ramaureirac/thinkpad-e14-linux

Current state of GNU/Linux on Lenovo Thinkpad E14

Current State of GNU/Linux on Lenovo Thinkpad E14 Series

The following repository provides an overview about GNU/Linux support for some diferent models of the Lenovo Thinkpad E14 family (it should work with E15 series as well). Please note this documents are based on our own experience and it doesn't represent an official support for these models. If you follow this guide, no one is responsible for any damage to your hardware. If you wish to purchase one of these laptops, make sure that it complies with the same hardware configuration indicated in this repository. Remember that some devices may change depending on the market and region to which they belong.

Contribution

If you want to contribute to get Linux running smoothly on the Lenovo Thinkpad E14 series, report all findings on how to get devices working as pull requests! All help is appreciated. Also, remember to share your model id (this is not really necesary, but it will help us to have a better documentaion for each hardware configuration).

Current ThinkPad E14 Models

I initially thought of this repository as being exclusive to the first generation Lenovo ThinkPad E14. However, thanks to the support of the community, today we can provide a base documentation for different sub-models of the family as well as the second wave of laptops. Unfortunately we have not yet been able to describe every existing model and therefore we recommend to purchase only those that have the same configuration as the ones we document in this repository. That said, we present the models that we know exist around the world. You can click them in order to know their details.

Generation	Available Models
First
Second
Third
Fifth

Current Status

The checks if hardware works below were done with multiple Linux distributions. To state the obvious: The newer the kernel the better. The information below assumes that you run Linux 5.10 LTS or newer.

Device	Status
Audio Input & Output
Battery
Bluetooth
Camera
Intel Graphics
AMD Polaris Graphics
AMD Radeon Graphics
Keyboard & Touchpad
Trackpoint & Buttons
NVMe & Internal SSD
Screen
Suspend & Hibernation
WiFi
USB
Hot Keys
Fans
Fingerprint Reader
IR Camera

Quick Fixes

Even when Lenovo Thinkpad E14 series are friendly with Linux, there are some tweaks you'll need to do in order make your Linux distro fully compatible with your hardware (check above table). So make sure to see those post installation steps.

• Enable Trackpoint & Buttons : In case your trackpoint is detected by your system but not usable. Also fixes the issue where it just stop working. This problem was found under kernel 5.4 - 5.9.
• Dedicated AMD GPU : In case you are not able to run specific software with your dedicated AMD GPU. This problem was found on old linux distributions. Anyways make sure to configure your GPU properly.
• Suspend & Hibernation : There is an issue with newer BIOS updates and the Thinkpad E14 First-Gen. Check this in case your not able to recover after suspend or hibernation.
• Intel CPU Throttling : Performance issues? Check this guide in order to get a better experience with Intel CPUs. Also checkout TLP in order to extend your battery life.
• Speakers issues in Second Gen: In case you cannot access the microphone or the device has no audio output. An atypical problem that we still have no way of detecting in advance.
• Fingerprint : Driver installaton guide and configuration for user authentication.

thinkpad-e14-linux's Issues

Not all Fn-keys work - Thinkpad E14 Gen2 Intel

Hi. I just wanted to let you know that F9-F10-F11 do not work on my laptop.

thinkpad-e14-gen5 (fl) / Ryzen7: ubuntu 23.10: only very small issues

Installation (no change in BIOS required for installation) of Ubuntu 23.10 works.

After this i found the following minor problems:

• FnLock key is always ON. To fix, disable this key in BIOS.
• Fingerprint reader does not work. The hardware is supported and Lenovo has provided fix instructions, but for an older version of Ubuntu. Because i don't need the fingerprint reader, i wait for a newer version to appear automatic with some Ubuntu upgrade.

Speakers not working on Ubuntu 20.10 - Thinkpad E14 Gen2 Intel

Hi @rodmaureirac.
My speakers do not work with a default install of Ubuntu 20.10 on my Thinkpad E14 Gen2 Intel.
I had to modify grub parameters as described in this post:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1243369/sound-card-not-detected-ubuntu-20-04-sof-audio-pci

Please note that this fix disables the internal mic...

Wifi not working for me in gen 5 AMD

In my case the wifi appears but disconnects and disappears after 15-20m. I do not know if it is a problem of the wifi card of my laptop or it is not properly developed for linux. I already read other users on reddit reporting connection problems. I am forced to return it.

