On Thursday, February 21, 2019 at 7:20:58 PM UTC-5, [email protected] wrote:
> 
> Eric, any chance you could try updating the Bios to the recently released 
> version 1.18 which I think should fix the graphics issues allow you to use 
> the intel chip and try again with the latest version of Qubes 4.1 and report 
> back? I literally have a Thinkpad P1 XEON w/32GB ECC and 2x2TB and the 
> upgraded UHD display config that is pending for shipment and if the problems 
> have not been resolved I would really like to know now like you I got this 
> just for Qubes and if I cancel now can avoid $650 in restocking fees.

Hello:

Unfortunately I am traveling and am not able to test Qubes on this machine any 
time soon - at least well past their cancellation time-frame.

In short, all of Lenovo's recent machines for most of 2018 and 2019 all have 
the Sleep issue - that lenovo purposely got rid of the industry-wide S3 sleep 
mode in favor of Windows' new "Si03" crap that does nothing for us Linux people.

All, except the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon 6th Gen - enough Linux gurus 
complained that Lenovo actually released a BIOS specifically for that machine 
that re-enabled S3.  

I've logged a support ticket with Lenovo, and they said they aren't going to do 
it anytime soon.  Please open a ticket, and complain as well.

As far as the "graphics" issue, I was running 1.17 BIOS at the time.  1.18 
doesn't change anything for graphics, except an "edge case" that could brick 
the laptop.  1.18's main fix is the Sound Card - if you were to disable the 
Sound Card in 1.17 or earlier, you would brick you P1.  1.18 fixed that.

I have 1.18 now, and it doesn't make a difference with any other Linux distro.  
So I don't think it would matter with Qubes, sorry.

Regarding the kernel, Qubes 4.1 is only using 4.14.  As you can see in my tests 
above, I tried Qubes with the latest 4.19 kernel.  It's a no go, sorry, so 4.1 
won't make any difference with it's old(er) 4.14 kernel.

With all that said...  There is hope.  It's a painful process to get there, but 
you can get a pretty decent system going with the P1 and Qubes (with enough 
compromises).

Follow the instructions I posted in the OP of this thread to get Qubes 
installed: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/qubes-users/z51dkaEOiqc/wNhQ_86NGQAJ

You can get Nvidia drivers installed in dom0, and that should really help out 
things.  However, I don't think you'll have brightness control nor the ability 
to switch to Intel only iGPU (aka bbswitch) by using Xen.

As for Arch Linux, I installed Arch but it was a PITA to get anywhere near 
usable - kind of like Qubes.  

Just before returning the laptop under the principal that Lenovo has killed 
Linux-abilities, I decided to try Pop!_OS by System76, which is Ubuntu with a 
skinjob + nvidia drivers built in.  BINGO!  Never in my life have I ever, not 
even once, found a distro that worked 100% out of the box.  We're talking 
brightness control, iGPU Intel-only switching, and most of all - SUSPEND is 
working!  How they got Suspend working, when no one else has posted the ACPI 
tables for the P1 to hack around the sleep mode yet, I am at a loss.  I really 
hated going back to Ubuntu - but things are just too damn silky smooth with 
Pop!_OS.  It's been a 100% dream, and the way Linux (Gnome) should be 
experienced for everyone.  I'm getting 7-9 hours battery life every day out of 
the laptop with Intel only graphics.  I've since installed Pop!_OS on my wife's 
iMac 2015, on my daughter's XPS laptop and on my monster gaming desktop (that 
can't normally run Linux!).  Whatever they did to Pop is what Ubuntu and Gnome 
should pay them to submit back upstream.

Currently I try to follow basic Qubes principals with Pop, such as installing 
nothing - I use Snap and AppImage for everything (even created a few that 
didn't exist).  I also use Docker for development of everything.  So basically 
my OS is barebones with just Pop!_OS. 

Anyhow... For now, I have a functional laptop while traveling and working.  
This fall I'll have more time to try again with Qubes.  Or at least Xen-only (I 
run pure Xen on a few servers myself, isolating things like Qubes does).

Ps, I've also installed some NH1 thermal paste on the CPU and GPU heatsinks as 
the fans were getting annoying - doing nothing but just browsing the web.  If 
on Nvidia graphics, wow they were almost always spinning.  Installing the NH1 
grease dropped temps down by about 20C and the fans hardly ever kick on with 
Nvidia graphics - Intel graphics, I don't think I've ever heard them since with 
normal usage.

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