Installing OpenSUSE 13.2 on a ThinkPad T430s

Model

Lenovo Thinkpad T430s 2356-LPG, BIOS G7ETA1WW (2.61), Firmware G7HT39WW (1.15)

General

This installation instruction describes these parts that do not or do not completely work after my OpenSUSE 13.2 DVD installation using KDE 4 as window manager.

Graphics

Using the default BIOS settings, the Switchable Graphics with Intel HD Graphics and NVIDIA Optimus may cause high power consumption. Thus, if you do not need the NVIDIA Optimus graphics, change the BIOS settings from Switchable to Internal graphics before installation. Please read Switchable Graphics for the pros and cons. Note that I did not test the NVIDIA Optimus graphics.

NOTE!

Any time you change the BIOS setting after installation, you may have to execute # mkinitrd in order to prevent loading of unnecessary modules.

Network

WiFi: Intel 6205

On every shutdown or reboot, there is an iwlwifi Microcode SW error detected. [1] Unfortunately, upstream will not fix firmware bugs in such old adapters. [2][3][4][5][6]

WiFi: Intel 6300

The 6205 was replaced by a 6300. There were no Microcode SW errors, yet.

GPS

The Ericsson HSPA+ WWAN Minicard (H5321gw) must be configured every time before it emits GPS data, see H5321gw GPS.

Power Management

Suspend to RAM works out of the box. Since I do not have a swap partition, I did not test suspend to disk.

Power Consumption

The power consumption increased about 25% in comparison to the OpenSUSE 13.1 installation.

ATTENTION!

Do not activate power saving for the Intel WiFi adapters. If you do so, everything seems to work fine. However, your download bit rate will be limited to 54 Mbps! This limitation only takes place if you enable power save and reboot or suspend and resume.