Arch Linux

ArchHippo

Member

Registered: 2021-06-10

Posts: 11

Convertible laptop nightmare (Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5i 14IAU7)

Apologies for the vagueness of this post.  I recently got myself one of these: https://psref.lenovo.com/Product/IdeaPa … x_5_14IAU7 and am having a very frustrating time trying to get the tablet features (auto screen rotation, "tablet mode" activation, touch-screen gestures, auto on-screen keyboard) working acceptably.

I'm posting here on the off-chance that someone who knows what they're doing has had more success with this laptop (or similar) and can offer some suggestions.  My general impression so far is that the tablet support is very poor and I really don't want to go to that other OS, which admittedly does the tablet stuff very well out of the box.

Last edited by ArchHippo (2023-05-19 19:56:58)

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 29,523

Website

Re: Convertible laptop nightmare (Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5i 14IAU7)

What kinds of problems are you having?  When you refer to "tablet support" you mean at the level of the kernel recognizing the hardware and providing interfaces / events for it, or the level of configuring a WM/DE to work with those interfaces and events?

I suspect it is very well supported at the former level.  The latter level will, however, depend entirely on which WM/DE or compositor you are trying to use.  Some might have some out-of-the-box support, but for most you may have to configure your own preferences.

So what kind of session are you trying to run, and what have you attempted to try to configure it?

Last edited by Trilby (2023-05-19 20:42:34)

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"UNIX is simple and coherent..." - Dennis Ritchie, "GNU's Not UNIX" -  Richard Stallman

seth

Member

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 51,017

Re: Convertible laptop nightmare (Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5i 14IAU7)

Don't apologize, simply be less vague.
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Then make sure you saw:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Tablet_PC
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Touchscreen
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php?se … fulltext=1

You'll have to describe the status quo and what you desire as "acceptable"

Other than that I don't own such device and my suggestion would be to use something with a more efficient input model (likey a keyboard…) but that's probably not what you want to hear.

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someUser

Member

Registered: 2021-01-03

Posts: 13

Re: Convertible laptop nightmare (Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5i 14IAU7)

Parts of your issues will probably be fixed by Linux 6.4 (when built with kernel config LENOVO_YMC). See https://www.phoronix.com/news/Lenovo-Yo … ode-Switch

Last edited by someUser (2023-05-20 08:57:22)

ArchHippo

Member

Registered: 2021-06-10

Posts: 11

Re: Convertible laptop nightmare (Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5i 14IAU7)

Thanks for all the replies.  (@seth) Unfortunately, if I were to post the almost interminable permutations of packages / extensions / scripts / forum posts/ wiki article suggestions I have tried and how they sometimes partially work / don't work at all / cause other issues the post would extend over several pages.

"I suspect it is very well supported at the former level.  The latter level will, however, depend entirely on which WM/DE or compositor you are trying to use.  Some might have some out-of-the-box support, but for most you may have to configure your own preferences."

(@Trilby) You are right.  Most of the issues seem to be with gnome not working as required, with all the hardware being detected ok at kernel level.  There are many suggested fixes out there but I have not been able to find a combination where everything works reliably and nothing breaks.  BTW, as a laptop it's completely fine.

"Parts of your issues will probably be fixed by Linux 6.4 (when built with kernel config LENOVO_YMC)."  (@someUser) Many thanks, very interesting, I hadn't come across this, and it bodes well for the future, however...

I ordered the device on a rash impulse, and was very keen on the dual laptop / tablet functionality, but the experience has been extremely disappointing.  Not only because of the hassle trying to get it to work with Arch/gnome, but it is very cumbersome and heavy as a tablet, much more so than I was expecting.  I have now given up and returned it, and would recommend to anyone to stay well away if the dual functionality is important to them.

I am now considering an hp spectre x360 14 inch or an ms surface pro 9, but this time I will do my homework before clicking that buy button.