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Today, hardware vendor Lenovo announced something quite huge for the Linux community with the addition of more Linux devices becoming easily available.

Back in April, it was announced that Lenovo and Fedora were teaming up to bring Fedora Linux to a few different ThinkPad models. That by itself was quite big. Now they're going a massive step further by announcing both Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu LTS will be certified and available across their entire ThinkStation and ThinkPad P Series workstations.

When will it be available? Lenovo said to expect it to begin rolling out this month, and they will be fully customizable too. On top of that, Lenovo aim to build a bit of a community around it. Since this is a proper vendor-run effort, you get the whole package of support too including "security patches and updates to better secure and verify hardware drivers, firmware and bios optimizations".

This isn't a vendor just adding it as an option, they're clearly investing into it. We're going to see "full" web support, dedicated Linux forums, config guidance and so on. Lenovo say they will also "upstream device drivers directly to the Linux kernel, to help maintain stability and compatibility throughout the life of the workstation".

This is awesome. Hope to see more hardware vendors follow and eventually roll it out across more lines. See the original announcement here.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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scratchi Jun 3, 2020
Quoting: Ardjehttps://photos.app.goo.gl/FzwqyjZwn4S3JB2Z9
It's a bit messy since I use a lot of tissues (for my nose!), and I am reworking some led lighting.
I had 2 weeks to make that DDJ-SX3 work on linux: make it work, or send it back under consumer law. That screen is a 4k 40" screen.
I've divided my laptop in 2 seats: the DJ console and my (new) desktop. My other desktop is an exynos 5422. I don't really like PC's, because there is a lot of things wrong in the design due to legacy. And an arm is cheaper and doesn't need a fan. And mmc drivers on PC's are always crap, especially on a GPD WIN(2). But not on this T430.

The biggest crap is the Nvidia, the same as in your system. I had to return my pure intel T430 for repairs, and I got back a T430 with a better screen, but also with that nvidia. Really... The intel has better support, and still gets TLC. The best thing to do with the Nvidia is to turn it off in the bios. When I turn it on, but actually of using prime, it still uses more power, and the fans run higher than normal.

Also the replacement got a different CPU, a high end i7 with a tdp of 45W, but by limiting the CPU to 60% it was fast and usable.

Cool, thanks, nice set up! I looked into this and found this one on Amazon that looks pretty decent:
https://www.amazon.ca/XCSOURCE-External-Independent-Expresscard-AC773/dp/B0725B6L99/ref=pd_sbs_23_2/134-6407526-1758555?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0725B6L99&pd_rd_r=9599d36c-c893-4210-b176-5bf92aefc5c7&pd_rd_w=rwL4Z&pd_rd_wg=NzIQW&pf_rd_p=0ec96c83-1800-4e36-8486-44f5573a2612&pf_rd_r=CDEXHCPARVK5A3NYNMQ5&psc=1&refRID=CDEXHCPARVK5A3NYNMQ5

I don't mind the Nvidia GPU, it's just old Fermi doesn't get new drivers anymore, stuck on legacy 390 drivers (no vulkan support). It's just old, that's all.
Anyway, the T530 is so big and heavy I'm not going to be moving it anywhere, so adding an external GPU to it seems sensible, if not just for the experiment factor alone :) Thanks for the idea and info!
damarrin Jun 4, 2020
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I just got a Lenovo Ryzen lappy with no system preinstalled as a small token of gratitutde for them. I will be putting Mint on it.
Ardje Jun 4, 2020
Quoting: scratchiCool, thanks, nice set up! I looked into this and found this one on Amazon that looks pretty decent:
https://www.amazon.ca/XCSOURCE-External-Independent-Expresscard-AC773/dp/B0725B6L99/ref=pd_sbs_23_2/134-6407526-1758555?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0725B6L99&pd_rd_r=9599d36c-c893-4210-b176-5bf92aefc5c7&pd_rd_w=rwL4Z&pd_rd_wg=NzIQW&pf_rd_p=0ec96c83-1800-4e36-8486-44f5573a2612&pf_rd_r=CDEXHCPARVK5A3NYNMQ5&psc=1&refRID=CDEXHCPARVK5A3NYNMQ5
That's exactly what I have. I added the perspex casing so the card would not be lying around. My gdc beast was half the price or so, and with casing the price what you quote using aliexpress, but I think through amazone you get some guarantees.

