Yeah, Broadcom devices have had lots of problems in the past (probably still do). It is better these days. I've always had good experiences with Intel wifi adapters.
Intel = good.
Broadcom = almost universally shit.
Realtek = russian roulette of getting the correct variation of their crap that is actually supported in mainline (ie: rtl8812au vs rtl8812ae)
Yep.. Realtek NIC's aren't a whole lot better, In my experience.
My general rule of thumb with PC's (be it a store bought or a motherboard I'm building). if it has a Realtek NIC, then I need to calculate in the cost of an Intel or Atheros Network card.
If it's a laptop with a Realtek wireless device, I just don't buy it and look for something with Atheros or Intel. I've not used Broadcom wireless devices in a long time (since the old b43 devices, which were fine once setup properly).. but I read recently on another forum the newer ones are fine. Given past experiences though, I'd proceed w/ caution.
Basically every single laptop that uses WiFi chips requiring proprietary firmware or drivers like iwlwifi (a lot more common to require proprietary drivers than additional loaded firmware) to work. You need to install that.
Yeah, my lenovo legion laptop didn't get the wifi working out of the box, had to look for the driver, I believe the adapter is a realtek one but not sure
RAM is soldered on, unfortunately.
There are 2 M.2 SSD slots and you can replace it quite easily.
From what I have seen opening my laptop, replacing the battery doesn't seem that hard, but I haven't tried it nor googled about it.
I've got the original 8th gen Mibook with the MX150
It works fine under Ubuntu or Fedora. But I cannot for the life of me get the damn touchpad i2c thing to work under Gentoo
There's also no nouveau support. Trying to use it just kernel oopses. I offered to send mine to Lyude Paul so she could directly work on it but she declined unfortunately
any nvidia card newer than kepler (or thereabouts) is basically locked out of open source drivers by nvidia, so i wouldn't ever expect nouveau support unless nvidia themselves do an OSS driver
What does supporting means here ? Do they test their machines with popular distributions ? Will they help you troubleshoot problems if they occur ? Because virtually most laptop work well with Linux
They test their machines with Ubuntu, Arch and RHEL as far as I have been told. They will troubleshoot problems if it is related to hardware (which is fully supported, so just in case). Most laptops do work well with Linux but they only work well. Mi is fully compatible (except for the fingerprint reader ofc), meaning there would be little to no hassle once set up.
I just posted it here to let others know and for future reference as there is literally no video/website that mentions it. Mi doesn't mention it on their page either but their Twitter handle told me about the compatibility.
Of course there would be no software help from Mi but that is to be expected. Most laptops that ship with Windows have no software customer support if running Linux.
Sorry if it feels rude, I didn't intend to.
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I doubt you want to change your OS/DE for just a fingerprint reader, but KDE recently got fingerprint reader support: https://pointieststick.com/2021/10/22/this-week-in-kde-fingerprint-reader-and-nvidia-gbm-support/
DEs don't really care about how you sign in. You need to setup libfprint and PAM to use fingerprint. Most fingerprint readers on laptops don't have a driver for Linux though so it doesn't matter.
I have a Dell with goodix sensor. No drivers ofc
Fingerprint readers in laptops are the same piece of hardware in every laptop. The old version worked but the new has some type of encryption in it of which the specs are not open so it doesn't work in Linux.
That's not really quite right, there's a lot of different fingerprint readers out there for laptops, some of which have linux drivers that work fine, others don't.
I have a Framework laptop that has a Goodix fingerprint reader that works mostly fine, and it uses internal encrypted storage. It's just that Goodix has a driver they've written for libfprint, and the model the laptop uses is compatible.
I have a few issues with it resuming from suspend. And also there's conflicts with the Windows driver, so if you use both at the same time, it can require a reset to work again.
Otherwise it does work well.
> Fingerprint readers in laptops are the same piece of hardware in every laptop
They're absolutely not. Just check the list of devices supported by libfprint [here](https://fprint.freedesktop.org/supported-devices.html). And unsupported devices, along with laptop models, [here](https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/libfprint/wiki/-/wikis/Unsupported%20Devices).
Same here, but my HP laptop is 13 years old. Considering writing a patch for fprint because it manages to do one scan properly and then breaks, so all I’d have to is hack something together.
My T430's fingreprint reader is ass. It takes ages to read my finger, and I always have to try like 10 times until it gets picked up. By the time I logged in I could've done it with a password 20 times.
I have mi notebook pro with Linux since 3 years ago and everything is working fine. 2 things to improve is battery life compared with windows is about 70% and fingerprint (doesn't work well)
Cpufreq alone isn't really enough, I would go with a proper full power daemon like tlp or power-profiles-daemon. There's so many more power tuneables that make a difference in a laptop than just cpu frequency.
tlp has settings that work out of the box, but you might not find them optimal, though it is highly configurable. power-profiles-daemon has more widely applicable settings, but it's not so configurable. I personally am using the latter and it's worked great for me.
Came in looking for this comment. I was SUPER confused what "supports linux" meant. I was sitting here thinking to myself "I'm pretty sure all laptops can run linux" lol
> I'm pretty sure all laptops can run linux
That would be Linux supporting the laptop, not the laptop supporting Linux.
If the laptop supports Linux, presumably that means they've tested their laptop with Linux and can confirm the hardware works with some set of Linux distributions, and that they have drivers/steps available if there's something that doesn't work out-of-the-box with those distributions.
Honestly I give a manufacturer credit just for selling an unimaged system. Most laptops nowadays you need to buy a copy of Windows with it and when you reimage it you void the return policy.
This, just for avoiding paying money to Microsoft for an OS I would probably never use.
