Lenovo ThinkPad T420s

Fans

The thinkpad_acpi kernel module needs to be configured so user space programs can control the fan speed.

/etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf

options thinkpad_acpi fan_control=1

The thinkfan configuration file also needs to know how to set the fan speed. Replace the default sensor settings with the following.

/etc/thinkfan.conf

sensor /sys/devices/platform/coretemp.0/temp1_input

Using multiple monitors with NVIDIA-Optimus

Note: This solution may work on other devices with NVIDIA-Optimus, too.

It seems that the digital video ports (DVI or DisplayPort) only connected to the NVIDIA-card (Only if you have one, of course, see ThinkWiki - Switchable Graphics and Docks). So you can't use a monitor via DisplayPort/DVI with the integrated graphics card (Intel). You can solve this problem by switching completly to the NVIDIA card in the BIOS settings, but this uses more battery power. A better solution is to activate the NVIDIA-Card only when you connected to an external monitor.

First install and configure Bumblebee.

After that you can start a secound XServer on your NVIDIA-Card (replace the $path-to-nvidia-org-configuration-file !):

Xorg :9 -config $path-to-nvidia-org-configuration-file -nolisten tcp -noreset -verbose 3 -isolateDevice PCI:01:00:0 -modulepath /usr/lib/nvidia-bumblebee/xorg/,/usr/lib/xorg/modules

With a minimal xorg-configuration for your NVIDIA-Card, as example:

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "NVS 4200M"
    Option "NoLogo" "true"
    Option "UseEDID" "true"
EndSection

This minimal configuration should detected the connected monitor and use it automatically.

If Bumblebee is correctly configured, your NVIDIA-Card should wake-up when you start the secound X-Server and if you kill it, it should be going to sleep again.

Example X.org-Configuration using Intel and NVIDIA together

You can use your internal monitor (connected only to the intel card) and some external monitor (Connected to the NVIDIA card) together with Xinerama. The example configuration below shows how to use three screens with Xinerama, two external with the NVIDIA card and the internal with the intel card.

/etc/X11/xorg.conf

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "X.org Configured"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    Screen      1  "Screen1" LeftOf "Screen0"
    Screen      2  "Screen2" LeftOf "Screen1"
    Option         "Xinerama" "1"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "intelDevice"
    Driver         "intel"
    Option         "XvMC" "true"
    Option         "UseEvents" "true"
    Option         "AccelMethod" "UXA"
    BusID          "PCI:0:2:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "nvidiaDevice"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "NVS 4200M"
    Option "NoLogo" "true"
    #Option "UseEDID" "true"
    BusID          "PCI:1:0:0"
    Screen         0
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "nvidiaDevice2"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "NVS 4200M"
    BusID          "PCI:1:0:0"
    Screen          1
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
    Identifier     "nvidiaMonitor"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "DELL U2412M"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 83.0
    VertRefresh     50.0 - 61.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "nvidiaDevice"
    Monitor        "nvidiaMonitor"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "TwinView" "0"
    Option         "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-6"
    Option         "metamodes" "nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen1"
    Device         "intelDevice"
    Monitor        "intelMonitor"
    DefaultDepth    24
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen2"
    Device         "nvidiaDevice2"
    Monitor        "nvidiaTVMonitor"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "TwinView" "0"
    Option         "metamodes" "DFP-2: nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "intelMonitor"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "LVDS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
    Identifier     "nvidiaTVMonitor"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "SONY TV"
    HorizSync       14.0 - 70.0
    VertRefresh     48.0 - 62.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Switching configurations when the device is docked at boot

The following rc-script detects at boot if your ThinkPad is connected to the dock. If the device is docked, it activates the NVIDIA card and copy a custom XOrg-Configuration (with an external monitor configured, as example) to /etc/X11/xorg.conf. If the device is not docked, the /etc/X11/xorg.conf is removed, so the default configuration is used and the NVIDIA card is disabled. (So it saves power on travel.)

Save this script to /etc/rc.d/dockscript or something and make it executable. Your custom XOrg-Configuration should at /etc/X11/xorg.conf.nvidia. Then add dockscript to DAEMONS in your rc.conf. bumblebeed should start before and your X-Server must start after.

You can detect the correct dock_usb_id by using lsusb.

/etc/rc.d/dockscript

#!/bin/bash
dock_usb_id="17ef:100a Lenovo ThinkPad Mini Dock Plus Series 3"
dock_xorg_file=/etc/X11/xorg.conf.nvidia
xorg_file=/etc/X11/xorg.conf

. /etc/rc.conf
. /etc/rc.d/functions

case "$1" in
  start)
    stat_busy "Starting Dock Detection"
    lsusb | grep "$dock_usb_id" > /dev/null
    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
      tee /proc/acpi/bbswitch <<<ON
      cp "$dock_xorg_file" "$xorg_file"
    else
      rm "$xorg_file"
    fi
    stat_done
    ;;
  stop)
    stat_busy "Stopping Dock Detection"
    rm "$xorg_file"
    tee /proc/acpi/bbswitch <<<OFF
    stat_done
    ;;
  restart)
    $0 stop
    sleep 3
    $0 start
    ;;
  *)
    echo "usage: $0 {start|stop|restart}"
esac
exit 0

Sound

To make sound work, make sure all channels are unmuted via alsamixer or similar, and configure the snd-hda-intel module to load specifically for a thinkpad.

/etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf

options snd-hda-intel model=thinkpad

TrackPoint

Setting

Create 20-thinkpad.conf under /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/.

Section "InputClass"
        Identifier      "Trackpoint Wheel Emulation"
        MatchProduct    "TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint|DualPoint Stick|Synaptics Inc. Composite TouchPad / TrackPoint|ThinkPad USB Keyboard with TrackPoint|USB Trackpoint pointing device|Composite TouchPad / TrackPoint"
        MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
        Option          "EmulateWheel"          "true"
        Option          "EmulateWheelButton"    "2"
        Option          "Emulate3Buttons"       "false"
        Option          "XAxisMapping"          "6 7"
        Option          "YAxisMapping"          "4 5"
EndSection

Configuration Tool

The GPointing Device Settings is a great tool for configuring the Track Point. You may install it via AUR: gpointing-device-settings^AUR.