Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

Bionic Apple · 2014-01-09 00:30:09

I would like to hear your guys' experiences with installing Arch on the new X1 Carbon as people get it. This should not be a discussion about the design.

Specifically, it would help to know if there is any known Linux support for the following features:

Adaptive function-key row
10-point multitouch
5(?) button trackpad
OneLink Dock Pro connector
Intel® Centrino® 7260 (Wilkins Peak 2 AC) 2x2 AC+Bluetooth 4.0
NFC
Anything else...

I don't really care about user-level application support, as I would be happy to work on that myself to some degree.

Thanks!

Last edited by Bionic Apple (2014-01-09 00:31:39)

Bionic Apple · 2014-01-09 02:13:42

The OneLink Dock Pro should be supported with at least HDMI, sound, charging, and USB working out of the box. A driver might need to be installed for Ethernet to work.

I'm deducing this from the supported features of the OneLink Dock (not-pro).

Source

Draje · 2014-01-11 23:20:26

I don't own an X1 Carbon, but Intel 7260 wireless card works great for me in my Sager. Never tried the Bluetooth.

Last edited by Draje (2014-01-11 23:21:11)

ANOKNUSA · 2014-01-12 22:36:59

Historically, nearly everything from the Thinkpad X- and T-series have worked out of the box. They're almost completely composed of Intel hardware, and it's usually a safe bet that anything from Intel will work almost perfectly on Linux if it doesn't already, since Intel drivers are all open-source.

Bionic Apple wrote:

I would like to hear your guys' experiences with installing Arch on the new X1 Carbon as people get it

The thing about threads like this is that rubs me wrong is that the OP seems to hope other people will take a chance on this expensive machine before the OP does, hoping someone else will risk wasting their money so the OP doesn't have too. In my mind, this is pretty unreasonable; it's an expectation that the OP should benefit at someone else's expense. I've never actually voiced this opinion in these forums before, but as in this case the OP flat-out expresses an expectation that other Archers will cough up over $1000 USD on a machine and then report in to satisfy the OP's request, well...

anonymous_user · 2014-01-13 23:05:37

ANOKNUSA wrote:

The thing about threads like this is that rubs me wrong is that the OP seems to hope other people will take a chance on this expensive machine before the OP does, hoping someone else will risk wasting their money so the OP doesn't have too. In my mind, this is pretty unreasonable; it's an expectation that the OP should benefit at someone else's expense. I've never actually voiced this opinion in these forums before, but as in this case the OP flat-out expresses an expectation that other Archers will cough up over $1000 USD on a machine and then report in to satisfy the OP's request, well...

I don't think the OP is requesting that people buy these machines just to post their results here. There are bound to be some Arch Linux users who will buy the laptop of their own free will and can post their feedback.

Bionic Apple · 2014-01-18 00:43:00

ANOKNUSA wrote:

The thing about threads like this is that rubs me wrong is that the OP seems to hope other people will take a chance on this expensive machine before the OP does, hoping someone else will risk wasting their money so the OP doesn't have too. In my mind, this is pretty unreasonable; it's an expectation that the OP should benefit at someone else's expense. I've never actually voiced this opinion in these forums before, but as in this case the OP flat-out expresses an expectation that other Archers will cough up over $1000 USD on a machine and then report in to satisfy the OP's request, well...

I'm sorry if it read that way. anonymous_user was right, I am simply prompting existing X1 Carbon owners to share their experiences. I do not expect anything of someone on an online forum. Well, besides good grammar and a basic decorum.

