RedHat 8 on a Thinkpad T30: I am too dumb to use computers

["Whil Hentzen" <whil@hentzenwerke.com>]

Hey folks,

So this brand new Thinkpad T30 shows up and I get ready to install RH8 on
it. My 19" flat panel from ViewSonic (that I had hooked up to a server...
ha!) is also going to be part of the gig. Since the TP comes with XP
installed, I have to clean it off as well - not even going to let it boot.
Just boot right off of the RH CDs. So I go into the BIOS startup and find
the CD-ROM line and press the <INS> button to select it and then press F6 a
couple of times to notch it up to the first device to try to boot from. A
bang (exclamation mark) shows up next to the line, I save and am ready to
go.

Except that it won't boot from the CD-ROM. A half hour with two tech support
folks at IBM before someone there knows that the bang means the device is
disabled.... I am too dumb to use computers.

Thereafter, install was clean and smooth... except for the mouse. I have a
new MS IntelliMouse Optical, and it kept getting lost, then the display
would freeze... Long story short, and a helpful hint for those who come
after: Don't pick the MS IntelliMouse even though the RH doc says to. Keep
the setting at the Generic 3 button PS/2 mouse. Works fine. Don't even have
to monkey with the resolution like I had to with the other machines.

True Story: For those of you who don't use RH8, after boot, but before you
login, the screen shows the RH logo in the upper left, the login dialog in
the center, and the label "Welcome to <machine name>" above the login
dialog.

I'm going to use this machine to demonstrate Linux to about two dozen
Windows developer user groups this year around the country. I named this
machine "Freedom". So when I'm waiting to start my presentation at each
group, I'll have the login screen there, waiting for me to log in, and it'll
say

      Welcome to Freedom

Heh.

Whil
Hentzenwerke InterGalactic: http://www.hentzenwerke.com


-
To unsubscribe, send email to majordomo@silug.org with
"unsubscribe silug-discuss" in the body.