This is a work in progress
Most stuff works out of the box. The main issue is getting wifi to work without issues.
I've used Ubuntu 10.04 with most stuff working nicely for a while, until I got a hard drive issue (I replaced the hard drive with a 60GB SSD). Now I'm running 10.10. Apart from /etc I didn't make a backup of my setup so I have to figure out things again - and I'll keep track of that on this page.
Wireless: r8192se_pci issues
The wireless driver is the r8192se_pci. Many people experience regular (every 2 to 5 minutes) drop outs of connections, especially WEP connections.
A solution, thanks to a kernel panic through powertop: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/lucid/+source/linux/+bug/585938
A possible solution is to use RealTek's driver instead of the one that comes with the kernel. You have to compile it yourself though. On Ubuntu forums and even in the issue tracker you will find tons of information, but it's a bit scattered and messy. I hope this page can be more helpful.
At this point I'm not sure what the right steps are to get from a vanilla Ubuntu install to a working wifi. I'll try to update this in the future, but leave comment or let me know otherwise if you have improvements:
$ sudo apt-get build-essentials linux-source
$ wget https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/lucid/+source/linux/+bug/585938/+attachment/1443893/+files/rtl8192se_linux_2.6.0017.0705.2010.tar.gz
$ sudo find /lib/modules/ -name "r8192se_*.ko" -exec rm {} \; # removing existing module
$ sudo mv /lib/firmware/RTL8192SE ~ # back up existing firmware
$ tar zxvf rtl8192se_linux_2.6.0017.0705.2010.tar.gz
$ cd rtl8192se_linux_2.6.0017.0705.2010
$ make
$ sudo make install
With previous versions of RealTek's driver you had to use GCC 4.3 but the one used here didn't complain about GCC 4.4.
$ find /lib/firmware|grep rtl81 /lib/firmware/2.6.35-25-generic-pae/RTL8192SE/rtl8192sfw.bin /lib/firmware/2.6.35-25-generic-pae/RTL8192SE/rtl8192sfw492.bin /lib/firmware/2.6.35-25-generic-pae/RTL8192SE/rtl8192sfw74.bin /lib/firmware/RTL8192SE/rtl8192sfw.bin /lib/firmware/RTL8192SE/rtl8192sfw492.bin /lib/firmware/RTL8192SE/rtl8192sfw74.bin
After installing the new module you can unload the old one and reload the new one:
$ sudo rmmod r8192se_pci $ sudo modprobe r8192se_pci
You know everything is fine if your machine doesn't crash when running powertop:
$ sudo apt-get install powertop $ sudo powertop
32 bit PAE or 64 bit
My ThinkPad came with 4GB of RAM. Since 64 bit is a bit of an issue with RealTek's wireless driver I'm using the 2.6.35-25-generic-pae kernel.
Audio: fixing the audio out issue
The internal speakers might continue playing sound when you plug in headphones or external speakers to the audio out plug. In this case add the following line to /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf:
options snd-hda-intel position_fix=1 model=leno
Fan control
The fan can be a bit noisy. There's a solution though... I'll add it when I find it back from my backed up /etc.
People want laptops with Ubuntu!
I know many people who want laptops with Ubuntu. Not many people enjoy tinkering with the internals of their OS (and those people run ArchLinux anyway).
If only...
... RealTek contributed directly the Linux kernel.
... Dell had continued selling laptops with Ubuntu in the EU.
... some other company had picked up on this.