a guide to running Linux with the IBM-Lenovo Thinkpad X61laptop. The X61 is a very small sized and light laptop with a goodamount a power. This system is being tested with Ubuntu 7.04.
This guide is intended to provide you details on how well this laptopworks with Linux and which modules you need to configure. For details onhow to actually install and configure the required modules have a lookatour guides section fordistribution specific instructions.
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DeviceTypeCompatibilityComments
Processor Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 1.8 Ghz Yes
Screen 12.1” XGA Yes
RAM 1GB
HDD 80GB Yes
Optical Drive DVD+-RW Yes
Graphics Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 Yes See notes below
Sound Yes See notes below
Ethernet 10/100/1000 Yes
Wireless Intel 4965AGN 802.11abgn Yes See notes below
Bluetooth Yes
56K Modem Not Tested
USB 3 x USB2.0 Yes
Firewire 1 x Firewire Not Tested
PCMCIA Slot Yes
Card Reader No Produces errors, doesn't detect card at all
This system does not include a optical drive so you will need anothermethod to install Linux. A external USB optical drive works fine.
Most current Linux distributions wont support the Intel Graphics MediaAccelerator X3100 by default but there are drivers available to addsupport. In Ubuntu you need to use the xserver-xorg-video-intel driver.
Update:With any recent Linux distribution the graphics controller will besupported.
The X61 use the 4965AGN wireless controller. This works with the newiwlwifi driver butthese are currently quite hard to install. However they will beincorporated in the Linux kernel shortly which will remove thisdifficulty. Have a look at theConfiguringthe iwl4965 driver for the Intel 4965AGN wireless controller guidefor installation details.
Update: With any recentLinux distribution wireless will work properly.
You will need the CVSALSA modules to get sound working properly. Not even the latest 1.0.14drivers are new enough for the X61. You can find a little easier to usealsa snapshot packageshere.Grab the latest. If you are using Ubuntu and followed the guide for theiwl4965 you may have the/lib/modules/2.6.22-10-generic/ubuntu/media/snd-hda-intel/snd-hda-intel.kofile. This file will cause you problems so just remove it beforeinstalling the new ALSA modules.
Update: With anyrecent Linux distribution sound will no longer be an issue.
For now quite a lot of work and Linux knowledge is required to get theLenovo Thinkpad X61 working with Linux. However it is expected that withthe drivers needed to run this laptop properly being scheduled to beincluded in the mainstream kernel shortly that these difficulties willbe alleviated. Update: Ubuntu 7.10 and more than likelyother recently released distributions now include good support for thislaptop. The graphics, sound and wireless work without extraconfiguration.
pamela,Friday 15 ofJanuary, 2010 [07:21:49]
I have a lenova laptop and it has no operating system but i want toinstal the edubuntu operating system but it says it has no harddisk butcan only display CD rom only

Gustave Gerhardt,Monday 30 ofMarch, 2009 [20:03:31]
very glad to have found this. i recently acquired an X61 that a company iwork for was just going to throw out. I had to buy a power adaptor, andi am planning on reinstalling an OSto wipe out everything that was on there. glad to see linux will work -this will be my first plunge into linux-land!
my question is this: can i just make an ISO of the linux install iwant to use, and throw that on the thumb drive? i don't have access toan optical drive with usb port.

Peter,Tuesday 23 ofSeptember, 2008 [15:38:22]
Installed Fedora 9 on X61
Fedora 9 feels pretty good on this laptop, especially after updating toKDE 4.1. Some issues with WPA2 (WPA Enterprise) but I think I willfigure this out soon (WPA-PSK works fine already). The install has beendone using external USB DVD-drive (also lenovo, I believe). Booting isreasonably fast. Fn keys don't work, but I haven't tried to make themwork. Sound is sometimes unstable (I don't use pulseaudio, only ALSA)

JonsenElizee,Monday 02 of June,2008 [20:02:54]
Can I install Redhat AS4 or redhat 9 on X61
Hi, Bill.
the default system on my new x61 laptop is vista, I do notlike it.
I want to install the redhat linux as4 or redhat 9 on my x61laptop, but I could not find
any useful message for me. afterreading your article, I thingk you are good at it, can you
show mesome suggestions. any advice will be appreciated for you.

