4 ms·

Actually, even ThinkPads aren't the inofficial reference platform these days either... I've had this W520 for the past 2 years and, while running with NVIDIA gr

by th0br0 13y ago

Actually, even ThinkPads aren't the inofficial reference platform these days either... I've had this W520 for the past 2 years and, while running with NVIDIA graphics, I can neither boot without specific kernel options (pci=noacpi) nor can I change the brightness after the kernel is loaded (pre-kernel changes are fine and stay after boot. Even changing brightness after kernel load but before loading of the nvidia module causes a silent crash)

loser777 13y ago
Yup, this is increasingly the case. Kernels 3.9.x still have power consumption issues when using suspend/resume on Tx2x (Sandy Bridge) machines. If you managed to buy a ThinkPad from that generation with "Thinkpad Wireless," good luck getting reliable wireless connectivity, as the binary blob 8188CE drivers are worse than garbage. As much as people talk about how AMAZING hardware support on linux is, if you want a "just works" experience, the lowest common denominator is usually Intel CPU, Intel Wireless, Intel Graphics. And that exotic keyboard layout with function keys? Hope you like configuring xbindkeys.
- rodgerd 13y ago
  Unfortunately Ingo has pretty much shitcanned any efforts to progress power saving support for the forseeable future, so don't expect things to improve.
  - taeric 13y ago
    Any good links to read up on this?
    - kryptiskt 13y ago
      There's an LWN article: http://lwn.net/Articles/552885/ http://lwn.net/Articles/552885/
  - krakensden 13y ago
    My impression was that problems with power management on laptops wasn't really about scheduling, more about supporting the billion permutations of OEM firmware and hardware. Yes, it would be nice to have slicker support for things like big.little, but... it doesn't really address the current problems with laptop support.
aeroevan 13y ago
I think that was the nvidia optimus switchable crap that had very little Linux support. I think some of the most recent NVIDIA drivers have some support, but my T410 thankfully doesn't have that.
ownagefool 13y ago
I doubt there is a reference platform, but if there is one it's really with intel graphics. Only this, from a laptop point of view, has the kind of support that is needed from a thermals point of view. AMD is apparently nearly there with new power managment code, so this may change in the future. Obviously if you want to use binary drivers, you can, but one would hardly call that reference, inofficial or not.
LeonidasXIV 13y ago
Oh and when booting with nvidia disabled, the Intel card in the T420 is not entering power save after standby, this regression is open since kernel 3.6.2 (October 2012). https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=150743&p=16 https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=150743&p=16 https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/32025 https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/32025

by th0br0 13y ago

loser777 13y ago

Yup, this is increasingly the case. Kernels 3.9.x still have power consumption issues when using suspend/resume on Tx2x (Sandy Bridge) machines. If you managed to buy a ThinkPad from that generation with "Thinkpad Wireless," good luck getting reliable wireless connectivity, as the binary blob 8188CE drivers are worse than garbage. As much as people talk about how AMAZING hardware support on linux is, if you want a "just works" experience, the lowest common denominator is usually Intel CPU, Intel Wireless, Intel Graphics. And that exotic keyboard layout with function keys? Hope you like configuring xbindkeys.

rodgerd 13y ago
Unfortunately Ingo has pretty much shitcanned any efforts to progress power saving support for the forseeable future, so don't expect things to improve.
- taeric 13y ago
  Any good links to read up on this?
  - kryptiskt 13y ago
    There's an LWN article: http://lwn.net/Articles/552885/ http://lwn.net/Articles/552885/
- krakensden 13y ago
  My impression was that problems with power management on laptops wasn't really about scheduling, more about supporting the billion permutations of OEM firmware and hardware. Yes, it would be nice to have slicker support for things like big.little, but... it doesn't really address the current problems with laptop support.

aeroevan 13y ago

I think that was the nvidia optimus switchable crap that had very little Linux support. I think some of the most recent NVIDIA drivers have some support, but my T410 thankfully doesn't have that.

ownagefool 13y ago

I doubt there is a reference platform, but if there is one it's really with intel graphics. Only this, from a laptop point of view, has the kind of support that is needed from a thermals point of view. AMD is apparently nearly there with new power managment code, so this may change in the future. Obviously if you want to use binary drivers, you can, but one would hardly call that reference, inofficial or not.

LeonidasXIV 13y ago

Oh and when booting with nvidia disabled, the Intel card in the T420 is not entering power save after standby, this regression is open since kernel 3.6.2 (October 2012). https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=150743&p=16 https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=150743&p=16 https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/32025 https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/32025