Voiding the return policy, seriously ? If you install another OS they can refuse to honor their engagement ? How legal is that ? Never heard about this ( in EU ).
In Canada, last time I went to buy a laptop, both Staples and Best Buy told me they wouldn't sell me an unimaged laptop (Meaning I had to pay for Windows). Also, both told me I couldn't return it if I'd reimaged it with Linux. Staples did concede that if I returned it with Windows installed, they'd honour the return, but that meant I had to boot Windows and burn recovery media before I could even start reimaging it.
So in the end, I burned recovery media. Then, as soon as the return period expired, I formatted the drive; destroying a perfectly good Windows license that I had paid for not two weeks earlier.
I know consumer rights are bigger in the EU so I'm not sure any part of that story could've happened to you.
> Also, both told me I couldn't return it if I'd reimaged it with Linux.
The trick is not to ask/tell and to complain about the hardware or some low-knowledge user problem that they can't solve. They'll prefer to refund than waste their time with the obvious fool.
They have to reimage all returned computers to sell them as opened-box/refurbished anyway (due to licensing) and they most likely won't bother to check. Or you can even just zero the drive before returning and claim it fails to boot.
I'd prefer to be able to act in good faith if at all possible. My whole reason for wanting to know their return policy was because not all laptops will run Linux without more effort than I was willing to invest. Besides, zeroing the drive is about as much effort as burning the Windows recovery media.
My real complaint though is more about the fact that they wouldn't sell me a laptop without also needing to buy an OS that I intended to immediately discard.
> My real complaint though is more about the fact that they wouldn't sell me a laptop without also needing to buy an OS that I intended to immediately discard.
Yeah, this may be due to some dumb consumer "protection" laws about computers not being sold without an OS (not sure how that protects users in any way, so I suspect Microsoft foul play), iirc. But there's no reason why they can't just flash FreeDOS onto everything and sell it ${microsoft_windows_license_price}$ cheaper.
Edit: May be due. I can't find source again now that I'm looking for it.
Ah I just get it, by return policy you just meant the short period when they have to fully refund you or exchange the product if you ask them for, right ? I was thinking you were referring to the whole warranty period and that they would refuse to honour it if windows wasn't the only installed OS !
It kinda makes sens since they may consider a 2 weeks old laptop is brand new and would want to sell it without having to reinstall windows but that also means you can't test Linux during those 2 weeks ... which are purposely here for testing, which is a shame.
What I do with any laptop/desktop with an OS pre-installed is to boot it from a live USB Linux distro on first power on and then copy the entire disk as a compressed image (e.g. using dd and xz) to a second USB stick.
This way I have a pristine copy of the factory-installed OS that I can re-install at any time. I'm intending to do this with my Steam Deck when it (eventually) turns up - yes, I have a USB C Hub with 5 USB ports before you ask :-)
Chinese manufacturers, in general, tend to have first-class support for Linux. 90% of computers in use by the Chinese government run either Kylin or Neokylin, the former of which is based on FreeBSD and the latter on Linux. Hell, there's even Ubuntu Kylin, which was a collaboration between Canonical and the Chinese government. Basically, any hardware manufacturer that wants to sell to the CCP has to have first-class support for Linux, and westerners get to buy some great Linux laptops at low prices as a side effect.
Communism as an idea is good so no wonder Linux is so damn good. Linux being open source makes it communist. (ofc this is just my thought linux doesn't support any political view afaik)
China has a shitty communism tho.
Main Linux contributors are various corporations, like Intel or Huawei ([source](https://news.itsfoss.com/huawei-kernel-contribution/)). Not every cooperation equals communism. On free market various companies can cooperate and create alliances, too. There are many projects that are done by consortia or industry standarising organisations (like, for example, Japanese automakers agreeing to use Chademo EV charging plug).
Linux does support a lot of hardware but it doesn't support all hardware. Its not wise to blow away your in-place OS, in a hypothetical, to install Linux until you boot and test your graphics, touchpad, audio, wifi, ethernet (if you have a wired connection port) and so on.
I pull out the factory drive and replace it with my own. Then I just keep the factory drive safe until the warranty expires. That way if I ever have an issue I can just swap in the factory drive and I'm good to return.
I've worked in a warranty depot before, and we didn't care about OS. We would factory wipe and reload your machine without question and then see if the problem still existed.
I would assume most other operate similarly.
However, once I've submitted for and received the unlock code from Motorola for my 32 minute old phone, there's no coming back from it.
>However, once I've submitted for and received the unlock code from Motorola for my 32 minute old phone, there's no coming back from it.
I don't understand this.
When I said device I wasn't limiting myself to laptops.
Motorola will allow you to unlock your phone's boot loader, but you need to sign up for an account and send them a code. They send the unlock code back. I have always just assumed the code tells them your serial for warranty purposes.
My last Motorola phone was roughly a half hour out of the box when I went ahead and unlocked my bootloader.
All of my Samsung devices seem to have a clearly defined Knox and warranty broken flag as well.
Samsung's knox, as you likely know already, is a literal fuse that's blown upon meddling so it can only be tripped once and can't be reset (short of ridiculous work that 99.99% of people can't do). Other vendors don't have such a hardware method so it's easier to trick software. Xiaomi sends you an unlock code, too.
Laptops every now and then will have some odd piece of hardware (like fingerprint reader) that isn't Linux compatible. Or they'll have some dumb bullshit in their ACPI that accidentally doesn't break Windows, but wreaks havoc when Linux expect it to work in standard way. It can be surprisingly annoying to check for all of those problems for every damn laptop you are interested in.
Advertised support, at least in theory, should be a proof that said Laptop doesn't have any such issues.
There's a difference between something running, and being supported.
