Thinkpad T420

msl · 2011-05-09 22:34:45

Hello.

Tomorrow I get a Thinkpad T420 which I will try with Arch. Have you got it working good and is there something I need to be aware of?

I have a 80 GB mSata which I will use together with default 500 GB drive. I also have a 1 TB disk that I will use with the Ultrabay. So I get pretty sweet storage for a laptop.

Here is how I think of partitioning:
SSD 80 GB
sda1 1mb ef02
sda2 /boot 100 mb ext4
sda3 /(root) 15 gb ext4
sda4 /home the rest ext4
tmp loaded in RAM

HDD 500 GB
/var 5 GB reiserfs

I will disable the Nvidia GPU since Optimus still isn't supported in Linux.

Recently read RAMx2 GB for swap partition. Is this really necessary? I will have 8 GB of RAM, so twice that will be much of my precious SSD. If really required I will think of using HDD as swap (someone recommended SSD for faster hibernation).

Edit: I became aware swap partition isn't mandatory. I will try TuxOnIce and a swapfile instead of a partition.

Last edited by msl (2011-05-10 13:00:02)

Inxsible · 2011-05-09 23:20:14

you might want to look at the thread below you for Thinkpad 510, since there will be quite a bit of common hardware. Search the forums and you will find a lot of threads on Thinkpads. Also read the wiki for SSD info.

aport · 2011-05-10 00:46:40

The Wiki covers disk partitioning pretty well, I would recommend reading it.

I just got a T420 last week, and it seems to be working really well. I had to use a newer netinstall iso as the old core snapshot didn't have drivers for my ethernet or wifi.
The only issue I have with the laptop is related to the HD3000 graphics... it has some stuttering and visual tearing, which though annoying I don't find to be a huge problem.

The combination of laptop-mode-tools and the thinkpad_acpi module gave me pretty much full laptop behaviour. The tp_smapi driver won't load for me, but I think there's a fix out there (read the comments in the AUR) though I don't really miss the functionality. I only had to modify the backlight config for laptop-mode-tools, everything else worked great.

All in all this is a pretty awesome laptop. I'm coming from a 2007 c2d Macbook, and the ThinkPad runs circles around it. Should have got one of these a long time ago!

I'll bookmark this thread, just post any issues you might have in here and I'll check up. We might want to start a T420 wiki entry.

msl · 2011-05-10 11:52:59

Have you tried hibernation? And as I said I will be disabling the discrete graphic card since no Optimus is supported. Have you thought of doing the same? I don't need the performance as of now.

Edit: I became aware swap partition isn't mandatory. I will try TuxOnIce and a swapfile instead of a partition.

Last edited by msl (2011-05-10 12:59:11)

losl · 2011-05-11 19:25:28

I have gotten hibernation to work with out any issues.

losl · 2011-05-11 19:27:43

aport wrote:

The Wiki covers disk partitioning pretty well, I would recommend reading it.
I just got a T420 last week, and it seems to be working really well. I had to use a newer netinstall iso as the old core snapshot didn't have drivers for my ethernet or wifi.
The only issue I have with the laptop is related to the HD3000 graphics... it has some stuttering and visual tearing, which though annoying I don't find to be a huge problem.
The combination of laptop-mode-tools and the thinkpad_acpi module gave me pretty much full laptop behaviour. The tp_smapi driver won't load for me, but I think there's a fix out there (read the comments in the AUR) though I don't really miss the functionality. I only had to modify the backlight config for laptop-mode-tools, everything else worked great.
All in all this is a pretty awesome laptop. I'm coming from a 2007 c2d Macbook, and the ThinkPad runs circles around it. Should have got one of these a long time ago!
I'll bookmark this thread, just post any issues you might have in here and I'll check up. We might want to start a T420 wiki entry.

Have you had any X freezes? I have had them occasionally and it kills my wifi so I can't get my logs out. It hasn't happened in several day though, and I think it might be related to chromium.

(Sorry the the double post, I wasn't thinking)

Last edited by losl (2011-05-11 19:28:14)

msl · 2011-05-12 00:32:02

I have tried many hours now installing. I'm exhausted.

I'm trying to set up EFI boot with GPT and Grub2. Finally found "Archboot", but haven't yet managed to make a bootable USB with it. I'm going to bed now. If you have tried the same setup please explain how you did it.

krum · 2011-05-12 11:24:46

I got a T520 with HD3000 (AHCI + legacy only in BIOS/UEFI) since a week.
Arch 64 + XFCE + xfce-powermanager

I use my good old Intel SSD which was already partitionned (MBR + GRUB2) and installed
I got an issue at the beggining because my boot partition didn't have the boot flag.

