This page is obsolete: I have run many current distributions on my Toshiba by now. They all work like a charm, right out of the box.

What is much better is that using the 3D-window-manager Beryl, this more than three years old piece of hardware gives me a genuine Wow-Grade 3D-Desktop with all the bells and whistles! I wrote about it here.

— Stefan Waidele jun. 2007/10/22 18:33

<p>I bought this laptop Mon, Sept 22nd 2003. <br /> I started installing Linux Fri, Sept 26th 2003. <br /> Recent changes have been in the SuSE-Section. SuSE 8.2 took me only about 2 hours until I had almost everything running. <br /> I hope you will find this usefull. Feedback is wellcome.<br /> Last update: Mon, Oct, 20th 2003, 23:11 </p> <p>The Satellite 5200-903 is described here: <a href= "http://de.computers.toshiba-europe.com/cgi-bin/ToshibaCSG/selected_product_option.jsp?z=79&service=DE&PRODUCT_ID=71502&DISC_MODEL=0" >de.computers.toshiba-europe.com/...</a> </p>   <p>These are my experiences installing different linux-distros to my brand-new laptop. As you will notice below, I did not put too much efford into investigations if the initial install did not work well. </p> <p> <a href="#DebianWoody">Debian Woody</a> - Did not work, maybe because of the old Kernel 2.2x<br /> <a href="#SuSE8.2">SuSE 8.2</a> - Works, and is the installation I am using.<br /> <a href="#KNX-LT">Knoppix Version Linuxtag 2003, incl. Skyrix</a> - Did not work.<br /> <a href="#KNX3.3">Knoppix 3.3</a> - Works. With this installation I got used to the hardware and compiling Kernels. This section has most details for configuration and also most of the 'debugging output'. I did not get the sound to work, which I (now) think is due to the 2.6Test4 Kernel I was using.<br /> <a href="#RH8.0">RedHat 8.0</a> (Provided by Peter Biermann)<br /> </p> <p> If anybody has installed Debian, Mandrake, RedHat, Slackware or any other flavor of Linux to this machine I would be interested to get the hints. I will include useful instructions or links to this page. </p><p> Many thanks to Peter Biermann, who sent me his notes on how to install RedHat 8.0. I have translated them into english and included them <a href="#RH8.0">here</a>. </p><p> Before you can install any anlternative OS, you need to change the boot-order. <em>There is no regular bios-setup.</em> A Windows-Setup can be reached by pressing that funny Toshiba-i right next to the 'internet-button' (which is right next to the power-button). </p>   <h2>Debian Woody<a name="Woody">&nbsp; </a></h2> <p>My first try was Debian Woody. The base install seemed to go just fine, but at reboot, there was a kernel-panic. :( </p>   <h2>SuSE8.2<a name="SuSE8.2">&nbsp; </a></h2> <p>SuSE installed fine in graphics mode, but when booted into the installed OS, the screen went 'kinda shifty'. There where huge grafic errors, even in console-mode :( <br /> I went ahead to install Knoppix and learned a lot while configuring things by hand (See below). But since I did not get the sound running, I tried SuSE again: </p><p> I booted into installation from the DVD and this time I chose the "Video-Mode" 1400x1050. This time the installation worked like a snap! No graphic problems, Sound and network worked right away! </p><p> For ACPI to work, I recompiled the kernel from SuSE-sources, V2.4.20 with the Toshiba-Options mentioned in the <a href="#KNX3.3">Knoppix 3.3 section</a>. </p><p> The NVIDIA installation worked after 'export IGNORE_CC_MISMATCH=1'. But running sax2 after crashed the display. So I made some changes to /etc/X11/XF86Config by hand. These are described in the NVIDIA-Readme. But the 3D did not work yet, although I noticed a speedup in 2D. </p><p> So I copied the Knoppix3.3 XF86Config-4, renamed it and made the changes there: NVIDIA worked, as was proven by their logo when starting X11. 