[sf-lug] ThinkPad Type 2611-410 Model AA-D296F

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Alex Kleider (a_kleider at yahoo.com):

> Although I acknowledge not giving enough info initially (out of my own
> ignorance) but subsequently I did. It's in the "Subject" for what it's
> worth.

It's still a bit inpenetrable, so let's attempt to parse and reinterpret
your data (as best we can) to clarify it:


You said "Type 2611-410 Model AA-D296F".  This seems to be your
interpretation (and, I think, slight misinterpretation) of the label on
the bottom of the ThinkPad.  Thank you for attempting that.  You might,
however, wish to consider, in the future, providing the mailing list (or
other Linux technical people you're working with) the _raw data_.

(I believe Asheesh suggested that, too.  Smart man, Mr. Laroia.)


To review, what I said was:  

  This page may help you:
  http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-49QTT6.html
  Note the tips on identifying the "product number" (comprising IBM
  machine type and model) and the S/N.

So, for example, the ThinkPad in front of me has a label that says:

  TYPE 2669-P1U S/N L3-KYRE3 05/12
  PRODUCT ID 2669P1U

For this (_my_) ThinkPad unit, 

o  the "product number" is 2669-P1U.
o  the "machine type" is 2669.
o  the "model" is P1U.
o  the serial number is L3-KYRE3.

Now, if you search the 'Net on "2669-P1U", you'll find what IBM's
_marketing_ department (and the stores, and, in general, various Web
pages) call the ThinkPad in front of me:  model T43p.

And, lo!, indeed it says "T43p" just below the LCD panel, on the right
near the inside hinge.


Getting back to your interpretation of _your_ label -- again, pity that
you didn't just post what the label said -- I'm guessing that you had
(i.e., attempting to reconstruct your raw data from evidence at hand):

   TYPE 2611-410 S/N AA-D296F [something, e.g., a revision date]
   PRODUCT ID 2611410

If so, then what _you_ have is:

o  product number 2611-410
o  machine type 2611
o  model 410
o  serial number AA-D296F

Searching the 'Net on "2611-410", you'll find what IBM's _marketing_
department (and the stores, and, in general, various Web pages) call the
ThinkPad in front of you:  model 1410 aka i1410 (part of IBM iSeries 1400).

OK?  ThinkPad 1410 aka i1410, machine type 2611, model 410, product
number 2611-410.  At long last:  (reasonably) reliable information.
Hallelujah.


Searching "ThinkPad 1410" will get you barrel loads of sales offers for
replacement and add-on parts, e.g., Li-ion batteries, PCMCIA ethernet
cards and modems, port replicators, AC adapters, and extra RAM.  If you
act quickly, you'll find Google's cache of a Linux enthusiast's long-ago
page of tips on how to get Red Hat 5.0/7.0 and Caldera OpenLinux 2.3
working on it, including the El Crappo Lucent LT winmodem.  Page
clarifies that his unit came with 32MB RAM, a 3.2 GB hard drive, and a
Teac 20x CD-ROM.  It was based on a Neomagic 128XD video chip with 2 MB
video RAM, and a Yamaha OPL3Sa2 sound chip -- and is driven by an Intel
Mobile Pentium MMX at 266 MHz.

I said "quickly" because the site's domain has been grabbed by a
squatter^Wsearch engine, and the page exists only in Google's cache,
which goes away over time -- but it turns out that the page is also at
the Internet Archive.  Direct link:
http://web.archive.org/web/20070806054012/http://www.zisos.com/ibm.html

I gather from archived mailing list postings that the model 1410's
heyday was around 1998 -- so, it's a nine-year-old box, and thus pretty
venerable.

> 32MB RAM ((I've max'ed it out now))

No, -- unless you mean it _used_ to have 32MB before you put something
more reasonable into it.  It takes 66MHz (PC66) 144-pin non-ECC 3.3V
SDRAM SODIMMs such as Kingston's KTM-TP770 64MB sticks -- a pair of
which would take this machine up to 128MB total, and set you back about
US $41 + shipping.


> I tried the ide="0x180,0x386" 
> and the  ide=nodma   options to no avail.

Er.... that was a discussion entirely unrelated to your ThinkPad!  That
was a boot-time option useful for helping Linux find a weird outboard CD
drive that comes with very early Sony VAIO laptops such as my antique
Sony VAIO PCG-505FX.


Anyway, next stop, for laptops, is http://www.linux-laptop.net/ .  Pick
the IBM category, which takes you to
http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/ibm.html .  Browse down the list of
models:  

1.  Someone did a write-up of "Mandrake 7.0, Mandrake 7.1, Mandrake 7.2,
    Mandrake 8.0, Debian, Red Hat" on a 1400.
    http://www.ele.auckland.ac.nz/~swon074/laptop

2.  Someone did a write-up of "Red Hat 6.2" on a 1411.
    http://walbran.org/sean/linux/linux.html

3.  Someone did a write-up of "Red Hat 6.1" on a 1420.
    http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~johnbent/thinkpad/

4.  Someone did a write-up of "generic, SUSE 6.2" on a 1452.
    http://www.nothingisreal.com/thinkpad.html  <- dead link, use:
    http://web.archive.org/web/20061113144047/http://www.nothingisreal.com/thinkpad.html

5.  Someone did a write-up of "SUSE 6.1" on a 1452.
    http://www.trestle.com/linux/i1452/index.html  <- dead link, use:
    http://web.archive.org/web/20051115070347/http://www.trestle.com/linux/i1452/index.html

6.  Someone did a write-up of "Red Hat 6.1" on a 1460.
    http://www.staikos.on.ca/~staikos/tp1460/

7.  Someone did a write-up of "Red Hat 6.2, Debian" on a 1480.
    http://www.rainydayinvestors.com/~markw/linux/tpi1480.html  <- dead link.
    http://web.archive.org/web/20040606180928/http://www.rainydayinvestors.com/~markw/linux/tpi1480.html

Since those are all in the iSeries 1400 models, they're all probably
reasonably close to the hardware of your 1410 -- i.e., differing only in
the exact CPU, the amount of RAM, the exact Neomagic video chip, exact
sound chip.  Of course, the distributions referred to are ancient:
"Mandrake" is now called Mandriva, and Red Hat Linux was discontinued
a/o RHL 9, and replaced with the semi-restricted Red Hat Enterprise
Linux.  SUSE (formerly SUSE) still exists as openSUSE for enthusiasts
and fans of the bleeding edge, and as SUSE Linux Enterprise
Server[/Desktop] for the corporate market.

Though the linked write-ups are ancient, the good news is that any drive
problems referred to would have been eliminated long ago.  (These guys
were pioneers, and worth their pages when the models were brand-new, and
had thorny problems that needed to be solved.)

Looking really quickly through all seven pages, I see nothing at all
that should, in 2007, still be the least bit problematic -- except for
the El Crappo Lucent LT winmodem, which probably still requires a junky
binary-only driver, if you care about it at all.

If you really cannot get mainstream (better than DamnSmallLinux) distros
to install from CD media onto this beast, I recommend shlepping it to an
installfest, and getting help from seasoned Linux users.