bwright1558 · 2014-01-18 19:16:13

I own an X1 carbon and I absolutely love it! Arch Linux runs exceptionally well on it and has no issues with hardware compatibility. The machine is amazingly sturdy, yet thin and light-weight. The keyboard is a dream to type on and the backlight makes the keyboard that much better. The touchpad is on par with Apple's Macbook touchpads. In my opinion the touchpad on the X1 Carbon is better because you not only can click using the touchpad itself, but also with the actual mouse buttons located above the touchpad. In addition it also has the trackpoint, which also works very well. Did I mention how awesome it is to type on the keyboard?! Lenovo does not brag about how good their keyboards are for no reason.
When I first got my X1 Carbon, I was booting linux using GRUB and BIOS legacy mode. Recently, I switched to UEFI and had no problems with it. From my experience, UEFI boots faster than when I was using BIOS legacy. However, there does seem to be an issue with the latest linux kernel version that is preventing some UEFI machines from booting. My X1 Carbon is one of those machines. But don't let that stop you from buying the X1 Carbon. Myself and many others are working to get this particular issue resolved. As far as installing Arch is concerned, just follow the beginner's guide. There is one little hiccup with adjusting the screen backlight. To get that working, you need to add to the kernel boot parameters of whichever boot loader you decide to use the following option: acpi_osi="!Windows 2012". Type this as is into arch.conf if using gummiboot. Type acpi_osi='!Windows 2012' (single quotes) into the GRUB configuration file if you decide to use GRUB. You can find this information on the X1 Carbon Wiki page: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Le … _X1_Carbon.

As you have probably already read from the hardware specifications, the X1 Carbon is not cut out for intense graphics processing, but it's still powerful enough to run simple OpenGL programs without any lag. The X1 Carbon has plenty of power to run virtual machines. I personally run Windows 7 in Virtualbox (I hate Windows, but it is needed for my job). Even with Windows running in a virtual machine, it is able to boot extremely fast (about 8 seconds with i7 processor) and application startup time in Windows is also very speedy. What makes it so fast is the SSD.
I've had my X1 Carbon for a little over a year now and it is still running strong. The SSD is not yet showing signs of failing anytime in the near future, despite what others might say. By the way, I recommend the 256GB or more SSD. Any less and you will feel cramped for space. Battery life is acceptable (for me at least). I get about 5 hours for general usage and about 2.5 hours when I'm running Window in Virtualbox. Lenovo does not lie about the rapid charge technology. It really does charge from from nothing to 80% in about 30 minutes. When it gets to about 80%, it charges like a regular computer. I guess it does that to prevent accidentally saturating the battery.

I highly recommend the X1 Carbon to anyone that can afford it. For completeness, I bought my X1 Carbon from Lenovo's website because you can customize it. I built mine with the highest specifications available at the time: Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, and 256GB SSD. I do not have the touch screen version, so I can't tell you if the touch screen would work on Linux or not. If you do decide to get an X1 Carbon, I actually recommend against the touch screen version. If you want a laptop with touch screen, then get one that can fold into a tablet. The X1 Carbon was built like a traditional laptop and is best if used like one. I have absolutely no regrets purchasing the X1 Carbon.

anonymous_user · 2014-01-18 19:38:46

@bwright1558 - Do you have the first generation X1C or second generation?

bwright1558 · 2014-01-18 20:02:52

I have the first generation. I don't think the second generation will have much of an issue in terms of hardware compatibility. I understand how you might be concerned about the adaptive function key row; however, if Lenovo was smart, they made it work like the keyboard backlight. The keyboard backlight does not depend on the software you have installed. As long as the computer has power, the keyboard backlight can be toggled on and off, even immediately before and during the boot process. So hopefully Lenovo designed the adaptive function keys to work the same way, i.e., no dependency on the software. If you want to be sure about this, just ask Lenovo customer support. I know their customer service is awful, but they should at least be able to answer how the adaptive keys work and whether or not the adaptive keys will work regardless of what OS is installed. Be specific about the OS as they might think you are referring to Windows 7 vs. Windows 8 rather than Linux vs. Windows.

nos · 2014-01-21 17:49:53

The second generation doesn't have physical Trackpad buttons, this is proving to be an issue, especially for scrolling via middle button + trackpoint.

Inxsible · 2014-01-21 22:56:54

Since this is just a general request about what works with this laptop, this has no place in Kernel & Hardware. Moving to Laptops

earsplit · 2014-01-22 06:23:21

nos wrote:

The second generation doesn't have physical Trackpad buttons, this is proving to be an issue, especially for scrolling via middle button + trackpoint.

That and the location of the tilde key have been major dealbreakers for me. This laptop was very close to being one of the best (or the only) developer-friendly ultrabook on the market. Thanks for the input everyone you saved me some cash

WonderWoofy · 2014-01-22 07:06:43

earsplit wrote:

...the location of the tilde key...