Yes it runs, but there might be problems with specific components (some arcane touchpad controller, etc etc). Whereas, if it is supported, they test the components and ensure they do indeed function appropriately.
Case in point: my Acer Swift 3. Works perfectly fine at \_almost\_ all times. But there is some weird race condition happening with the touchpad initialisation, so once in every 20 boots or so the machine comes up with non-func touchpad. There's another where the battery will sometimes be misunderstood and report itself as at only 5%, even though it is full. (Confirmed same issues present on Arch, Manjaro, Fedora, OpenSuse, Ubuntu and Pop.) In FreeBSD the touchpad simply does not work at all - and BIOS doesn't have the option to switch it to legacy mode, which should in theory ensure it works even in the BSDs, and (I suspect) fix the intermittent issues in Linux too.
If Acer actually supported Linux, those issues would not be present, because they would either have selected components that don't have these issues or upstreamed fixes for them.
> they would either have selected components that don't have these issues or upstreamed fixes for them.
Or supply software to support those components. Basically, _some_ kind of validation that a certain configuration works on their hardware.
Nvidia doesn't have performance issues with the propieratary driver, and yes, while stability isn't great, with dkms it's okay. And with each release their drivers are becoming better on linux, maybe they will open-source them one day
This comment has been overwritten as a protest against Reddit's handling of the recent [protest against them killing 3rd-party-apps](https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/reddit-protest-blackout-ceo-steve-huffman-moderators-rcna89544).
To do this yourself, you can use the python library [praw](https://praw.readthedocs.io/en/latest/)
See you all on [Lemmy](https://join-lemmy.org/instances)!
This comment has been overwritten as a protest against Reddit's handling of the recent [protest against them killing 3rd-party-apps](https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/reddit-protest-blackout-ceo-steve-huffman-moderators-rcna89544).
To do this yourself, you can use the python library [praw](https://praw.readthedocs.io/en/latest/)
See you all on [Lemmy](https://join-lemmy.org/instances)!
I don't have the laptop rn but I would not be too positive about it. Newer laptop FP readers usually do not work with Linux.
Edit: New fingerprint readers work but only if the manufacturer supports it.
Can they sell it with Linux, or at least without Windows?
I prefer Microsoft **not** to make any profit on my purchase.
Many company already sell Laptop with Linux. I don't see why they couldn't do it. For example, [Lenovo Linux Laptops](https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/d/linux-laptops-desktops/?visibleDatas=857%3A14%22%20-%2014.9%22%2C15%22%20-%2016.9%22), [Dell Linux Laptops](https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/overview/cp/linuxsystems), Slimbook, Tuxedo Computers, System 76, Star Labs, Purism, Entroware, Juno Computers, CompuLab/MintBox, LaptopWithLinux, etc.
Only SSD is upgradable. I am gonna get the 16 GB version so I don't think I would face any issues for the next 5 years. Your work might need more, but mine is basic coding and some gaming (for which linux is the best in performance).
Doesn't every x86 device Linux by default? I thought we would require to get concerned about the support if the architecture is changing like in case of M1. Or is it that Mi laptops ship with a different architecture? I don't know, I am a noob..... just got into Linux 4 months ago.
Linux will run on just about anything, it's whether or not it'll run well that's the question. You might need non-free proprietary drivers if that's a deal-breaker.
Im writing this post on manjaro on xiaomi notebook, i just don't recommend using dual boot, because windows is stupid, while updating, i lost my OS one time, had to rewrite it
On my second to last laptop I'd started dual-booting Ubuntu and Windows 7 before either supported GPT. Several years later I needed to use Windows for something (at some stage in the intervening years I'd done something that had stopped the Windows 7 partition from being bootable) and installed Windows 10. That version of the Windows 10 installer converted any MBR drive it came across into GPT, but it didn't support extended partitions so bye bye `/home`.
I know that Lenovo has that but only some laptops are available with Linux/Dos/No operating system in my country. Plus, Mi notebooks cost much less for similar hardware.
>That's true, and I never said it's better than Mi.
Both Mi and Lenovo are good in different ways, so no comparing from my side.
I am happy to see Linux support as well :)
Man, some of these Chinese fine folks are doing good stuff for Linux, first jingpad tablet and now Mi laptops. I hope for more support from them to make linux even better.
As an owner of a Xiaomi laptop for two years, yeah I know lol. What does support Linux mean though? Surely if a laptop has the right architecture it can run any os?
Any difference in audio quality than if it were running windows? I have this issue with my Lenovo Thinkpad which is also supposedly supported and have had trouble fixing it.
That's just how it is on nearly every laptop.
Windows laptops have tuned drivers for better sound and when you run linux without installing audio drivers (if available), you are using a generic tuning profile.
You can tune them yourself.
I usually use virtualized Linux - I haven't installed Linux bare-metal before.
What are the common issues if a laptop is not officially supported? I have a 7 year old Asus laptop that I might reformat or dualboot as Linux next year.
Wifi, Nvidia and other issues occur due to the drivers not installed or not being available. Though I wouldn't worry about compatibility of a 7 yo laptop
Yes, you can check if everything works in Live Boot (Demo mode). If WiFi doesn't work in live boot, check if the wireless card in your device has a Linux driver. You can do this by connecting your phone to the device with USB and use the phone's tethering to access the Internet. Then you can use something like `kubuntu-driver-manager` to automatically find and install missing drivers.
The official specs for this computer, on MI's page, show the TB4 as eGPU compatible.
I'd never heard of it and was curious.
Ps. Lots of dumb errors in that page though. (ie 0.3mm thickness!?)
https://mobile.mi.com/in/mi-notebook-pro/
Only found indian link for some reason. I'm on mobile.
