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Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

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Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#231

Post by debacle »

augusto-moura wrote: post #204
LeonM wrote: post #193

Based on all the comments on HN about how great Thinkpads are supposed to be with Linux, I bought an X1-Extreme some time ago. From my experience, Linux support for Lenovo devices is terrible. ACPI, power management, and UEFI are consistently causing problems. Grub has an issue with the 4K display, causing it to render at about 1 FPS. The dual-GPU (Intel and nVidia) situation is unworkable under Linux. Suspend on lid…

I think most of the praise on Thinkpads comes from older versions, from IBM and the first Lenovos. I have an X220, and even though it's quite outdated hardware for today's world, it is still a very capable machine. The most recent laptops are very good, but their support of linux is lacking compared with the older ones. As a rule of thumb, I try to find the model page in arch wiki before any purchase, it should list…

The last ThinkPad I owned disintegrated in under a year. The chassis was so poorly made that it just crumbled with normal use.

I have been buying Asus ever since. Not the prettiest machines but durable and reliable.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#232

Post by sigzero »

LeonM wrote: post #229
orangepurple wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't use Grub or any bootloader if you can avoid it. I haven't used Grub in 10 years. Load Linux directly as an EFI executable via the EFISTUB approach. You almost certainly only need to run two or three efibootmgr commands to accomplish this. For most people that means only the "Using UEFI directly" section is relevant. https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/EFISTUB S3 suspend was removed as a default option by many hard…

> Don't use Grub or any bootloader if you can avoid it. I haven't used Grub in 10 years. Load Linux directly as an EFI executable via the EFISTUB approach. I run Windows dual boot, since I need (native) Windows for certain work related tasks. > S3 suspend was removed as a default option by many hardware manufacturers. You will likely need to enter the BIOS to change this. It's on, S3 is not the problem > There is a b…

Yeah for the most part it's a "Linux on laptops works if you ...". At least that has been my experience. Although I have not run Linux on a laptop in years so maybe it's time to revisit that.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#233

Post by zamalek »

LeonM wrote: post #229
orangepurple wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't use Grub or any bootloader if you can avoid it. I haven't used Grub in 10 years. Load Linux directly as an EFI executable via the EFISTUB approach. You almost certainly only need to run two or three efibootmgr commands to accomplish this. For most people that means only the "Using UEFI directly" section is relevant. https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/EFISTUB S3 suspend was removed as a default option by many hard…

> Don't use Grub or any bootloader if you can avoid it. I haven't used Grub in 10 years. Load Linux directly as an EFI executable via the EFISTUB approach. I run Windows dual boot, since I need (native) Windows for certain work related tasks. > S3 suspend was removed as a default option by many hardware manufacturers. You will likely need to enter the BIOS to change this. It's on, S3 is not the problem > There is a b…

> I run Windows dual boot, since I need (native) Windows for certain work related tasks.

If your firmware has a "boot from" hotkey (usually F12), then you use that as your dual-boot menu.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#234

Post by fps_doug »

LeonM wrote: post #193

Based on all the comments on HN about how great Thinkpads are supposed to be with Linux, I bought an X1-Extreme some time ago. From my experience, Linux support for Lenovo devices is terrible. ACPI, power management, and UEFI are consistently causing problems. Grub has an issue with the 4K display, causing it to render at about 1 FPS. The dual-GPU (Intel and nVidia) situation is unworkable under Linux. Suspend on lid…

Yes, people who tell you that you can blindly buy any Lenovo laptop for Linux are lying. You have to do some googling first. Or check the inofficial Thinkpad Wiki. But other than that, if you pick a device that's recommended for use with Linux, it's as good as it gets regarding Linux on laptops if you ask me. Saying that your next Laptop isn't a Lenovo because your random purchase sucked is a little :rolleyes:

Oh and yes, avoid nvidia if you do Linux. Some people say it "works for them", but I for one would recommend just completely staying away from Linux if you want nvidia.

The truth is, and will probably always be, that you have to do some research before buying HW if you're using Linux and don't feel lucky.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#235

Post by wlesieutre »

tim-- wrote: post #49

I recently acquired a ThinkBook 16p Gen 2, and while a different machine entirely to the ThinkPad, I must say that this is an _absolute beast_ of a machine. It's a total joy to use. It's the most fun I have had using a laptop since my first MacBook. Moving from the MBP to the ThinkBook has made me realize how... boring MacBooks are - not saying that's a bad thing. MacBooks do 'just work'. But the ThinkBook? The machi…

You could do 2x 4K displays with compression over a DisplayLink dock. Probably fine for UI stuff, maybe for video, not great for gaming.

The newer 14" and 16" models would drive them natively (or 2x 6K + 1x 4K with the higher end SoC) but then it's not much of a fair comparison by price. The single external display limit is only on the basic "M1" processor and not any of the Pro/Max/Ultra followups.

https://danielcompton.net/apple-m1-displaylink-multiple-disp...

