Lenovo IdeaPad Z510

System Specification

Note: Specifications might differ.
  • Processor: 4th Generation Intel Core i7-4702MQ Processor( 2.20GHz 1600MHz 6MB)
  • Memory: 8.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3L SDRAM 1600 MHz
  • WiFi: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 OR Broadcom BCM43142 802.11b/g/n Wireless Network Adapter
  • Hard-Drive: 1TB 5400 rpm
  • Optical Drive: DVD Recordable (Dual Layer)
  • Integrated Graphics: Intel Corporation 4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller
  • Accelerated Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M 1GB
  • Sound: Intel HDA
  • Screen: 15.6 1366x768 "AntiGlare" (Matte)
  • SD Card Reader

BIOS

Warning: Updating the BIOS is risky, be sure about what your are doing! Also remember this is at your own risk and you may get no support when flashing goes wrong.
Note: At the moment it is only possible to flash on Microsoft Windows 8 (64-bit), no Linux method hasn't been released (yet).

Lenovo released a new BIOS rom that fixes some issues. The V39 version should fix the following:

  • Phase in V39 BIOS into Zx10 for solving CPU 0.77GHz issue
  • Solve Windows 7 SLP2.0 function issue

Although it fixes Microsoft Windows issues, it could also effect (Arch) Linux.

Networking

Wired Ethernet

Works without any issues. Remember it only features Fast Ethernet.

Wireless

Works out-of-the-box (ath9k). Just remember to press the airplane mode button to turn on the wireless card or use the command:

iwconfig wlp2s0 txpower on

But if you have bcm43142, then you need to install wl wifi driver from broadcom-wl AUR

After an update, the wireless card became wlp2s0. Previously it was known as wlp9s0.

Graphics

Intel

Follow the Intel Graphics Wiki to install. VGA-video output is working.

GeForce (if integrated)

Current version of nouveau (as of 2014-04-01) crashes. Proprietary nvidia driver, provided by extra/nvidia works fine.

Needs Bumblebee with optirun to use your card. bbswitch works fine.

Sound

Works out of the box with ALSA and PulseAudio. Arch Linux detects the HDMI as the first sound card and PCH (jack plug) as the second one. This might be undesirable on most applications, which will try, by default, to send sound through the HDMI port. You can either solve this by changing the order in which the kernel detects the cards, effectively making PCH as the card 0. Another option is by configuring "asoundrc" to use the second card (number 1). either in your home directory or system-wide (on etc). The latter option has the problem of you manually having to reconfigure that on pulseaudio or other applications that override that setting. Don't use the two options at the same time, as they'll reverse each others effect: choose the one that most fits your needs.

Via Kernel: snd_pcm_intel parameters

Simply create a file, /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-card-reordering.conf containing the following line:

options snd-hda-intel index=1,0

This solution is adapted from here.

Via asoundrc

Had to be on the "audio" group. Not sure if it's really necessary. Had to manually tell alsa to use the "second" sound card:

you@z510:~$ cat > ~/.asoundrc
pcm.!default {
        type hw
        card 1
}

ctl.!default {
        type hw           
        card 1
}

Please keep in mind that this configuration will not work for applications that use pulseaudio.

Trackpad

As of Kernel 3.15.2-1, this is not needed anymore. The trackpad, including the two-finger scrolls work out of the box.

Steps needed for older kernels

Detected normally as a simple trackpad, but is not able to detect two-finger scrolls as it's detected as a generic PS mouse:

you@z510:~$ dmesg | grep touchpad
psmouse serio1: alps: Unknown ALPS touchpad: E7=73 03 0a, EC=88 b6 06

To fix that, you can install a custom psmouse.ko for ALPSv7. This might not be true in the near future, as this probably will be integrated in the mainline kernel.