diff --git a/content/posts/2024-08-05-linux-on-thinkpad-P14s-Gen-5/index.md b/content/posts/2024-08-05-linux-on-thinkpad-P14s-Gen-5/index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8ddb234 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/2024-08-05-linux-on-thinkpad-P14s-Gen-5/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,204 @@ +--- +title: "Experience with running Fedora Linux on a Thinkpad P14s Gen 5" +description: "Everything works out of the box, but the keyboard and the battery leave something to be desired." +date: 2024-08-05T21:00:00Z +draft: false +toc: true +scrolltotop: true +tags: + - Thinkpad + - Linux + - Fedora + - NVIDIA +--- + +I have recently acquired a Lenovo Thinkpad P14s Gen 5. As of the time of writing +-- summer of '24 -- these machines are brand new, and so is their architecture: +Intel Core Ultra (Meteor Lake) with a dedicated NVIDIA GPU. Here I report my +experience with running Linux with the [KDE Plasma][] desktop on this machine. + +My previous daily driver was a T480s (see my old blog post over at [xltoolbox.net][] +for a report). I also administer two different X1 Carbons (5th generation and +9th generation), however, I don't use these very often myself. + +Here are the specs (the 1 TB SSD has been swapped for a Samsung 990 PRO with 2 TB). + +```plain +daniel@seppel9 ~> fastfetch + .',;::::;,'. daniel@seppel9 + .';:cccccccccccc:;,. -------------- + .;cccccccccccccccccccccc;. OS: Fedora Linux 40 (KDE Plasma) x86_64 + .:cccccccccccccccccccccccccc:. Host: 21G3S00A00 (ThinkPad P14s Gen 5) + .;ccccccccccccc;.:dddl:.;ccccccc;. Kernel: Linux 6.9.11-200.fc40.x86_64 + .:ccccccccccccc;OWMKOOXMWd;ccccccc:. Uptime: 1 hour, 47 mins +.:ccccccccccccc;KMMc;cc;xMMc;ccccccc:. Packages: 4338 (rpm) +,cccccccccccccc;MMM.;cc;;WW:;cccccccc, Shell: fish 3.7.0 +:cccccccccccccc;MMM.;cccccccccccccccc: Display (LEN8AB1): 3072x1920 @ 120 Hz (as 2048x1280) in 14″ [Built-in] +:ccccccc;oxOOOo;MMM000k.;cccccccccccc: DE: KDE Plasma 6.1.3 +cccccc;0MMKxdd:;MMMkddc.;cccccccccccc; WM: KWin (Wayland) +ccccc;XMO';cccc;MMM.;cccccccccccccccc' WM Theme: Breeze +ccccc;MMo;ccccc;MMW.;ccccccccccccccc; Theme: Breeze (Dark) [Qt], Breeze [GTK3] +ccccc;0MNc.ccc.xMMd;ccccccccccccccc; Icons: breeze-dark [Qt], breeze-dark [GTK3/4] +cccccc;dNMWXXXWM0:;cccccccccccccc:, Font: IBM Plex Sans (10pt) [Qt], IBM Plex Sans (10pt) [GTK3/4] +cccccccc;.:odl:.;cccccccccccccc:,. Cursor: breeze (24px) +ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc:'. Terminal: konsole 24.5.2 +:ccccccccccccccccccccccc:;,.. CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 7 155H (22) @ 4,80 GHz + ':cccccccccccccccc::;,. GPU 1: Intel rc Graphics @ 2,25 GHz [Integrated] + GPU 2: NVIDIA RTX 500 Ada Generation Laptop GPU + Memory: 9,13 GiB / 62,29 GiB (15%) + Swap: 302,50 MiB / 104,00 GiB (0%) + Disk (/): 18,77 GiB / 146,59 GiB (13%) - ext4 + Disk (/home): 524,56 GiB / 1,55 TiB (33%) - ext4 + Local IP (wlp0s20f3): 192.168.3.114/24 + Battery: 93% [AC Connected] + Locale: en_US.UTF-8 +``` + +## Difficulties and finally success with installing Linux + +At first, I was totally unable to install [KDE neon][], my preferred Linux distribution, +on this system. I freaked out. (I don't care if it's officially a 'distribution' or not.) +The live CD just would not boot. It did work in safe graphics mode, but when I installed +the system onto the laptop, I was once again unable to boot into Plasma. +(I already posted in the [KDE forum][] about this). + +At some point it occurred to me that I may need to try a distribution, so I tried [Fedora][] +-- and it worked!! In order to boot the live CD, I also had to choose basic graphics mode +just like with KDE neon (which is Ubuntu under the hood). Once I had the live desktop up +and running, I could enable the NVIDIA repositories, so that the NVIDIA drivers were +included during system installation. Luckily, the