I Finally Settled On Tumbleweed For My ThinkPad

Lounge Linux lounge
61

Installed XFCE in VM and from there Cosmic

sudo zypper addrepo --refresh https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/X11:COSMIC:Next/openSUSE_Factory/X11:COSMIC:Next.repo
sudo zypper refresh
sudo zypper install patterns-cosmic-cosmic
OR 
sudo zypper install patterns-cosmic-basic

df -h
Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/vda2        19G  8.2G   11G  45% /

Not bad.
“Whatever floats your boat”

62

Slowroll looked interesting to me, but I had some issues with the new installer the last time I tried out openSUSE, then there was a question of whether or not it would be continued…Maybe worth another look at some point.

63

Installed that way and it looks like there is no stuttering anymore. Strange … :thinking:

64

Ha, mysterious are the ways of software interactions, sometimes less is more ?

65

It looks that way. But maybe it is an openSUSE-thing only. :wink:

66

Hah, yeah, if you really wanted to go there, you could do an exhaustive dual-install and compare differences and add/remove things till the symptoms occur/disappear. I’ve done this at least once, and i stress the word exhaustive ;0

67

I recall having more consistent systems using the online install option during my SUSE/openSUSE days.

68

Huurrruuuummm… “FreeBSD” … your journey hasn’t ended, believe me :stuck_out_tongue: :see_no_evil_monkey:

69

I’ve tried that too… There is no more desire :face_with_peeking_eye: :rofl:

70

I want to go there, but with inadequate hard ware support and inferior software compatability/availability, it’s just hard to take it seriously over Linux distros.

71

I must say, openSUSE Tumbleweed has been rock solid. No issues thus far. Updates are very quick, even with several added repos via OPI, and Packman for codecs. The fingerprint sensor on my ThinkPad worked out of the box. Overall, it’s been an excellent experience.

72

This is tempting me to resurrect my old T40 thinkpad and put Tumbleweed on it! :slight_smile:

UncleSpellbinder 73

DoIt

3 Likes
74

Does openSUSE Tumbleweed have the LTS kernels like 6.12.x, 6.6.x and so on in its repos? Or does it only have kernels provided by openSUSE like Debian?

75

openSUSE ships with its own default kernel. I prefer the Zen kernel, which apparently isn’t supported. Closest to Zen is the Liquorix kernel, which is what I’m using. In order to get the Liquorix kernel, I had to add the repo from OBS.

76

I am considering purchasing a refurbished T14 Gen 1 (AMD). May I ask you some questions?

First and foremost, does the display uses a technology that automatically changes brightness depending on what’s displayed and if yes, can that be disabled? (I had to return a laptop because I could not disable constant brightness changes)

Other than that, I would like to hear about quality of the screen, general usage experience, things-I-should-know-before-I-buy-one and if there are any noticeable issues with the laptop or does it work out of the box.

Thanks in advance.

77

I’ve heard of that on regular monitors… never heard of that option on a laptop monitor. I don’t even know how to access any settings on a laptop monitor. I don’t believe it has any special monitor settings other than to increase or diminish brightness using the keyboard. So, no. I don’t have any auto brightness.

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There are 5 variants for the AMD Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 1 screen. Mine is as follows…

  • 14.0" FHD (1920x1080) Touch: IPS panel, anti-glare, on-cell 10-point multi-touch, 300 nits brightness, 700:1 contrast ratio, 45% NTSC color gamut, 170° viewing angle.
  • More than likely, you’ll be getting a used one unless you’re lucky enough to find “new old stock” that has never been used.
  • New and unused will, of course, work right out of the box.
  • Used, your mileage may vary. Other than updating the BIOS, mine worked as expected right out of the box. I did, however, upgrade the RAM from 16GB to 32GB. The Lenovo T14 Gen 1 is very easy to upgrade.
  • More info and full specs on the AMD T14 Gen 1 can be found here.
78

Thanks, I know I am purchasing an used laptop, good to know it’s easy to upgrade. I am getting a touch one as well, from what I have determined it should be the 500 nit/72% NTSC one, but if it turns out to be the 45% NTSC/300 nit one I am fine with that as well.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

80

I have just one more question. The Arch Wiki page of this laptop details several issues with BIOS 1.35+. If you are above this version, do you experience these?

The keyboard issues are of greatest significance for me.

81

I’m up-to-date with my BIOS and was above 1.35 before updating. My current version is R1BET87W (1.56 ) - 06/04/2026. I’ve never noticed any issues at all, keyboard or otherwise.