Ubuntu Hardy Heron (8.04) on Thinkpad T61

I've been running Ubuntu 8.04 Beta for quite some time. Now that the final version is out I decided to make a clean sheet and install it over from scratch to remove all the quirks I added by testing.
My setup is the following:

Intel Centrino Pro (Core 2 Duo) T7300(2GHz)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
Intel PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Mini-PCI Express Adapter
AD1984 HD Audio controller
4-in-1 Memory reader
2GB RAM DDR2
120GB 5400rpm HD
14.1" in 1440x900 LCD
CDRW/DVDR Multi-Burner

Yours might vary.

Read the full post here.

I installed Hardy with the Desktop CD. A few seconds to boot up from CD was a great start. Partioned using gparted, with dedicated swap, /boot, /home, and /
After some minutes of file copying it was ready to reboot, so I clicked restart but the screen blanked and hang there.
Hard reboot later and Ubuntu started up.
As usual, a quick look at the logs to see if there is something going on behind stage that I need to take care first.
First look: Compiz started by default. Wireless working. Ethernet Working. Video ok. Fonts are a little rugged. Sound working. Capture not working; known problem since internal mic is disabled by default.
Some warnings on xorg.log is the only thing found, particuarly a Bad V_BIOS checksum which I'll check later.
No packages to update. That's good :)
Since I work for IBM and I need some essential software for my day-to-day, I decided to go for the IBM Repositories first and install Lotus Notes, Sametime, and some other software.
First AT&T Global Network Client to connect to work. You can refer to my post for that: http://technobluez.blogspot.com/2008/02/at-global-network-client-for-ubuntu.html

Now let's get the right keys in:
$ wget http://yktgsa.ibm.com/projects/i/ibmubuntu/web/public/ibmubuntu.pub -O - 2> /dev/null | sudo apt-key add -

Since there is no Hardy IBM ubuntu yet:
$ wget -c http://pokgsa.ibm.com/projects/l/lud/utils/installer/lud-config-apt_0.4-1_all.deb
Unpack lud-config-apt and extract lud-gpg.asc and temperance-repositories.list
$ sudo apt-key add lud-gpg.asc
$ sudo cp temperance-repositories.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/

$ wget -qO- http://olymp.hursley.ibm.com/dc4eb/olymp-repository.crt | sudo apt-key add -

(extracted from here: http://web.opensource.ibm.com/www/lud/ludinstall.html)
(and here https://ltc3.linux.ibm.com/wiki/LinuxDocs/Distro/Ubuntu)

Now let's run Synaptic to upgrade our sources and see if the package is the one we want. cool, working :)

Lotus Sametime 7.5

Install the packages sametime-blue.

# Tested on Edgy/Feisty/Kubuntu
sudo apt-get install sametime-blue
# To add support for sametime protocol for pidgin
sudo apt-get install pidgin libmeanwhile1

First problem, ibm-hannover refuses to install because libicu36 package is not found.
Let's use the Debian Client 4 ebusiness instead:

# dc4eb main olymp repository
deb http://olymp.hursley.ibm.com/dc4eb stable ibm main contrib non-free
#deb http://olymp.hursley.ibm.com/dc4eb testing ibm main contrib non-free #opti$
#deb http://olymp.hursley.ibm.com/dc4eb unstable ibm main contrib non-free #opt$

# source lines - you only need these if you want the sources to our packages
deb-src http://olymp.hursley.ibm.com/dc4eb stable ibm main contrib non-free #mi$
#deb-src http://olymp.hursley.ibm.com/dc4eb testing ibm main contrib non-free #$
#deb-src http://olymp.hursley.ibm.com/dc4eb unstable ibm main contrib non-free $

And on top of the temperance repos:

##
# lud-repositories.list
##
# DESC: Include LUD repositories in apt cache
##

deb http://pokgsa.ibm.com/projects/l/lud temperance stable

So after all this I did a:

$ sudo apt-get install ibm-notes8

Also to fix font problems:

$ sudo apt-get install t1-xfree86-nonfree ttf-xfree86-nonfree

New Lotus openwith

Opening attachments relies on having an old version of GNOME installed. For more recent versions of GNOME it can be made to work by removing/renaming the openwith program and replacing it with a symbolic link to /usr/bin/gnome-open. Note that you will have both /opt/IBM/notesplugin/bin/openwith and a symlink to it in your ~/notesplugin/bin/ . Simply changing the symlink to gnome-open doesn't appear to work, you need to delete (or rename) the actual program in /opt.