Bill Giannikos,Friday 28 ofNovember, 2008 [04:18:22]
The kernel of either of these two will be too old. I doubt it would workproperly.

MJ, Saturday 17 of May, 2008[19:05:10]
Ubuntu hangs on boot - & is there a notebook-specificdistro?
Is there a Linux distro specifically for laptops, specialized with theappropriate patches and drivers that wouldn't normally be accepted into adesktop distro like Ubuntu?
On my x61t, Ubuntu installs, but hangs 9 out of 10 times on boot withsome error about “Kernel direct mapping files”. Browsing the variousformus, it seems there are issues on the x61 with ACPI and SATA drivesrequiring miscellaneous hacking and patching.

ricky,Thursday 15 ofMay, 2008 [19:49:56]
password
i have fogotten my password is there another way to access the computernow?

Richard,Monday 04 ofFebruary, 2008 [07:42:49]
Installation Issue
I tried to install Fedora 8 x86_32, Fedora 8 x86_64, ubuntu 7.10 &opensuse 10.3 in my x61, but it's failed. If I should change somesettings in BIOS, or my SATA HDD is broken? When I installed thesedistribution, it always happened to hang during installation. Could yougive a hand?

Gino, Tuesday 06 of November,2007 [19:17:55]
USB issue with Gutsy on X61
Hi,
I install Gusty on my X61, everything work fine including wifi,hotkey, multimedia key even think light. Also, sound, 3D effect withcompiz fusion…
but, there is only one thing I still can't figure outwhy. The USB port at the left hand side work perfectly, but the othertwo USB port at the right hand couldn't detect any device after boot.They work if I plug the mouse before boot up the system. Will you knowhow could I fix it?

v.jones,Thursday 17 ofJanuary, 2008 [17:00:46]
Ran into the same problem. Found the solution buried elsewhere. (wouldcredit the original author, but I've lost the reference).
Add “irqfixup” to the boot options for your kernel. Assuming you'reusing GRUB as your bootloader, this entails editing /boot/grub/menu.lst.
This appears to fix both the right side USB ports and the SD card slot,although I have not extensively tested either.

Petrosyan,Friday 29 ofFebruary, 2008 [02:41:59]
The problem with failed USB ports gets solved after upgrading the BIOS.

Anonymous,Saturday 25 ofAugust, 2007 [03:36:15]
Hi,Bill.
I installed Ubuntu 7.04 on X61 and now get the sound carddriver issue.
I searched and noticed your article, it is helpful ,however I'm a newbie on linux thus I'm not quite sure abt the steps ofcompiling the ALSA module because I got some error when I issued thesudo ./configure command.
It seems to be looking for the Linux Kernel Source package but I donthave it, Error messages below:
Please suggest what I should do.
checking for kernel linux/version.h… no
The file /usr/src/linux/include/linux/version.h does not exist.
Pleaseinstall the package with full kernel sources for your distribution
oruse –with-kernel=dir option to specify another directory with kernel
sources(default is /usr/src/linux).

Bill Giannikos,Saturday 25 ofAugust, 2007 [03:39:59]
You're on the right track. You will need to install the headers packagefor your kernel. Something like this should work.
sudo apt-getinstall linux-headers-2.6.22-10-generic
Replace the “2.6.22-10-generic” part with the kernel you are currentlyrunning.

Anonymous,Saturday 25 ofAugust, 2007 [08:20:17]
thanks a lot, it's working now.
The other question is regarding the SD Card Reader.
I remember it wasworking after the original installation of Ubuntu 7.04, however afterkernel replaced then it no longer works, so maybe still that can befixed, anyway the sd cardreader is not that important.
Thanks again for the guide here.