Ubuntu Wiki

• Contact: Elantrix

• Make: Toshiba
• Brand: Satellite
• Model: PSPA3A-05S00P

• Website: Toshiba Australia

Introduction

This is a hardware reference/Ubuntu Linux to help laptop test team to test and report problems, developers to fix or build software specifically for this make and model, and general users to understand the technical specs of their laptop, problems they might be faced with when installing Ubuntu and the current solutions they can apply for the Toshiba Satellite P100 PSPA3A-02V00P notebook.

The Satellite P100 series is Toshiba's desktop replacement notebook series as of Q2-Q4 2006. It is based on the Intel Centrino (codename Napa) platform which consists of an Intel Centrino Core Duo (codename Yonah) CPU, a Intel mobile 945 express series chipset (82945 northbridge and ICH7 southbridge) and a Intel PRO Wireless 3945ABG Wi-Fi adapter. The notebook also features an nVidia Geforce Go 7300 graphics adapter.

This laptop is geared towards the business users and home users who require a mobile media and gaming system, their are some common drawbacks to the design of the system, it's heavy weighing at 3.3KG, Battery doesnt last long even at light use (Around 2 hours) and a few features such as the bright blue lights can be distracting especially at night as they cant be turned off.

Externally the laptop features a reasonably sleek casing (different countries appear to have different coloured lids for otherwise identical models), 17" widescreen display (with glossy coating), and harman/kardon speakers. It also features blue LEDs under the speakers. External connectivity includes 4x USB, 1x 4-pin firewire, 1x LAN, 1x modem, 1x DVI, 1x VGA, 1x TV-out, 1x PCMCIA, 1x ExpressCard, 1x multi-format media card slot, 1x line-in jack, 1x microphone jack and 1x headphone (with combined S/PDIF on certain models) jack.

As can be expected from a high performance desktop replacement notebook battery life is not extensive. In practice one can expect approximately 2 hours of light usage (under both Linux and Windows XP) from a fully charged 6000mAh battery. These notebooks are also reasonably heavy (3.3+ kg) and large (394 x 275 x 34.9mm/41.9mm).

The laptop was only intended and supported to run on Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Vista, as a result, linux support is far from 100% and if you are looking for an out-of-the-box replacement for MS Windows, you're out of luck unless you purchase a new laptop with better linux support. Toshiba P100 and a lot of other laptops suffer from poorly implemented ACPI and various other parts as linux testing was never conducted, this guide should help to smooth out the problems and hopefully allow the Toshiba p100 PSPA3A-02V00P and hopefully the rest of the series to work 100% with Ubuntu.

Official Linux support from Toshiba is non-existant in at least Australia, however the components of the notebook are generally well supported by the software included in modern Linux distributions. The Express Media Player software provided with the laptop utilises a 2.4 series Linux kernel and numerous other GPL software packages, though the extent of customization of this software is not yet known. Worldwide unofficial support is provided via the Toshiba Digital Media Engineering "Linux Information for TOSHIBA PC" website http://linux.toshiba-dme.co.jp/linux/index.htm.

Status of this document

This document is a work in progress as of January 2008. It is mostly being used to document a specific installation and the issues surrounding that installation. Plenty of other people around the net seem to be trying to use Linux with this particular laptop, so feel free to add your two cents.

To Do

• Try to get all hardware working and tested
• Revise xorg.conf, hotkeys-setup and any other relevant files to include
• Flesh out Installation
• Flesh out Further Configuration
• Add relevant links/resources

Outstanding Issues

This is the list of issues with no current solution or work around, if you have a solution, please remove it from the list and add it to the appropriate section.

