Re: Resurrecting my old Thinkpad 365XD
On Tue, Aug 16, 2005 at 07:41:07PM -0700, Christopher Laumer wrote:
> So, I'm trying to install Debian on a recently
> reformatted IBM Thinkpad 365XD. I managed to find a
> version that I think might be workable for such an old
> system, right here:
>
> http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/dists/oldstable/main/disks-i386/current/images-1.44/
>
> I downloaded the *.bin files and put them on floppy
> disk (I'm pretty sure it won't load from CD), just as
> the Read-Me.txt file suggested (low-level sector copy
> in DOS, and all that). I put the rescue.bin floppy in,
> and low and behold, an installer boots up.
>
> I hit enter... and found that I got this message:
>
> "Loading
> Boot failed: please change disks and press a key to
> continue"
>
> After learning that the "root.bin" disk was not the
> disk it wanted, I simply tried pressing enter. This
> just restarted the installer. I messed around a
> little, and then tried again, using the argument
> "floppy=thinkpad", as per the help menu. Then I tried
> typing this at the input:
>
> boot: linux floppy=thinkpad
>
> That was about the most logical thing I could think to
> do, and that only restarted the installer again. After
> more and more messing around, I decided I probably
> couldn't figure this thing out on my own.
>
> So, any advice?
>
> I appreciate this all very much, folks.
How much ram do you have in that laptop? If 32M or more, try the sarge
installer instead. I would not use woody unless you are really low on
ram and can't run the sarge installer. My 486/66 with 48M runs great
with sarge.
As for booting on an old thinkpadm well my experience is that many
thinkpads like some other laptops do not like the framebuffer driver at
all so you have to boot with the argument 'video=vga16:off' or using the
equivalant debconf/noframebuffer or whatever it is argument. I just use
the video= one since it has worked the same for me for years and I can
remember it. Without it, many laptops boot to a blank screen and you
can't do anything more at that point. Unfortunately support for some
languages require the framebuffer so it makes sense to have it enabled
by default.
Len Sorensen
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