I has to look this up, and I am really not a fan of this.

LimaSierra · 2014-01-24 04:08:55

Hi,

I own a T440p... I believe it has the same touchpad.

The trackpoint buttons work: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=1362771

hth

momo.reina · 2014-03-31 11:02:34

After a lot of looking around I ordered the non-touch 2560x1440 i5-4200u X1.

I live in Japan and here (as well as on the Japanese lenovo site) they're advertising 14 hours of battery life; lenovo sites of other countries advertise 9 or even 8.4? hours... has anyone else heard about this discrepancy? I finally chose the X1 because of the purportedly insane endurance.

Also if anyone has any experience with incompatibilities, gotchas, etc. I'd love to hear about them. I heard that there was a suspend to ram problem that is being addressed with a BIOS update here: http://linux-thinkpad.10952.n7.nabble.c … 21039.html

sfurey · 2014-04-01 18:45:52

HI,

I just got my X1 Gen 2 today and so far I'm extremely happy.

Working out of the box

3 screens with dock (1 DVI on dock and 1 mini display port to VGA) I don't have a big display port or adapter to test 3 displays with dock only yet
Touchpad takes getting used to but this seems to be the touchpad and not an lissue with the OS
Wireless
Bluetooth
Normal F Keys on adaptive keyboard

Not working

Other adaptive keys such as brightness, wireless etc...
Can't switch function modes on adaptive keyboard - Looks like it's being worked on (https://lkml.org/lkml/2014/3/3/174)

Haven't tested the fingerprint sensor yet.

My 1 gripe is the keyboard...I can't tell you how many typos I've made today due to the subtle changes.

Moving the ~ key has really screwed with my workflow with guake

WonderWoofy · 2014-04-01 19:53:57

sfurey wrote:

My 1 gripe is the keyboard...I can't tell you how many typos I've made today due to the subtle changes.
Moving the ~ key has really screwed with my workflow with guake

I really don't understand how they though this was even a remotely good idea. I have thought the previous X1 Carbons have been amazingly beautiful machines, and indeed the new one is nice looking as well. But that keyboard is just horrible and makes me cringe.

When looking at that new version a couple weeks back on their site, I read the reviews and they are terrible. Most of these bad reviews stem from this keyboard change, so hopefully Lenovo will get the hint for future versions.

momo.reina · 2014-04-02 10:12:05

sfurey wrote:

HI,
I just got my X1 Gen 2 today and so far I'm extremely happy.
Working out of the box
3 screens with dock (1 DVI on dock and 1 mini display port to VGA) I don't have a big display port or adapter to test 3 displays with dock only yet
Touchpad takes getting used to but this seems to be the touchpad and not an lissue with the OS
Wireless
Bluetooth
Normal F Keys on adaptive keyboard
Not working
Other adaptive keys such as brightness, wireless etc...
Can't switch function modes on adaptive keyboard - Looks like it's being worked on (https://lkml.org/lkml/2014/3/3/174)
Haven't tested the fingerprint sensor yet.
My 1 gripe is the keyboard...I can't tell you how many typos I've made today due to the subtle changes.
Moving the ~ key has really screwed with my workflow with guake

Is flat mode working?

I'd be really interested to know how the battery life is. Mine should arrive after tomorrow, I'll report on the supposedly 14 hour endurance.

Did you install using the guide on the arch wiki? No problems?

dooblem · 2014-04-03 12:57:22

I just go a carbon gen 2.
Nice hardware, but some stuff do not work out of the box on linux.

As a trackpoint user, it's a bit embarrassing, because there's not more trackpoint buttons : they are supposed to be integrated in the touchpad/clickpad. By default, the trackpoint is just unusable, because it moves the cursor away when you click.
When you disable the touchpad, it also disables the click, so you cannot click anymore, which is embarassing...
The ugly hack i'm using now to be able to use the trackpoint : synclient FingerHigh=1000; synclient FingerLow=1000
It disables the touchpad, but pushing the clickpad still works : so you can click by pressing anywhere on the clickpad. to rightclick, you can press on the lower right corner.

