Lenovo IdeaCentre B520 VBT1-VGE (All-In-One-PC)

Joachim

The Lenovo IdeaCentre B520 is a All-In-One-PC. So although it's not really a laptop there are some things that you might like to know before risking to install Linux. (See notes below.)

I've testet OpenSuse 12.1.

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The mouse has several extra buttons and a gyroscope which don't work yet. In Windows you can use the mouse in the air, but not yet in Linux. Also it goes to a battery saving state if not used and takes like 3 seconds to wake up.

The keyboard has several function keys: Suspend, Speakers on/off, Volume controls work.

Very important before you start an installation:

• If you still need your Windows installation create restoration disks before trying to install! (I needed 3 writable DVDs although the instructions said 4.)
• To make space for Linux on the harddisk I first made the Windows partition smaller (via Windows).
• The mouse and keyboard in the package are wireless, connected via Bluetooth. The keyboard won't work during the installation and before rebooting after the first online update via Yast! So you'll need another keyboard with either USB or PS2 connector while installing Linux.
• You might want to change the boot device order in your BIOS temporarily (enter setup with F12 at the start): Put the CD/DVD-drive first. Just in case your Bluetooth keyboard won't be recognized later.
• Installing the bootloader Grub failed (probably due to the huge hard disk of 2 TB). This resulted in an unbootable system. So disable bootloader installation. Instead you can later add a Windows-Bootmenu that contains a “Linux” section (e.g. via EasyBCD from NeoSmart). (To repair the unbootable system “No system partition” you would need a Windows 7 installation disk, which is not in the package. So you might have to restore your system from your restoration disks and loose all your changes.)
• Rebooting didn't work correctly until after the online update. The system froze at startup. Only completely turning the system off and on again allowed me to restart.

In suspend-to-RAM mode the B520 will not be completely quiet because there is still a fan (?) active. (But this is not Linux-specific.)

lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller (rev 09)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200/2nd Generation Core Processor Family PCI Express Root Port (rev 09)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82579V Gigabit Network Connection (rev 05)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 05)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev b5)
00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 6 (rev b5)
00:1c.6 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 7 (rev b5)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 05)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation H67 Express Chipset Family LPC Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 05)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Device 0deb (rev a1)
01:00.1 Audio device: nVidia Corporation GF108 High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
02:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5116 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)
03:00.0 USB Controller: NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 04)
04:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter (rev 01)

lsusb
ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
ID 0a5c:4500 Broadcom Corp. BCM2046B1 USB 2.0 Hub (part of BCM2046 Bluetooth)
ID 07ca:4336 AVerMedia Technologies, Inc. … A336 MiniCard Hybrid DVB-T
ID 222a:0001 … ILITEK Multi-Touch (Touchscreen)
ID 0ac8:c42d Z-Star Microelectronics Corp. … Lenovo USB 2.0 UVC Camera
ID 0955:7002 NVidia Corp. … NVIDIA stereo controller
ID 0a5c:4502 Broadcom Corp. Keyboard (Boot Interface Subclass)
ID 0a5c:4503 Broadcom Corp. Mouse (Boot Interface Subclass)
ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub


So far this looks good.

To be continued …