Thanks. I have tty access on linux61 - I did check for ‘alien packages’ and there appear to be none.
I did manage to find a new error message regarding firmware! It happens during the manjaro startup sequence:
[ 4.xxxxxx] iwlwifi 0000:00:14.3: no suitable firmware found!
[ 4.xxxxxx] iwlwifi 0000:00:14.3: minimum version required: iwlwifi-bz-a0-fm-a0-39
[ 4.xxxxxx] iwlwifi 0000:00:14.3: maximum version supported: iwlwifi-bz-a0-fm-a0-72
[ 4.xxxxxx] iwlwifi 0000:00:14.3: check git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git
Followed by the failed to startup virtual console message and then it continues, stalling at “Started accounts service.” and ls -l /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-Qu* reveals versions 50 through 77 are present on the system.
I am skeptical that wifi related firmware would prevent a proper boot… But I would appreciate any advice about this, in particular if it could be relevant to the overall problem.
The efivars errors have also returned - from fwupdmgr-getdevices:
under the branch “System Firmware” there are 5 “Update Error”'s under the following sections:
PK CA
UEFI Key Exchange Key
2.1 Windows UEFI CA
UEFI Signature Database
UEFI dbx
which read “getting efivars free space is not supported”.
I’m guessing these are kernel specific and not related to the GPT partitioning scheme mistake I made earlier.
Note, I do have ethernet access and have been able to update grub, re-install networkmanager etc.
Keeping with 66, I managed to disable picom and now graphical interfaces are working normally.
The trackpad does not work (the trackpoint does work) nor does the wifi. For the wifi dmesg | grep iwlwifi tells the min/max versions are iwlwifi-bz-a0-fm-c0-80 to iwlwifi-bz-a0-fm-c0-83. I cloned linux-firmware.git repo but there are no files that match the bz-a0 prefix. It seems the repo and /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-* are identical anyway.
As for the trackpad I’ve determined it is a i2c device: dmesg | grep i2c:
Some Lenovo product specifically supports Linux, while the majority targets the Windows market. Which are which, I can’t say, but this was mentioned only days ago in another topic.
I couldn’t find that topic quickly, to refer to, but if you’re interested in checking that your machine is indeed fully supported/recommended for Linux, this might be a good place to start:
I don’t know. I looked it up 21QGCTO1WW and although you can buy it without OS, they don’t offer the device with Linux - which to me indicate that is it has not been designed for use with Linux.
That may not be an issue with Lenovo ThinkpPad series - they are fantastic products.
I have been using Lenovo hardware for ~20 years - never had any reason to complain.
In fact my current workstation P620 has had the mainboard replaced twice within 3 weeks - onsite and at no cost. The last time was probably my own fault, but they replaced it anyway.
ThinkPad laptops usually comes with Premium Support - in this case I would register my device at Lenovo website, with proof-of-purchase - then contact support.
If your system still has Windows installed - boot into Windows and run a firmware update.
There was no option to purchase a thinkpad of any version that was ‘designed for use with Linux’ in my country. I a number of search results online that indicated people were using this version with no issues. I have been running manjaro on an X1 carbon for many years and it was time to upgrade.
I don’t agree - you have gotten yourself a very good laptop - which will serve you for many years to come.
Running windoze??
I am happy to get started setting it all up even if some features like mouspad and wifi won’t be available for a little while. But yes, I knew I should have booted into windows at least once to run an update before installing linux.
When I looked up the same system on the US web - there is no Linux option - I think that is an US thing - they don’t like opensource - they want capitalism.
Register your system on Lenovo web then you can download the factory image and write it to usb.
It may be a poor resolution, but have you considered trying the Ubuntu route, to see if that might be tolerable? It’s not an Arch-based rolling release distribution, but at least it’s not M$.
It would be a second-last resort after windoodoo. Only because I have been living in manjaro for probably 6+ years and I kind of need to get this thing setup quickly.
Surely its not that bad… I’m one touchpad and wifi away from sensible productivity.
On Thinkpads I usually use Ubunto based distros like Pop OS or Linux Mint but one that surprised me a lot was SpiralLinux (KDE version) based on Debian.
Recently a friend of mine had problems with those ASUS TUF Gaming laptops that he acquired very recently, the only distro that worked on there was Bazzite, on their website they have specific isos for your vendor and everything…
Some machines just really don’t like Linux, my laptop for example don’t work with Ubunto and Debian based distros, only with arch or arch based, I tried Manjaro 5 years ago when I got it, never used other thing besides Windows a bit in dual boot…
Agreed. I don’t have a large enough USB for ubuntu at the moment so I installed Fedora instead and… it works perfectly. Ran a system update and restarted a couple of times. I can try Ubuntu tomorrow I guess.
This brings me back to the original issue. Manjaro works fine up until the first pacman -Syu AFTER installation. Obviously(?) that initial update is breaking the system. I can’t be the only one thinking that all these firmware issues are related to the recent replacement linux-firmware->linux-firmware-meta? It is the first thing prompted upon updating. To save me re-installing for the nth time, how do I roll back this update?
This is exactly what i thought and i told it to you at the very beginning. The new meta firmware pack is an attempt to strip down the firmware to only what is needed. Seems to me the auto detection was not successful in your case and you ended with too little fimware. Just install all other linux-fimware-xxxxx packages. Before rebooting.
It is the only really important change in the last update.
