System:   Twinhead Slimnote 8-75CX Notebook
CPU:      Intel Pentium 75 MHz.
BUS:      PCI
Memory:	  16 MB
Disk:     1.3 GB
Display:  800x600 Dual Scan
Linux:    Slackware 3.0
Mouse:    Builtin touchpad
Modem:    PCMCIA Megahertz XJ1144 14.4K modem.
Network:  PCMCIA 3c589C (3Com) 10 Mbps ethernet Twisted Pair + BNC combo card.
Floppy:   3.5 inch.  Installs internally or on the parallel port
CDROM:    TOSHIBA CD-ROM XM-1102B
Sound:    Ensoniq SoundScape (ESS688) 16 bit sound system.


How did My Linux Installation go?

Well, as soon as I found a root disk that did not cause the linux kernel
to panic, the installation went well. (I ended up using the color.gz
rootdisk)

I had some problems getting Linux to obtain the proper geometry of my hard
disk  (1.3 GB).  I had to go into the BIOS setup utility to change the
setting from "Auto" to specify number of heads, cylinders, sectors. Once
that was done, the linux fdisk was happy.

Installation of the packages (I only installed A, AP and D disksets for now)
using the colored setup utility was flawless (except I had a bad copy of
Disk D2, which had a missing file -- copying the file into the floppy fixed
it).

All that took about an hour.

Trying to configure lilo to boot linux from the hard disk was more of a
challenge.  It hung after printing "LI".  Tried so many different settings
for lilo -- I even tried it on a floppy and still got stuck with the same
thing.  Then I realized that with the way I'm setting up lilo, I need to
be able to write to the boot block -- MBR.  The laptop has a setting to
prevent writing to the boot block -- protects against boot block viruses.
I turned that off.  LILO was still stuck at "LI".  I had to have a line in
my /etc/lilo.conf that says: append="hd=2633,16,63"  in order to tell LILO
what my disk geometry is at boot up.  Re-installed LILO on the MBR, and
now I have a linux laptop booting from the hard disk.  This part took me
2 hours to figure out.

I reset the write protection on the boot block to prevent its modification
and all still functions well.

One minor tidbit - I don't know how to create a partition that will act
as my "suspend to disk" partition for when my laptop tries to powersave.
As a result, an error message pops up during boot that says I need to
disable the feature.  I just ignore it.  And it works OK.

There is also an option in the BIOS setup that specifies how to access
the large disk.  It is set to "DOS" when running any MicroSoft OS (including
DOS and WIN95)  Having it set to DOS is OK with linux after it is already
setup.  But fdisk complains with lots of warning messages about cylinder
boundaries.  Setting this to "OTHER" makes linux fdisk happy, but Win95 and
DOS will complain at boot time about that "suspend to disk" partition.

Installing the mouse was a trial and error.  I used the approach of
trying every mouse listed on the setup menu.  Fortunately I didn't have
to go too far.  I got to the PS/2 Aux mouse and it worked.  Well the
mouse was responding, although not correctly.  Then I found that gpm was
being started with the -t ms option.  Changing that to -t ps2 worked.

So that's my story.  With regards to sound -- I will be installing VOXWare
to enable my kernel to access the builtin soundcard (Ensoniq Sound System 688).
I haven't been able to get my cd-rom to be recognized yet.  Perhaps after
I rebuild my own kernel.  For X-Windows -- I'll try that later.  It looks
promising though, since XFree86 supports the CLGD7543 chip which my laptop
uses.

I hope you find this info useful.


CD-ROM Configuration:

Device: TOSHIBA CD-ROM XM-1102B

Simply recompiling the kernel (1.3.68) with ATAPI CD-ROM support, and
booting the new kernel activated my CD-ROM.   The device is detected
correctly and if there is a disc inside, the disk gets mounted at boot
time.  The device file used is /dev/cdrom which is a symbolic link to
/dev/hdb.  THe kernel was built with all the IDE chipset fixes because I
didn't know what chipset I had and if I required any of the fixes.  Not
including the fixes made the CD-ROM unrecongizable.

Playing Music CD's work.  The sound is played through the internal
speakers on the notebook, or throught the stereo out jack.


Sound Configuration:

I am unable to get the sound card to work under Linux.  I initially
tried to patch the kernel (1.3.68) with VoxWare, but compilation failed.
Then I realized that 1.3.68 already comes with Ensoniq SoundScape
support.  Recompiling the kernel with the ESS support that comes with it
was successful.  But the devices (midi, audio) are both unrecognized.
I used the I/O addresses, IRQ and DMA numbers reported by windows 95 on
those devices.

It turns out that Linux does not support the ESS 688 Sound Scape Plug N
Play sound card which is what I have.