Fedora Project provides a [KDE spin][] +so that I could continue to use my favorite desktop environment. + +## Hardware + +Except for the initial difficulties getting this system with a dedicated NVIDIA GPU +to run Linux, everything else just works out of the box. Nice! :-) + +The **trackpoint** works as usual. This is really the main reason why I keep buying +Thinkpads. A laptop without trackpoint is a no-go for me. In fact, I did consider buying +a MacBook Pro, but the absence of a trackpoint and the uncertainty whether I could do +my beloved Linux foo with MacOS made me stick with a Thinkpad. + +The **fingerprint scanner** is integrated into the power button. While not essential, it's +a nice gimmick and KDE Plasma provides a pretty UI to set it up. Currently, logging +into the system after booting is not (yet) supported, but unlocking (e.g., after resume +from sleep) works very well. + +The 3k **screen** is really good, it's very bright and super crisp. At 100%, the +user interface is quite tiny. Luckily, with Wayland, fractional scaling is now +easy to accomplish and reliable. With a scale factor of 1.2 (120%), I am very happy +with my P14s' display. Interestingly though, the corners are rounded, even though +the laptop frame has sharp corners. I tend to think: If you have enough time wondering +about something like this, it's probably time to take a break and do something else +for a while. + +Unfortunately, the **keyboard** is the worst that I have ever had in any Thinkpad. +It feels like typing on jelly. Luckily, for most of the heavy-duty work, I connect +the laptop to a Thunderbolt dock with a proper mechanical keyboard attached. +I wonder why Lenovo does not equip this machine with the same keyboard as in the +other models -- given the price tag of this machine, the extra bucks surely cannot +make such a big difference? + +**Camera**, mike, and speakers just work. No problem running Zoom. I have not yet +tried out Teams. + +## Form factor and weight + +The P14s is somewhat bigger than the old T480s and certainly somewhat heavier. +Before deciding on the purchase, I carefully thought about my use cases and decided +that I can live with an extra 200-300 grams that I mostly only carry onto and +off from the commute train, as well as on my bicycle's rack. Therefore, I made a +decision for the extra performance (with dedicated GPU, which the alternative +models, i.e. X1 Carbons or T14s's do not offer).) + +Lenovo [says][p14s-weight] the P14s starts at 1.6 kg, which compares to a MacBook Pro's +nominal weight. On our kitchen scale, my P14s weighs 1.74 kg. + +In real life, the laptop's body is somewhat bigger than the actual casing, because +it has a very long "foot" underneath it. This ensures proper ventilation, because +the two fans blow out the warm air underneath the laptop. While this "foot" makes +the P14s rather thick, it turns out that this also provides a good grip when pulling +it ouf of a bag or carrying it around. + +I have yet to come to terms with the new camera casing that all new Thinkpads +seem to have nowadays. + +{{< figure src="p14s -camera-casing.jpg" + alt="A photograph of the camera casing of a Thinkpad P14s Gen 5" + caption="The camera casing. It disrupts the smooth surface of the Thinkpad.">}} + +{{< figure src="p14s-foot.jpg" + alt="A photograph of the 'foot' underneath a Thinkpad P14s Gen 5" + caption="The 'foot' underneath the P14s makes it thicker, but also provides a good grip on the machine.">}} + +## Performance + +Compared to the old T480s, the performance gain of the Intel Core Ultra and the +dedicated NVIDIA GPU is very noticeable. Whether I compile R packages or analyze +clinical data with ~80k subjects in [RStudio][], develop RAW images in [Darktable][], +or work with Office in a VirtualBox-hosted Windows machine, everything is very +snappy. For instance, a typical RAW image is