Running Linux on a Thinkpad R40

So the new Laptop is an IBM Thinkpad R40, and I’m pleasantly surprised how smoothly Fedora Core 1 works with this machine. While some stumbling blocks remain in getting Linux to run smoothly, solutions for most are readily available — and the rest just works.Some lessons: In order to actually use the entire mouse assembly (touchpad with two mouse buttons, trackpoint with three (!) mouse buttons), it’s best to use a patched version of GPM in repeater mode. For the internal modem, the only thing that works so far is a recent SmartLink driver. Note that the Agere drivers recommended by IBM don’t seem to work. The final and surprising problem was getting the laptop’s infrared to work: An old-style IRQ collision between te IRDA chipset and a PCMCIA card was the problem; to solve this, I just made sure that PCMCIA isn’t started before IRDA.The one thing that isn’t working, yet, is the built-in Centrino Wi-Fi. But there is hope.