Thinkpad E14 Gen 3 (AMD)

I haven't been able to find anything relevant to this new model anywhere. I ordered one with the following configuration:

---

• AMD Ryzen 7 5700U Processor (8 Cores / 16 Threads, 1.80 GHz, up to 4.30 GHz, 4 MB Cache L2 / 8 MB Cache L3)
• 16 GB (8 GB Onboard + 8 GB SoDIMM) DDR4 3200MHz
• 1 TB SSD, M.2 2280, PCIe NVMe, TLC
• 35.56cms (14.0) FHD (1920x1080) IPS Anti-glare 300nits Non-Touch Narrow 100% sRGB Display
• Fingerprint Reader
• IR Camera
• Realtek 8822CE 11AC (2x2) & Bluetooth 5.0
• Battery 3 cell, 57Wh

---

I would like to help out with testing Linux when the laptop arrives in approximately 5-6 weeks, cue COVID-19 related shipping delays.

I'll be running Arch Linux on it. I guess that should help with this device since the bleeding edge hardware should be well-complemented by bleeding edge software. I'll also help out testing other distributions. Will update when the laptop arrives.

Additional touchpad/keyboard adaptions

After the fix for the trackpad and trackpoint issues, I noticed some additional fixes to be made.
Maybe this will help other people aswell.

Issues:

1. Palm detection not working
2. Disable while typing not working

Resolution (Ubuntu, but can be applied to other distros and window managers as well I guess):

1. Create a script on your home folder (touchpad-fixes.sh)

syndaemon -d -i 0.5 -m 200
synclient PalmDetect=1

2. chmod +x the above file
3. Create .desktop file for gnome autostart (~/.config/autostart/touchpad-fixes.desktop):

Type=Application
NoDisplay=true
Terminal=false
Name=Libinput Gestures
Exec=~/touchpad-fixes/touchpad-fixes.sh
Comment=Runs a series of commands to apply touchpad fixes (palm detection, disable touchpad while typing)
Categories=System;

4. Reboot

Run syndaemon -h to see what the syndaemon i and m params are used for.

Suspend to RAM ("Linux" sleep mode in BIOS) causes system restart 10-15 seconds after waking up

My machine is ThinkPad E14 Gen 2 (Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU). When selecting "Linux" sleep mode in BIOS ("Windows 10" sleep mode, known as "modern sleep" or whatever, consumes too much battery compared to regular old suspend to RAM), 10-15 seconds after successful wake up from sleep the laptop just reboots. I tried different kernel startup parameters that I found online (acpi_osi, acpi_sleep), but they didn't help. "Windows 10" sleep mode, however, works fine, but I really don't want to use it because of the battery usage.

It looks like the system is receiving some sort of a reboot signal and doesn't just do hardware reset, because I see messages in journalctl about NetworkManager disconnecting (after waking up, right before restart).

Does anyone know about this problem? Can it be fixed? I'm really happy with the laptop apart from this and I don't even have the Fn-keys-not-working-before-sleep issue with it. Would appreciate any help, thanks.

Thermal Throttling on E14G2 Intel ?

Hi,

I am receiving a ThiinkPad E14G2 (Intel) Model:20TA002CFR

By any chance, do you know if it is affected by the thermal throttling? If so, do you know if thermald can fix it? Or I should go for erpalma's tweak?

Alt + PrtSc + number not working

the Alt + PrtSc + number key does not seem to work
except when the number is 5 or 6
tested with xev , showkey and evtest
none of them generate any keycode when Alt+PrtSc+number is pressed

can someone else confirm this ?
Edit: adding more info
thinkpad e14 gen3,
OS:archlinux
Linux 5.14.14

Throttling and doubt

I have found using erPalma's throttled improves performance. Also please pardon me i don't know the guidelines to be followed on this platform. Also on gnome, there is frame rate drop or jittering on the activities overview animation if more than 1 window is open, is there any solution for this?

Is this repo applicable to the E15?

I am considering getting the E15 or the E14 and the cost is about the same, but I don't know how well the E15 would be. Does everything here apply to the E15?

debian 10 notes

One must choose recovery option in grub at first boot after setup. Then in recovery the following downloaded debs can be installed manually (from pendrive, e.g.):

dpkg -i linux-image-5.10.0-0.bpo.3-amd64_5.10.13-1~bpo10+1_amd64.deb \
wireless-regdb_2020.04.29-2~bpo10+1_all.deb \
firmware-iwlwifi_20200918-1~bpo10+1_all.deb

Then the next boot will be fine.
The touchstick does not work, neither I can "click" on the touchpad (double-tap). Maybe the corresponding backported deb must be installed.

Debian testing works fine on ThinkPad E14 Gen 2

Hello,
I have the ThinkPad E14 Gen 2 20TA000EPB and I don't have random flickering in GNOME that is described. firmware-sof-signed was required for audio and firmware-iwlwifi for WiFi.

Alternative for psmouse config

Hello,
It's possible to also apply that workaround by putting options psmouse elantech_smbus=0 in /etc/modprobe.d/psmouse.conf. This might be easier to apply and works with any bootloader.