Linux Installation on a Sharp PC-9020 Notebook PC
by Ray Brice
March 21, 1997
This laptop was purchased on February 10, 1997 from
PCs Compleat (1-800-448-1534). The basic unit: Pentium 120 MHz,
12.1" dual-scan screen, 6X cd-rom drive, 2 type II or 1 type III PCMCIA
slots, 3.5" floppy drive, 16 MB RAM, 1.1 GB harddrive, all for $1999.
It was upgraded to 48 MB ram for an extra $300. After the first try at
loading up everything, the screen decided to go out (vertical colored lines,
unreadable text on the screen, etc.). I don't think the screen
problem was related to linux because I noticed it going out before
trying the X server.
Also purchased was a PCMCIA etherlink III card (3Com 3C589C-TP)
and PCMCIA Data/Fax modem card from Apex Data (33.6kbps/v.34).
This laptop had Win95 pre-loaded. It contains a small suspend-to-disk
partition at the end of the harddrive which is used to save contents of RAM
to when powering down. It can be changed using the PHDISK utility (phdisk
/info) that comes on a supplied floppy. The suggested size is whatever amount
of RAM you have (I set mine to ~60 MB).
I loaded RedHat linux version 4.0 for intel. Put in the linux boot floppy
and booted, began the configuration steps. It didn't recognize the
PCMCIA cards. At the prompt to load linux to the harddrive, choose edit and
delete the primary DOS partition using linux fdisk. Recreate the partitions
as follows:
Device Boot Begin Start End Blocks ID System
/dev/hda1 1 1 102 205600+ 6 DOS 16-bit >= 32M
/dev/hda2 103 103 127 50400 82 Linux Swap
/dev/hda3 * 128 128 523 798336 83 Linux Native
/dev/hda4 524 524 526 6048 a0 Unknown
Save and exit fdisk, reboot, continue with boot floppy installation
loading whatever packages you desire (I loaded everything except MetroX).
To get LILO to work, need to set the boot partition to /dev/hda3 in linux.
Then restart the computer with the Win95 floppy in the A: drive.
Use DOS fdisk to set the active partition to be number 3 versus number 1.
Now you can boot from the harddrive and hit the "TAB" key to select
DOS or linux.
After loading linux, now get X working. The chipset for this
PC is: Trident Cyber 9385. I needed to download XFree86 3.2A
which supports this chipset (ftp site: ftp.xfree86.org). Download the
following tar gzipped files:
preinst.sh
postinst.sh
X32Abin.tgz
X32Adoc.tgz
X32Afnts.tgz
X32Alib.tgz
X32Aman.tgz
X32Aset.tgz
X32AVG16.tgz
Make a tar gzipped file of /usr/X11R6 first
in case something goes wrong (see the RELNOTES34.html file):
cd /usr
tar cvf - X11R6 | gzip > X11.tgz
now run preinst.sh and then un-tar/un-gzip all the .tgz files:
cp preinst.sh /var/tmp
cd /usr/X11R6
sh /var/tmp/preinst.sh
gzip -d < X32A???.tgz | tar xvf -
Run postint.sh similarly. For some reasong the XF86_SVGA server
doesn't work but the XF86_VGA16 does and it's not too bad.
Make sure that you have the following symbolic links set:
/usr/X11R6/bin/X -> /etc/X11/X
/etc/X11/X -> /usr/X11R6/bin/XF86_VGA16
then type: ldconfig /usr/X11R6/lib
then put this XF86Config file in the /etc directory:
