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Lenovo ThinkPad W530
Introduction
Installation of Xubuntu 12.04 seems functional, with a few extras missing.
This page is just for discussing using Linux on the Lenovo ThinkPad W530. For a general discussion about this laptop you can visit the Lenovo ThinkPad W530 page on LapWik.
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Specifications
For full specifications see the Lenovo ThinkPad W530 specifications page.
| Name | Lenovo ThinkPad W530 |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-3920XM (2.90 GHz, 8MB L3, 1600MHz FSB) Intel Core i7-3820QM (2.70 GHz, 8MB L3, 1333MHz FSB) Intel Core i7-3720QM (2.60 GHz, 6MB L3, 1333MHz FSB) Intel Core i7-3520M (2.90 GHz, 4MB L3, 1333MHz FSB) Intel Core i5-3360M (2.80 GHz, 3MB L3, 1333MHz FSB) Intel Core i5-3320M (2.60 GHz, 3MB L3, 1333MHz FSB) Intel Core i7-3610QM (2.30 GHz, 6MB L3,1333MHz FSB) |
| Screen | 15.6” 1366×768 Widescreen 15.6” 1600×900 Widescreen 15.6” 1920×1080 Widescreen |
| RAM | Up to 32GB |
| HDD | Up to 1TB |
| Optical Drive | DVD+-RW |
| Graphics | NVIDIA Quadro K2000 NVIDIA Quadro K1000 |
| Network | 10/100/1000 Ethernet ThinkPad b/g/n Wireless (1×1) Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 (2×2 AGN) Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 3000 (3×3 AGN) |
Linux Compatibility
| Device | Compatibility | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Works | |
| Screen | Works | |
| HDD | Works | |
| Optical Drive | Works | |
| Graphics Chip | Intel works. Nvidia works. Optimus function work with Blumblebee. | |
| VGA Out | Works - select output source manually with nvidia-config | |
| DisplayPort | Not yet | |
| Sound | Works | |
| Bulti-in Microphone | Works | |
| Headphone Jack | Works | |
| Microphone Jack | Works | |
| Ethernet | Works | |
| Wireless | Works | |
| Bluetooth | Works | |
| WWAN | Works | |
| Modem | Not Tested | |
| USB | Works | |
| Card Reader | Works | |
| ExpressCard Slot | Works | |
| Fingerprint Reader | Works, a bit tricky | |
| Webcam | Works | |
| Smart Card Reader | Not Tested | |
| Docking Station | Partial | |
| Touch Pad | Works | |
| Track Point | Works | |
| Suspend/Resume | Works in Ubuntu 12.04 and Fedora 17 and Archlinux | |
| Hibernate In Ram | Works! |
ArchLinux
Everything work, a bit configuration and you get a powerfull system.
Auto Switch with Optimus work with Blumblebee
The Fingerprint also work, but a little tricky.
Hibernate, Suspend, Resume work really good with 1 line to add in your Grub configuration to suspend / hibernate in ram ⇒ I used pm-utils
Some people get problem with brightness settings, i never got the problem. Everything worked the first time.
Finally, i'm really happy of this system, everything is working !
Notes
Out of the box most things seem to work using Xubuntu 11.04. Some things still need testing. The DisplayPort is working, but you need to be using the NVidia GPU.
To get the Nvidia chip to work I had to switch to 'Discrete' video in the BIOS before booting, and installing the closed source drivers. I did not get Optimus to work using the Bumblebee project - getting stuck on a 'device fell off bus' error. The device does work well with bbswitch though.
The fan is very quiet, even under load. Under heavy load it's running just a tad quieter than a MacBook Pro, but this is a 'by ear' judgement without any measurements.
The docking station issue is still a bit up in the air, as I need to use the power supply of the laptop, before docking the laptop to prevent it from running on battery. The dock's power supply is 90W and insufficient to run the latop and the dock. Dock USB, ethernet and DVI output works though. Getting a bigger dock power supply should solve this issue. Note that this station was labeled as 'compatible' which it might be considered to be. I don't agree, as most people would expect a dock to be sufficient to keep a laptop powered. I'm using a 135W power supply. and while running a little warm it is getting the job done. The Lenovo store now has a dock with the 170W supply, so make sure you get that one.
Some references Ubuntu forums
Find a new driver from here Driver download
Summary
Support is not as good as I expected, seeing that Lenovo told me the system supports Linux. The keyboard seems good enough, if a little lightweight/plasticky. I'm quite happy with it though, but have a look at photos of the key layout if you make constant use of home/end/insert/delete/pgup/pgdn to confirm that it matches what you are used to.
The screen is matte and does the job. I'm not a screen critic, apart from preferring a matte finish for glare, so your opinion might vary. The screen's backlight packs a wallop though, and it has the 'thinklight' built in, which would be very handy in the dark if you have no backlit keyboard. Just to mention that the 'thinklight' does work in Linux as it uses a fn+space combination to switch. I expect it uses a BIOS call directly.
I consider the fan to be very quiet, even under load. Using a SSD this system is quite speedy and responsive, and I would say much better value than the Dell XPS15.
(Edit dates: 2012/06, 2012/07, 2012/08)
Discussion
Tried to install openSUSE 12.3, but was unable to get by the disk partitioning step. openSUSE installer insisted on deleting the installed Win7 partitions.
Any one with experience in dealing with it, please post (here or in the openSUSE wiki).
Thanks
17ef:1003 Lenovo Integrated Smart Card Reader
The above smart card reader works fine just using the standard pcscd in Fedora 18 (only tested to the point of reading smartcards with pcsc_scan)
If you get the card falls off the bus error you might want to checkout this thread : http://nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=2576162#post2576162
Is the mini disply port sending audio as well when using Nvidia GPU?
Hi all,
I am using LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition) and almost everything works….
The only point is the sound card , despite all my efforts no sound comes out of the speakers ….I ve checked the mixer settings , aplay -l shows the expected cards but no sound….lsmod show the snd-hda-intel…
Jerome
Discrete GPU works, may need to add nox2apic to your kernel in grub. Otherwise the system appeared to hang on boot with discrete graphics enabled.
Backlight works with discrete GPU, you need to enable it by adding this to your video device settings in xorg.conf:
Option “RegistryDwords” “EnableBrightnessControl=1”
That Fingerprint workaround where can I find it ?
Best regards
AppelonD
Here (Upek 147e:2020, lsusb -v):
http://volker.de/2012/12/fingerprint-gui-und-das-thinkpad-t430s/
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14118652/fingerprint-reader-id-147e2020-upek-thinkpad-t430
btw, fingerprint-gui ubuntu deb can be installed on debian (sid → oneiric):
http://ppa.launchpad.net/fingerprint/fingerprint-gui/ubuntu/pool/main/f/fingerprint-gui/
Has anyone got the screen backlight adjust working under Archlinux?
NVidia Optimus work perfectly for me, i just used Blumblebee and default configuration found over Google
Haven't tried using forcing the discrete graphics on all the time on this W530, but I do have Optimus working just fine using bumblebee. I did have to switch to the xorg-edgers PPA for updated nvidia drivers.
I can't get discrete mode to work. Maybe anyone else had / has the same problem. I described my everything in detail over at the gentoo forums (http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-p-7130546.html#7130546) as I'm using gentoo! Any suggestions welcome : )
Has anyone been able to get the miniDP working on any linux distro?
The mini display port is working, but you have to be using the Nvidia GPU. I'm using Xfce. I plug in the adapter, switch the external display on in menu>settings>settings manager>display and then use xrandr to set my second screen as a second desktop.