Lenovo ThinkPad T14/T14s (Intel) Gen 1
Hardware | PCI/USB ID | Working? |
---|---|---|
Touchpad | Yes | |
TrackPoint | Yes | |
Touchscreen | Partial | |
GPU | Yes | |
Webcam | Yes | |
Bluetooth | Yes | |
Audio | Yes | |
Wireless | Yes | |
Mobile broadband | Untested | |
Fingerprint reader | Yes | |
Smartcard reader | Yes |
This article covers the installation and configuration of Arch Linux on a Lenovo ThinkPad T14/T14s (Intel) Gen 1 laptop.
Firmware
Secure Boot
As of January 2021 deleting Secure Boot keys and installing your own keys (for example by using KeyTool) will brick the device. This is a problem that is similar to one which has been reported on some other Lenovo laptops and is likely due to a faulty firmware. If the device is stuck in a boot loop after replacing the Secure Boot keys, the only way to repair it is by replacing the mainboard of the device. Hopefully, the issue will get fixed with a firmware update in the future.
Power modes
Lenovo Vantage software manages 3 power modes in Windows with Intel DPTF, they are managed through acpi calls:
- economy
- balanced
- performance
There is not a software to manage Intel DPTF for this laptop, so we need to do that manually.
If you do not enable the performance mode, the GPU will throttle at 57 C and the CPU Mhz will be throttled too. Which makes applications stutter. So far, in a desk, using the performance mode while connected to the power supply was not a problem.
For the ThinkPad T14 Intel, the ACPI calls are as follows:
economy | \_SB.PCI0.LPCB.EC._Q6F |
balanced | \_SB.PCI0.LPCB.EC._Q6E |
performance | \_SB.PCI0.LPCB.EC._Q6D |
To enable ACPI method calls through /proc/acpi/call
, install the acpi_call kernel module. Install acpi_call-lts if you are using linux-lts.
Then call one of the ACPI methods above to enable a power mode. For example, run the following command to enable performance mode:
# echo '\_SB.PCI0.LPCB.EC._Q6D' > /proc/acpi/call
The result of the call can be determined by examining the contents of /proc/acpi/call
. A successful call for the previous method is indicated by the following output:
# cat /proc/acpi/call; printf '\n'
0x8012b01
You can check what is the throttling temperature in Celsius for the NVIDIA GPU if you want to make sure, note that you need the nvidia-settings package installed:
$ nvidia-settings -q GPUMaxOperatingTempThreshold
An output of 87C
or 75C
means it is in performance mode.
Intel Turbo Boost
Check that Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 is enabled using
$ cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/intel_pstate/no_turbo
An output of 1 means it is not enabled, so you will have to reset your BIOS to defaults. After doing that, running the command again should print 0. You should be able to see your CPU boosting way higher.
Suspend
S3 suspend works, optionally you can set the Config > Power > Sleep to Linux in bios.
Smartcard Reader
Tested and confirmed to work with integrated Smart card reader Alcor Micro AU9540. Follow Lenovo ThinkPad T14s (AMD) Gen 1#Smartcard reader. Smart card must be inserted with the chip facing upwards.
Touchscreen
Works out of the box but with incorrect touch coordinates.
Needs to be better configured.
Sound
This laptop requires firmware in order for the soundcard to work. See Advanced Linux Sound Architecture#ALSA firmware.
See also
T14 links
- Product Specifications Reference (PSREF)
- Hardware maintenance manual
- User guide
- https://ubuntu.com/certified/202005-27918