I've not been able to make the middle click work. (for wheel emulation and so on).
Of course the best would be to have the trackpoint AND the touchpad working in a clever way. I don't know how it's done in Windows (I wiped it).

Adaptive keys : default adaptive row with Fx keys working, but unable to switch adaptive keys with the Fn key, so I cannot control volume/brightness with keyboard for now.

any clue about that ?

sfurey · 2014-04-03 13:32:46

dooblem wrote:

I just go a carbon gen 2.
Nice hardware, but some stuff do not work out of the box on linux.
As a trackpoint user, it's a bit embarrassing, because there's not more trackpoint buttons : they are supposed to be integrated in the touchpad/clickpad. By default, the trackpoint is just unusable, because it moves the cursor away when you click.
When you disable the touchpad, it also disables the click, so you cannot click anymore, which is embarassing...
The ugly hack i'm using now to be able to use the trackpoint : synclient FingerHigh=1000; synclient FingerLow=1000
It disables the touchpad, but pushing the clickpad still works : so you can click by pressing anywhere on the clickpad. to rightclick, you can press on the lower right corner.
I've not been able to make the middle click work. (for wheel emulation and so on).
Of course the best would be to have the trackpoint AND the touchpad working in a clever way. I don't know how it's done in Windows (I wiped it).
Adaptive keys : default adaptive row with Fx keys working, but unable to switch adaptive keys with the Fn key, so I cannot control volume/brightness with keyboard for now.
any clue about that ?

Ya, same boat with the Fn keys.

In my earlier post I complained about the keyboard but after a few days I can say I'm getting used to it but the trackpad is my new arch nemesis. I was sitting on the couch lastnight frustrated beyond belief.

I did just find this http://who-t.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/xo … -t440.html

I haven't tried it yet. Will probably give it a shot in a bit an report back

sfurey · 2014-04-03 17:53:51

So I installed the synaptics 1.8 snapshot and can say it's definitely a big improvement. It's not perfect but it'll do for now while I continue to tweak.

I created a AUR package but it looks like all synaptic packages are currently blacklisted.

If anyones interested here's a copy of the PKGBUILD

http://pastebin.com/tzL4sKEG

sfurey · 2014-04-03 23:47:45

The one thing I forgot to mention was I can't get hibernate or suspend to work and I've followed all tutorials for the x1 gen2 I can find. I think it has something to do I'm using LUKS on the whole disk.

Anyone have any ideas on this matter?

momo.reina · 2014-04-04 00:28:57

Suspend to RAM issues have been noted here http://linux-thinkpad.10952.n7.nabble.c … 21039.html.

Hibernate should work though...

momo.reina · 2014-04-05 11:33:03

So does anyone have a sample synaptics.conf file that works well with the X1's touchpad? Coming from a MacBook Air, I couldn't believe how spoiled I've become with the trackpad performance.

dooblem · 2014-04-07 12:33:02

For a quickly usable trackpoint, I used:
synclient AreaTopEdge=3000
synclient RightButtonAreaTop=0

See also: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php? … st12979973

Arch Linux

#1 2014-01-09 00:30:09

Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#2 2014-01-09 02:13:42

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#3 2014-01-11 23:20:26

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#4 2014-01-12 22:36:59

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#5 2014-01-13 23:05:37

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#6 2014-01-18 00:43:00

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#7 2014-01-18 19:16:13

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#8 2014-01-18 19:38:46

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#9 2014-01-18 20:02:52

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#10 2014-01-21 17:49:53

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#11 2014-01-21 22:56:54

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#12 2014-01-22 06:23:21

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#13 2014-01-22 07:06:43

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#14 2014-01-24 04:08:55

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#15 2014-03-31 11:02:34

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#16 2014-04-01 18:45:52

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#17 2014-04-01 19:53:57

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#18 2014-04-02 10:12:05

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#19 2014-04-03 12:57:22

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#20 2014-04-03 13:32:46

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#21 2014-04-03 17:53:51

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#22 2014-04-03 23:47:45

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#23 2014-04-04 00:28:57

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#24 2014-04-05 11:33:03

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

#25 2014-04-07 12:33:02

Re: Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2

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