Lenovo ThinkPad X201 - ArchWiki

# Lenovo ThinkPad X201

The X201 is a 4-core subnotebook produced by Lenovo. See Thinkwiki for more information.

Arch installs and runs flawlessly. Some specials features need tweaks, though.

## Graphics

Xorg should automatically load the intel driver without any configuration. Have a look at Intel if something is wrong.

As of the first quarter of 2013 there seems to be an issue related to Mesa 9.0, described at the freekdesktop Bugtracker (#59593), that makes the integrated Intel Ironlake Mobile GPU crash and will only resolve after a reboot.

## Hibernation

See Suspend and hibernate.

## Fbsplash

To make fbsplash work, i915 has to be added to the modules array in mkinitcpio.conf:

    /etc/mkinitcpio.conf

    MODULES="i915"

## Power Saving

### Fan control

There are some discussions concerning overheating-related shutdowns when running under full load (video encoding, etc) ([1] [2]).

Thinkpad Fan Control contains instructions to install tpfand as a custom replacement for hardware (bios-) fan control.

Warning: Wrong settings may damage your machine! Use with caution!

Start `tpfan-admin` and adjust the settings (by clicking on the sensor's graph). You should split the graph (via context menu) and set the fan to full-speed when the sensor reaches, say, 65 °C. You may also edit the config file directly.

### TLP

You may install TLP instead of Laptop Mode Tools to automate power saving operations.

### Frequency Scaling

One can use cpupower to control frequency scaling; see Cpufrequtils for more information.

### Undervolting

Undervolting is not possible with the intel core iX cpu.

### Bootloader kernel options

Add these kernel options to your bootloader's config file to make use of power saving mechanismens which are turned off by default because of reported instabilities. For me, they do a great job on my X201.

Warning: These options can cause instability on your system! Try them and remove them if you are experiencing problems.

#### grub2

    /etc/default/grub

    GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="[...] i915_enable_rc6=1 i915_enable_fbc=1"

Update grub.cfg afterwards: `grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg`

## Troubleshooting

### No speaker output

Try pressing the mute button (beside the Escape key). See this article for details.

### Backlight keys not working

Try booting with the following kernel parameter:

    video.use_native_backlight=0

Category:

- Lenovo