now processed in under 1 second, as +opposed to ~10 seconds on the T480s. + +The machine wakes from sleep (suspend to RAM) extremely quickly, I guess this is due to +[novel suspend mechanisms][s3]? On the other hand, boot times are rather slow +(34-40s on AC power, T480s on battery 31 s!!). + +## Fan + +The fans spin up quickly, but the noise is not unpleasant. Maybe I can tweak the +fan control in order to have them spin up a little more lazily. But when I had both +my old laptop and the new one side by side, I realized that the T480s' fan noise +drowns the P14s' fan noise. Notably, the P14s was running on AC power, while the +T480s ran on battery. In fact, even the T480s with built-in graphics had its fan +running most of the time when I was working with it (academic work, researching, +writing, data analysis etc.). + +## Energy consumption + +The P14s' battery has much more capacity than the T480s' one, 75 Wh vs. 42 Wh. +However, with my normal work load, the battery drains rather quickly. The +following screenshot shows the charge level over time as I sat outside, +editing a manuscript with Word running in a virtual machine (VirtualBox +with Windows 11 guest) and doing some internet research in a browser. The +screen brightness was set to 100%. After some 3.5 hours, it's time for a +break... + +{{< figure src="p14s-battery-drain.png">}} + +## Making the switch from Ubuntu to Fedora + +When I downloaded the Fedora [KDE spin][], I was admittedly a bit anxious. +I had been working with Ubuntu and KDE neon, which is based on Ubuntu, +for many years, and I wondered if Fedora would be very different. + +It's not. + +The three things that are really different from my perspective: + +- To install something on the command line, use `dnf` rather than `apt`: + + ```bash + sudo dnf install good-stuff + ``` + +- Removable disks (USB drives) are mounted on `/run/media/` rather + than `/media/`. +- More up-to-date kernel and software + +## Conclusion + +All in all, I am quite happy with the P14s. In the past couple of weeks, it has +already proven to be a reliable work horse, and this is what I need. The +keyboard really should be better, but hey, life is not perfect, is it? + +[Darktable]: https://darktable.org +[Fedora]: https://fedoraproject.org/ +[KDE forum]: https://discuss.kde.org/t/unable-to-start-kde-neon-plasma-on-core-ultra-nvidia-rtx-500-ada/18578 +[KDE neon]: https://neon.kde.org +[KDE plasma]: https://kde.org/plasma-desktop/ +[KDE spin]: https://fedoraproject.org/spins/ +[p14s-weight]: https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadp/thinkpad-p14s-gen-5-(14-inch-intel)-mobile-workstation/21g2002cus#tech_specs +[rstudio]: https://posit.co/products/open-source/rstudio +[s3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACPI#S3 +[xltoolbox.net]: https://www.xltoolbox.net/blog/2018/08/exit-thinkpad-t430s-enter-thinkpad-t480s.html diff --git a/content/posts/2024-08-05-linux-on-thinkpad-P14s-Gen-5/p14s-battery-drain.png b/content/posts/2024-08-05-linux-on-thinkpad-P14s-Gen-5/p14s-battery-drain.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5118f7c Binary files /dev/null and b/content/posts/2024-08-05-linux-on-thinkpad-P14s-Gen-5/p14s-battery-drain.png differ diff --git a/content/posts/2024-08-05-linux-on-thinkpad-P14s-Gen-5/p14s-camera-casing.jpg b/content/posts/2024-08-05-linux-on-thinkpad-P14s-Gen-5/p14s-camera-casing.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..67a1928 Binary files /dev/null and b/content/posts/2024-08-05-linux-on-thinkpad-P14s-Gen-5/p14s-camera-casing.jpg differ diff --git a/content/posts/2024-08-05-linux-on-thinkpad-P14s-Gen-5/p14s-foot.jpg b/content/posts/2024-08-05-linux-on-thinkpad-P14s-Gen-5/p14s-foot.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..16ff0bc Binary files /dev/null and b/content/posts/2024-08-05-linux-on-thinkpad-P14s-Gen-5/p14s-foot.jpg differ