Installing Ubuntu 11.04 on a ThinkPad W520
Contents
Out-of-the-box Stats
| Component | Status |
|---|---|
| Optimus | Unsupported - See the Bumblebee project |
| Intel Graphics (Integrated) | Works out-of-box |
| Nvidia Graphics (Discrete) | Requires drivers, updated kernel. |
| ultranav scrolling | Requires tweaks - See below |
| Fingerprint Reader | Requires tweaks -See below |
| ACPI - Suspend to Disk (Hibernate) | Untested |
| Harddrive Active Protection | Untested |
| VGA out | Untested |
| Firewire | Untested |
| Modem | Untested |
| Wireless - Thinkpad | Untested |
| Wireless - Intel Advanced N | Untested |
| Wireless - Intel Ultimate N | Works out-of-box |
| Audio in | Untested |
| Audio out | Untested |
| Wired LAN | Untested |
| Thinkvantage Button | Untested |
| Wireless killswitch | Untested |
| Trackpoint | Works out-of-box |
| Trackpad | Untested |
| Trackpad scrolling (side or two-finger) | Untested |
| Sound card | Works out-of-box |
| Volume up/down/mute buttons | Works out-of-box |
| Microphone mute button | untested |
| Optical drive | Works out-of-box |
| USB | Untested |
| ACPI - Lid Open/Close | Untested |
| ACPI - Suspend to RAM | Untested |
| SD/MMC Memory card reader | Untested |
| FN-F2 (Lock) | Works out-of-box |
| FN-F3 (Battery) | Works out-of-box |
| FN-F4 (Sleep) | Untested |
| FN-F5 (Wireless) | Untested |
| FN-F6 (Conferencing) | Untested |
| FN-F7 (Display) | Untested |
| FN-F8 (Mouse) | Untested |
| FN-F12 (Hibernate) | Untested |
| FN-Home/End (Brightness) | Untested |
| FN-PgUp (Thinklight) | Untested |
| FN-PrtSc (SysRq) | Untested |
| FN-ScrLk (Numlock) | Untested |
| FN-Pause (Break) | Untested |
| FN-Space (Zoom) | Untested |
| FN-Up (Stop) | Untested |
| FN-Down (Play-pause) | Untested |
| FN-Left (Previous) | Untested |
| FN-Right (Next) | Untested |
Installation
Normal CD installation works fine. However, if Optimus is enabled, it may require a hard reboot upon completion.
Kernel
- Kernel 2.6.38-8 is the shipping kernel with Ubuntu 11.04. It is buggy. For example, a common issue is to see kworker constantly hit 20% cpu when running top.
- Upgrade to a newer kernel by going to [1] and downloading the headers, image, and _all files for your type of machine. Install them (you can just double-click in the UI if you don't know the commands). Reboot.
Optimus
- BIOS
- The OS Detect option does not work. If enabled, it will present Optimus to Ubuntu.
- If graphics are set to Optimus, Ubuntu will default to using Intel graphics.
- If graphics are set to Discrete, Ubuntu will default to using Nvidia. If dual-booting windows, this will cause problems with the default lenovo system image - possible (untested) fix is to manually reinstall nvidia drivers in windows.
- If graphics are set to Integrated, Ubuntu will default to using Intel graphics.
- The current kernel provided by Ubuntu conflicts with the Nvidia driver. Until Ubuntu upgrades to a newer kernel, you must manually install one.
