Libreboot/ThinkPad X60


 * Note: This guide will be merged with the official Libreboot documentation. Please update your links.



The ThinkPad X60 is the first Libreboot laptop, and the only laptop series where every motherboard is guaranteed to work with Libreboot (no ATI GPUs, all LCDs work out of the box, etc.).

Briefing

 * All ThinkPad X60/X60s/X60 Tablet motherboards support Libreboot, since none of them have an ATI GPU.
 * The ThinkPad X60 series supports software BIOS flashing.
 * No hardware flashing is necessary, unless you accidentally brick the BIOS.
 * You must install GNU/Linux before installing Libreboot. Here's a list of FSF-approved distros.
 * In order to use an FSF-approved GNU/Linux distro, you must replace the Intel 3945abg Wifi Card; since it uses proprietary drivers.
 * We recommend an Atheros ath9k Wireless-N miniPCI card. Other wifi cards with open source drivers are listed at h-node.
 * You will need to remove the keyboard and palmrest in order to replace the miniPCI card. If you're not brave enough to do this, just buy a USB dongle.
 * Don't plug in the new miniPCI card until Libreboot is installed, or your laptop will not boot (due to pesky miniPCI whitelisting).
 * Until Libreboot is installed, you must use an Ethernet cable to connect to the internet, or transfer data via a USB drive.

Find the Right ROM
Under the  folder in , there are a multitude of Libreboot ROMs sorted by motherboard.

Choose the ROM with your laptop's keyboard layout (US or UK, QWERTY or DVORAK). For ThinkPads, choose a  ROM if dock and serial port support is needed.


 * - ThinkPad X60/X60s
 * - ThinkPad X60 Tablet

Once you know which ROM to use, remember it's directory path for the next step (ex.  )

Check the ROMs section from the official Libreboot Documentation for the latest list.

Remove High Pitched Whining Noise
There might be a high pitched whining noise coming from the CPU at times, so if it bothers you, follow this procedure to get rid of it:

Installing PowerTop
First, install powertop from the repositories:

sudo apt-get install powertop

Now you can use this command to kill that noise:

sudo powertop --auto-tune

You can also run it without parameters and then go into 'Tunables' and set everything to 'Good'

Powertop - Start automatically at boot time (Trisquel 6)
Included with the libreboot release is a script called. Run this and it will setup powertop to run with --auto-tune at boot time. Load the file in your text editor to see how it does that.

./powertop.trisquel6


 * Source: Libreboot Docs - Remove High Pitched Whining Noise on Ubuntu/Debian/Trisquel

Powertop for Arch Linux/Parabola

 * 1) Become root:   su -
 * 2) Install powertop:   pacman -S powertop
 * 3) Add the following to   :

[Unit] Description=Powertop tunings

[Service] Type=oneshot RemainAfterExit=no ExecStart=/usr/bin/powertop --auto-tune Environment=&quot;TERM=xterm&quot;
 * 1) &quot;powertop --auto-tune&quot; still needs a terminal for some reason. Possibly a bug?

[Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target Finally, enable  in systemd:

systemctl enable powertop systemctl start powertop The next time you boot the machine, the buzz will be gone.

Powertop
Powertop will not work immediately, it has to collect measurement data before implementing it's features, which will be stored in  Leave the laptop running on battery for a while, and Powertop will figure something out sooner or later.


 * Source: Arch Linux Wiki - Powertop