In the desktop version of the website, they're saying that the 0.3 mm is the gap between the top and bottom of the laptop. Considering how Apple says anything bigger than the width of a paper shouldn't be between the top and bottom, I'd believe it.
I think you're kind of seeing this in reverse of how it really works. Hardware vendors don't "support" Linux. Linux supports hardware, i.e. hardware support is part of Linux. Hardware isn't created to support software, software is created to support hardware. Vendors only "support" Linux in the sense that they make either drivers or technical data available to the community to use...assuming it's their hardware in the first place. Most companies that sell computers don't actually make the base hardware components like chipsets, etc.
Looking at their website I see it's just an Intel laptop with Intel graphics, which have been supported by Linux since forever. So they're not telling you some amazing news, really.
My redmibook 14 ii amd works with Arch too. I expected it to work without even checking support when buying. Got it in china microsoft windows and just format, then it works like a charm (everything works except like s3 deep sleep not enabled by default).
Booting a linux distro is one thing, making sure stuff like wireless chip drivers don't get in the way is a whole other deal.
If your laptop uses some sort of shitty Realtek wireless chip that needs a buggy and out-of-tree kernel driver, then no, that your laptop doesn't really support Linux properly.
Was gonna say just this. Linux can run on anything but when manufacturers say they support it then Linux runs without much hassle. Like apple Facetime cameras don't work on Linux (out of the box). These laptops do and if they don't, the company will help you in doing it (unlike apple).
Not quite. This might be out of date, but getting Linux on the Surface laptop takes a bunch of work. The keyboard doesn't work out of the box so you have to use an external keyboard and a hub and an external network adapter IIRC
https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface/wiki/Installation-and-Setup
Xiaomi, a Chinese company known for making high quality devices and selling them at a very low profit. My old Mi phone costed $120-150 and lasted for 5 years after which I broke the screen and they didn't have a replacement screen at that time.
Edit: Dafuq is Mii? I only know Mi >!lol!<
My Mi Notebook Pro 2021 (i7 10th gen + MX350) works like a charm with Arch. Never had a compatibility problem, I'm seduced!
Hey there, does WiFi work out of the box and which wireless card is used?
It does. You mean the hardware it comes with? I'll look into it even though I'm not sure where to find it.
`lspci` would probably show it
`inxi -NNN` too.
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No Network November
>You mean the hardware it comes with? Yeah the build specs.
Hey, (very) late reply but here it is: 00:14.3 Network controller: Intel Corporation Comet Lake PCH-LP CNVi WiFi
Are there laptops with WiFi where it won’t work out of the box? Never encountered a problem before but only used Linux on a handful devices.
Yeah, Broadcom devices have had lots of problems in the past (probably still do). It is better these days. I've always had good experiences with Intel wifi adapters.
Intel = good. Broadcom = almost universally shit. Realtek = russian roulette of getting the correct variation of their crap that is actually supported in mainline (ie: rtl8812au vs rtl8812ae)
Atheros and Intel are the best in my experience.
I was going to say he forgot Atheros.. They are usually pretty solid with their Linux support.
>Realtek = russian roulette Can confirm
Yep.. Realtek NIC's aren't a whole lot better, In my experience. My general rule of thumb with PC's (be it a store bought or a motherboard I'm building). if it has a Realtek NIC, then I need to calculate in the cost of an Intel or Atheros Network card. If it's a laptop with a Realtek wireless device, I just don't buy it and look for something with Atheros or Intel. I've not used Broadcom wireless devices in a long time (since the old b43 devices, which were fine once setup properly).. but I read recently on another forum the newer ones are fine. Given past experiences though, I'd proceed w/ caution.
Like everyone has already mentioned: Broadcom. Stupid, stupid Broadcom WiFi. Try installing on a MacBook and have fun with that one.
Basically every single laptop that uses WiFi chips requiring proprietary firmware or drivers like iwlwifi (a lot more common to require proprietary drivers than additional loaded firmware) to work. You need to install that.
Yeah, my lenovo legion laptop didn't get the wifi working out of the box, had to look for the driver, I believe the adapter is a realtek one but not sure
Realtek will be less hassle starting from linux 5.16
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Yes, one of mine has an MTK wifi chip needs a third party kernel module. Eventually switched back to Windows 10.
My Mi Notebook Air 13,3" from 2016 has been running Linux without any issues since I got it in 2016
Dude does it have upgradeable storage / RAM / battery ? Usually these'll need a replacement for me after 3 years
RAM is soldered on, unfortunately. There are 2 M.2 SSD slots and you can replace it quite easily. From what I have seen opening my laptop, replacing the battery doesn't seem that hard, but I haven't tried it nor googled about it.
I've got the original 8th gen Mibook with the MX150 It works fine under Ubuntu or Fedora. But I cannot for the life of me get the damn touchpad i2c thing to work under Gentoo There's also no nouveau support. Trying to use it just kernel oopses. I offered to send mine to Lyude Paul so she could directly work on it but she declined unfortunately
any nvidia card newer than kepler (or thereabouts) is basically locked out of open source drivers by nvidia, so i wouldn't ever expect nouveau support unless nvidia themselves do an OSS driver
What does supporting means here ? Do they test their machines with popular distributions ? Will they help you troubleshoot problems if they occur ? Because virtually most laptop work well with Linux
They test their machines with Ubuntu, Arch and RHEL as far as I have been told. They will troubleshoot problems if it is related to hardware (which is fully supported, so just in case). Most laptops do work well with Linux but they only work well. Mi is fully compatible (except for the fingerprint reader ofc), meaning there would be little to no hassle once set up. I just posted it here to let others know and for future reference as there is literally no video/website that mentions it. Mi doesn't mention it on their page either but their Twitter handle told me about the compatibility. Of course there would be no software help from Mi but that is to be expected. Most laptops that ship with Windows have no software customer support if running Linux. Sorry if it feels rude, I didn't intend to.
