[Lex Computer & Tech Group/LCTG] Trouble with installing Ubuntu on used ThinkPad

Mon Mar 16 11:32:15 PDT 2026

Couple of ideas.
1. I've used Linux Mint instead of Ubuntu.  Mint is based on or similar to
Ubuntu, but apparently has better support.  https://www.linuxmint.com/
    Current version is 22.3, but you can also access older versions from
the site.  But first, consider Idea #2:

2. This is in the "wow, this is really neat" category:  Ventoy.
https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html
"Ventoy is an open source tool to create a bootable USB drive for
ISO/WIM/IMG/VHD(x)/EFI files."
In short, if you want to try a version/flavor or three of Ubuntu, Linux
Mint, Debian, Fedora, Sparky, etc, using Ventoy is an excellent way to go
as you can try one or the other (to make sure it works as you want) without
needing to do a full install on your machine. Then when you make your
choice, you install it.
Here are the steps:
2a. Find a USB drive you can erase.  Size doesn't matter, but a larger size
will allow more distros.  (I have a 32GB Ventoy disk with 10 Distros and
9GB unused space.)
2b. Go to the Ventoy page and follow the instructions to install the
program onto this USB drive.
2c. Visit various Linux pages and download the ISOs for the versions you
want to try.  Copy to this USB.  (Repeat till you're tired or the USB drive
is full!)
      This URL has a list with descriptions for 25 distributions and offers
help choosing.
https://linuxlap.com/linux-tips/the-25-most-popular-linux-distributions-of-2025-a-complete-guide/
2d. Armed with your bloated USB drive, insert it into your target machine
and boot to it.  Select a Distro from those you loaded, and try it out.
      If you like it, you can install it.
      If you don't like it, reboot your target machine and select another
Distro to try.

Good luck and have fun!
-steve

PS: The Lexington Computer and Technology Group (https://LCTG.us) held a
meeting on doing just this, back on December 29, 2021
The Useful Information Meeting (Bob Primak):
» What do you do with an older PC? (paperweight alternatives)
» Windows 11 Upgrade Notification
» Installing Linux Mint on an old laptop (it's easy)
Notes from the presentation:
video of Linux installation <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydy2lDoLHDM> notes
for video
<https://wiki.toku.us/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=lctg:20211229_mint_install_video_notes.pdf>
Mint Linux install
<https://wiki.toku.us/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=lctg:20211229_mint_install.pdf>
Win 11 upgrade icon
<https://wiki.toku.us/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=lctg:20211229_lextech_win_11_upgrade_icon_20211207.pdf>
What to do with an old PC
<https://wiki.toku.us/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=lctg:20211229_lextech_things_to_do_old_pc_20211223.pdf>
Watch
the presentation <https://youtu.be/58dhcYtjI3g>
You can access the list of 2021 meetings info so you can scroll down to Dec
29, at: https://wiki.toku.us/doku.php?id=lctg2021

On Mon, Mar 16, 2026 at 1:22 PM Ryan Mack via LCTG <lctg at lists.toku.us>
wrote:

> Usually Ubuntu has a few different kernel options. I would recommend
> googling "ubuntu hwe kernel" where HWE stands for "HardWare Enablement".
> Usually that will give you a newer kernel that has more recent drivers.
> Might fix your issue. If that doesn't, then I would suggest googling the
> specific device names as well, you can usually get that from running
> "lspci" or "cat /proc/devices".
>
> On Mon, Mar 16, 2026 at 1:15 PM Shaun Keller via LCTG <lctg at lists.toku.us>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Nelson,
>>
>> I can't debug your problem directly. I would google "lenovo thinkpad x1
>> yoga g4 linux bluetooth not working".
>>
>> My experience shows that different Linux distributions can
>> behave differently. Because it is not difficult to install Linux, you might
>> try one of two other distros. Slackware sometimes works for me when other
>> options don't. You could also look here
>> https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/1bfgery/which_linux_distro/
>>
>> Shaun Keller
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 16, 2026 at 1:01 PM Nelson Caldwell via LCTG <
>> lctg at lists.toku.us> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Folks,
>>> I'm wondering if anyone can comment on a particular problem I am having
>>> installing Ubuntu on a used Thinkpad. Because this is pretty specific,
>>> I'm going to leave some blank spaces here so that non-interested parties
>>> can quickly delete this message without any further reading.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Here's the story. I haven't used Linux at home for a while, so I'm a bit
>>> rusty but am otherwise familiar with the linux operating system and
>>> setups. I bought a used Thinkpad  from BackMarket, really from "Deluxe
>>> PCs." Here are the specs:
>>> Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga G4 14-inch (2019) - Core I7-8665U - 16 GB - SSD
>>> 1 TB
>>> so a moderate powered laptop with a large disk - pretty vanilla. It's in
>>> good shape as far as appearance goes.
>>>
>>> I made a new Ubuntu installation USB stick, and installation was mostly
>>> ok. The issue is that Bluetooth does not work. What happens is that when
>>> I enable bluetooth either with F10 or the setting menu, the video goes
>>> haywire, with the screen flashing on and off and noisy, making the
>>> computer useless. Sometimes bluetooth is automatically disabled,
>>> sometimes I have to disable it (F10).  I have had excellent help from
>>> Deluxe Pcs, but he is convinced the problem is software (missing drivers
>>> or other). while I think it's hardware.
>>>
>>> If I try to attach a bluetooth mouse while bluetooth is enabled, I can
>>> see that indeed the cursor can be moved by the mouse (in between
>>> flashing screens), so that's also weird.
>>>
>>> Perhaps unrelated, but the audio is pretty bad, compared to say a
>>> Macbook, but that may be typical for all I know.
>>>
>>> So does anyone have any comments, or can recommend a path to
>>> resolution?  I've been ready to ship the thing back but haven't
>>> convinced the vendor yet to accept it.
>>>
>>> thanks a million!
>>> Nelson Caldwell
>>> 2 Aerial St
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