If you don't use GNOME then Anthony Moulen has written short script (WorkPlaceAttachmentScript) that can be used to replace the openwith program.

If you use KDE then there is also a script written by Jason Salcido that uses the file associations you already have in that environment.

Setup Printer in IBM

Install this package restart your Firefox and go to IBM Global Print web site to install the printer. http://w3-3.ibm.com/tools/print/index.html

# Tested on Dapper/Edgy/Feisty/Kubuntu
# Restart your Firefox, after install
sudo apt-get install lud-gpws

# for ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy) create a link in
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/firefox/plugins/ibmgpws.so /usr/lib/xulrunner-addons/plugins/ibmgpws.so

Multimedia Codecs, Java, Flash

Install this to be able to listen and view multimedia and sound files with different codecs and enable java and flash in firefox.

# Java browser plugins, java jre, flash, fonts, codecs
# The ubuntu-restricted-extras package installs the Sun JDK, which requires the user to accept the Sun License.
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

Customizing your Firefox install

* If middle-click on tab to close it does not work, you can enable it by pointing Firefox to "about:config" and set middlemouse.contentLoadURL to false. Voila, middle-click to close works again.
* To enable the autoscroll (where you middle-click and a little arrow-graphic appears and you can scroll just by moving the mouse), go to "about:config" and set general.autoScroll to true.
* To automatically select the entire contents of the URL bar when you click there, open "about:config" and set browser.urlbar.clickSelectsAll to true. I find this a helpful usability improvement.

Speed Up Firefox web browser:

In your location bar, type about:config

In the filter bar type network.http.pipelining
Normally it says ” false ” under value field , Double click it so it becomes ” true “.

In the filter bar again and type network.http.pipelining.maxrequests
Default it says 4 under value field and you need to change it to 8

Go to the filter bar again and type network.http.proxy.pipelining
Normally it says ” false ” under value field , Double click it so it becomes ” true “.

Go to the filter bar again and type network.dns.disableIPv6
Normally it says ” false ” under value field , Double click it so it becomes ” true “.

Go to the filter bar again and type plugin.expose_full_path
Normally it says ” false ” under value field , Double click it so it becomes ” true “.

Now you need to Create new Preference name with interger value for this got to Right click -> New -> Integer
Here you need to type nglayout.initialpaint.delay and click ok
Now you need to enter 0 in value filed and click ok

Now you need to Create one more Preference name with interger value for this got to Right click -> New -> Integer
Here you need to type content.notify.backoffcount and click ok
Now you need to enter 5 in value filed and click ok

Now you need to Create one more Preference name with interger value for this got to Right click -> New -> Integer
Here you need to type ui.submenuDelay and click ok
Now you need to enter 0 in value filed and click ok

Some more Tweaks

Enable the spellchecker for inputfields and textareas (default is textareas only)
layout.spellcheckDefault=2


Ondemand CPU Frequency Governor

The Ondemand CPU Frequency Governor automatically adjusts the CPU frequency in order to save power. It does not simply set the frequency to the lowest setting, because even if you are saving energy, the longer the CPU is in use the more power it uses. So this adjusts the frequency to complete processes as quickly as possible, so it can return to a low power state for longer periods of time, reaching longer and lower sleep levels.

Make sure all package managers are closed, open a terminal and enter each of the following in order:
sudo modprobe acpi-cpufreq
sudo modprobe cpufreq_ondemand
sudo aptitude install sysfsutils
sudo -s
echo "devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor=ondemand" >> /etc/sysfs.conf

For the first two, it is good if you do not see any response from the terminal. It only responds on errors. After this, close the terminal window and reboot your computer. After the reboot right-click on the panel where you want the CPU monitor, and select “add to panel” then add the CPU Frequency Monitor. . Then in a terminal enter:
sudo dpkg-reconfigure gnome-applets
select “ok” and “yes” and bam! Now each time you left-click on the CPU Frequency Monitor you can choose from the available frequencies, or the available automatic options. Remember, Ondemand is the best for battery life.

sources: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=50949&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=ubuntu&start=0
http://ubuntu.wordpress.com/2005/11/04/enabling-cpu-frequency-scaling/