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Lenovo to Certify ThinkPad and ThinkStation Workstation Portfolio for Linux

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Re: Lenovo to Certify ThinkPad and ThinkStation Workstation Portfolio for Linux

#81

Post by jjuel »

chinathrow wrote: post #60
throwaway-9320 wrote: post #29

I must point out that this does NOT cover ThinkPad T and X series. From the press release: > Our entire portfolio of ThinkStation and ThinkPad P Series workstations will now be certified via both Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu LTS – a long-term, enterprise-stability variant of the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution.

This makes sense. The amount of fine tuning I had to do for my X1 7th generation with Ubuntu 19.10 was almost unbearable. Sound still is not working properly, the internal mic is still not working at all.

My T480s had 0 issues with Debian 10. It doesn't have a fingerprint reader which I hear is a main bug a boo with Thinkpads.

Re: Lenovo to Certify ThinkPad and ThinkStation Workstation Portfolio for Linux

#82

Post by smichel17 »

easytiger wrote: post #36
rkangel wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My approach to Linux laptops: * Buy Lenovo * Have integrated graphics (i.e. Intel) * Run Fedora This combination has, for a few years now, given me excellent reliability 'out of the box'. I don't have to do anything and everything from the fingerprint scanner to the wifi Just Works. There's still a bit of a battery life penalty compared to Windows, but it's not enormous.

This has been a source of much consternation. Basically want a 15" x1 Carbon without any of the complications of the dual GPU laptops. But no one seems to make it. I guess to push margins up they force higher prices on larger laptops as they become more "niche"

I ran into the same issue when I was in the market for a laptop a year or two ago. In particular, it's difficult to find a 15" laptop with a 1920x1080 matte screen that doesn't have a dual gpu setup. I was also looking for something that wouldn't break the bank.

I ended up getting an ASUS f510ua (cheap variant with a 1TB 5200rpm hdd) and adding a 256GB m.2 ssd for my boot drive. 8GB ram and an i5 8250U. Found a deal on the laptop so the total cost ended up ~$600 USD, although I think m.2 ssds are cheaper now. I've been pretty happy with the performance; it's just enough to comfortably do Android dev (I use vim though, not Android Studio).

The aspect I had to compromise on was build quality. The body is plastic and especially the screen has little reinforcement to bending specifically. It's not completely flimsy but I don't like carrying it around open in crowded/public spaces where it's more likely I'll bump into something and I wouldn't bet on it surviving a fall unscathed (my previous laptop, a Dell XPS 14, did exactly that, from college dorm bed to uncarpeted floor). It has also grown a single dead pixel, that I don't notice in regular use.

I expected the build quality going in, and overall I'm pretty happy with the purchase. I used it for 8+ hours daily for 9 months when I was separated from my desktop.

Re: Lenovo to Certify ThinkPad and ThinkStation Workstation Portfolio for Linux

#83

Post by Legogris »

exceptione wrote: post #76
Legogris wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had this same issue - if it's the same thing, it turned out that there are firmware issues and that the up-to-date firmware was only available for Windows (this may have changed, it was ~3-4 months ago). Lenovo's officially putting their updates on LVFS, but in practice it seems neglected. I spent a day or two stubbornly trying to extract the updates from the Windows binaries, eventually resorted to booting into Wi…

Updating the firmware changed nothing. On the product page I don't see linux compatibility even mentioned.

That's unfortunate. FWIW I'm using both an old-style dock (ye olde bottom connector) and the Thunderbolt 3 Dock with a T470s and a T480s with Arch and NixOS. Displayport and HDMI both working fine after first doing the latest updates using fwupd and then running additional updates for laptop/controller/dock from Windows (first step probably redundant).

If it's the Thunderbolt 3 Dock, it can be worth checking that you're using the right ports/cables (not all USB-C ports are Thunderbolt ports) and that there's sufficient power (there are different power adapter alternatives and the 135W brick that shipped with my dock wasn't enough by itself so still need a separate charging cable for the laptop).

Re: Lenovo to Certify ThinkPad and ThinkStation Workstation Portfolio for Linux

#84

Post by darkwater »

fluffything wrote: post #71
lallysingh wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have an older X1 yoga. I haven't tried to make the fingerprint sensor work, but the rest works quite well. Especially after I updated the firmware with fwupd. It's not my first Thinkpad running Linux, and the prior two ran quite well.

I run Arch Linux on mine, with the latest kernel, and custom tools (think fan), and some things disabled (fast boot), and it becomes "usable". That's ok for any Laptop that isn't advertised as "Ubuntu certified". But I literally had to uninstall Ubuntu and install Arch to get audio and microphone back to work after the 19.04 update broke it, and some dev mentioning on the bug report that the fix wouldn't land on 20.0…

"btw, I run Arch" /s

To add some more useful (anecdotal) data, I have a Thinkpad T15 with Ubuntu 20.04 and everything works smoothly (even secure boot) EXCEPT the fingerprints reader, although TBH I still haven't tried after updating to 20.04. So in my opinion Lenovo support for Ubuntu is really good.