No X freeze with chromium.

Supported:

Sleep when close the LID
Brightness but without OSD
Fan control (/proc/acpi/ibm/fan) but the default in auto is fan always on around 2600 rpm
cpufreq
WIFI (Intel 6300)
2 fingers scroll on the touchpad (very usefull)
thinklight

Unsupported

temp sensor
no more sound after a wakeup
some graphic artefact sometimes under X
flash in fullscreen is a slideshow eating the CPU
Fn + F8 for the touchpad control
WIFI button works to stop WIFI but not to re-enable the WIFI (netcfg with net-profiles)
volume control/mute (alsa + xfce-alsa-mixer) but works in mplayer
maximum sound volume is very weak (speaker and headphone)

Otherwise, I'm verry happy of the quality of the screen, case, keyboard.

To be continued...

dhave · 2011-05-12 16:54:37

msl wrote:

I have tried many hours now installing. I'm exhausted.
I'm trying to set up EFI boot with GPT and Grub2. Finally found "Archboot", but haven't yet managed to make a bootable USB with it. I'm going to bed now. If you have tried the same setup please explain how you did it.

I struggled with the same thing (EFI boot with GPT and Grub2 on an SSD) and finally gave up. Others seem to have managed this, but I wasn't able to follow their instructions. Maybe I'm getting old. Like you, I tried Archboot, which seemed to have the various installation options I needed, but I still didn't succeed.

I'd very much like someone to produce a step-by-step guide for this! I'd like to think I don't need my hand held -- I've done 12-15 Arch installations over the past few years -- but, in this case, the combination of EFI, GPT and Grub2 and a new laptop got the best of me.

Last edited by dhave (2011-05-12 17:57:45)

skodabenz · 2011-05-12 17:54:10

@msl: You need a 200 MiB FAT32 EF00 (not EF02) partition which acts as EFI SYSTEM PARTITION. Follow the grub2 archwiki article for grub2-efi steps. Also for bootable usb, isohybrid (dd'ing the iso onto the usb disk) will not work. You have to manually setup a FAT32 partition in the USB, extract archboot iso in it and then extract the contents of (archboot iso)/efi/grub2/grub2_efi.bin using p7zip onto the usb such that the usb has (USB)/efi/boot/bootx64.efi file in it. Then select the usb as boot device in uefi firmware or launch the bootx64.efi file using UEFI Shell.

Inxsible · 2011-05-12 19:02:16

skodabenz, if you have tried it and it has worked for you, maybe adding it to the Thinkpad wiki page might be helpful as I believe, quite a lot of T-series are now coming out with EFI.

msl · 2011-05-12 20:38:03

skodabenz wrote:

@msl: You need a 200 MiB FAT32 EF00 (not EF02) partition which acts as EFI SYSTEM PARTITION. Follow the grub2 archwiki article for grub2-efi steps. Also for bootable usb, isohybrid (dd'ing the iso onto the usb disk) will not work. You have to manually setup a FAT32 partition in the USB, extract archboot iso in it and then extract the contents of (archboot iso)/efi/grub2/grub2_efi.bin using p7zip onto the usb such that the usb has (USB)/efi/boot/bootx64.efi file in it. Then select the usb as boot device in uefi firmware or launch the bootx64.efi file using UEFI Shell.

Tried making a new USB by just extracting archlinux-2011.02-2-archboot.iso to the FAT32 usb-stick with Winrar. I boot with EFI and then am presented with the Grub menu. When I press "Arch Linux (x86_64) archboot" the grub menu disappears and only the Arch wallpaper shows without any error message.

If I choose the I386 option the installer starts. Any ideas? I've flashed to the latest BIOS.

Edit: Do you need the EFI SYSTEM PARTITION before running the installer also? Don't see why since the i386 works.

Edit2: I can run the setup if I boot with Legacy. But I had problems with installing the bootloader or running from my msata SSD after installing. I'm considering pursuing this route.

Last edited by msl (2011-05-12 21:33:56)

msl · 2011-05-13 09:31:47

After I install nothing boots up after rebooting. I select the SSD my bootloader is installed on and it's as if nothings there. What is wrong?

