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  • Thinkpads for Linux, was Re: Squash Windows?

    From Martin Gregorie@21:1/5 to Adrian Caspersz on Wed Apr 7 13:57:58 2021
    On Mon, 01 Mar 2021 16:21:39 +0000, Adrian Caspersz wrote:

    I've got the same machine, from memory (faulty) it was a cut down from
    the T60/T61 series. I put an alternative "Middleton's BIOS" to get SATA2 support, just before installing an SSD. Didn't have much luck upgrading
    the CPU further, and with Windows 7 the machine is currently a bit
    dormant.

    I got mine new. IIRC I booted it into Windows as part of workin gout how
    to fiddle with the BIOS, found it a bit sluggish, and immediately shut it
    down, a rebooted off the Fedora installation CD before completely wiping
    the HDD and repartitioning for Linux: I like to have a root,usr and swap partitions. A straight forward install later, It the up and feeling
    faster and more responsive than it did in the brief Windows interlude.

    That was 2005 IIRC, so would have been XP replaced by Fedora 4.

    FWIW both my R61i and my T440, which are generally run off the mains,
    still have their original batteries installed. It seems that the
    batteries in both laptops are Duracell OEM.


    --
    Martin | martin at
    Gregorie | gregorie dot org

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    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Davey@21:1/5 to Martin Gregorie on Wed Apr 7 15:58:00 2021
    On Wed, 7 Apr 2021 13:57:58 -0000 (UTC)
    Martin Gregorie <[email protected]d> wrote:

    On Mon, 01 Mar 2021 16:21:39 +0000, Adrian Caspersz wrote:

    I've got the same machine, from memory (faulty) it was a cut down
    from the T60/T61 series. I put an alternative "Middleton's BIOS" to
    get SATA2 support, just before installing an SSD. Didn't have much
    luck upgrading the CPU further, and with Windows 7 the machine is
    currently a bit dormant.

    I got mine new. IIRC I booted it into Windows as part of workin gout
    how to fiddle with the BIOS, found it a bit sluggish, and immediately
    shut it down, a rebooted off the Fedora installation CD before
    completely wiping the HDD and repartitioning for Linux: I like to
    have a root,usr and swap partitions. A straight forward install
    later, It the up and feeling faster and more responsive than it did
    in the brief Windows interlude.

    That was 2005 IIRC, so would have been XP replaced by Fedora 4.

    FWIW both my R61i and my T440, which are generally run off the mains,
    still have their original batteries installed. It seems that the
    batteries in both laptops are Duracell OEM.



    My last two laptops have kept their original batteries, but they don't
    hold a charge; unplug the power feed, and they die. For this, my
    current 10-year old laptop (due to be replaced!), I have a second
    battery, which gets installed once per month, then fully charged, run
    down to empty, and then recharged. So far this seems to be a working
    process.
    The other old laptop is there as a backup, it is slower than molasses,
    but works if needed. As I found out once some years, one day, your PC
    will greet you with a blank screen, and you need an alternative device.
    All modified files are backed up every night, of course.

    --
    Davey.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Martin Gregorie@21:1/5 to Davey on Wed Apr 7 17:59:02 2021
    On Wed, 07 Apr 2021 15:58:00 +0100, Davey wrote:

    My last two laptops have kept their original batteries, but they don't
    hold a charge; unplug the power feed, and they die.

    Interesting: I just pulled leads on my two laptops for 5 mins or so. The
    15 year old Lenovo r61i showed 95% on disconnect and after 5 mins said "recharging from 93%" when I reconnected external power, so could
    probably do with a new battery if I was planning to cart it about much.

    The T440 (which I've had for 4 years) and was disconnected a little
    longer, said it was still fully charged on reconnection.

    Unsupported guess: how long your batteries remain usable depends on who
    made them, and some laptop makers get their batteries from cheap
    suppliers: who would have known!


    --
    Martin | martin at
    Gregorie | gregorie dot org

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From AnthonyL@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Thu Apr 8 11:36:16 2021
    On Wed, 7 Apr 2021 17:59:02 -0000 (UTC), Martin Gregorie <[email protected]d> wrote:

    On Wed, 07 Apr 2021 15:58:00 +0100, Davey wrote:

    My last two laptops have kept their original batteries, but they don't
    hold a charge; unplug the power feed, and they die.

    Interesting: I just pulled leads on my two laptops for 5 mins or so. The
    15 year old Lenovo r61i showed 95% on disconnect and after 5 mins said >"recharging from 93%" when I reconnected external power, so could
    probably do with a new battery if I was planning to cart it about much.

    The T440 (which I've had for 4 years) and was disconnected a little
    longer, said it was still fully charged on reconnection.

    Unsupported guess: how long your batteries remain usable depends on who
    made them, and some laptop makers get their batteries from cheap
    suppliers: who would have known!


    My laptop has a readily removable battery which is removed nearly all
    the time I'm at the desk. It still has reasonable charge despite
    being a 10yr old machine.

    If I'm doing something critical I'll put the battery in, but then if
    it's a major update I'll run an ethernet cable to the router as well.
    We only get occasional power glitches though a couple of years ago we
    had 11hrs 40min - they pay compensation if over 12hrs. If we'd all
    given up a fiver to the workers and told them to take a tea break we'd
    have been well off.


    --
    AnthonyL

    Why ever wait to finish a job before starting the next?

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    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)