Linux on the X220

[driekus]

I havent noticed huge power issues with 2.6.38. The major issue I have noticed with Linux and Sandy Bridge is that the graphics speed is lacking. Cannot run even basic games at a decent speed.

[DStaal]

There was a discussion earlier in the thread about power issues. I thought this might be worth looking at.

As for graphic speed: I'm not a heavy graphics user, so I haven't noticed it, but I have noticed that the needed driver is very new. It's quite possible it hasn't been optimized.

[ctown.myth]

I havent noticed huge power issues with 2.6.38. The major issue I have noticed with Linux and Sandy Bridge is that the graphics speed is lacking. Cannot run even basic games at a decent speed.

There was a discussion earlier in the thread about power issues. I thought this might be worth looking at.

As for graphic speed: I'm not a heavy graphics user, so I haven't noticed it, but I have noticed that the needed driver is very new. It's quite possible it hasn't been optimized.

Phoronix reported that Sandy Bridge graphics had regressed during the development time of 2.6.39: [Phoronix] Whoops, Intel SNB Is Borked At The Last Minute In Linux 2.6.39

[driekus]

Phoronix reported that Sandy Bridge graphics had regressed during the development time of 2.6.39: [Phoronix] Whoops, Intel SNB Is Borked At The Last Minute In Linux 2.6.39

Thanks for the link ctown. I tried installing 2.6.39 and found the graphics performance to be worse. This kernel upgrade was meant to fix some of the problems in 2.6.38 and I was wondering why this wasnt the case.

[ctown.myth]

Thanks for the link ctown. I tried installing 2.6.39 and found the graphics performance to be worse. This kernel upgrade was meant to fix some of the problems in 2.6.38 and I was wondering why this wasnt the case.

Intel is working a new driver for the next kernel release, it's supposed to be significantly faster, so I think that the wait may be worth it . [Phoronix] Intel Just Released A Crazy Fast Acceleration Architecture

[driekus]

Intel is working a new driver for the next kernel release, it's supposed to be significantly faster, so I think that the wait may be worth it . [Phoronix] Intel Just Released A Crazy Fast Acceleration Architecture

Id love for this to be integrated into the 3.0 kernel release.

[chaose]

anyone tried kernel 3 yet?

[Treepata]

No, sorry. i would love to give it a try, but I am not experienced enough to manually update this by myself :-)

To quote Phoronix; "First and foremost, while the latest Linux code is now delivering this impressive performance, most Linux users won't be using this code until the end of the year when hitting the next round of updated Linux distributions. For most end-users, upgrading the open-source Linux graphics driver stack is a pain due to needing to upgrade all of Mesa, the respective X.Org driver, often libdrm, and then most problematic can be needing to upgrade the entire Linux kernel. Even with this latest code we had to manually enable semaphores with the Intel DRM driver for the system to not crash due to the last-minute 2.6.39 revert and the "out of the box" Ubuntu 11.04 experience is troubling."

Original article here: [Phoronix] Intel SNB Linux Driver Can Out Run Windows Driver

[UNIXgod]

No, sorry. i would love to give it a try, but I am not experienced enough to manually update this by myself :-)

Even if you where, most people don't have the time to run testing. They try to trick you with shiny new things to beta test. If you have real work to do on your system it's not in your best interest in running anything from a testing branch.

Though if your interested in compiling your own kernel I would be able to guide you in the right direction.

[paulmcfonty]

May I need any special caution to have a dual boot (ubuntu 11.04 + win 7) on a X220 with the mysterious UEFI firmware ?

Thanks in advance,
Paul