This is fstab located in /tmp/install/etc:

# 
# /etc/fstab: static file system information
#
# <file system>        <dir>         <type>    <options>          <dump> <pass>
devpts                 /dev/pts      devpts    defaults            0      0
shm                    /dev/shm      tmpfs     nodev,nosuid        0      0
# DEVICE DETAILS: /dev/sda1 UUID=ef2350b8-e31e-4ac4-8b21-d68558807211 LABEL=var
# DEVICE DETAILS: /dev/sdb2 UUID=d407e80c-8ab8-4c84-a3ec-e864b80d0be7 LABEL=boot
# DEVICE DETAILS: /dev/sdb3 UUID=8a5236e8-7fa0-476a-b333-58b0166aba12 LABEL=root
# DEVICE DETAILS: /dev/sdb4 UUID=f69bb92b-ce53-4177-9579-748e263b85cb LABEL=home
UUID=8a5236e8-7fa0-476a-b333-58b0166aba12 / ext4 defaults 0 1
UUID=d407e80c-8ab8-4c84-a3ec-e864b80d0be7 /boot ext4 defaults 0 1
UUID=ef2350b8-e31e-4ac4-8b21-d68558807211 /var reiserfs defaults 0 1
UUID=f69bb92b-ce53-4177-9579-748e263b85cb /home ext4 defaults 0 1

This is grub.cfg located in /tmp/install/boot/grub:

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
insmod part_gpt
insmod part_msdos
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
  load_env
fi
set default="0"

insmod part_gpt
insmod part_msdos

# Include fat fs module - required for uefi systems.
insmod fat

insmod ext2
insmod ext2

insmod search_fs_file
insmod search_fs_uuid
insmod search_label

insmod linux
insmod chain

set pager=1


# DEVICE DETAILS: /dev/sda1 UUID=ef2350b8-e31e-4ac4-8b21-d68558807211 LABEL=var
# DEVICE DETAILS: /dev/sdb2 UUID=d407e80c-8ab8-4c84-a3ec-e864b80d0be7 LABEL=boot
# DEVICE DETAILS: /dev/sdb3 UUID=8a5236e8-7fa0-476a-b333-58b0166aba12 LABEL=root
# DEVICE DETAILS: /dev/sdb4 UUID=f69bb92b-ce53-4177-9579-748e263b85cb LABEL=home


# (0) Arch Linux
menuentry "Arch Linux" {
    search --fs-uuid --no-floppy --set=root d407e80c-8ab8-4c84-a3ec-e864b80d0be7
    linux (${root})//vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/8a5236e8-7fa0-476a-b333-58b0166aba12 rootfstype=ext4 ro nomodeset add_efi_memmap
    initrd (${root})//kernel26.img
}


# (1) Arch Linux Fallback
menuentry "Arch Linux Fallback" {
    search --fs-uuid --no-floppy --set=root d407e80c-8ab8-4c84-a3ec-e864b80d0be7
    linux (${root})//vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/8a5236e8-7fa0-476a-b333-58b0166aba12 rootfstype=ext4 ro nomodeset add_efi_memmap
    initrd (${root})//kernel26-fallback.img
}


## (2) Windows
#menuentry \"Windows\" {
#    search --file --no-floppy --set=root /bootmgr
#    chainloader ()+1
#}

Edit: I see my EF02 bios partition is not in fstab. Is this a problem? I have created it as sdb1.

Last edited by msl (2011-05-13 09:36:21)

krum · 2011-05-21 08:43:56

Some issues:

* 4 times my laptop completely freeze whithout logs
* a lot of graphics artefacts under X ( xfce, no compositing)
* sometimes, mplayer video get micro freezes (mplayer2 -vo xv)

I hope 2.6.39 will resolve these issues...

dhave · 2011-05-30 17:55:35

@msl: Does this thread address our problems? If so, it looks as if additional kernel patches may be needed.

skodabenz · 2011-05-31 04:18:02

Can you try https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 85#p941385 ?

dhave · 2011-05-31 05:34:35

skodabenz wrote:

Can you try https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 85#p941385 ?

Oops. I meant to put a link to that thread -- and your posts, in particular, skodabenz -- in my post just above.

krum · 2011-06-01 16:07:14

Nodoby have system freeze?

I got complete system freeze when watching video (flash video or mplayer/vlc), not every times but 1 or 2 times by day.
Sometimes I'm able to use the magiq sysrq key, sometimes not.

T520 + i7 2620m + HD3000 + xfce (arch up2date).

mr.schyte · 2011-11-05 14:22:17

I'm getting these system freezes too. I'm running the latest kernel from core (3.0.7-1) and only using the intel video card.

I don't have anything useful in system logs and I can't use the sysrq key. Sometimes I get several freezes right after one another, but sometimes it works for days straight.

