On Monday, November 13, 2017 at 12:10:33 AM UTC, [email protected] wrote: > On 11/12/2017 01:42 PM, [email protected] wrote: > > > Hello Qubes users > > > > Does anyone have an AMD based laptop that doesn't have PSP (i.e. anything > > pre-2013), and if so, does it work with Qubes 4? Mainly asking for hardware > > recommendation and so that I can choose a stock model that does come with a > > working AMD-V with RVI and AMD-Vi (aka AMD IOMMU). > > > > Thanks infinitely for any help! > > > Boom. > Lenovo G505S. > https://www.coreboot.org/Board:lenovo/g505s > > Owner controlled. > The blobs for video and power management are removable as there isn't > any hardware code signing enforcement.
It's possible the Lenovo G505S may be a good suggestion, though there are some things to consider or reflect over. The OP both seem to know what he's looking for, but at the same time not entirely either, due to asking this question. It's really hard to know how much he knows from 3 lines of short information, and we should probably throw in more information, as to not risk having him buy something purely on recommendation alone. It'd be cool with more information though, as to what your needs are [email protected], or what you know already. Some thoughts: - A10-5750M is 2013 Q2, the request is pre-2013. For this chip, does it have the privacy invasive blob? or is it without? - The A10-5750M isn't all that fast, but it isn't super slow either for normal requiring needs, like browsing, streaming, writing, in Qubes. https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+A10-5750M+APU It depends on the users need, for example I got a Qubes laptop using https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+M-5Y10c+%40+0.80GHz which is perfectly fine for many causal things. But its CPU a bit laggy/sloppy for example when running Windows AppVM. The recommendation is slightly more powerful in its benchmark. If having similar needs, then the performance is fine, if more needs, then not so much. We need more information here before any recommendation. It may be plenty for normal Linux Qubes with some browsing and having a good basic amount of VM's running idle and sometimes spin up a bit to handle a task or two. But it can easily be horrible for running Windows AppVM which is more performance hungry. - 6GB RAM is harsh for Qubes, while it may work with few VM's up, it can be a hassle. Need to ensure that the machine can upgrade its RAM, but it should also be considered an extra expense before buying. Never mind checking whether it can be upgraded or not to begin with. Is the RAM easily accessible? Does the current RAM have to be removed or does it have an extra free slot? etc. - I would also consider a HDD to be less optimal for Qubes. I haven't run Qubes on non SSD's, so I can't be entirely sure, but it strikes me as more different than between Linux/Windows running on HDD vs. SSD, due to all the loading and copying during Qubes runtime. While HDD seems entirely practical and feasible, it does also seems like it might cause some buttlenecks, which may not be desired. There is also a question of how big these bottlenecks actually are. Anyone have experience with Qubes on HDD's vs. SSD's here? If wanting an SSD, it'll be an extra expense in addition to the RAM, unless you have an unused SSD laying around already. - Is the firmware blob really removable and truly user controlled? You hear a lot of claims like these, but I haven't actually seen anyone completely succeed yet on any decent laptops. - Lenovo is known to be a customer- and privacy offender, as well as a proven lier in these regards, caught with their hands in the candy jar, multiple of times again and again at that. What reasons are there for this Lenovo laptop to be exploitable to the point, that it makes up for the bad and distrust rep of Lenovo? Can everything Lenovo can do to the laptop, really be undone? - It's nice that a lot of threats can be reduced, like the UEFI --> Coreboot, and some of the firmware can re removed, but are these threats truly removed? I'm primarily thinking about the dangerous "feeling safe, thereby being less secure, since not on guard anymore, thereby caught off-guard". Is everything truly removed? Granted firmware like from the drives and such are still there, but I'm specifically thinking about whether the claims being made by these people are truly reliable or not. - Has other people run Qubes 4 RC-2 on the Lenovo G505S? On paper it looks good enough, but has anyone tested this? - Other things to reflect over? Suggestions? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "qubes-users" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/qubes-users/c10f843a-e03d-494e-9969-1a72adcc9071%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
