Linux on a Fujitsu 6210 
(debian centric)

last edited: 03/03/2005.
Preface:
    This document is my humble contribution to the mountain of knowledge that already exists and has
been so very useful in my pursuit to run linux on laptops for the last few years. 

     This laptop has been a great laptop for me so far and by far the best laptop in many respects I have
ever used.  There are a few shortcomings, but overall the Linux compatability is pretty darn good.  I think
that is more due to the advancements in the Linux and open source community than anything inherent
in this laptop, but it is very encouraging. 

    Some of the features include:

• Very nice screen with good brightness settings and peripheral vision
• Very comfortable keyboard and touchpad which can be rare with laptops.
• Very small and light, and modular. I can have up to 7 hours battery, or if as low as 3.6 lbs.
• Feels very fast and has responsible hard drive spinning and fan activation.
• Most things work!

    Some of the shortcomings include:

• 1) The Memory Stick/SD card slot is not functional and it would be really nice if it were, if anybody figures this out I would love it if they shot me an email with the solution (available at bottom of page).
• 2)  The laptop has no built in bluetooth which I wish it did... the newer models apperantly do.
• 3)  The hard drive is relatively small at 40 gig, but I plan to eventually upgrade that.
• 4)  The default 512 MB memory is installed in 2x256 MB chips, so when I upgraded I had to discard one of the 256 chips, which stinks.

Hardware Specs:

Component	Status	Notes
Processor: 32-bit bus architecture Intel® Pentium® M Processor 1.60 GHz     - 1 MB on-die L2 cache     - 400 MHz system bus speed	++	Speedstepping allows CPU throttling.
Memory: DDR 333 so-DIMM, 200 pin SDRAM 2 DIMM slots; upgradeable to 2 GB total memory (1 GB x 2)	++	2 slots with 2 GB maximum(1Gb per slot).  I've upgraded to 1280 MB (1 gb and 256 MB). You also have to turn High Memory support on in the Kernel.
Hard Drive: ATA-100, 5400 rpm: 40 GB hard drive¹	++
Optical Drive: Modular DVD/CD-RW combo drive (8x read DVD, 24x10x24x CD-RW)	++	Modular Drive, can be replaced with second battery or spacer (to reduce weight).
Battery:  Main Battery: Lithium ion; 10.8V 4400 mAh, 47.5 Watt Hour Modular Bay Battery: Lithium ion; 10.8V 3800 mAH 40.2 Watt Hour	++	3+ hours of low power operation
Video: Intel 855GM chipset with up to 64 MB shared memory using Unified Memory Architecture (UMA) delivers low-power, high-performance 2D/3D graphics, video, and display capabilities. Dynamic Video Memory Technology (DVMT) dynamically responds to application requirements and efficiently allocates the proper amount of memory (max. of 64 MB) for optimal graphics and system peformance. AGP support	+-	uses i915 driver (Kernel 2.6.10 and higher) and intel_agp.
PC Card: One Type I or Type II slot 32-bit PC CardBus architecture	++
USB:  2.0 (3 slots)	++
Firewire:  Texas Instrument IEEE 1394 (4-pin type)	?	Untested
Mem/SD Card:  Memory Stick®/Secured Digital card slot	--	Unable to get to work, don't know even where to start. j
LCD:  13.3" Crystal View XGA LCD Internal max: 1024 x 768 resolution, 16M colors	++
Svideo:  mini S-Video (with adapter)	?	Untested
Touchpad and Keyboard:  Touchpad with scroll button 84-key keyboard with 19 mm key pitch and 3 mm key stroke	+-	Works mostly, Can't get the middle rocker button to work.
Ethernet:   Ethernet (RJ-45) Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX (rev 02)	++	Use Broadcom 4400 option in kernel or b44 module.  (relatively new kernels only)
Modem: Built-in multinational² 56 K³ V.90 modem	?	untested, likely will never be tested.
Sound: SigmaTel AC97 codec with 6 channels stereo sound Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 03)	++	Works great, external speakers are lacking to say the least,  but works.
Wireless: Integrated Intel PRO/wireless 2200 802.11b/g wireless LAN with antenna on/off switch	++	Uses ipw2200 driver for centrino a/b/g chips from intel
AC Adapter: Auto-sensing dual voltage support, AC100-240V DC 16V, 3.75A	++

Installation:

       The important thing I've noticed when installing this laptop is to make sure you use a relatively new installers, especially when installing Debian.  The older installers do not have a compatible ethernet driver and it really makes the rest of the installation a pain with out that working.  Other than that it is pretty straight forward and I will outline it here. (This portion is specific to installing Debian unstable, which is the only distribution I use, so this will be more or less usefull depending on what distribution you use)