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#236

Post by pbhjpbhj »

LeonM wrote: post #229
orangepurple wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't use Grub or any bootloader if you can avoid it. I haven't used Grub in 10 years. Load Linux directly as an EFI executable via the EFISTUB approach. You almost certainly only need to run two or three efibootmgr commands to accomplish this. For most people that means only the "Using UEFI directly" section is relevant. https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/EFISTUB S3 suspend was removed as a default option by many hard…

> Don't use Grub or any bootloader if you can avoid it. I haven't used Grub in 10 years. Load Linux directly as an EFI executable via the EFISTUB approach. I run Windows dual boot, since I need (native) Windows for certain work related tasks. > S3 suspend was removed as a default option by many hardware manufacturers. You will likely need to enter the BIOS to change this. It's on, S3 is not the problem > There is a b…

>But this is a $3000 professional laptop, which is supposed to have good Linux support. //

That's a big fail by Lenovo then, so why didn't you return it? When the support guys logged in to your computer to fix it, what did they do -- just go "yeah, or product is crap" and usher you away?

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#237

Post by kodah »

fps_doug wrote: post #234
LeonM wrote: post #193

Based on all the comments on HN about how great Thinkpads are supposed to be with Linux, I bought an X1-Extreme some time ago. From my experience, Linux support for Lenovo devices is terrible. ACPI, power management, and UEFI are consistently causing problems. Grub has an issue with the 4K display, causing it to render at about 1 FPS. The dual-GPU (Intel and nVidia) situation is unworkable under Linux. Suspend on lid…

Yes, people who tell you that you can blindly buy any Lenovo laptop for Linux are lying. You have to do some googling first. Or check the inofficial Thinkpad Wiki. But other than that, if you pick a device that's recommended for use with Linux, it's as good as it gets regarding Linux on laptops if you ask me. Saying that your next Laptop isn't a Lenovo because your random purchase sucked is a little :rolleyes: Oh and…

> Yes, people who tell you that you can blindly buy any Lenovo laptop for Linux are lying.

I wouldn't say they're lying, per se, just that it's not 100% true. If you use PopOS with an X1 Extreme then almost all of those features work out of the box. On another OS they may not though. A good portion of what OP is describing require some applications present (and configured) in the userland, just having drivers isn't enough. The bit about grub I'm not sure about, but I believe it; that said grub is always a YMMV situation in my experience.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#238

Post by 4ad »

cosmiccatnap wrote: post #214

Trackpad and screen are the only real things I wish they would improve. Remove the buttons, make it wider and go from the base up to the keys. Whatever nostalgia people get out of the Thinkpad it's not it's trackpad...it's the nub you had to use because of how bad the trackpad has always been. I think for a laptop where you are paying for dedicated GPUs you should get an option for a 4k ips screen. It makes text so c…

No, I will never buy a ThinkPad that doesn't have three physical buttons.

They tried making a few of those over the years, and it was (thankfully) always reverted in the next generation.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#239

Post by MikusR »

LeonM wrote: post #229
orangepurple wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't use Grub or any bootloader if you can avoid it. I haven't used Grub in 10 years. Load Linux directly as an EFI executable via the EFISTUB approach. You almost certainly only need to run two or three efibootmgr commands to accomplish this. For most people that means only the "Using UEFI directly" section is relevant. https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/EFISTUB S3 suspend was removed as a default option by many hard…

> Don't use Grub or any bootloader if you can avoid it. I haven't used Grub in 10 years. Load Linux directly as an EFI executable via the EFISTUB approach. I run Windows dual boot, since I need (native) Windows for certain work related tasks. > S3 suspend was removed as a default option by many hardware manufacturers. You will likely need to enter the BIOS to change this. It's on, S3 is not the problem > There is a b…

> I run Windows dual boot, since I need (native) Windows for certain work related tasks.

Windows also supports EFI boot.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen3 Review – with Linux

#240

Post by capableweb »

Avamander wrote: post #181
capableweb wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You should try and compare a M1 Mac with your Carbon X1. Most likely yours runs much hotter. Unless I'm mistaken, the material of the M1 Macs seems to be the same as before? If the machine runs at 100% resource usage, does the underside of the body no longer get so hot you can't have it in your lap?

> If the machine runs at 100% resource usage, does the underside of the body no longer get so hot you can't have it in your lap? Nope, never. That's not to say that if you run a Wii emulator for hours it doesn't get very warm, it's simply not intolerably hot. That's without fans. I'd expect a fan-equipped model to at most remain warm.

> That's not to say that if you run a Wii emulator for hours it doesn't get very warm, it's simply not intolerably hot

I've never run any emulators, I'm guessing they are about as resource-hungry as compiling things? Since laptops usually compile much slower than desktop computers, lots of time is spent compiling something when I use my laptops.

> it's simply not intolerably hot

I guess everyone's tolerance is different, but would you, while you run your Wii emulator, be able to have the laptop in your lap with just a thin garment between the laptop and your skin?

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