Lenovo Thinkpad W530

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The Lenovo Thinkpad W530 and its associated hardware components can (potentially) be difficult to configure properly in Gentoo. This article has been written as a configuration guide to help users work out some of the gritty details needed to get this notebook working as it should on Gentoo Linux.

Note
Do not expect to have exactly the same hardware listed in this guide in your W530. The hardware listed here is to be used as an example. Some of the components may be similar, but there are always variants in computers depending on what hardware was purchased. See the ThinkWiki.org link in the External resources section for a review of possible factory hardware setups.

Installation

Preparation

Adequate preparation should be established for the case something should go wrong in the middle of installing Gentoo. The following list does not only apply to the current hardware list in this article; it generally applies to whenever attempting to install Linux on any machine:

Backups
If the computer owner finds any value in being able to restore the existing factory operating system, make sure appropriate measures are taken to create a full system restoration before starting to install Linux. This is a nice fall back option in the case something goes terribly and unexpectedly wrong.
Time
Allot enough time for installing Gentoo. The length of the install process varies. Experienced Gentoo users are mostly limited by the speed of their current hardware setups, beginners are limited by the Gentoo learning curve (which can be a steep climb).
Diligence
Sometimes diligence is required in order to configure all parts of the hardware to properly. Unfortunately most manufacturers do not deliver open source drivers for their hardware. Linux users can go through great lengths in order to build or find open drivers that are compatible with the on their particular machine hardware. Depending on the machine, configuration could take the majority of the time. Thankfully Linux has become much more capable and, with the right knowledge, can actually be installed on more processor architectures than any other operating system. In this case user knowledge is the limiting factor.

Hardware

Important
As stated above, the hardware listed in the following commands might not match the hardware in your laptop verbatim. Use the following hardware information as reference guide.

lspci

root #lspci -nnk
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor DRAM Controller [8086:0154] (rev 09)
        Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21f6]
        Kernel driver in use: ivb_uncore
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor PCI Express Root Port [8086:0151] (rev 09)
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller [8086:0166] (rev 09)
        Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21f5]
        Kernel driver in use: i915
00:14.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI Host Controller [8086:1e31] (rev 04)
        Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21f6]
        Kernel driver in use: xhci_hcd
00:16.0 Communication controller [0780]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 [8086:1e3a] (rev 04)
        Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21f6]
00:16.3 Serial controller [0700]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family KT Controller [8086:1e3d] (rev 04)
        Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21f6]
        Kernel driver in use: serial
00:19.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection [8086:1502] (rev 04)
        Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21f3]
        Kernel driver in use: e1000e
00:1a.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 [8086:1e2d] (rev 04)
        Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21f6]
        Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller [8086:1e20] (rev 04)
        Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21f6]
        Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 [8086:1e10] (rev c4)
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 [8086:1e12] (rev c4)
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 3 [8086:1e14] (rev c4)
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1d.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 [8086:1e26] (rev 04)
        Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21f6]
        Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation QM77 Express Chipset LPC Controller [8086:1e55] (rev 04)
        Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21f6]
00:1f.2 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation 7 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller [AHCI mode] [8086:1e03] (rev 04)
        Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21f6]
        Kernel driver in use: ahci
        Kernel modules: ahci
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller [8086:1e22] (rev 04)
        Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21f6]
        Kernel driver in use: i801_smbus
        Kernel modules: i2c_i801
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GK107GLM [Quadro K2000M] [10de:0ffb] (rev a1)
        Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21f5]
02:00.0 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd PCIe SDXC/MMC Host Controller [1180:e823] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21f6]
	Kernel driver in use: sdhci-pci
02:00.3 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 PCIe IEEE 1394 Controller [1180:e832] (rev 04)
        Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21f6]
        Kernel driver in use: firewire_ohci
03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 [8086:4238] (rev 2c)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 3x3 AGN [8086:1111]
        Kernel driver in use: iwlwifi
        Kernel modules: iwlwifi

lsusb

root #lsusb
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 04f2:b2ea Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd Integrated Camera [ThinkPad]
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0a5c:21e6 Broadcom Corp. BCM20702 Bluetooth 4.0 [ThinkPad]
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 147e:2020 Upek TouchChip Fingerprint Coprocessor (WBF advanced mode)
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Configuration

Intel graphics

Configure the integrated graphics card:

KERNEL
Device drivers -->
   Graphics support -->
      <*> Direct Rendering Manager (XFree86 4.1.0 and higher DRI support) --->
         <*> Enable legacy fbdev support for your modesetting driver
      <*> Intel 8xx/9xx/G3x/G4x/HD Graphics

Set the VIDEO_CARDS variable in /etc/portage/make.conf:

FILE /etc/portage/make.conf
VIDEO_CARDS="intel"

Finally, when rebooting the system, press F12, then Tab, then scroll down three lines to enter the motherboard's firmware. Scroll over the right one frame, then choose Display. Select Integrated graphics mode and disable Operating System detection for Optimus.

Nouveau and Intel graphics

KERNEL
Device drivers -->
   Graphics support -->
      <*> Direct Rendering Manager (XFree86 4.1.0 and higher DRI support) --->
         <*> Enable legacy fbdev support for your modesetting driver
      <*> Nouveau (NVIDIA) cards
      <*> Intel 8xx/9xx/G3x/G4x/HD Graphics

When using both Intel and nouveau drivers, simply add both values to the VIDEO_CARDS variable and update the @world set:

FILE /etc/portage/make.conf
VIDEO_CARDS="intel i965 nouveau"
root #emerge --ask --update --deep --newuse @world

NVidia Optimus graphics

FILE /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier "layout"
    Screen 0 "nvidia"
    Inactive "intel"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier "nvidia"
    Driver "nvidia"
    BusID "01:00:0"
    Option "RegistryDwords" "EnableBrightnessControl=1"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "nvidia"
    Device "nvidia"
    Option "AllowEmptyInitialConfiguration"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier "intel"
    Driver "modesetting"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "intel"
    Device "intel"
EndSection

Finally, enter the motherboard's firmware and select Discrete graphics mode and disable Operating System detection for Optimus.

USB

The Wiki's USB guide can be helpful for configuring anything USB related on the system.

Microphone

The USB Audio kernel driver must be enabled for the USB microphones to work properly. This is the case for most laptops since their microphones are connected on the USB bus.

KERNEL Enable support for SND_USB_AUDIO
Device Drivers -->
   Sound card support -->
      Advanced Linux Sound Architecture -->
         USB sound devices -->
            <*> USB Audio/MIDI driver

Power management

If the default USB power saving features are bothersome they can disabled by adding a configuration file to /etc/modprobe.d/

FILE /etc/modprobe.d/usb_auto_suspend_disable.conf
#This example disables USB power saving altogether
options usbcore autosuspend=-1

For more information visit Kernel.org's USB Power Management page.

Tips

Become familiar with helpful tools

Many software tools and hardware detection utilities are available in order to help troubleshoot a new Gentoo installation. Users who are new to Gentoo have many options to choose from. Quite a few of the packages available in the Portage tree are utilities available on other Linux distributions.

See also

  • Portage TMPDIR on tmpfs - Instructions on how to build packages entirely in memory (RAM). This is useful for preserving read/write operations to a disk.
  • Gentoo Cheat Sheet - A reference article for basic package management, USE flags, log file, and administration management.

External resources