3D seems to work, too, since 'tuxracer' runs at playable speed and with breathtaking mountains :) 'gears' gives me the following FPS:</p> <pre> stw@laptop:~> gears 20955 frames in 5.000 seconds = 4191.000 FPS 22124 frames in 5.000 seconds = 4424.800 FPS 22122 frames in 5.000 seconds = 4424.400 FPS 22117 frames in 5.000 seconds = 4423.400 FPS 21952 frames in 5.000 seconds = 4390.400 FPS ----- Maximizing the Window to 1400x1050 (minus KDE-Panel) 3074 frames in 5.000 seconds = 614.800 FPS 1664 frames in 5.001 seconds = 332.733 FPS 1664 frames in 5.001 seconds = 332.733 FPS 1664 frames in 5.001 seconds = 332.733 FPS 1658 frames in 5.000 seconds = 331.600 FPS ----- Restoring the window to original size 19029 frames in 5.000 seconds = 3805.800 FPS 22111 frames in 5.000 seconds = 4422.200 FPS 22088 frames in 5.000 seconds = 4417.600 FPS 22063 frames in 5.000 seconds = 4412.600 FPS </pre> </p><p> You can find more details in the <a href="#KNX3.3">Knoppix 3.3 section</a> below, since I did that before I got SuSE to work. </p><p> For the neat little cPad check out this site: <a href="http://www.dietmar-kuehl.de/Xcpad/">www.dietmar-kuehl.de/Xcpad</a> </p>   <h2>Knoppix Version Linuxtag 2003, incl. Skyrix <a name="KNX-LT">&nbsp; </a></h2> <p>Installation using /usr/local/bin/knx-hdinstall went fine. System booted ok. But after I had done a 'apt-get update && apt-get upgrade' The system would hang on boot with 'ttyS0: LSR safety check engaged!' printed twice. &lt;ctrl&gt;-&lt;alt&gt;-&lt;del&gt; would reboot in an orderly manner, but since the upgrade had given me some errors during configuration, and the Knoppix 3.3 download was already at 85%, I did not investigate any further. </p>   <h2>Knoppix 3.3<a name="KNX3.3">&nbsp; </a></h2> <p>I ran Knoppix 3.3 with the cheat-code 'knoppix screen=1280x1024' and it worked really well. 'knoppix screen=1400x1050' also works, but I was not that brave before installing to HD :) </p><p> Sidenote: According to gimp and my ruler, the display has a resolution of 116.9, so I guess it is 117. But you probably don't need this, unless you use gimp. And then you can calibrate yourself. </p><p> So with Knoppix running from CD I did a /usr/local/bin/knx-hdinstall and rebooted from CD. I changed <a class="sitelinksblue" href="knx.XF86Config-4">/etc/X11/XFConfig-4</a> including the 1400x1050 resolution and restarted X11. <br /> 'DefaultColorDepth 24' also worked, while 'DefaultColorDepth 32' would not work.<br /> So using the 'vesa' X11-driver works for regular usage.<br /> The cPad worked right away as mouse, using 'Emulate3Buttons'<br /> </p><p> The integrated networking device worked without further configuration. knx-hdinstall offered DHCP as default, but I assigned the appropriate ip-addresses myself. </p><p> Sound does not work yet.<br /> Windows sais there is a 'Yamaha AC XG Audio Device' and a 'Yamaha XG WDM Softsynthesizer'<br /> </p><p> The PCMIA-Slot appears to work. Inserting a card produces messages in /var/log/messages, and at removal the system beeps.<br /> I did not really check the function yet, since I am new to WLAN on Linux and want to read up on it later. I do not have other PCMIA-cards other than my WLAN. </p><p> APCI works with the kernel described later. KDE shows me the AC/Battery Status correctly and /proc/acpi/toshiba has information in it.<br /> APM is not supported by the hardware. </p><p> I am not able to check the sd-card reader since I do not have an sd-card. </p><p> The internal modem is not recognized by SuSE8.1, so I guess it is a winmodem and will not work with linux. </p> <h2>Compiling my Kernel</h2> <p> Knoppix uses V2.4.22, but I was not successfull compiling a workable 2.4.22. So I went for 2.6test6. I am sure that with more experience in compiling kernels you will be successfull with 2.4.x </p><p> There is CONFIG_TOSHIBA which is for the special Toshiba-BIOS. The help mentions <a href="http://www.buzzard.org.uk/toshiba">www.buzzard.org.uk/toshiba</a> for further information, but the site is unavailable.