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Table of Contents
GNU/Linux on the Lenovo ThinkPad L380
| CPU | Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7200U CPU @ 2.50GHz, 4 cores |
|---|---|
| RAM | 16 Gb (option) |
| Storage | M.2 solid-state drive SSD 256 Gb (option) |
| Display | 13.3 inch (1920 x 1080) IPS |
| Battery | 45 Wh |
| Dimensions | 32.18 cm x 22.42 cm x 1.88 cm |
| Weight | 1.420 kg |
| Bootstrap special keys | |
|---|---|
| F1 | BIOS Setup |
| F12 | Boot Menu |
Upgrading the SSD
The notebook has an M.2 slot that can accomodte 2280 modules (22 mm wide and 80 mm long). The interface supports both the legacy SATA and newer NVMe protocol. I successfully installed a Crucial P310 SSD 1TB NVMe rated up to 7.100 MB/s.
Replacing the SSD requires to disassemble tha back of the notebook, unscrewing the 9 screws and gently separating the back cover with a plastic blade.
Installing Debian 12
Supported devices
| Device | Works | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi card | Yes | Intel Corporation Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 |
| Sound card | Yes | Intel Corporation HD Audio |
| Video controller | Yes | Intel Corporation HD Graphics 620 |
| Display | Yes | eDP 1920×1080@60 |
| Keyboard backlight | Yes | Press Fn+SPACE |
| Touchpad | Yes | Single and double tap, two finger scroll, two finger tap, etc. |
| Camera | Yes | USB ID 5986:2113 Bison Electronics Inc. SunplusIT Integrated Camera |
BIOS
Battery
This notebook has a smart battery management automatically enabled. This means that sometimes, when the AC power is connected, the battery starts to discharge and overall charge goes below 100%. This should ensure less stress on the battery, which is not kept unnecessarily charged at 100% for prolonged periods.
To manage power saving settings manually and control battery care features, install the Debian package tlp.
Debian 13 Trixie provides tlp v1.8.0 which supports two profiles: AC and BAT. The profiles are automatically selected on AC power and on battery, or manually by the user.
To view system information and TLP status:
tlp-stat --system
To view battery data and voltage:
tlp-stat --battery --verbose
The Thinkpad driver supports two important features: charge thresholds and recalibration:
Plugin: thinkpad Supported features: charge thresholds, recalibration
The main configuration file is /etc/tlp.conf, where you can change the default TLP_ENABLE=1. If you change the configuration you have to restart the service:
systemctl restart tlp.service
Actually there is not a running daemon, the program just write the configuration to the appropriate kernel pseudo files and terminates.
Two options control the battery care, which aims to extend the lifespan of the battery by reducing wear and capacity loss resulting from ongoing operation; you can configure them e.g. into /etc/tlp.d/00-local.conf:
# Battery charge level below which charging will begin when connecting the charger. START_CHARGE_THRESH_BAT0=75 # Battery charge level above which charging will stop while the charger is connected. STOP_CHARGE_THRESH_BAT0=80
NOTICE: Once configured and restarted the service, the output of
tlp-stat --battery may not reflect the configured values. It is common on the Thinkpad that one of the two threshold values is always displayed incorrectly. Another common pitfall is that you have to discharge the battery below the old start threshold after writing the new threshold.
To change the battery charge thresholds temporarily you can issue the command:
tlp setcharge 0 90
this will e.g. raise the stop threshold to 90%. You can restore the defaults executing the command without the threshold arguments:
tlp setcharge
WARNING: It seems that there is a problem changing these thresholds: if you specify a start and an end value, the charge_control_start_threshold is actually changed, but the charge_control_end_threshold is forced to be equal to the start (as reported by
tlp-stat –battery). Setting the charge_control_start_threshold to zero will automatically set the charge_control_end_threshold to 100. So it seems that the charge_control_end_threshold is ignored and it is set automatically upon the start value.
You can also trigger a battery charge to the full capacity (according to the vendor presets) issuing the command:
tlp fullcharge
While on AC power you can force a recalibration cycle, i.e. completely discharge the battery and recharge to 100%, by issuing the command:
tlp recalibrate
This command will force the battery status to Discharging, even if AC adapter is attached (the system return the error message write error: Input/output error, but the charge_behaviour does actually change):
echo "force-discharge" > /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/charge_behaviour
This command instead does not work, the write error message is reported and charge_behaviour does not change:
echo "inhibit-charge" > /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/charge_behaviour
Boot on lid opening
Sometimes the notebook power-up itself automatically when the lid is opened. It seems that there is not BIOS option to disable this behaviour.
Kernel error messages
kernel: [ 2680.959153] Uhhuh. NMI received for unknown reason 2c on CPU 0. kernel: [ 2680.959171] Dazed and confised, but trying to continue
Something related to power management?