Last time I got 5 consequtive freezes when I tried to mount an usb key. However disabling the usb and blacklisting the usbcore module didn't solve the problem. Also I don't get freezes anymore from mounting the usb key. So reproduceability is pretty low.

I've been trying to systematically remove kernel modules to see which one could be the cause. So far I've ruled out the following modules by removing them and patiently waiting for a freeze (which had happened eventually):

# blacklist usbcore
# blacklist btusb
# blacklist uvcvideo
# blacklist ehci_hcd
# blacklist snd_hda_intel
# blacklist e1000e
# blacklist iwlagn
# blacklist hdaps
# blacklist uvcvideo
# blacklist sdhci
# blacklist sdhci_pci
# blacklist bluetooth
# blacklist btusb
# blacklist firewire_core
# blacklist firewire_ohci
# blacklist vboxnetflt
# blacklist vboxnetadp
# blacklist vboxdrv
# blacklist vboxpci
# blacklist tpm_bios
# blacklist tpm
# blacklist tpm_tis

Does anybody have an idea on how could I debug this problem? Would something like kdump help?

Last edited by mr.schyte (2011-11-05 14:23:36)

losl · 2011-11-05 20:34:15

I have also been getting a freeze, both on my desktop and on my T420. I am thinking it may not be related to the laptop hardware as both the desktop and laptop run extremely similar software. Hopefully when I happens on the desktop again I can capture a log by SSHing into it.

mr.schyte · 2011-11-13 10:23:01

Ruled out the following modules as well:

# blacklist thinkpad_ec
# blacklist tp_smapi

Btw, these threads seem related:

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=1015114
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=1014007

Maybe Xorg or the video drivers are the culprit?

mr.schyte · 2011-11-26 11:44:04

I've tried to capture a kernel dump using kdump with no luck. I've even set up the nmi watchdog, but the machine just hangs. I know I've set up both correctly, because the dump file is created when I manually crash the kernel using sysrq-c. But when the machine hangs, sysrq doesn't work and even the nmi watchdog fails to exec kdump.

dhave · 2011-11-26 16:47:30

I've been running Arch on a T420 (i7 2620m) for six months or so with no problems. I have the nvidia graphics chip, though. If this is the only difference in our machines, it makes me wonder if the intel graphics chip is part of the problem you're having.

mr.schyte · 2011-11-26 17:12:09

I have the nvidia card as well, but I've disabled it in the bios (I have no use for it and it eats more battery). I'll try running my machine with it for a while and see what happens.

jimbok · 2012-01-01 02:13:00

Have a new T420. Intel GPU only and it only seems to freeze when on battery power. Like others, I am currently cycling through the myriad of other fixes. I am running 3.1.6 and so far no change in the freeze behavior. I started with all the i915 grub.cfg mods, and am currently just using the rc6 that puts the GPU into it's low power state. I seemed to get more frequent freezes with more of the i915 options enabled.

Arch Linux

#1 2011-05-09 22:34:45

Thinkpad T420

#2 2011-05-09 23:20:14

Re: Thinkpad T420

#3 2011-05-10 00:46:40

Re: Thinkpad T420

#4 2011-05-10 11:52:59

Re: Thinkpad T420

#5 2011-05-11 19:25:28

Re: Thinkpad T420

#6 2011-05-11 19:27:43

Re: Thinkpad T420

#7 2011-05-12 00:32:02

Re: Thinkpad T420

#8 2011-05-12 11:24:46

Re: Thinkpad T420

#9 2011-05-12 16:54:37

Re: Thinkpad T420

#10 2011-05-12 17:54:10

Re: Thinkpad T420

#11 2011-05-12 19:02:16

Re: Thinkpad T420

#12 2011-05-12 20:38:03

Re: Thinkpad T420

#13 2011-05-13 09:31:47

Re: Thinkpad T420

#14 2011-05-21 08:43:56

Re: Thinkpad T420

#15 2011-05-30 17:55:35

Re: Thinkpad T420

#16 2011-05-31 04:18:02

Re: Thinkpad T420

#17 2011-05-31 05:34:35

Re: Thinkpad T420

#18 2011-06-01 16:07:14

Re: Thinkpad T420

#19 2011-11-05 14:22:17

Re: Thinkpad T420

#20 2011-11-05 20:34:15

Re: Thinkpad T420

#21 2011-11-13 10:23:01

Re: Thinkpad T420

#22 2011-11-26 11:44:04

Re: Thinkpad T420

#23 2011-11-26 16:47:30

Re: Thinkpad T420

#24 2011-11-26 17:12:09

Re: Thinkpad T420

#25 2012-01-01 02:13:00

Re: Thinkpad T420

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