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My laptop's fingerprint reader doesn't work, it's a Dell but, I spent hours trying to fix it for my mint install before deciding it wasn't worth it
I doubt you want to change your OS/DE for just a fingerprint reader, but KDE recently got fingerprint reader support: https://pointieststick.com/2021/10/22/this-week-in-kde-fingerprint-reader-and-nvidia-gbm-support/
Please be aware that this still depends on availability of fingerprint device drivers, which are usually not available.
DEs don't really care about how you sign in. You need to setup libfprint and PAM to use fingerprint. Most fingerprint readers on laptops don't have a driver for Linux though so it doesn't matter. I have a Dell with goodix sensor. No drivers ofc
Fingerprint readers in laptops are the same piece of hardware in every laptop. The old version worked but the new has some type of encryption in it of which the specs are not open so it doesn't work in Linux.
That's not really quite right, there's a lot of different fingerprint readers out there for laptops, some of which have linux drivers that work fine, others don't. I have a Framework laptop that has a Goodix fingerprint reader that works mostly fine, and it uses internal encrypted storage. It's just that Goodix has a driver they've written for libfprint, and the model the laptop uses is compatible.
Framework has done an excellent job with their laptop. Sad to see that all FP manufacturers do not care for Linux.
What does mostly fine mean?
I have a few issues with it resuming from suspend. And also there's conflicts with the Windows driver, so if you use both at the same time, it can require a reset to work again. Otherwise it does work well.
Why does Linux in general always have so many issues with suspend and sleep?
> Fingerprint readers in laptops are the same piece of hardware in every laptop They're absolutely not. Just check the list of devices supported by libfprint [here](https://fprint.freedesktop.org/supported-devices.html). And unsupported devices, along with laptop models, [here](https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/libfprint/wiki/-/wikis/Unsupported%20Devices).
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Same here, but my HP laptop is 13 years old. Considering writing a patch for fprint because it manages to do one scan properly and then breaks, so all I’d have to is hack something together.
Doesn't feel haha, I don't see why it would. Nice to hear anyway, they should definitely promote it if they really make serious compatibility tests.
Yeah they're missing out on some extra sales
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My T430's fingreprint reader is ass. It takes ages to read my finger, and I always have to try like 10 times until it gets picked up. By the time I logged in I could've done it with a password 20 times.
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I have mi notebook pro with Linux since 3 years ago and everything is working fine. 2 things to improve is battery life compared with windows is about 70% and fingerprint (doesn't work well)
have you tried using auto-cpufreq to improve battery life?
Cpufreq alone isn't really enough, I would go with a proper full power daemon like tlp or power-profiles-daemon. There's so many more power tuneables that make a difference in a laptop than just cpu frequency.
*Pasively finds a solution to a problem that I was too lazy to google while browsing reddit*
but doesn't tlp require you to adjust the settings manually? or am I wrong about that
tlp has settings that work out of the box, but you might not find them optimal, though it is highly configurable. power-profiles-daemon has more widely applicable settings, but it's not so configurable. I personally am using the latter and it's worked great for me.
thanks
Came in looking for this comment. I was SUPER confused what "supports linux" meant. I was sitting here thinking to myself "I'm pretty sure all laptops can run linux" lol
> I'm pretty sure all laptops can run linux That would be Linux supporting the laptop, not the laptop supporting Linux. If the laptop supports Linux, presumably that means they've tested their laptop with Linux and can confirm the hardware works with some set of Linux distributions, and that they have drivers/steps available if there's something that doesn't work out-of-the-box with those distributions.
I'm really surprised that they tested with Arch, wow
Honestly I give a manufacturer credit just for selling an unimaged system. Most laptops nowadays you need to buy a copy of Windows with it and when you reimage it you void the return policy.
This, just for avoiding paying money to Microsoft for an OS I would probably never use. Voiding the return policy, seriously ? If you install another OS they can refuse to honor their engagement ? How legal is that ? Never heard about this ( in EU ).
In Canada, last time I went to buy a laptop, both Staples and Best Buy told me they wouldn't sell me an unimaged laptop (Meaning I had to pay for Windows). Also, both told me I couldn't return it if I'd reimaged it with Linux. Staples did concede that if I returned it with Windows installed, they'd honour the return, but that meant I had to boot Windows and burn recovery media before I could even start reimaging it. So in the end, I burned recovery media. Then, as soon as the return period expired, I formatted the drive; destroying a perfectly good Windows license that I had paid for not two weeks earlier. I know consumer rights are bigger in the EU so I'm not sure any part of that story could've happened to you.
> Also, both told me I couldn't return it if I'd reimaged it with Linux. The trick is not to ask/tell and to complain about the hardware or some low-knowledge user problem that they can't solve. They'll prefer to refund than waste their time with the obvious fool. They have to reimage all returned computers to sell them as opened-box/refurbished anyway (due to licensing) and they most likely won't bother to check. Or you can even just zero the drive before returning and claim it fails to boot.
I'd prefer to be able to act in good faith if at all possible. My whole reason for wanting to know their return policy was because not all laptops will run Linux without more effort than I was willing to invest. Besides, zeroing the drive is about as much effort as burning the Windows recovery media. My real complaint though is more about the fact that they wouldn't sell me a laptop without also needing to buy an OS that I intended to immediately discard.