Quoting: scratchiI don't mind the Nvidia GPU, it's just old Fermi doesn't get new drivers anymore, stuck on legacy 390 drivers (no vulkan support). It's just old, that's all.
Anyway, the T530 is so big and heavy I'm not going to be moving it anywhere, so adding an external GPU to it seems sensible, if not just for the experiment factor alone :) Thanks for the idea and info!
<big rant>
I do mind the nvidia: nouveau is crap. The proprietary drivers are crap and do not work together with PRIME. Also the proprietary drivers do not accept output from the intel gpu being routed to the output to the nvidia, you need active bitblitting of the intel workspace to the nvidia framebuffer. That's because it's proprietary. Not because it is not possible. So from a working displayport on intel only it went to a defunct displayport when I got the replacement laptop. I hope in the future nouveau will reach a state that's comparable to the current state of r600.
To be clear: I think just enabling optimus in the bios just starts eating away 15W. It's not doing anything. If I could, I would desolder the GPU. The intel driver is so much better than the proprietary nvidia driver.
The only time I willingly bought nvidia again after my first encounters with them, was for the steam machine. I wanted to support the idea. But the current state is crap.
For pc's I will only buy intel or amd as gpu. I don't have the time to support crap drivers.
</big rant>

One thing though: the express card will give you a PCIe2 1x bus. So that's 1/32th of the full speed of PCIe (500MB/s instead of 15.6GB/s). I was able to display 4k@30Hz that last version of tombraider to someone as a demo without to much stutter. Unplayable of course, it's a tad too heavy.
GTA IV and GTA V works well.
AMD GPU drivers have a kind of pci statistics, and it shows that the bus during playing usually is not saturated.
The usual way how PCIe3x16 is that it works in PCIe2 mode, and only when needed it switches to PCIe3 mode.
Although I have no system anymore to test it. You can find all this information in the /sys filesystem. I don't think nvidia has pcie statistics though. So except of what the pcie bridge tells you (lanes and speed), you know nothing. Only certain intel server bridges have traffic counters.


Last edited by Ardje on 4 June 2020 at 9:05 am UTC
kneekoo Jun 4, 2020
Quoting: oldrocker99I bought a lemon Lenovo L340 Touch, on which Manjaro was a garbled screen, and I could install EndeavourOS only, and then it started hanging during boot. I returned it and got another laptop. It had, of course, come with Win10.

Lenovo:'( was the last company I would have expected a lemon from.
I've been up to my neck in hardware for over two decades and I learned a valuable lesson: it's OK to favor and trust certain brands (to some extent) while avoiding some other brands. The top brands can have failed models just as lower quality brands can have successful models. This is where experienced and pragmatic people can help in recommending a number of manufacturers, picking brands that are the least likely to fail. No guarantees, just less chances of disappointment. :D
oldrocker99 Jun 4, 2020
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Quoting: kneekoo
Quoting: oldrocker99I bought a lemon Lenovo L340 Touch, on which Manjaro was a garbled screen, and I could install EndeavourOS only, and then it started hanging during boot. I returned it and got another laptop. It had, of course, come with Win10.

Lenovo:'( was the last company I would have expected a lemon from.
I've been up to my neck in hardware for over two decades and I learned a valuable lesson: it's OK to favor and trust certain brands (to some extent) while avoiding some other brands. The top brands can have failed models just as lower quality brands can have successful models. This is where experienced and pragmatic people can help in recommending a number of manufacturers, picking brands that are the least likely to fail. No guarantees, just less chances of disappointment. :D

Indeed. ANY manufacturer can release a dinger. You pays yer money and you takes yer chances.
Mohandevir Jun 5, 2020
My vain wish that is not related to gaming... IBM decides to publish a 3D CAD software compatible with their RedHat/Ubuntu lineup. That would be astounding!


Last edited by Mohandevir on 5 June 2020 at 12:04 pm UTC
14 Jun 6, 2020
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I'm pretty happy to see this. More industry support means more pressure for my company to support Linux desktops as well. :)
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