• Something currently unknown triggers the sound and wireless to stop working, requiring a restart.
• LCD screen flashes occasionally
• A few function keys don't work at all, including the touchpad quick assistance
• Blue lights under speakers cannot be disabled

Things not yet tested:

• 56K Modem
• Firewire
• PCMCIA (Requires more testing, but may not work correctly)

System Info

• bios-version: V4.20
• system-manufacturer: TOSHIBA
• system-product-name: Satellite P100
• system-product-version:PSPA3A-02V00P

Hardware details

Hardware Specifications

• Toshiba Satellite P100
• Processor - Intel Centrino Core Duo T2300 @ 1.55GHz (667MHz)

• Video - nVidia Geforce Go 7300 with 256MB video memory (128MB discrete video memory and up to 128MB shared system memory using TurboCache Technology)

• Display - 17.0" TruBrite Widescreen XGA (CSV) Active Matrix

• Resolution - 1440x900
• Memory - 512MB DDR2 (Tested with 1024MB)
• Hard Drive - 100GB (5400rpm) 2.5" SATA
• Disk Controller - Intel ICH7
• LAN (Wired Network) - Intel PRO/1000
• WLAN (Wireless Network) - Intel PRO Wireless 3945ABG
• Audio - Intel HDA via Conexant codec

• DVD-ROM: DVD SuperMulti Double⁄Dual Layer Drive

  • Read: CD-ROM 24x, DVD-ROM 8x
  • Write: CD-R 24x, CD-RW 4x, HS CD-RW 10x, DVD-R 8x, DVD-R DL 2x, DVD-RW 4x, DVD+R 8x, DVD+R DL 2.4x, DVD+RW 4x, DVD-RAM 5x
• TV-Out – S-Video
• Modem - International V.92 data modem + fax
• Speakers - harman⁄kardon speakers
• Card Reader –5-in-1 card reader Adapter
• USB Port - 4 x Hi-Speed USB 2.0 ports
• PC Card Slot - One PC Card slot supports one Type II PC Card IEEE1394
• Infra-red Port – CIR
• Blue Tooth - Toshiba Bluetooth V2.0

• Provided Software – Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition 2005, Toshiba Utilities, Microsoft OneNote 2003, Record Now! Basic for TOSHIBA, DLA for Toshiba, Toshiba Speech System, Toshiba Touch and launch, ConfigFree, Intervideo WinDVD, WinDVD Creator 2 Platinum, Norton Antivirus (inc 90 day subscription), Express Media Player (CD + DVD) (Provided on separate Partition)

• Battery - Up to 2 hours
• Weight - Approximately 3.3kg (may vary with spec)
• Warranty – 1 year international parts and labour warranty. Domestic warranty includes onsite courier pickup and return service

Linux Support

Preparations

Seems that Toshiba P100 laptops uses a modified (and possible erroneous) ACPI implementation in its BIOS, automatic temperature cooling of CPU and GPU is only possible under Microsoft Windows XP and Vista (Unsure on older releases). Under Linux, the fans fo not turn on at all. To correct this problem, the BIOS requires to be updated to version 4.20 (As of 01-2008), the BIOS update is available from your regional Toshiba website

Patch existing problems

Harddrive - High frequency of load/unload cycles

Here is how I permanently fixed it:

• 1) make a file named "99-hdd-spin-fix.sh" with the following 2 lines:

SATA use: echo -e #!/bin/sh\nhdparm -B 255 /dev/sda >> ~/99-hdd-spin-fix.sh

PATA use: echo -e #!/bin/sh\nhdparm -B 255 /dev/hda >> ~/99-hdd-spin-fix.sh

2) copy this file to 3 locations /etc/acpi/suspend.d/ /etc/acpi/resume.d/ /etc/acpi/start.d/ by: sudo cp ~/99-hdd-spin-fix.sh /etc/acpi/suspend.d/; sudo cp ~/99-hdd-spin-fix.sh /etc/acpi/resume.d/; sudo cp ~/99-hdd-spin-fix.sh /etc/acpi/start.d/;

Voila! After that the HDD never spins down on power (looks like it actually spins down on battery at modest rate).

(from Bug #59695 Comment 14)

Notes

Will update this machine a lot more later.

[LaptopTestingTeam/Toshiba]