This is a compatibility guide to running Linux with the Lenovo ThinkPad X201 laptop.
This page is just for discussing using Linux on the Lenovo ThinkPad X201. For a general discussion about this laptop you can visit the Lenovo ThinkPad X201 page on LapWik.
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For full specifications see the Lenovo ThinkPad X201 specifications page.
| Name | Lenovo ThinkPad X201 |
| Processor | 2.66 GHz Intel® CoreTM i7-620M 2.53 GHz Intel® CoreTM i5-540M 2.40 GHz Intel® CoreTM i5-520M |
| Screen | 12.1” WXGA Widescreen |
| RAM | Up to 8GB |
| HDD | 250GB to 320GB |
| Optical Drive | None |
| Graphics | Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD |
| Network | 10/100/1000 Ethernet ThinkPad Wireless BGN Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 1000 BGN Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6200 AGN Intel® Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300 AGN Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 AGN |
| Device | Compatibility | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Works | |
| Screen | Works | |
| HDD | Works | |
| Graphics | Works | |
| Sound | Works | |
| Ethernet | Works | |
| Wireless | Works | |
| Bluetooth | Works | |
| Modem | Not Tested | |
| USB | Works | |
| Card Reader | Works | |
| ExpressCard Slot | Works | |
| Fingerprint Reader | Works | |
| Webcam | Works |
Debian Lenny (date at which point last updated provided with yyyy.mm.dd):
You can enter any specific notes with running Linux on the Lenovo ThinkPad X201 here.
You can enter a summary of how well the Lenovo ThinkPad X201 works with Linux here.
Discussion
Ubuntu 11.04 worked fine on first installation on a x201 3680-HPG.
Everyting seems to work perfectly except for the fingerprint reader.
No problems with WiFi, HDSPA WLAN, audio, video or even bluetooth.
I did get 10.04 to run on this little beast… but it was a hard task to get the video to work at full resolution. Now trying 10.10 and 11.04b2 and both are worse. Install works OK, but the system never boots :(
Installed Ubuntu 10.10 (x64) on my x201 perfectly. No extra parameters needed for booting, just put the cd in my usb drive and installed it. The installer even resized my existing Windows 7 partition to make more room for Linux without messing anything up. Can't really think of anything that doesn't work except maybe the fingerprint reader, but then I haven't looked for any apps either. The built-in video camera works, I tested it out with Google/gmail video chat and it worked great. Only thing extra I had to do for the video chat was install flash, but that's just a simple download from Adobe's website.
Hi there,
I am thinking in purchasing a lenovo thinkpad x201 but I do not how which Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters I may choose.
When you installed Ubuntu 10.10, what type of wireless adapters did you have? Does it work well?
Thanks
Go for the Intel ones and NOT the Thinkpad wireless card, I'm told. The Intel Centrino Wireless-N worked perfectly for me. Even loaded up while I was using the Ubuntu installer.
After fighting for 1 day with the installation, I managed to install openSUSE 11.3 KDE4 from Windows 7 using a USB install. The steps are super-easy…. once you find out what they were.
The steps that worked:
1.- Downloaded the SUSE Studio ImageWriter for Microsoft Windows (ftp://ftp.berlios.de/pub/kiwi/ImageWriter.exe)
2.- Downloaded the openSUSE-11.3-KDE4-LiveCD-x86_64.iso image onto my Windows 7 hard disk.
3.- I had to reformat with the Windows 7 my 4GB USB key to be able to perform the next step. I chose FAT32 format. It would not work when formatting out of the DOS command terminal.
4.- Started the ImageWriter, pressed “Select” on the menu that appeared. Selected the downloaded image by putting a *.iso (return) in the box for file types. Pressed on the “Copy” button.
5.- Restarted my Lenovo X201 tablet out of the W7 menu options.
6.- Pressed F12 before the Windows fireballs show up in the booting procedure.
7.- Selected “Boot from USB”
8.- The openSUSE installer menu appeared and I typed into options: boot=/dev/sdb/boot/x86_64/vmlinuz-xen
Then the YAST installation window appeared and I was able to install openSUSE. Cooool !!!
For those interested in what did not work for me: (why it took me one day)
1.- Following the steps in: http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Installation_help
2.- Trying the NET installation. My USB would not boot:
3.- Following steps 1-7 of those that worked above, without the Boot options, I tried noapci, acpi=off, …. I got an error saying that MBR (Master Boot Records) were not found. No matter how many combinations I used of the openSUSE installer window (install, boot from HD, safe install, no ACPI,…)
My major complaint: I could not find information anywhere of what are the boot options for the openSUSE installer window, nor anyone who had gone through the same. I used Linux on PCs and Mac PPCs before OS/X was even a rumor. After that I moved to Macs for its easy integration between computer and SW until they started getting monopolistic and worse machines than the PCs of the same price. The problems with installing Linux on a W7 are a major disadvantage of Linux. Pretty much like 10 years ago.
I hope this helps. I was getting really frustrated. Enjoy!
Hey folks, here is another blog about this laptop with Debian: http://blog.josefsson.org/2010/10/25/debian-on-lenovo-x201/
Works on Fedora 13 Gnome x64. Most things work out of the box except for HDAPS since the tp_smapi kernel module is not shipped in the repos.
For ubuntu/debian and archlinux on the x201 have a look at http://www.nico.schottelius.org/blog/lenovo-x201-with-linux/
Parted Magic boots from USB with the VESA graphics option to create root, swap and home partitions.
Installed Ubuntu 10.04 64-bit version using the Alternate Install ISO on a bootable USB drive. Had to use the “xforcevesa i915.modeset=0” option as recommended here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=9212027 No 3D / Compiz operation for now, but Suspend, WLAN, etc working - OK until Intel Linux drivers catch up.
does ubuntu support x201?
Hey whoever updated this, care to share what distro you used? Thanks a ton!