The later kernels (starting from 1.3.98) supports the ESS688 Sound Scape
Plug N Play sound card in the Slimnote 8. - [06/24/96]

X-Windows Configuration:

My first attempt to run in VGA16 mode was succesful.  However SVGA modes
failed.  The Cirrus Logic 7543 chip is not supported with the XFree86
distribution that came with Slackware 3.0.  I obtained XFree86 3.1.2D
from sunsite. The SVGA server recognized the 7543, but the display was
blank.  After much frustrations changing the clock settings for the LCD
panel (Dual Scan 800x600) I resorted to get help.  Through the help of
Frank Wu <fwu@ece.utexas.edu>.  He sent me his XF86Config file. I had to
change one Display identifier name in the Screen Section to match what the
Devices section had.  And after that I got  800x600x256 display.
Here is a copy of my XF86Config File.

XFree86 3.1.2D has expired but you can use XFree86 3.1.2E or later. [06/24/96]


PCMCIA Configuration:

After upgrading the kernel to 1.3.68, I obtained the package,
pcmcia-cs-2.8.8.tar.gz from
ftp://ftp.andrews.edu/pub/linux/pcmcia-cs-2.8.8.tar.gz

Building the package was straight forward.  Just follow the instructions
in the package.

For Network cards, you will need to modify /etc/pcmcia/network.opts.
For PCMCIA modem cards, there was no other modifications necessary.

The installation automatically placed a call to /etc/rc.d/rc.pcmcia in
/etc/rc.d/rc.M to start pcmcia services at boot time.  To start it
manually you simply run the command /etc/rc.d/rc.pcmcia start.  To stop it:
/etc/rc.d/rc.pcmcia stop

If you recompile the kernel, you should also recompile the pcmcia
services. If you don't you will get an error message when pcmcia
services are started saying that the versions of the kernel and the
pcmcia modules are not the same.  Pcmcia services will not start.


PPP Configuration:

If you are using a PCMCIA modem, you must get pcmcia services working
first.  See the previous section.

My initial attempt to run PPP failed with the following error:
Sorry -- PPP is not available on this system.
I recompiled the kernel twice.  Once with PPP as a module, and the next
with PPP built in.  I still got the same error message.  It turns out I
don't have the 2.2.0e version of pppd`, which is required for the 1.3.xx
kernels.  Obtaining the package, and binstalling it solved my problem.

My old ppp startup and stop scripts from my other linux installation
(386-33, Linux 1.2.8) worked flawlessly.

I dial my ISP using seyon.  And when the PPP session starts I invoke
"ppp" which is aliased to:
/usr/sbin/pppd /dev/modem 38400 defaultroute netmask 255.255.255.0


Diald Configuration: - [06/24/96]

Diald allows gives your linux machine the capability to automatically
dail out into your ISP whenever you need IP connectivity to the external
world.  Installation of the software (Diald version 0.14 from
http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~schenk/software/diald-0.14.tar.gz)
went without a hitch. (Note: The preceeding URL no longer works
go to  http://www.loonie.net/~eschenk/diald.html instead.

The software requires that you have SLIP configured within your kernel.
If SLIP is a module, then you need to issue the command "insmod slip"
before running diald.  Otherwise, if slip is compiled in, then you only
need to run diald.


Networking with 3C589C PCMCIA Ethernet card.

The card was automatically recognized by the PCMCIA services, and the
networking setup based on my options in /etc/pmcica/network.opts.  I had
to modify /etc/pcmcia/config.opts to select the 10BaseT port of my
ethernet card. The module line had to be uncommented out and the
if_port=0 changed to if_port=3.

Ping worked.  Telnet worked.  NFS Worked until I copied a very large
file -- 16 Megabytes in size.  I got an kernel Ooops error message, and
none of the networking stuff worked anymore.  I rebooted, got networking
up again, and tried ftp instead to transfer the same large file.  It
failed too giving another kernel Ooops error message.   I suspect it is a
kernel problem, so I  went back to Kernel 1.2.13.  I have not tested the
network card in this kernel yet.

[06/24/96] - The Current version of PCMCIA card services (2.8.9) still
does not support automatic detection of which connector I am using on
my ethernet card.  Everytime I switch from 10base2 to 10baseT, I am
required to edit the /etc/pcmcia/config.opts file to specify which port
I am using.  I wish it would auto detect which port I am using. I know
this is possible since that's what happens under Win 95.


Things Left to do:
1. Get Sound Card working -- If anyone has any ideas on this **PLEASE**
   contact me. -- This one now works with the latest kernels!!!

2. Get X to work with my externnal monitor at 1024 x 768 (using my
   Monitor settings from my other Linux machine should work) -- This one
   also works.  I also wrote a script which configures which display
   device (xternal monitor or lcd) and which mouse (ps2 or serial) to
   setup before starting X-windows.

Edsel Adap
edsel@adap.org
adap@andrews.edu