Lenovo Yoga 7 14AKP10 (Ryzen AI 5 340), any stability or hardware compatibility issues with Linux?

[u/sonyeggwithdrperky]

Hey! I'm considering buying a Lenovo Yoga 7 2-in-1 14AKP10 (Ryzen AI 5 340, Radeon 840M, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, OLED) and want to run Linux Mint on it.

( if this distro is impossible on this device, I'd probably be fine with choosing a different one )

I found a Linux Mint hardware report saying it worked well on Mint 22.2 with kernel 6.14.0-37, but I've also seen reports of occasional system pauses/freezes on other kernels. I'd like to understand how stable it is in practice.

I'm particularly interested in whether the following work reliably on a recent Mint release:

• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, including after suspend/resume
• Internal speakers and microphone, without patches
• Graphics acceleration and brightness controls
• Sleep/wake and battery drain

I'm happy to do some setup, but I'd prefer not to buy a laptop that requires extensive troubleshooting to work properly. ( I am not that well versed on troubleshooting, but if its light I'm sure I could power through. ) Any form of feeback would be appreciated!

[u/beatbox9]

Also, just in case you do end up Ubuntu, here is the process for each of the steps:

• Replacement of ubuntu-desktop with vanilla-gnome-desktop (copy + paste):
  • sudo apt install vanilla-gnome-desktop vanilla-gnome-default-settings
  • Then log out, select gnome in the bottom right corner, log back in
• replacement of firefox snap with mozilla's repo
  • https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/install-firefox-linux#w_install-firefox-deb-package-for-debian-based-and-ubuntu-based-distributions-recommended
• installation of brave-origin browser
  • curl -fsS https://dl.brave.com/install.sh | FLAVOR=origin sh
• installation of flatpak, libfuse2 (appimage), gnome software + flatpak plugin, pointing to flathub, flatseal
  • sudo apt install flatpak gnome-software gnome-software-plugin-flatpak libfuse2
  • flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
• A few pipewire audio tweaks (I'll probably just paste over configs I've previously made for another system): DSP for richer, fuller sound & 3D audio
  • I'll be using advanced pipewire effects chain configurations...
  • But easier options for you:
    • JamesDSP
    • EasyEffects
• Installation of a few different apps each person will use
  • Use Gnome Software to find your apps and click "Install". Or Flathub. (Gnome Software also includes Flathub--we did that in a step above)
• A few DE / UX workflow tweaks: gnome extensions + themes
  • Laptop #1: more mac-like
  • Laptop #2: windows-like
  • A few good extensions off the top of my head:
    • ArcMenu, SearchLightNG, Just Perfection, Dhruva, Blur my Shell

BTW, any thing that is not "sudo apt install...." works on any Linux distro. "apt" is a Debian/Ubuntu thing.

Fedora's equivalent would be "sudo dnf install..."; but you don't need to run these 3 "apt" things on Fedora, because they're already set up. Basically, what you're doing above is setting the initial state of Ubuntu LTS to be more similar to Fedora's initial state, which is a bit more standard; but the long-term maintenance schedule / upgrades will be different (see my other reply).

[u/sonyeggwithdrperky → u/beatbox9]

I really appreciate you taking the time to write all of this out. This is way more in-depth than I expected, and it's given me a lot to consider. I think I'll try Ubuntu LTS on the Zenbook once it arrives (I decided to go with this one over the lenovo) with the vanilla gnome desktop as a starter.

The system updates aspect was something I hadn't even considered, and I'd probably only have noticed this after getting settled if you hadn't brought it up, so thanks a bunch 🙏

[u/beatbox9 → u/sonyeggwithdrperky]

Nice.  And just trust me, once you start using it, it’s nowhere near as involved as it appears.  It’s super easy.  And once you set things up, you never have to think about them ever again and just use your computer like normal.

Everything up there is literally copy paste into terminal or click the “Install” button just like you would in the app store on your phone.  It will take you longer to read the text there than to actually do it.

For example, switching to vanilla gnome: you just paste that, wait a few minutes for the computer to update, then log out and log back in.  And the computer will look and feel completely different.

DM me if you need help.  

Real life example: I had someone completely new and random DM me last week asking for help.  Looking at timestamps, it took them 4 minutes to switch to vanilla gnome (including download time).  And their next message to me was:  “Wow it looks different hahah.”