Re: Lenovo to Certify ThinkPad and ThinkStation Workstation Portfolio for Linux

#85

Post by dahfizz »

fluffything wrote: post #61

I have a Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga that claims to be certified by both Lenovo and Canonical for Ubuntu. Finger print sensor doesn't work, the fans are super loud all the time, audio doesn't work (requires a newer Linux kernel than the one shipped in the latest Ubuntu), EFI problems, sleep, hibernate, fast-boot, restore from hibernate problems, battery life on Linux is horrible... So at least the certification for Ubuntu i…

I have a new X1 Carbon 7th gen, and it was definitely a lot of work to get it set up. But after tinkering and some kernel updates (Fedora >> Ubuntu for new hardware) I couldn't be happier. Incredible performance, all day battery life, etc. I have a friend who got their finger print sensor working but I never bothered to try.

I also have had great experience with fwup. I've gotten tons of bios, firmware, microcode etc updates from Lenovo and they all apply seamlessly.

I think Linux support of new hardware is always going to be shaky unless we can get vendors to care and support it themselves. Otherwise, we have to wait and let the open source devs make drivers after the hardware is released.

Re: Lenovo to Certify ThinkPad and ThinkStation Workstation Portfolio for Linux

#86

Post by jopsen »

JoachimSchipper wrote: post #69
throwaway-9320 wrote: post #29

I must point out that this does NOT cover ThinkPad T and X series. From the press release: > Our entire portfolio of ThinkStation and ThinkPad P Series workstations will now be certified via both Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu LTS – a long-term, enterprise-stability variant of the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution.

Yes, but note that the P1 workstations are pretty much the same as the X1 Extreme series (but with Nvidia's Quadro "workstation" GPUs rather than Nvidia's "customer" GPUs.)

All the X1's I've seen come with Intel Integrated Graphics.

nvidia have always been a hassle to use.

Re: Lenovo to Certify ThinkPad and ThinkStation Workstation Portfolio for Linux

#87

Post by jhoechtl »

dahfizz wrote: post #85
fluffything wrote: post #61

I have a Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga that claims to be certified by both Lenovo and Canonical for Ubuntu. Finger print sensor doesn't work, the fans are super loud all the time, audio doesn't work (requires a newer Linux kernel than the one shipped in the latest Ubuntu), EFI problems, sleep, hibernate, fast-boot, restore from hibernate problems, battery life on Linux is horrible... So at least the certification for Ubuntu i…

I have a new X1 Carbon 7th gen, and it was definitely a lot of work to get it set up. But after tinkering and some kernel updates (Fedora >> Ubuntu for new hardware) I couldn't be happier. Incredible performance, all day battery life, etc. I have a friend who got their finger print sensor working but I never bothered to try. I also have had great experience with fwup. I've gotten tons of bios, firmware, microcode etc…

I have a Lenovo Yoga 720-13ikb. Firmware updates are distributed as Windows Executables only. It's the first time that I have heard of fwup. Will fwup help me to install Firmware (Bios/UEFI) Updates? It's the only reason I have not yet wiped Windows. All hardware worked except the fingerprint reader I do not care for anyway.

Re: Lenovo to Certify ThinkPad and ThinkStation Workstation Portfolio for Linux

#88

Post by noir_lord »

jjuel wrote: post #81
chinathrow wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This makes sense. The amount of fine tuning I had to do for my X1 7th generation with Ubuntu 19.10 was almost unbearable. Sound still is not working properly, the internal mic is still not working at all.

My T480s had 0 issues with Debian 10. It doesn't have a fingerprint reader which I hear is a main bug a boo with Thinkpads.

Same with my T470P, it works out the box.

The only thing I had to do was compile a module for also so I got high quality aptx Bluetooth for my wireless headphones but that’s an IP issue not something I can blame Fedora or Lenovo for.

My T470P with Fedora is as little issue as my work issued 16” MacBook Pro.

Re: Lenovo to Certify ThinkPad and ThinkStation Workstation Portfolio for Linux

#89

Post by thisgoodlife »

fluffything wrote: post #61

I have a Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga that claims to be certified by both Lenovo and Canonical for Ubuntu. Finger print sensor doesn't work, the fans are super loud all the time, audio doesn't work (requires a newer Linux kernel than the one shipped in the latest Ubuntu), EFI problems, sleep, hibernate, fast-boot, restore from hibernate problems, battery life on Linux is horrible... So at least the certification for Ubuntu i…

Interesting. Fingerprint sensor works perfectly on my T450s + Ubuntu 20.04.

Re: Lenovo to Certify ThinkPad and ThinkStation Workstation Portfolio for Linux

#90

Post by viraptor »

dathinab wrote: post #32
panpanna wrote: post #11

Didn't Ubuntu/redhat certify some thinkpads in the past?

Yes a view thinkpads here and there had been somewhat verified. Through I don't remember if it was fully certified. Like I think the fingerprint reader was always excluded from certification.

Does anyone know what's up with the fingerprint readers? They always seem to need reverse engineering. And once some model is well established, they suddenly switch to a new one...

It's happened so many times it just can't be accidental. There are no secrets in the glorified grayscale scanner - why are the drivers never opensourced?

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