Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2 and my unsuccessful attempt to install Linux
I recently bought a Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2 . While Lenovo’s first Thinkpad tablet was based on the ARM architecture, this device uses an Intel Atom Z2760 processor . It comes preloaded with 32 bit Windows 8.
Official image from the Lenovo website
I will not describe in detail the characteristics here. Who cares, can easily find them on the network. In general, the device is pretty decent ( review on Engadget and Habrahabr ). However, some of its parameters formed an unusual combination, which led to the fact that I could not install any of the GNU / Linux options on it. Details below.
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Before making a purchase, I first of all sat down in the search engines to study the compatibility of hardware and Linux. There were no signs of trouble: an x86 processor, supported by WiFi, a touch screen, a video is not the most common, but it seems to start up, being turned off, just in case, UEFI Secure Boot. However, there was no (or I didn’t pay attention to) the results of search engines to successfully change the OS to something other than Windows.
Okay, we are not used to. Bought. Turned on. Works. Turned off. I started downloading images of Debian, OpenSuse, Ubuntu installers and uploading to a USB flash drive. Do not start. He began to think and read the Internet more closely, paying more attention to the reviews of failures. As a result, the following picture of things formed:
The latter circumstance was the main reason for my failure, and this is why:
For 64-bit processors, everything is there. For 32-bit in Legacy mode with subsequent switching to UEFI, there is. But immediately UEFI and only 32 bits - no. The most I managed to achieve was the appearance of a GRUB screen with a half-working keyboard, which crashed immediately when I tried to boot Debian.
I am writing this post in order to warn others about the problems of this, as it turned out, an exotic device. On the other hand, the same Atom is used in other Windows 8 tablets, and the problems there are identical.
mjg59.dreamwidth.org/26734.html - Don't ship 32-bit UEFI firmware on x86
bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu-cdimage/+bug/1025555 - Ubuntu i386 images are not compatible with 32-bit UEFI computers
ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2169631 - similar problems on the Asus VivoTab tf810c.
cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unofficial/efi-development/upload5 - the very image I saw in Grub, and then it did not go.
Official image from the Lenovo website
I will not describe in detail the characteristics here. Who cares, can easily find them on the network. In general, the device is pretty decent ( review on Engadget and Habrahabr ). However, some of its parameters formed an unusual combination, which led to the fact that I could not install any of the GNU / Linux options on it. Details below.
')
Before making a purchase, I first of all sat down in the search engines to study the compatibility of hardware and Linux. There were no signs of trouble: an x86 processor, supported by WiFi, a touch screen, a video is not the most common, but it seems to start up, being turned off, just in case, UEFI Secure Boot. However, there was no (or I didn’t pay attention to) the results of search engines to successfully change the OS to something other than Windows.
Okay, we are not used to. Bought. Turned on. Works. Turned off. I started downloading images of Debian, OpenSuse, Ubuntu installers and uploading to a USB flash drive. Do not start. He began to think and read the Internet more closely, paying more attention to the reviews of failures. As a result, the following picture of things formed:
- The Atom used in the tablet only supports 32-bit protected mode.
- UEFI is used, Secure Boot is easily disabled
- No legacy boot mode
The latter circumstance was the main reason for my failure, and this is why:
- There is not a single Linux installer that supports the installation in UEFI mode on a 32-bit processor.
For 64-bit processors, everything is there. For 32-bit in Legacy mode with subsequent switching to UEFI, there is. But immediately UEFI and only 32 bits - no. The most I managed to achieve was the appearance of a GRUB screen with a half-working keyboard, which crashed immediately when I tried to boot Debian.
I am writing this post in order to warn others about the problems of this, as it turned out, an exotic device. On the other hand, the same Atom is used in other Windows 8 tablets, and the problems there are identical.
Additional Information
mjg59.dreamwidth.org/26734.html - Don't ship 32-bit UEFI firmware on x86
bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu-cdimage/+bug/1025555 - Ubuntu i386 images are not compatible with 32-bit UEFI computers
ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2169631 - similar problems on the Asus VivoTab tf810c.
cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unofficial/efi-development/upload5 - the very image I saw in Grub, and then it did not go.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/197138/
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