--------------------------start of XF86Config---------------------------
# XF86Config auto-generated by XF86Setup
#
# Copyright (c) 1996 by The XFree86 Project, Inc.
#
# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
# copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),
# to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation
# the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
# and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
# Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
#
# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
# all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
#
# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL
# THE XFREE86 PROJECT BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,
# WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF
# OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
# SOFTWARE.
#
# Except as contained in this notice, the name of the XFree86 Project shall
# not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other
# dealings in this Software without prior written authorization from the
# XFree86 Project.
#
# See 'man XF86Config' for info on the format of this file
Section "Files"
RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
EndSection
Section "ServerFlags"
EndSection
Section "Keyboard"
Protocol "Standard"
AutoRepeat 500 5
LeftAlt Meta
RightAlt Meta
ScrollLock Compose
RightCtl Control
XkbKeycodes "xfree86"
XkbTypes "default"
XkbCompat "default"
XkbSymbols "us(pc101)"
XkbGeometry "pc"
XkbKeymap "xfree86(us)"
XkbRules "xfree86"
EndSection
Section "Pointer"
Protocol "PS/2"
Device "/dev/mouse"
BaudRate 1200
Emulate3Timeout 50
SampleRate 0
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "trident"
VendorName "trident"
ModelName "cyber938x"
HorizSync 31.5-37.9
VertRefresh 55-90
Modeline "800x600" 40.00 800 840 968 1056 600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync
Modeline "640x480" 31.50 640 680 720 864 480 488 491 521
Modeline "640x400" 25.18 640 664 760 800 400 409 411 450
Modeline "480x300" 23.89 480 496 576 632 300 301 303 314 doublescan
Modeline "400x300" 20.00 400 416 480 528 300 301 303 314 doublescan
Modeline "320x240" 12.59 320 336 384 400 240 245 246 262 doublescan
Modeline "320x200" 12.59 320 336 384 400 200 204 205 225 doublescan
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "cyber938x"
VendorName "cyber"
BoardName "938x"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Generic VGA"
VendorName "Unknown"
BoardName "Unknown"
Chipset "cyber938x"
VideoRam 2048
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Driver "Accel"
Device "cyber938x"
Monitor "trident"
BlankTime 0
SuspendTime 0
OffTime 0
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "800x600" "640x480" "640x400" "480x300" "400x300" "320x240" "320x200"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "800x600" "640x480" "640x400" "480x300" "400x300" "320x240" "320x200"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "800x600" "640x480" "640x400" "480x300" "400x300" "320x240" "320x200"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "800x600" "640x480" "640x400" "480x300" "400x300" "320x240" "320x200"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 32
Modes "800x600" "640x480" "640x400" "480x300" "400x300" "320x240" "320x200"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Driver "VGA2"
Device "Generic VGA"
Monitor "trident"
BlankTime 0
SuspendTime 0
OffTime 0
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "800x600" "640x480" "640x400" "480x300" "400x300" "320x240" "320x200"
# Virtual 800 600
Virtual 1024 768
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Driver "VGA16"
Device "Generic VGA"
Monitor "trident"
BlankTime 0
SuspendTime 0
OffTime 0
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" "640x400" "480x300" "400x300" "320x240" "320x200"
# Virtual 800 600
Virtual 1024 768
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Driver "SVGA"
Device "cyber938x"
Monitor "trident"
BlankTime 0
SuspendTime 0
OffTime 0
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "800x600" "640x480" "640x400" "480x300" "400x300" "320x240" "320x200"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "800x600" "640x480" "640x400" "480x300" "400x300" "320x240" "320x200"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "800x600" "640x480" "640x400" "480x300" "400x300" "320x240" "320x200"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "800x600" "640x480" "640x400" "480x300" "400x300" "320x240" "320x200"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 32
Modes "800x600" "640x480" "640x400" "480x300" "400x300" "320x240" "320x200"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubSection
EndSection
--------------------------end of XF86Config---------------------------
Now you should be able to type: startx and have X working.
It is working for me, including the glide-point mouse
and virtual screen. I am running the fvwm95 window manager.
Other odds and ends:
go into /etc/rc.d/init.d and rename some files, e.g.:
mv inet inet.sav
mv nfs nfs.sav
mv nfsfs nfsfs.sav
mv sendmail.init sendmail.init.sav
To link the cdrom:
ln -sf /dev/hdc /dev/cdrom
To access the cdrom:
mount -t iso9660 /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
I'm still working on getting the PCMCIA services working
and will update when/if that happens. Good luck!
Ray Brice
ray@hwr.arizona.edu
XFree86 Update
The Cyber 9385 video chipset in the Sharp PC 9020
is fnow ully supported by XFree86 version 3.3, with
the SVGA server, at 256 or 64k colors.
Thanks for the attention...
epassos@roadnet.com.br