<br /> The option CONFIG_ACPI_TOSHIBA seems to address the issues other users have reported with LCD brightness <a href="http://memebeam.org/toys/ToshibaAcpiDriver">memebeam.org/toys/ToshibaAcpiDriver</a><br /> I dissable paralellport and other ports not available on this laptop<br /> For IR there is no option for the HP-IR module reported by WinXP, so I try the CONFIG_TOSHIBA_FIR option as module. The module will be called 'donauboe.o' (Did not test IR yet)<br /> I did not find the Yamaha AC XG Audio Device reported by WinXP. </p><p> My <a class="sitelinksblue" href="./my.config">~/linux-2.6.0-test6/.config</a> probably is not fully optimized, but it works. </p><p> <pre> make oldconfig make xconfig make bzImage modules su make modules_install cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/my.bzImage emacs /etc/lilo.conf lilo lilo -R homemade reboot </pre> </p><p> eth0 uses the e100-module, which is listed as 'alternative' to the original 'Becker-Driver'. I needed to 'modprobe e100' in order to make it work by hand. Now I have added 'modprobe -q e100' to /etc/init.d/network so it's called at bootup. A 'dpkg-reconfigure etherconf' helped to do the rest. </p><p> APCI works. Buring boot, there are affirmative messages, KDE shows me the AC/Battery Status correctly and /proc/acpi/toshiba has information in it.<br /> Also try this <pre> root@laptop:~# echo "brightness:0" > /proc/acpi/toshiba/lcd root@laptop:~# echo "brightness:1" > /proc/acpi/toshiba/lcd root@laptop:~# echo "brightness:2" > /proc/acpi/toshiba/lcd root@laptop:~# echo "brightness:3" > /proc/acpi/toshiba/lcd root@laptop:~# echo "brightness:4" > /proc/acpi/toshiba/lcd root@laptop:~# echo "brightness:5" > /proc/acpi/toshiba/lcd root@laptop:~# echo "brightness:6" > /proc/acpi/toshiba/lcd root@laptop:~# echo "brightness:7" > /proc/acpi/toshiba/lcd </pre> </p><p> I have yet to install the NVIDIA-Driver. </p><p> DVD-RAM works (even though it is not mentioned in the specs!) with the UDF-module. <pre> root@laptop:/home/stw# modprobe udf root@laptop:/home/stw# mount -t auto /dev/sr0 /mnt/ root@laptop:/home/stw# df -h Filesystem Gr��e Benut Verf Ben% Eingeh�ngt auf /dev/hda3 4,0G 2,8G 1,1G 73% / /dev/sr0 4,3G 2,7G 1,7G 62% /mnt </pre> I have yet to try the DVD-Writer in regular CD/DVD - R/RW mode. The dvdrecord-output looks promising: <pre> root@laptop:~# dvdrecord -scanbus dvdrtools v0.1.4 Portions (c) 2002-2003 Ark Linux <bero@arklinux.org> Based on: Cdrecord 1.11a15 (i386-pc-linux-gnu) Copyright (C) 1995-2001 J�rg Schilling Linux sg driver version: 3.5.29 Using libscg version 'bero-0.5a' dvdrecord: Warning: using inofficial version of libscg (bero-0.5a '@(#)scsitransp.c 1.81 01/04/20 Copyright 1988,1995,2000 J. Schilling'). scsibus0: 0,0,0 0) 'MATSHITA' 'DVD-RAM UJ-810 ' 'C102' Removable CD-ROM 0,1,0 1) * 0,2,0 2) * 0,3,0 3) * 0,4,0 4) * 0,5,0 5) * 0,6,0 6) * 0,7,0 7) * </pre> </p><p> I have yet to refine APCI (Screen-brightness via Hotkey, ...) </p><p> I have yet to get the sound to work. (Works in SuSE, so maybe it is the 2.6 Kernel which causes my trouble) </p><p>   <h2>RedHat 8.0<a name="RH8.0">&nbsp; </a></h2> <p> The information provided in this section was contributed byby Peter Biermann, Germany. Thank you very much! </p><p> He has got RH 8.0 with Kernel 2.4.22 running. He has applied the ACPI-Patch from <a href="http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/acpi/acpi-20030916-2.4.22.diff?download">prdownloads.sourceforge.net/acpi/...</a> and uses ALSA 0.9.7a from <a href="http://www.alsa-project.org/">www.alsa-project.org</a> with the 'snd-intel8x0' module. X11 is done by he nvidia-driver from <a href="http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_1.0-4496.html">www.nvidia.com/...</a>. Peter reports that the display 'shakes' every 5 minutes for a short time. (I have not noticed anything like this in SuSE, so it should be fixable). </p><p> For the NIC, all he had to do was to put </p> <pre> alias eth0 e100 </pre> <p> into '/etc/modules.conf'. He has tried an Elsa Airlancer PCMCIA-WLAN card and it works. </p>