r/LinuxOnThinkpad

I've heard a lot of good things about them and I'm curious as to wether i could get one to work for me.

Running games is the most taxing thing i would want out of a computer.

EDIT: for everyone asking for specs, my favorite game is warframe wich asks for these minimum specs:

OS: Windows 7 64-Bit (32-bit not supported) Processor: Intel Core i7-860 or AMD FX-4170 (CPU must support SSE4.2) Memory: 4 GB System RAM Graphics: DirectX 11+ compatible video card Hard Drive: 75 GB free HD space Internet: Broadband Internet Connection

Unfortunately I barely know what half of these mean, but that would be my baseline.

EDIT 2: So I'm hearing I want to look for a P series and feed it extra ram? Or find a way to give it a gpu?

Hi everyone, I'm stuck and could use some help.

Setup: Lenovo ThinkPad T430, MBR disk (not GPT), was dual-booting Windows and Linux (CachyOS/Arch-based).

What I did: I deleted my Linux partition to reclaim disk space for Windows. I did NOT reinstall the bootloader or fix MBR before rebooting.

Result: On boot, I get:

error: kern/disk.c:grub_disk_open:262:no such partition.

Entering rescue mode...

grub rescue>

Disk layout (from Disk Management before this happened): System Reserved (50MB, Active/System) → C: (117GB, Windows) → Recovery Partition (815MB) → ~547MB unallocated (leftover from deleted Linux partition).

What I've tried in grub rescue so far:

grub rescue> ls

(hd0) (hd0,msdos3) (hd0,msdos2) (hd0,msdos1)

grub rescue> ls (hd0,msdos1)

(hd0,msdos1): Filesystem is unknown.

grub rescue> ls (hd0,msdos2)

(hd0,msdos2): Filesystem is unknown.

grub rescue> ls (hd0,msdos3)

(hd0,msdos3): Filesystem is unknown.

grub rescue> set

cmdpath='(hd0)'

prefix='(hd0,msdos5)/@/boot/grub'

root='hd0,msdos5'

So GRUB's prefix is still pointing to (hd0,msdos5) — that was clearly my old Linux partition, which no longer exists (only msdos1/2/3 show up now).

I also tried:

insmod part_msdos

set root=(hd0,msdos1)

insmod ntfs

error: kern/disk.c:grub_disk_open:262:no such partition.

And:

set boot=(hd0,msdos5)

set prefix=(hd0,msdos5)/boot/grub

insmod normal

error: kern/disk.c:grub_disk_open:262:no such partition.

Every attempt to load any module fails with "no such partition" — even insmod ntfs, even after manually setting root to msdos1. It seems like this rescue shell has zero access to any module files (which were apparently stored on the now-deleted Linux partition), so I can't chainload Windows or even read NTFS from here.

My question: Is there ANY way to get Windows booting again purely from within grub rescue>, without external media? I currently don't have easy access to a second computer or a USB OTG adapter for my phone, so making a bootable Windows USB is difficult right now (though I'm working on it as a backup plan).

I understand bootrec /fixmbr, /fixboot, /rebuildbcd from a Windows installation USB is probably the "real" fix, but I'm trying to exhaust every in-place option first. Any grub rescue tricks, alternate module loading approaches, or other MBR-level tricks I haven't tried yet?

Windows partition (C:) itself should be intact — Disk Management showed it healthy with all my files before this happened, I just can't reach it now.

Thanks in advance.

I got pretty serious into linux since last year, I ve been configuring some distros ( yes i use arch btw) and I really want the full experience.

I currently use an Acer Nitro V15 which is not the best for linux since it requires the nvidia drivers (impossible thing to setup tbh) and I ve been dual booting just for gaming. I am willing to sacrifice the full gaming experience but I really don't know what to look for in a thinkpad, what models and what specs are decent nowadays.

Do y all have any advices for marketplaces where it s safe to buy some second handed thinkpads and also what to look for when doing so? Anything would be helpful, I ve been looking into eBay and I m not sure if it s trustworthy.

I have about 500€ budged and a little bit more for a good offer.

Thanks in advance 🙏🏻🙏🏻

Im new here, but i'm definitely here to stay. Linux Mint on here was the cherry on top. Time to find an IBM and build a WIN 95 or 98 ThinkPad.

