Which Operating system should be best for lenovo laptops

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Monkey D. Luffy

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I have lenovo idea-pad 330 with AMD ryzen 5 2nd gen and Vega 8 graphics.
I have heard more that lenovo does not support Linux systems but is have Ubuntu running on it.
I have dual booted Linux mint at first time but it crashed so i installed Ubuntu is does not run very smoothly.
I need to learn more about Linux systems so which Linux system should be best for lenovo laptops.
 


I would suggest that you try Linux Mint again (MATE or Cinnamon Edition) as it is very good for beginners and it should work well on your laptop. And Ubuntu is also a good choice, but I would recommend version 18.04.3 because it is a "Long Term Support" (LTS) version and will get updates until April 2023. The Ubuntu you are using now (19.10) will stop getting updates in July of 2020.

Both Linux Mint and Ubuntu should work with your laptop UEFI settings (BIOS) and Secure Boot enabled. A few other distros should be able to do this too. But sometimes, even with these distros, you may have to go into the BIOS setup and make some changes. This is another reason I suggest that you try Mint and Ubuntu with a fresh install to see if they work for you without having to make BIOS changes. Another distro that I think will work well is Fedora.

The standard download of Ubuntu and Fedora use a Desktop Environment called GNOME, or GNOME 3. This is a rather modern interface and very different from Windows, but you may be very happy with this. If you prefer a more traditional Windows-like desktop, I would recommend the MATE or Cinnamon Desktops. Both Ubuntu and Fedora have an optional version that uses MATE instead. In Fedora they call it a spin (sometimes called "respin") and in Ubuntu MATE is one of many different flavours. Ubuntu does not yet have a Cinnamon Edition, but I think they do have one in development. There are even more Desktops that you can try out too, and you may like one of them even better.

Your laptop should have plenty of power to run any Linux distro, so it is mostly a matter for you to try some out and see what you like the best, and which one seems to work the best with your Lenovo. Take your time and enjoy the process of discovery and learning. If you have trouble with UEFI settings, folks here should be able to help talk you through any difficulties.

Good luck!
 
I've owned two "Stink Pads" and never had much luck running Linux distros on either.
Katie
 
I've had no troubles installing Ubuntu, Elementary, or Zorin on several ThinkPads. Running Zoris OS 15 on a ThinkPad P51 and it runs absolutely wonderful. Same for Ubuntu 19.10 on a T480s. The only problem that I've found with the P51 is that my original docking station (model 40A5) wouldnt pick up external monitors, either a single monitor or dual monitor. I picked up a ThinkPad Thunderbolt 3 dock from Amazon, and now at least one monitor works through it. I've got my 2nd monitor plugged in directly to the laptop.
 
My X230 will not install updates and refuses to shutdown. Zorin 15.
 
Hello everybody. I just signed in to revive this thread.
I have a Lenovo Ideapad 3, Specs are great for me (web development and translations) but after i bought it I realized it is a nightmare for Linux distros compatibility.
I just need the keyboard/touchpad, audio, graphics, wifi, bluetooth to work (not much to ask) but it has been impossible to have them all working (tried user-friendly distros like ubuntu, mint, manjaro, debian, zorin)
Do you know a distro/version that works with this laptop?
I am thinking on selling it back and buy another one (I cannot return it because I bought it on January... I had a hope...)
What brand/references would you recommend me for a good compatibility?

As stated before, I liked this one, this are the specs:
- 15.6" screen, FHD 1920x1080p
- Intel core i3 1005 G1 1.2GHZ
- RAM DDR4 8GB 2.166+
- SSD 256GB
- Intel graphics
 
Lenovo in my experience have usually been a pain in the rear to get running, your choosing the Intel over the Ryzen will make it a bit easier but be prepared to do some work installing drivers,
on the lenove ryzen you need a distro with a 5.10 or later kernel, and you also need to install the non free/proprietary drivers [its a good idea to do this anyway] the wi-fi is usualy one of the problem ones using Realteck chip sets, but there is a fix for it as well as the bluetooth, If you use the search facility and put in lenovo + [whatever the problem is ]you should find most answers
 
@danielc1657 , This thread dates back to sometime in 2019.

It will not attract a great deal of attention'

You would be better served by opening a fresh topic.
 
Condobloke said:
@danielc1657 , This thread dates back to sometime in 2019.