1)  Find a place where you can connect to the internet via ethernet cable (many coffeeshops have that ability)
2)  Boot up the laptop with the original windows install (I know, but grin and bear it)
3)  Connect to internet and go to http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/
4)  Select the netinst CD image and download it to harddrive.  Wait a little while
5)  Use preloaded cd burning software to burn the .iso to a blank CDR in your CDRW drive. (Say bye to windows)
6)  Reboot machine with said CDR in the drive and make sure it boots to it. (Might have to choose it in bios)
7)  Go through new and improved debian installer.
8)  Install Debian, wipe your drive,  and make sure you load the correct ethernet module (b44) and install grub. 
9)  When installing packages do so from ftp or http and tell it to install only base packages.
10) When it the install finishes it will reboot your machine and set up all your user and root password.
11) When that is done, press Ctrl-Alt-F2 and log in with root user.
12) type apt-get install nano
13) type echo  'deb ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free' > /etc/apt/sources.list
14) type apt-get update, then apt-get dist-upgrade
15) wait a while, have a sandwich.
16) Then install whatever other packages you need, get X working, etc.
17) Then type apt-get install kernel-source-2.6.10 ( or whatever version is most recent)
18) type cd /usr/src, then tar jxpf kernel-source-2.6.10, then cd kernel-source-2.6.10 and type make xconfig
19) apt-get install any program it asks for if that fails such as 'make', 'gcc', or whatever.
20) load kernel config file linked to below, or create your own.
21) save, and exit. then type make clean bzImage modules modules_install. 
22) wait a bit, and then copy kernel into /boot directory and modify /boot/grub/menu.lst file to add kernel.
23) reboot machine and select new kernel.
24) compile and install ipw2200 driver (available via apt-get) and then setup wireless settings.
        note:  my friend has written a nice small wifi program to configure your interface. It is here

Useful Information:

      Hotswapping - You can use the program hotswap and xhotswap to manage the hotswapping of the modular battery and cd drive.  Its pretty self explanatory once you run it.  You do need hot swap capability compiled in your kernel first.

       Sound -  For somereason the Master part of the alsa mixer doesn't do anything.  The sound is instead driven by the PCM and Headphone controls.

      Screen - Its a skinny laptop with little space between the keys and the lcd, so as a result, oils from your fingers and palms can stain the screen after a while.  I suggest a pad to cover the keyboard when the laptop is closed to protect the screen.  I use a product by available at http://www.radtech.us and seem to be rather pleased.

       Battery - The battery life is much improved if you use a cpu frequency scaling program to throttle the frequency of the processor.  I use cpudyn (via apt-get) and am sufficiently satisfied.

Useful Output:

lspci

0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 82852/855GM Host Bridge (rev 02)
0000:00:00.1 System peripheral: Intel Corp. 855GM/GME GMCH Memory I/O Control Registers (rev 02)
0000:00:00.3 System peripheral: Intel Corp. 855GM/GME GMCH Configuration Process Registers (rev 02)
0000:00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corp. 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 02)
0000:00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corp. 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 02)
0000:00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB 2.0 EHCI Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801 PCI Bridge (rev 83)
0000:00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82801DBM LPC Interface Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801DBM (ICH4) Ultra ATA Storage Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 03)
0000:01:0a.0 CardBus bridge: O2 Micro, Inc. OZ711M3 SmartCardBus MultiMediaBay Controller
0000:01:0a.1 CardBus bridge: O2 Micro, Inc. OZ711M3 SmartCardBus MultiMediaBay Controller
0000:01:0a.2 System peripheral: O2 Micro, Inc. OZ711Mx MultiMediaBay Accelerator
0000:01:0a.3 CardBus bridge: O2 Micro, Inc. OZ711M3 SmartCardBus MultiMediaBay Controller
0000:01:0c.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX (rev 02)
0000:01:0d.0 Network controller: Intel Corp. PRO/Wireless 2200BG (rev 05)
0000:01:0e.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB43AB21 IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link)

lsmod

Module                  Size  Used by
vmnet                  28060  14
vmmon                 154476  0
rfcomm                 34012  0
l2cap                  22468  5 rfcomm
bluetooth              43844  4 rfcomm,l2cap
pcmcia                 17476  6
parport_pc             25028  0
lp                      8872  0
parport                32328  2 parport_pc,lp
ipw2200               127852  0
ieee80211              33572  1 ipw2200
ieee80211_crypt         4680  1 ieee80211
yenta_socket           19200  0
pcmcia_core            45388  2 pcmcia,yenta_socket
8250_pci               16832  0
8250                   21380  1 8250_pci
serial_core            19264  1 8250
usbhid                 30208  0
uhci_hcd               30736  0
eth1394                18056  0
ohci1394               31556  0
snd_intel8x0           28576  1
snd_ac97_codec         73824  1 snd_intel8x0
snd_pcm_oss            49060  0
snd_mixer_oss          17792  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm                85384  3 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_timer              21380  1 snd_pcm
snd                    45860  8 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer
snd_page_alloc          7620  2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
ehci_hcd               28036  0
sr_mod                 13988  0
sbp2                   21640  0
scsi_mod               74912  2 sr_mod,sbp2
ieee1394              305144  3 eth1394,ohci1394,sbp2

Files of interest:

XF86Config-4
kernel.config
lspci -vv

Other useful links:
http://www.icculus.org/~phaethon/notebook/lifebooks7010.html
http://www.visionary-networks.com/howto/s6210.html
http://www.columbia.edu/~jr2075/lifebooks6210.html

http://tuxmobil.org/fujitsu.html
http://debian.org
http://epfarms.org


Please direct any comments/suggestions/criticism to:

Copyright (c) 2005  Jason Woys
Permission is granted to copy, distribute, and/or modify this document under the terms of the
GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. A copy of the license is available at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.txt