Toshiba Satellite A200-237

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WARNING: Work in Progress!

I'm still working on exploring the possibilities of this notebook.

Installing Fedora 11

First, while running Fedora 10, I used the LVM to create a 15GB partition F11Root. I copied (with rsync) the compelete contents of F10Root (the current root) to F11Root. I changed F11Root/etc/fstab to adjust the file system root and rebooted, getting Fedora 10 running on the new F11Root.

I have the Fedora install files on a server on the LAN, so I booted the notebook with the Fedora 11 install kernel using PXE.

I selected upgrade exisiting systen, and it went smoothly.

After reboot I updated all packages with the newest versions, and installed the Tux on Ice enabled kernel. I changed grub.conf to boot this kernel with vga=791 to enable the frame buffer. Reboot. Fedora 11 ready for production.

Processor	OK	Dynamic frequency switching can be seen on power applet
Display	OK	1280 x 800
CD/DVD R/RW	OK
Graphics	OK	No accellerated graphics
Touchpad	FAIL	See notes
USB	OK
Battery	OK	Percentage, estimated time
Ethernet	OK
Wireless	OK
Bluetooth	OK	See Notes
Hibernate (SwSusp)	OK
Hibernate (TuxOnIce)	OK
Suspend (to RAM)	FAIL	Does not resume
Sound	OK	Record and playback
VGA-Out	OK	See Notes
S-Out		Not tested
Webcam	OK
Fn keys	FAIL	See Notes
56k modem		Not tested
Firewire	OK
SD Card Reader	OK
PCMCIA		Not tested

Notes:

The expected battery time is not available, only an estimate is given. This is also the case under Windows so it is probably not a Linux problem.
A fully charged battery lasts for about 90 minutes only on an lightly loaded system. This is very disappointing. Moreover, after four months this is already reduced to just over one hour.
The Touchpad, WiFi and Bluetooth must be enabled from Windows since the Fn keys cannot be used to control them!
Bluetooth can be enabled with help of the OmniBook kernel module.
During the Fedora 11 release cycle, Fedora upgraded to the 2.6.30 kernel. Unfortunately, the Touchpad stopped working with this kernel. The kernel just doesn't seem to see it anymore. I had to go back to the 2.6.29 kernel where cursor movement, H/V scroll work. See below for the mouse clicks.
As opposed to many other members of the Satellite A200 series this model has a Phoenix BIOS, and hence does not have Linux support for several specific Toshiba features like Fn keys. Some keys, however, work:
Fn-Esc (Mute): Works.
Fn-F2 (Suspend): Works (Generates ACPI event).
Fn-F6 / Fn-F7 (Brightness): Works. However, something in my system seems to switch the display to full brightness again after a couple of seconds.
Multi-media button Stop: Ejects the CD/DVD.
When an external monitor is connected and activated using xrandr --auto, the LCD bleaches and does not come back anymore. An X-server restart is necessary.
Mouse clicks (taps) on the TouchPad can be reenabled an several ways. Googling for “fedora touchpad tapping” will show some.
I have put synclient TapButton1=1 in my X startup.