Chris Laprise:
On 5/22/19 3:17 PM, Claudia wrote:
Thanks for all the info! All good news except for the part about
BIOS/UEFI feature support, which doesn't come as a surprise.
I understand that, for maximum certainty, one should look at high-end,
business-class, Linux-friendly product lines. However, this kind of
defeats the whole point of looking for a laptop with a low-cost
good-performance processor such as Ryzen. Those product lines are
pricy to begin with (relative to specs), and they rarely ever go on sale.
Also, it stands to reason that low-cost processors are usually found
in low-cost machines. I found a couple of lists[1][2] of laptops with
these processors. While there is a Thinkpad on the list, it looks to
be mostly consumer-level laptops (although I'm not real familiar with
computer makes and product lines so I could be wrong).
To be honest, I was kind of looking this[3] Inspiron 5575 with 2500U
available at Walmart for $350 (was down to $330 for a few days). After
upgrading the RAM and perhaps adding an SSD, it still looks like a
good deal for the money. Good enough to take a chance on, I think --
if it doesn't run Qubes, I'll just have to return it and look at some
higher-end models.
It sounds like you have an approach worked out.
If the low cost model doesn't run Qubes, then consider: Now that AMD is
being taken seriously for business laptops (where they used to be
extremely rare), there should now be more choices that are lower cost
_because_ they have an AMD processor.
FWIW, firmware compatibility isn't good on consumer models regardless of
the CPU vendor: Intel based consumer products suffer from it, too.
(Sorry it took me this long to reply.)
Indeed, that's what it sounded like to me from your initial reply. I was
more worried about CPU vendor, mostly due to the way the system
requirements page is worded, and lack of relevant search results for
"Qubes on AMD." But as you pointed out, BIOS/UEFI support (and
therefore, the specific computer/motherboard model) is a much more
important consideration. So I'm glad I asked.
Also, just out of curiosity, as far as consumer vs. business and
firmware support: in your experience does firmware support also depend
significantly on the vendor, and not just product class? e.g. perhaps
vendor A's consumer-level products work even better than B's
business-class. Do any particular vendors use generally "better"
firmwares? (I know you mentioned Lenovo, Dell, and HP with regards to
Linux support.) Or is firmware support about the same across vendors,
within each product class?
I did some quick searching, and Inspirons appear to have reasonably
good Linux compatibility, at least for consumer-level laptops.
Inspiron 5575 is even on the arch wiki[4] (which is definitely not
conclusive, but a good sign nonetheless, no?)
Dell is said to have a larger number of models that are _intentionally_
Linux compatible. Its worth checking their website to see if that model
(or any adjacent to it) are labeled as Linux compatible. The Dell
support page for Inspiron 5575 actually lists Ubuntu as a compatible
OS... a good sign!
Just to be clear, what relationship is there between Linux
compatibility, and firmware support, if any? Are these the same thing?
Roughly correlated? Or totally different?
Good luck! And let us know how it goes and if you have any specific
questions.
I'll make sure to follow up. I'm waiting to order it until I know I'll
have enough free time to play around with it, as I'll only have a
limited time to decide if I'm keeping it or returning it. Hopefully
within the next week or two.
I thought of some more questions in the meantime. Hope you don't mind me
picking your brain a little.
1) Should I update the BIOS before attempting to install Qubes? Is this
a generally recommended practice for Qubes, and if so, why isn't it
mentioned in the installation guide? I wonder how many people gave up on
a Qubes install without ever trying a firmware update. Should I keep the
firmware up to date thereafter? Firmware updates used to be rare, and it
was only recommended to install them if something was actually broken. I
guess now that the firmware is practically an OS in itself, we should be
updating it like one?
Luckily, Dell provides a way to update firmware from Linux, and a way to
do it with no OS at all. However, I imagine some (most) vendors require
Windows in order to install firmware updates. Just out of curiosity, how
do Linux users do firmware updates on machines without fwupd or a
self-updating firmware?
Also, what about microcode? Can microcode updates affect Qubes
compatibility? I know microcode is typically loaded by Linux each boot,
but if the system can't boot, I guess you have to install a permanent
update through the BIOS?
These are just things I thought of and was curious about, but I guess I
don't have to worry unless I actually hit a problem.
2) Do you think 4GB RAM will be enough to do the install? The system
requirements list 4GB as minimum, so I'm assuming it'll work. I'd rather
not buy the RAM until I know I'm keeping the machine, although I will if
I have to. But if I am going to need RAM for the install, I should order
it ahead of time.
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