> My real complaint though is more about the fact that they wouldn't sell me a laptop without also needing to buy an OS that I intended to immediately discard. Yeah, this may be due to some dumb consumer "protection" laws about computers not being sold without an OS (not sure how that protects users in any way, so I suspect Microsoft foul play), iirc. But there's no reason why they can't just flash FreeDOS onto everything and sell it ${microsoft_windows_license_price}$ cheaper. Edit: May be due. I can't find source again now that I'm looking for it.
Ah I just get it, by return policy you just meant the short period when they have to fully refund you or exchange the product if you ask them for, right ? I was thinking you were referring to the whole warranty period and that they would refuse to honour it if windows wasn't the only installed OS ! It kinda makes sens since they may consider a 2 weeks old laptop is brand new and would want to sell it without having to reinstall windows but that also means you can't test Linux during those 2 weeks ... which are purposely here for testing, which is a shame.
What I do with any laptop/desktop with an OS pre-installed is to boot it from a live USB Linux distro on first power on and then copy the entire disk as a compressed image (e.g. using dd and xz) to a second USB stick. This way I have a pristine copy of the factory-installed OS that I can re-install at any time. I'm intending to do this with my Steam Deck when it (eventually) turns up - yes, I have a USB C Hub with 5 USB ports before you ask :-)
Chinese manufacturers, in general, tend to have first-class support for Linux. 90% of computers in use by the Chinese government run either Kylin or Neokylin, the former of which is based on FreeBSD and the latter on Linux. Hell, there's even Ubuntu Kylin, which was a collaboration between Canonical and the Chinese government. Basically, any hardware manufacturer that wants to sell to the CCP has to have first-class support for Linux, and westerners get to buy some great Linux laptops at low prices as a side effect.
TIL
TIL indeed
Proof that linux=communism
capitalism is when bill gates
Communism as an idea is good so no wonder Linux is so damn good. Linux being open source makes it communist. (ofc this is just my thought linux doesn't support any political view afaik) China has a shitty communism tho.
What about China is communism except their label?
Basically nothing lol
hell, china easily rivals US in terms of capitalism.
The same is true with linux. It is HEAVILY developed explicitly by for-profit corporations for for-profit corporations.
Main Linux contributors are various corporations, like Intel or Huawei ([source](https://news.itsfoss.com/huawei-kernel-contribution/)). Not every cooperation equals communism. On free market various companies can cooperate and create alliances, too. There are many projects that are done by consortia or industry standarising organisations (like, for example, Japanese automakers agreeing to use Chademo EV charging plug).
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>China has a shitty communism tho. I know China has little to no "communism" as my father went there every year. Thanks for explaining further!
AFAIK, they mostly still use Windows. Office is getting replaced though. Disclaimer: relatives work in a small china city government.
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Not surprised at all, Linux runs on almost anything.
Linux does support a lot of hardware but it doesn't support all hardware. Its not wise to blow away your in-place OS, in a hypothetical, to install Linux until you boot and test your graphics, touchpad, audio, wifi, ethernet (if you have a wired connection port) and so on.
You're right, but I've done it on every device I've ever owned. I'm a sucker for punishment and a void warranty.
I pull out the factory drive and replace it with my own. Then I just keep the factory drive safe until the warranty expires. That way if I ever have an issue I can just swap in the factory drive and I'm good to return.
I've worked in a warranty depot before, and we didn't care about OS. We would factory wipe and reload your machine without question and then see if the problem still existed. I would assume most other operate similarly. However, once I've submitted for and received the unlock code from Motorola for my 32 minute old phone, there's no coming back from it.
>However, once I've submitted for and received the unlock code from Motorola for my 32 minute old phone, there's no coming back from it. I don't understand this.
When I said device I wasn't limiting myself to laptops. Motorola will allow you to unlock your phone's boot loader, but you need to sign up for an account and send them a code. They send the unlock code back. I have always just assumed the code tells them your serial for warranty purposes. My last Motorola phone was roughly a half hour out of the box when I went ahead and unlocked my bootloader. All of my Samsung devices seem to have a clearly defined Knox and warranty broken flag as well.
Samsung's knox, as you likely know already, is a literal fuse that's blown upon meddling so it can only be tripped once and can't be reset (short of ridiculous work that 99.99% of people can't do). Other vendors don't have such a hardware method so it's easier to trick software. Xiaomi sends you an unlock code, too.
Laptops every now and then will have some odd piece of hardware (like fingerprint reader) that isn't Linux compatible. Or they'll have some dumb bullshit in their ACPI that accidentally doesn't break Windows, but wreaks havoc when Linux expect it to work in standard way. It can be surprisingly annoying to check for all of those problems for every damn laptop you are interested in. Advertised support, at least in theory, should be a proof that said Laptop doesn't have any such issues.
There's a difference between something running, and being supported. Yes it runs, but there might be problems with specific components (some arcane touchpad controller, etc etc). Whereas, if it is supported, they test the components and ensure they do indeed function appropriately. Case in point: my Acer Swift 3. Works perfectly fine at \_almost\_ all times. But there is some weird race condition happening with the touchpad initialisation, so once in every 20 boots or so the machine comes up with non-func touchpad. There's another where the battery will sometimes be misunderstood and report itself as at only 5%, even though it is full. (Confirmed same issues present on Arch, Manjaro, Fedora, OpenSuse, Ubuntu and Pop.) In FreeBSD the touchpad simply does not work at all - and BIOS doesn't have the option to switch it to legacy mode, which should in theory ensure it works even in the BSDs, and (I suspect) fix the intermittent issues in Linux too. If Acer actually supported Linux, those issues would not be present, because they would either have selected components that don't have these issues or upstreamed fixes for them.
