I doubt it's Linux they're concerned about. I think it's more likely that the driver in question only works for Windows 10.
Linux can’t be installed on a recent Lenovo laptop
81–90 of 494 posts
Re: Linux can’t be installed on a recent Lenovo laptop
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wait a second. Are you running Fedora24 on metal or on Virtualbox? If on metal, then how do the (unsigned) virtual box kernel modules matter? And if on virtualbox - you don't actually know if it would run on metal. VirtualBox hides quite a lot from you. (I expect that it will run on metal - I just don't think you have evidence one way or another if you are running it on vbox)
VirtualBox itself requires kernel modules to run.
But Linux doesn't care and lets them run. Unless you mean those on the Windows side. In which case - why does virtualbox honor bios settings of the host machine?
Re: Linux can’t be installed on a recent Lenovo laptop
#83I doubt it's Linux they're concerned about. I think it's more likely that the driver in question only works for Windows 10.
Re: Linux can’t be installed on a recent Lenovo laptop
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think being able to change the drive to AHCI mode would fix the problem. The BIOS (actually UEFI) "locking" and storage driver are two separate issues. I mean, hell, if someone wants to send me one of these laptops I'll test it and do a full writeup. Of course Reddit has gone off without anyone actually confirming what the issue is. Microsoft would be smart to come out with a statement on this if it picks up…
I'll spell it out: a Lenovo representative said "This system has a Signature Edition of Windows 10 Home installed. It is locked per our agreement with Microsoft." This is what people are reacting to. Now, of course the rep might be mistaken. We need official clarification from someone higher up. But we won't get that until we go off on one and this goes viral.
https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Linux-Discussion/Yoga-900-13ISK...
> Thank you for confirming it is still not possible to install Linux on Yoga 900-13ISK2 systems.
> This issue has been escalated to the Development team. I am unable to offer a timeframe for fix at this stage in the investigation. With previous cases, BIOS fixes have been delivered anywhere from several weeks to several months.
> I will post again when I have more information on the investigation.
Re: Linux can’t be installed on a recent Lenovo laptop
#85Do not attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. I see no conspiracy here, just an OEM that doesn't get it.
Re: Linux can’t be installed on a recent Lenovo laptop
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
VirtualBox itself requires kernel modules to run.
But Linux doesn't care and lets them run. Unless you mean those on the Windows side. In which case - why does virtualbox honor bios settings of the host machine?
> But Linux doesn't care and lets them run.
No, it doesn't, at least on Fedora[0]: “When Secure Boot is enabled, the EFI operating system boot loaders, the Fedora kernel, and all kernel modules must be signed with a private key and authenticated with the corresponding public key.”
[0] https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/24/html/System_A...
Re: Linux can’t be installed on a recent Lenovo laptop
#87Maybe someone can help me understanding. Why is it OK to lock down smartphones, TV devices, consoles, but not OK for PCs?
Something like tradition. The IBM PC has been an "open" system since the late 70's. Tablets etc (palmtops!) started appearing in the 90's, and were walled gardens from the get go.
That was the whole thing about PCs - if my memory of Cringley's "Triumph of the Nerds" serves, the genesis of this category was IBM rushing to a market where other "closed" vendors such as Apple were already established. It wasn't that PCs were open "by design" but more that they did things quickly and gathered other vendors "off the shelf" notably Microsoft and Intel, and had a copyrighted "BIOS" holding the whole thing together. Once Compaq reverse engineered this BIOS (through some legally clean techniques) the market was blown open to the clone manufacturers and Intel and MS were happy to play along since at the end of the day they were just shipping more units .... probably couldn't do it these days due to DMCA and other modern copyright legislation in other jurisdictions.
Re: Linux can’t be installed on a recent Lenovo laptop
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
VirtualBox itself requires kernel modules to run.
But Linux doesn't care and lets them run. Unless you mean those on the Windows side. In which case - why does virtualbox honor bios settings of the host machine?
You can use Secure Boot with Linux to make sure you run a signed kernel with signed kernel modules. That's what doesn't work with VirtualBox modules.
Re: Linux can’t be installed on a recent Lenovo laptop
#89Maybe someone can help me understanding. Why is it OK to lock down smartphones, TV devices, consoles, but not OK for PCs?
It is not ok to lock down devices. And I do hope for a lawsuit that will reaffirm the owners' right of a unlocked boot loader.
Re: Linux can’t be installed on a recent Lenovo laptop
#90Maybe someone can help me understanding. Why is it OK to lock down smartphones, TV devices, consoles, but not OK for PCs?
It's not ok, but the way most of us use our devices makes it less ok for PCs because we have far more reason to insist on our own software there.
E.g. with an unlocked Android device, I will typically at most install a different rom that's largely the same as the stock rom. Various small enhancements but nothing I can't live without.
But a PC that can't run Linux is entirely useless to me.