Tag: debian

Thinkpad X240 and Debian Linux

This post is being updates as we go… check back later for more

So, Lenovo have finally made another laptop that has specs I can live with: The new Thinkpad X240.
The Lenovo web-shop is a steaming pile of crap, and trying to customize/configure the laptop will take many attempts, with various differences between the different locales. However, in the end I ended up with the laptop configured the way I wanted it:

Specifications:

  • Full HD, non-touch, non-glare 12.5″ screen (1920×1080)
  • Intel Dual-Core i5-4300U
  • 500G Harddisk (swapped with a SAMSUNG 840 SSD, 250GB immediately after arrival)
  • 8GB DDR3 Ram
  • Intel 802.11ac dual-band wifi and Bluetooth
  • Intel Gigabit Ethernet
  • USB 3.0 (2 ports, 1 left, 1 right)
  • Smartcard reader
  • SD-Card reader
  • 3-Cell (internal, 23Whr) + 6-Cell-High-Capacity backside battery (72Whr, total ~95Whr)
  • Backlit US-international keyboard
  • Clickpad and clit-mouse
  • VGA and Mini-DisplayPort
  • Docking port (though I didn’t buy a dock)
  • WWAN antenna’s (WWAN modem optional)

I also bought a set of adapter cables to convert from the old-style 7.9MM round thinkpad adapter to the new flat/square connector on the X240 (and X1-Carbon). These can be found on aliexpress or ebay so I could re-use my 4+ existing Thinkpad Adapters.

Software:

By default, the Thinkpad X240 comes with Windows 8… which is not very user-friendly, and definitely not compatible with my usage. I removed the internal HDD drive, swapped it out with a Samsung 250GB SSD and installed Debian Jessie on this drive. (BTW: Windows 8 was very sluggish on the HDD drive, even with 8GB of ram)

I prefer running the Mate/Gnome-2 desktop, so I added the mate-desktop repositories and installed mate-desktop-environment.

Hardware Configuration

Lenovo has made it very easy to disable unneeded hardware in the EFI/BIOS. The following devices can be turned off (to add battery-life and privacy 😛 )

  • 720p Webcam
  • Microphones
  • WWAN
  • WLAN
  • LAN
  • USB

Config tweaking

  • Tweak440s: https://github.com/MacGyverNL/tweak440s
  • Synaptics configuration: /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-synaptics.conf
    • Option “SoftButtonAreas” “60% 0 0 5% 40% 60% 0 5%”
  • Disable the soundcard, so the internal speakers are the ‘fallback’ option, then logout/login to make the media buttons work on the new default device.

Likes

  • Very quick resume from suspend, open the lid and immediately see the ‘unlock screensaver’ popup
  • Full-HD display
  • Very low battery-drain when idle and almost none in suspend
  • Hot swappable battery
  • Lightweight

Dislikes

  • No fysical buttons with the trackpoint/touchpad
  • No leds for wifi/disk activity
  • No way to set ‘fn-lock’ automatically
  • Not as ‘non-glare’ as they used to be, but still acceptable
  • End/Insert button is shared, to use ‘end’ you need Fn-End, while I never use insert.
    • FIXED: Edit /usr/share/X11/xkb/keycodes/evdev, and swap the codes for END and INS, then run: setxkbmap
    • <INS> = 115;
    • <END> = 118;