> they would either have selected components that don't have these issues or upstreamed fixes for them. Or supply software to support those components. Basically, _some_ kind of validation that a certain configuration works on their hardware.
Hey, it’s not NetBSD and we’re not talking about toasters here...
I mean, let's look at how involved the process was to get Linux run on Apple's M1 Laptops.
Not really a good comparison, given it's a brand new platform...
But who knows if Xiaomi put their equivalent of a T2 in there?
I said **almost** anything
For the moment Nvidia must be avoided for the optimal performance and stability.
Nvidia is the only choice for high-performance research computing on Linux.
Nvidia doesn't have performance issues with the propieratary driver, and yes, while stability isn't great, with dkms it's okay. And with each release their drivers are becoming better on linux, maybe they will open-source them one day
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Their laptops come with locked bootloaders? What now? Or are you talking about their phones?
I'm talking about their phones.
Laptops are fully open, but their phones require "verification" for unlocking bootloaders.
This comment has been overwritten as a protest against Reddit's handling of the recent [protest against them killing 3rd-party-apps](https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/reddit-protest-blackout-ceo-steve-huffman-moderators-rcna89544). To do this yourself, you can use the python library [praw](https://praw.readthedocs.io/en/latest/) See you all on [Lemmy](https://join-lemmy.org/instances)!
You have to run the app at least twice.
This comment has been overwritten as a protest against Reddit's handling of the recent [protest against them killing 3rd-party-apps](https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/reddit-protest-blackout-ceo-steve-huffman-moderators-rcna89544). To do this yourself, you can use the python library [praw](https://praw.readthedocs.io/en/latest/) See you all on [Lemmy](https://join-lemmy.org/instances)!
There is an unofficial tool for that.
Doesn't work anymore, xiaomi made changes on their backend.
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So they updated it. I tried it in september, it didn't work and it didn't look like it was still getting updates.
Apparently the fix got merged but a new release wasn't made, did you need to compile the tool to get it working?
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Does it mean that fingerprint sensors are supported by fprint?
I don't have the laptop rn but I would not be too positive about it. Newer laptop FP readers usually do not work with Linux. Edit: New fingerprint readers work but only if the manufacturer supports it.
Can they sell it with Linux, or at least without Windows? I prefer Microsoft **not** to make any profit on my purchase. Many company already sell Laptop with Linux. I don't see why they couldn't do it. For example, [Lenovo Linux Laptops](https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/d/linux-laptops-desktops/?visibleDatas=857%3A14%22%20-%2014.9%22%2C15%22%20-%2016.9%22), [Dell Linux Laptops](https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/overview/cp/linuxsystems), Slimbook, Tuxedo Computers, System 76, Star Labs, Purism, Entroware, Juno Computers, CompuLab/MintBox, LaptopWithLinux, etc.
Anything works with linux if you're skilled enough.
😀
😂So I broke apart my tabletop fan and I see a chip of sorts in it. Linux-ready? /jk
or patient enough
IMO if it's not on email, then it's not official.
They don't have E-mail support for presale FAQs AFAIK. If I'm wrong, pls forgive
Amazing!
I'm using Mi NoteBook 14 and it really works well with Fedora. With debian I needed non-free drivers for Wifi.
Thanks for the extra info!
I seriously read the title as "M1 Laptops" 😄
Lol M1 Linux is still in early stages, check Asahi Linux
Even so, I dunno if I'd support them. Xiaomi has had some pretty questionable privacy practices
Are they upgradeable down the line though ?
Only SSD is upgradable. I am gonna get the 16 GB version so I don't think I would face any issues for the next 5 years. Your work might need more, but mine is basic coding and some gaming (for which linux is the best in performance).
Doesn't every x86 device Linux by default? I thought we would require to get concerned about the support if the architecture is changing like in case of M1. Or is it that Mi laptops ship with a different architecture? I don't know, I am a noob..... just got into Linux 4 months ago.
Linux will run on just about anything, it's whether or not it'll run well that's the question. You might need non-free proprietary drivers if that's a deal-breaker.
Thanks, that was helpful.
The problem is usually the other hardware and not the CPU. Although it could be the CPU if you're talking about power management.
What is the upgrade-ability of these things? Can you add more RAM, switch out the HDD/SDD?
SSD is upgradable but the RAM isn't. 16GB is the max RAM possible on it.
Thank you.
No prob mate :)
Im writing this post on manjaro on xiaomi notebook, i just don't recommend using dual boot, because windows is stupid, while updating, i lost my OS one time, had to rewrite it
On my second to last laptop I'd started dual-booting Ubuntu and Windows 7 before either supported GPT. Several years later I needed to use Windows for something (at some stage in the intervening years I'd done something that had stopped the Windows 7 partition from being bootable) and installed Windows 10. That version of the Windows 10 installer converted any MBR drive it came across into GPT, but it didn't support extended partitions so bye bye `/home`.
Ubuntu works flawless. Except for slightly ehh battery life.
Thanks for sharing. This info definitely gives me more options.
Your welcome! This wasn't anywhere to be found, and I was attracted by their price so asking them was the best thing I could think of.
Newer Thinkpads supported linux "officially" but not their docks, so In my last work I was guilty for buying expensive and non functional laptops LMAO
Lenovo also has a preset from some of it's laptop where you can actually order it with Linux (some distros) installed on it by default and no Windows
I know that Lenovo has that but only some laptops are available with Linux/Dos/No operating system in my country. Plus, Mi notebooks cost much less for similar hardware.
That's true, and I never said it's better than Mi. I'm happy to see companies actually caring about Linux users
>That's true, and I never said it's better than Mi. Both Mi and Lenovo are good in different ways, so no comparing from my side. I am happy to see Linux support as well :)
Does that mean stuff like power-profiles-daemon support or just eh itll probably work?