Hi folks,

I've got a question about network and disk buffering.

By looking at the System Monitor, I noticed that when I copy many files (~500 MB - 5 GB each) from a USB attached SSD to a network server over SMB, the following steps happen:

1. The SSD reads the file into the RAM (High SSD read speed, increasing RAM usage, no network transfer).
2. The file is transferred over the network (No SSD read, high network transfer speed).
3. Probably the server does the opposite: waits for the file to arrive over the network and only after that, writes it to the HDD. (No SSD read, no network traffic).
4. Then it repeats from step 1 for the next file.

My problem with this is that the whole process is much slower in terms of average transfer speed than the bottleneck in the system, which is the Gigabit Ethernet connection.

The SSD is capable of reading at 400 MB/s (SATA link 6 Gpbs, USB3 port 5 Gbps), the HDD in the server on the other side can write at ~180-190 MB/s, the network speed is OK (~980 Mbit/s), yet the whole process takes much more time than (file size sum / Ethernet 1 Gbps).

My question is this: Why cannot the system do these steps in parallel? I mean reading some data from the SSD, sending it immediately, while reading the next piece in the background. My idea would be that if the Ethernet is the bottleneck, the whole copy process should work at flat 1 Gbps or ~100 MB/s rate instead of fluctuating constantly.
Why does it do this many buffering steps? Is there any way to tweak it?

I use a laptop with Linux Mint. The server's storage is mounted with the mount -t cifs command and I use Mint's file manager to copy the files.

Thanks in advance. Have a nice day!

Figured this might fit here as well.

I have a Thinkpad X1 Gen 3 with 8gb of RAM (it's basically Lenovo's version of a Surface Pro—detachable keyboard/tablet mode, etc) and 256gb ssd that I've been using as my daily driver and Windows has been getting real long in the tooth. What I care about in a shellnut:

• Desktop environment is touchscreen friendly w/ virtual keyboard easy to setup or is basically default

• Idle RAM usage is low (only got 8gb and cannot expand, gotta make the most of it)

I've looked up that anything with KDE Plasma is good with touchscreens, but I've read it's heavier than most. If it's my only choice, how can I easily debloat it or prolong my battery life easily with stopping extraneous background software running or even something like ThrottleStop on Windows?

I don't mind using the terminal but I won't lie... It kinda goes over my head on that stuff but I am willing to figure stuff out.

Since I installed Linux on my ThinkPad T430, the CPU temperature spikes and the laptop shuts down suddenly. It happens most noticeably after downloads.

I've tried several different distros — same problem every time. I also replaced the thermal paste, hoping that would fix it, but the issue is still there.

This makes me think it's not a hardware/thermal paste problem, but something related to power management or fan control on Linux (maybe TLP, thermald, or a BIOS/EC setting).

Has anyone with a T430 run into this? Any fixes you'd recommend?

I recently bought a P14s Gen 6 AMD, and it came with the mt7925 WiFi 7 chipset. I assumed that it was replaceable, but now I’m stuck with a malfunctioning WiFi and in 3 week I leave France to go study 1 year in Canada. I don’t want to troubleshoot in a foreign country and I heard online that sometimes it just don’t work, and I’m on Linux NixOs which doesn’t make my problem easier to solve.
The current situation is : the mt7925 fails multiples times 4-way handshake when connecting to my WiFi, prompting me for password but it won’t connect anyway, and after multiple tries it magically connect by black magic like idk 🤷🏻‍♂️.
Maybe it’s works better on Windows, but my thinkpad will never see windows until I’m dead.

My final advise is to never buy a thinkpad with soldered mt7925. Even on windows it seems not that great.

Ps: I enabled unfree firmwares, and I’m on a recent kernel (7.1.something)

I'm looking to buy a ThinkPad to run Linux. It seems Lenovo only offers the T14s 2-in-1 Gen 2 with Windows. I know the T14s 2-in-1 Gen 1 can be ordered with Ubuntu, but the Gen 2 has the garaged stylus and the newer processor.

In addition to any compatibility issues I don't know about, I'm concerned about the BE211 compatibility with Linux.

TIA!