[Lex Computer & Tech Group/LCTG] Trouble with installing Ubuntu on used ThinkPad
Robert Primak
bobprimak at yahoo.com
Mon Mar 16 13:06:13 PDT 2026
Nelson,
Long-time Linux user here, on several PCs, laptops and even a Chromebook. Experience with Ubuntu, Mint and LMDE, a bit of Fedora experience as well.
Recommendations for your Ubuntu issues on the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Yoga G4 laptop:
After installing Ubuntu 25.10:
1) Make sure your BIOS has the latest available update. This should be done through Lenovo if the BIOS is still available there. You can also run in Ubuntu the fwupd command. This command may provide you with a BIOS update. More importantly, it will install the latest Linux Firmware for your Ubuntu kernel. In Linux, hardware does not work well unless both the kernel-level drivers and the necessary firmware are installed and configured.
2) Ubuntu has optional Nonfree Drivers. Access these from the GUI interface where you enable Software Sources. The nonfree drivers are not enabled by default in Ubuntu.
Your laptop has an Intel 8th-Gen CPU with Intel UHD graphics. This configuration is generally well supported in the Linux kernel. However, Intel graphics need the Intel Client GPU firmware. This is in a PPA which is not part of the Ubuntu main repos.
Install the needed PPA in the Terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:intel-gpu/intel-gpu-ppasudo apt updatesudo apt install intel-media-va-driver-non-free mesa-va-drivers
Note that this has the effect of installing the necessary nonfree firmware and drivers. This may help with the screen flashing issue.
Also, you may want to install the Intel Video Acceleration driver:
sudo apt install intel-media-va-driver-non-free
The GPU drivers you will want to use are <mesa-va-drivers>, or <intel-media-va-driver>. There may also be an <xe> driver for your graphics.
>From GeminiAI:
If you encounter black screens on boot, you may need to add i915.force_probe=* (for unsupported new iGPUs) (This is a Grub Configuration File entry.) or update your BIOS. If you have issues with HDMI audio, ensure the SOF firmware is updated.
I'm not sure what the SOF firmware is, but you do not report any sound issues.
Updating the firmware should also update the WiFi and Bluetooth drivers, which are possibly aft the core of your issues.
You can also run from the Terminal:
lsusb | grep -i Bluetooth
This should show your Bluetooth adapter.
BlueZ may need to be reinstalled:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgradesudo apt reinstall --purge bluez bnome-bluetooth
This should give you a clean reinstall of the Ubuntu Bluetooth Manager and other components.
After making any changes to drivers, firmware, the kernel or the Bluetooth Manager, you should run
sudo update-grubsudo update-initramfs -u
Then restart your Linux system.
3) The HWE kernels are intended for use with Ubuntu LTS (24.04 is the latest). It wouldn't hurt to use kernel 6.17 HWE, but Ubuntu 25.10 should have the 6.17 kernel with all the HWE features already included. Mint is based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, so offers little help with missing drivers or firmware. To be honest, neither Ubuntu nor Mint is very good at handling WiFi or Bluetooth.
Let us know if any or all of these suggestions help.
-- Bob Primak
On Monday, March 16, 2026 at 02:33:48 PM EDT, Steve Isenberg via LCTG <lctg at lists.toku.us> wrote:
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 notes for video
Mint Linux install
Win 11 upgrade icon
What to do with an old PC | Watch the presentation |
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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