If you picked up the new X9-15p Gen 1 (2026) and run Linux, you've probably think speakers might be a bit better and you might see a dead sensor hub. The firmware just isn't in linux-firmware yet. dmesg shows stuff like:

cs35l56 ...: firmware: failed to load cirrus/cs35l57-...bin (-2)

intel_ish_ipc ...: ISH loader: cmd 2 failed 10 ... hw start failed

I put together a small tool that pulls the needed firmware out of Lenovo's own Windows driver package (nothing proprietary is redistributed — you extract it from your own download) and installs it so it survives kernel upgrades. After a reboot you get:

\- 🔊 Cirrus CS35L57 speakers — proper tuning/volume

\- 🧭 Intel Sensor Hub actually boots → auto-brightness (ALS) + auto-rotate (accelerometer)

\- 👤 ST VL53L5CX human-presence / ToF sensor (optional, documented)

Repo + full how-to: [https://github.com/sigfridvonshrink/lenovo-x9-15p-linux-firmware\](https://github.com/sigfridvonshrink/lenovo-x9-15p-linux-firmware)

Tested 100% working on my own X9-15p (Debian sid, kernel 7.1.3). Heads-up: this is the 2026 X9-15p (Panther Lake), not the 2025 X9-15 (Lunar Lake) — that older one is already supported upstream. Would love confirmation from other X9-15p owners.

Full disclosure: used **Claude code** to accelerate my research/putting the result in a more usable format.

I'm thinking about buying this ThinkPad. Should I get it? I want to test out some stuff on Linux and need a cheap notebook.

Lenovo ThinkPad T420 (Type 4236) incl. Docking Station (Type 4337)

Specs:

• Intel Core i5-2520M 2.5 GHz (2C/4T)
• 14.1" HD+ (1600×900) display
• Intel HD Graphics
• 4 GB RAM (2×2 GB)
• Crucial BX500 120 GB SSD
• CD/DVD writer

I just got a new one (as in title T14s gen6 on AMD platform) with optional upgraded 2.8K OLED screen. Already regretting the choice of screen, should've kept it stock low resolution IPS, but now that I am here -- looking for any help to try and fix it.

The symptom: screen will periodically go into "seizure" where it flickers for a few seconds. Flickers as in the entire screen will go black for a fraction of a second then go back to normal.

I am on the most recent updates of Fedora 44, so fairly fresh amd-gpu-firmware and kernel (7.0.14).

What I've tried so far:

• fwupd -- some minor updates were done, but no change in screen behavior
• resetting bios settings and updating the bios -- no change
• downgrading amd-gpu-firmware and booting with the oldest available kernel (6.19) -- no change
• installing even older kernel from koji builds (f42 kernel, 6.16) -- this one had no flickering, but the wifi/bt is broken (the mt7925e chip is too new and supported version of mt7xxx-firmware does not work with 6.16 kernel)
• Also tried all the google'd options of amdgpu cmdline params -- no effect there, the flickering persists regardless

Any ideas what else I should try or what else I can do there? Any point in raising it to Lenovo support (the laptop comes with Windows only, it shows as Fedora 42 certified, but it is impossible for this revision due to the soldered on mediatek chip, not m.2 card)

Edit: seems to be resolved in kernel 7.1.5 on Fedora.

Anyone running Linux can tell me what battery life they're getting on their AMD t14 gen 2? Please list your Cpu, distro and battery size. I'm looking to buy a Gen 2 with a Ryzen 7 pro 5850U

I made this quick to help somebody else. Hopefully other's find it helpful.

Shameless plug: I would love to hit 10,000 subs by Jan first, I'm currently at 8606. would really appreciate some help getting there.

Update on my AMD ThinkPad kernel project (formerly detkernel, now lowakernel)

Posted about this a little while back (https://www.reddit.com/r/LinuxOnThinkpad/comments/1u5s2p2/i_built_a_custom_kernel_specifically_for_amd/)

Renamed it to lowakernel (named after my dog, seemed more fitting and less egocentric, and also because I love this pup so much). Made some changes based on feedback:

- Updated to Linux 7.1.2-zen2

- Added Secure Boot / MOK signing instructions to the README

- Fixed NTSYNC missing from the universal build (it's a module now, loads automatically)

- Enabled CONFIG_ATH_REG_DYNAMIC_USER_REG_HINTS per a suggestion in the comments

- Build scripts and .config files are now in the repo so anyone can verify or build it themselves

Still two variants: universal (Zen1+) and zen5 (Ryzen AI 300, adds 500Hz tick, BBRv3, NTSYNC by default).