It will not attract a great deal of attention'

You would be better served by opening a fresh topic.
Click to expand...

Thanks @Condobloke I don't have high expectations on this anyway.
Just hopping that one of the guys with this same problem might have found a solution, or a recommendation for another brand/series that is very well compatible with any popular linux distro and not to far away from the specs of my particular laptop
 
G'day @danielc1657 and welcome to linux.org :)

There are some of us, elderly (I am 5,000 years old, born before the 3rd Age of Man) who will not distinguish between the OP who started this Thread and your good self, which can confuse us as far as advice given and so I would advocate what my friend and fellow Aussie Brian @Condobloke has said and start your own Thread.

Include in the title your Lenovo and model number, and Lenovo users can zero in on it.

Running a quick Google on

lenovo linux preinstalled

(figuring that if they shipped Linux installed, they gave it good support), and I found this

https://www.wired.com/review/lenovo-thinkpad-x1-carbon-linux-edition/

Sure, different model to yours, but a starting point?

Start a thread and we will swing by with more ideas.

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz
 
I personally have have very good experience on Lenovo thinkpads have owned 5 of them over the years and never had a problem getting linux working on any of them This one I'm using right now is a t450 and everything works out of the box except the finger print reader which I don't use or need.
Some of the newer models may present problems. But in general the thinkpads work well. Idea pads are a different story as they are Lenovo's low end machines and depending on the exact model and hardware used will depend on how good the processor and other hardware work.
 
kc1di said:
I personally have have very good experience on Lenovo thinkpads have owned 5 of them over the years and never had a problem getting linux working on any of them This one I'm using right now is a t450 and everything works out of the box except the finger print reader which I don't use or need.
Some of the newer models may present problems. But in general the thinkpads work well. Idea pads are a different story as they are Lenovo's low end machines and depending on the exact model and hardware used will depend on how good the processor and other hardware work.
Click to expand...
Hi Dave, Have you had any experience with the Lenovo Slim 7i Pro and Linux? I have installed several distros and the result is that the screen flickers on and off as I move the cursor, either with the touchpad or with an external mouse. It is totally unuseable -- cannot even see the screen long enough to upgrade drivers... :-( Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
Atheist said:
Lenovo Slim 7i Pro
Click to expand...
are you talking about the most recent version branded as Yoga ? if so some of the components are so new I doubt if full drivers have been back engineered,
my first choice to test would be Mx21-64-AHS its only been out a couple of weeks and has a lot of newer drivers

Bwiz
 
I have never use the model you speak of so can't be of help Other than what Bwiz has already said it may be too new for Linux to have caught up with the right driver set. You could also try the latest kernel for which ever distro your trying.
 
Monkey D. Luffy said:
so which Linux system should be best for lenovo laptops.
Click to expand...

A given distro may take some work to make it work on your hardware, but all modern distros should work on your hardware. So, when it comes to which is best, that's for you to decide - and for you to enjoy discovering.

I'll toss this into the mix, as some food for thought.

linux-tips.us

Finally, an Answer to What is The Best Linux Distro? • Linux Tips

Finally, an attempt to answer to the age old question: Which Linux distro is the best? Read on to find out which distro is the best Linux distro.
linux-tips.us linux-tips.us
 
brickwizard said:
are you talking about the most recent version branded as Yoga ? if so some of the components are so new I doubt if full drivers have been back engineered,
my first choice to test would be Mx21-64-AHS its only been out a couple of weeks and has a lot of newer drivers

Bwiz
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply, BWiz. I don't think it is the Yoga, but it is very new. I will try that MX distro you mention. Here is the Costco description:

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7i Pro 14" Touchscreen Intel Evo Platform Laptop - 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11370H - 2880 x 1800 - Windows 11​

 
I Suspect your problem will be with the Nvidia MX450 graphics card. You may have to install proprietary drivers to get it to work.
 
kc1di said:
I Suspect your problem will be with the Nvidia MX450 graphics card. You may have to install proprietary drivers to get it to work.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply, Dave. I hate to seem dense, but do you have any suggestions how to install the drivers (which I think I successfully downloaded a minute ago) when the mouse/cursor is practically unuseable? Instead of doing a full install, I have been "testing" from the USB. The desktop looks fine. But as soon as I touch the touchpad, or the external usb mouse, the screen goes catatonic. The keyboard works, so maybe shortcuts to install driver? Any help would be appreciated. A
 
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