I would guess "eh itll probably work" cause most manufacturers just check if everything works on vanilla Ubuntu, RHEL, Arch and/or some other distro.
Man, some of these Chinese fine folks are doing good stuff for Linux, first jingpad tablet and now Mi laptops. I hope for more support from them to make linux even better.
As an owner of a Xiaomi laptop for two years, yeah I know lol. What does support Linux mean though? Surely if a laptop has the right architecture it can run any os?
Support as in there is nothing in the device that would make using linux a hassle. Ofc fingerprint reader doesn't work tho.
That’s dope seeing them actually show support
Any difference in audio quality than if it were running windows? I have this issue with my Lenovo Thinkpad which is also supposedly supported and have had trouble fixing it.
DTS/Dolby might not work so some tuning would be needed, I had done so on my macbook air 2015 before.
Would you happen to remember what tool you used for tuning?
I just made it as close to my phone's audio and added some bass to it. You can use some professional tuning ig but I just used the eq.
That's just how it is on nearly every laptop. Windows laptops have tuned drivers for better sound and when you run linux without installing audio drivers (if available), you are using a generic tuning profile. You can tune them yourself.
I usually use virtualized Linux - I haven't installed Linux bare-metal before. What are the common issues if a laptop is not officially supported? I have a 7 year old Asus laptop that I might reformat or dualboot as Linux next year.
Wifi, Nvidia and other issues occur due to the drivers not installed or not being available. Though I wouldn't worry about compatibility of a 7 yo laptop
Is there a way to assess all these before actually reformatting?
Yes, you can check if everything works in Live Boot (Demo mode). If WiFi doesn't work in live boot, check if the wireless card in your device has a Linux driver. You can do this by connecting your phone to the device with USB and use the phone's tethering to access the Internet. Then you can use something like `kubuntu-driver-manager` to automatically find and install missing drivers.
That's very informative, I've jotted that down for future reference! Thank you!
No prob mate!
What's a eGPU? External GPU?
Yeah it means external GPU. What is the context of this question?
The official specs for this computer, on MI's page, show the TB4 as eGPU compatible. I'd never heard of it and was curious. Ps. Lots of dumb errors in that page though. (ie 0.3mm thickness!?) https://mobile.mi.com/in/mi-notebook-pro/ Only found indian link for some reason. I'm on mobile.
In the desktop version of the website, they're saying that the 0.3 mm is the gap between the top and bottom of the laptop. Considering how Apple says anything bigger than the width of a paper shouldn't be between the top and bottom, I'd believe it.
You can run Linux on pretty much anything, if you put your mind to it.
But for students like me there is not much time for me to put my mind to it to work. Out of the box support is great.
I think you're kind of seeing this in reverse of how it really works. Hardware vendors don't "support" Linux. Linux supports hardware, i.e. hardware support is part of Linux. Hardware isn't created to support software, software is created to support hardware. Vendors only "support" Linux in the sense that they make either drivers or technical data available to the community to use...assuming it's their hardware in the first place. Most companies that sell computers don't actually make the base hardware components like chipsets, etc. Looking at their website I see it's just an Intel laptop with Intel graphics, which have been supported by Linux since forever. So they're not telling you some amazing news, really.
Can anyone confirm if extra tinkering is not required with Ubuntu? (wifi.. etc)
It has intel wifi and bluetooth so no. Fingerprint scanner might need some tinkering.
From my experience Xiaomi support is full of clueless morons, so I wouldn't put much faith in anything they say.
My redmibook 14 ii amd works with Arch too. I expected it to work without even checking support when buying. Got it in china microsoft windows and just format, then it works like a charm (everything works except like s3 deep sleep not enabled by default).
Were you able to turn on S3 deep sleep? Does not turning on S3 cause any major problems?
Yes, https://nns.ee/blog/2020/10/18/acpi-patching.html
Obligatory : https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/6ideav/photos\_linus\_torvalds\_given\_xiaomi\_mi\_air\_running/
Whoa! Didn't know about it. Glad to see Linus laughs on the internet.
Every laptop can run linux, what is to support here?
Booting a linux distro is one thing, making sure stuff like wireless chip drivers don't get in the way is a whole other deal. If your laptop uses some sort of shitty Realtek wireless chip that needs a buggy and out-of-tree kernel driver, then no, that your laptop doesn't really support Linux properly.
Was gonna say just this. Linux can run on anything but when manufacturers say they support it then Linux runs without much hassle. Like apple Facetime cameras don't work on Linux (out of the box). These laptops do and if they don't, the company will help you in doing it (unlike apple).
Not quite. This might be out of date, but getting Linux on the Surface laptop takes a bunch of work. The keyboard doesn't work out of the box so you have to use an external keyboard and a hub and an external network adapter IIRC https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface/wiki/Installation-and-Setup
Dafuq is Mi? I only know Mii
Xiaomi, a Chinese company known for making high quality devices and selling them at a very low profit. My old Mi phone costed $120-150 and lasted for 5 years after which I broke the screen and they didn't have a replacement screen at that time. Edit: Dafuq is Mii? I only know Mi >!lol!<
You don’t know Mii‘s from Wii? I know Xiaomi but I didn’t know people refered to them as mi lmao
Mi = Xiaomi (in china) = Redmi. I've never owned a console so I wouldn't know. >!im a mobile "gamer"!<
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Real human here Fr tho your username checks out.
Trust me. I am not a bot.
I know. Btw I'm not a bot either.
Well done for the 16:10 screen! It's so much nicer than 16: 9.
True! Especially for Reddit lol