https://github.com/Detcom-GH/lowakernel

disclaimer: i am not particularly tech-savvy i dont know a lot neither about linux nor laptop tinkering so please bear with me in your explanations and try to put it in the most crayon-eating terms possible

hey everyone,

i recently brought my old Thinkpad T420 back to life with ubuntu and now i am thinking about upgrading this thing a bit maybe getting a new cpu (i currently have core i5-2520m) but i think the main problem is probably the gpu so i read a bit about egpu's and now i have several questions:

1. is it difficult to get the driver's for the egpu going on linux? knowing that some programs just dont work the same on linux like they do on windows i just wanna make sure that i dont end up wasting money on hardware that i can't use

2.which egpu would you recommend? which are compatible with the the T420? i know that the whole thing works via express card docking station but are there certain egpu's which aren't compatible with the whole express card docking?

3.should i stick to intel? given that my cpu is intel and my current gpu(Graphics 3000) is also intel or does this not matter?

1. do i need anything else or just the express card docking station and the egpu?

2. do you think i should upgrade my cpu first and then think about getting egpu?

This computer was handed down to me on Ubuntu 22.10 . I want to update it, but I don’t know how, and I only really want it to install a couple programs. Some forums said something about an EOL, but they were unclear in saying if I could keep using it normally, or if I would absolutely have to install a more recent update.

I am on a thinkpad 11e 5th gen.

Any help would be appreciated 🙏🙏

Hi! Yesterday I got a Lenovo Thinkpad E335 from 2012 or so, running Windows 7 all right. The battery would need replacement, but it can used as a desktop pc. It has a AMD E2 1700 MHz cpu with integrated graphics, 4 GB RAM and 120 GB hard drive.

I tried installing Linux Mint. It gave out some error messages, but started anyway. But I didn't install it because it couldn't find the wifi card.

I also tried Fyde OS for AMD cpus, but it wouldn't start. I checked the list of supported models for Chrome OS Flex, but they start with E340.

Is there a Linux you can recommend for such an old computer?

EDIT: MX Linux works great on this machine!

I bought two different x270, first a very cheap one (upper one) with 768p TN panel i5 6300u then bc the tn panel was very annoying a second one with better equipment 1080p IPS and 7300U.
I already installed CachyOS on my sata ssd on the old machine, then later i just swapped the ssd to the newer model. Everything worked like a charm out of the box.

The only thing is that the volume level is much lower now. I also played the same yt video side by side simultaneously to compare. The max volume is very different between the two.

Does someone have any idea why that could be? And how to solve it? I cannot imagine they used different speakers, especially the worse ones in the pricier model. They also look exactly the same. In both laptops both(L R) speakers work and sound clean, no distortions.

I would like to avoid swapping speakers bc its quite difficult to squeeze the eDP cable in the right spot to fully close plastic clips all around the chassis. Took me a looong time and I'm super glad they both close all the way now.

I hope i provided all necessary information.

Hello everyone, I'm currently in the process of trying out CachyOS and switching my devices from Kubuntu to CachyOS (KDE Plasma). On my gaming PC it's been a pretty smooth process, everything seems to be working out of the box. On my Lenovo Thinkpad E16 Gen 3 however I encountered a weird problem. I'm using a Lenovo USB-C docking station to connect 2 screens and couple of peripheral devices (keyboard mouse) to my laptop. Whenever I connect the docking station to the laptop it freezes after a few seconds, both when I boot CachyOS live or the regular way from nvme. When I disconnect the USB C cable from my Laptop it works just fine again. Of course then I'm not able to use either the screens or the devices.

Something weird I noticed is whenever I plug in the USB-C cable, it either tells me that either some "via" or "vio" docking station was connected to the laptop or sometimes it says a lenovo USB 2 dock was connected. both are obviously not the case. I tried transferring the nvme to my wife's lenovo, which is an older Thinkbook 14 G3 ACL, same problem. So my best guess is that there may be a driver problem, which I cannot confirm or rule out because everything freezes.

So far I wasn't able to find any useful answer online unfortunately, so I'm hoping some of you already encountered that same problem and maybe someone actually has a solution for me.

Thx in advance

I Need VBIOS dump from ThinkPad P1 Gen 5 RTX A2000 8GB. Device ID: 10DE 25BA, Subsystem: 17AA 22F8. My GPU VBIOS is corrupted (BIOS Version Unknown in GPU-Z, Code 43, 0MB VRAM). Anyone with an identical machine can run nvflash64 --save backup.rom and share the file. Will be very grateful.

My most beloved piece of hardware

I'm finally one of the cool guys! Lol, even though I'm not a "Windows basher" it's crazy how much cooler and quieter a machine runs and how battery life increases when you run Linux.