[solved] not Cranky anymore: Lenovo 300e

crankypuss · 2019-09-05 22:35:29

I am loving Devuan and Lenovo!

I needed a Windows system (Paint still beats anything i've seen on linux for drawing and bitmap editing, and i have some ancient C++ code that does its own window-drawing under Win32 ) ,so i bought this laptop as a special-use device.

Lo and behold, Lenovo comes through again. It's a shrimpy system space-wise, and i've had issues with linux hosing up a Windows setup before, so forget trying to install linux on the primary drive and expecting dual-boot. But, it boots off a USB device or a memory-card if you set it up right. And the processor is plenty fast to run linux.

Basically i twiddled the Windows BIOS parms, jammed my Devuan daily-backup USB into a port, and booted it up. If there's no USB device plugged in, it goes to Windows, if a USB device (linux) is present, it brings up the grub menu. If i wanted a fulltime linux, i could change the grub setup to boot Windows-10 or one of the other linux distros i keep on hand, and leave an sdcard plugged in. However, it seems just as easy to keep the sdcard on my keychain, and plug it in when I need to use linux.

There are lots of ways to go with this device, it could be a fulltime linux box with a few minutes' tweaking. For under $300 it's a great buy. Good screen, great audio, snappy enough to run linux, even Windows isn't too abominably slow.

It does not come in an LTE version fwiw (sniff). There is no external indication that it's charging, or plugged in, unless it's flipped open. The keyboard is not backlit like my preferred Logitech K810, but the keyboard feel is almost identical, and the key-centers are not too different from the K810; for a touch typist it's important. Oh and they provide a Delete key, despite Apple's fashion statement about only needing backspace.

Anyway, i wanted to let you folks know it's a nice little linux box for under $300, and unlike a lot of devices, it's quite linux-friendly imo.

bgstack15 · 2019-09-06 13:37:09

Thank you for sharing your experience with Devuan on a laptop/tablet device. I am starting to consider a lightweight computer for non-techy family members, and this model sounds decent.

Can you tell me about your experience with any desktop environments on that platform? I'm interested in xfce.

crankypuss · 2019-09-16 12:22:03

bgstack15 wrote:

Thank you for sharing your experience with Devuan on a laptop/tablet device. I am starting to consider a lightweight computer for non-techy family members, and this model sounds decent.
Can you tell me about your experience with any desktop environments on that platform? I'm interested in xfce.

If i'm not mistaken, it's XFCE that i use... the one with the rrrrrat icon. Works great. Battery life seems strong, but i've had so many hardware changes lately that i haven't yet just sat and used this device enough to get a firm grip on how long the battery will last.

However, "non-techy family members" says to me "find 'em an LTE Chromebook" that's affordable, and good luck with the affordable part. A chromebook is about the most convenient box around, i have an early Samsung Pro and my largest complaint for non-development use is having to set up a hotspot for it. Had it set up to swap chromeos/linux with crouton, imo that bit isn't quite ready for prime-time yet, but Google are making noises about expanding linux support and i haven't seen that just yet.

If they need Windows, then yes, this might be a good choice. Based on past experience, i was pleasantly surprised that the recovery media Lenovo sent (had to ask for it) was able to reinstall Windows. But really, this is the first time i've used Windows since i ditched Vista for linux years ago, so i can't comment on how fast Windows is or isn't. Linux... my regular linux box is a Thinkpad t510, which has an i5 processor, and this box isn't much slower even though it's an m3 in s-mode. It's a bit heavier than i'd prefer but weight/price is a definite tradeoff.

golinux · 2019-09-16 14:41:13

@crankypuss . . . there is no rat icon in the Xfce default desktop.

noname · 2019-09-25 13:40:24

golinux wrote:

@crankypuss . . . there is no rat icon in the Xfce default desktop.

Isn't that interesting. Seeing as how i'm logged in through an android tablet atm, it's a bit tough to grab a screenshot from my linux system... and you could very well be correct, i'm not sure how "default" it was when it presented the rat icon. Of course by the time i'm done doing android-stuff and get back to my linux box, i'll no doubt have forgotten about snagging a screenshot. so it goes.

btw, i've determined since my last post (above) that Devuan ascii does not contain the drivers needed for the Lenovo 300e's stock wifi card (Intel 8265ngw). The details are perhaps forgotten, but i think the Intel drivers for that wifi chip don't appear in the kernel until something like version 5.26, and given my experience installing drivers for broadcom wifi and intel graphics on a a Dell XPS13... i decided it would be easier to just replace the wifi chip with an intel 7260 which is listed as a valid FRU in the Lenovo hardware manual and supposedly supported in the current ascii kernel. Theoretically that chip is now waiting at the post-office, so we'll see how that goes.

I'm of the opinion (FWIW) that it would be very useful if the Devuan builds included all the currently released proprietary drivers as soon as they become available, rather than waiting months/years for the kernel that contains them. Of course it may be a matter of what's been tested with which kernel containing what changes, but i'm not gonna wait around for a 5xx kernel release when Devuan is on 4xx and the only obstacle is a wifi driver, maybe i'm an outlier on this, who knows.

(Is there a way to delete an unused account from this site? i'm really not cranky anymmore.)

fsmithred · 2019-09-26 12:50:35

It's a mouse, not a rat. (I've known that for so long, I can't cite the source.)

It's possible to run a 5.2 kernel in beowulf, which is mostly ready. (If you need policykit and its friends, getting there might be tricky right now.)

I don't think there's a way to delete an account without also deleting that user's posts. That would be too great a loss. Just stick with the new name.

noname · 2019-09-26 13:19:33

golinux wrote:

@crankypuss . . . there is no rat icon in the Xfce default desktop.

How many rats can you count in this image? 99% will get the wrong answer.

FluxBB bbcode test

Not being a "FluxBB" expert, and not wanting to become one, i copied the example from the doc, but it was so shitty that there's no telling what will display beyond "preview", if anything. the link is good, count the rrrrrats, ay?

BTW, before any of the fuckwits herein bitch about my language, note that if *I* didn't want someone using certain words on my website, i'd change them in the code so they were unable to post them. Kids these days, you gotta wonder.

noname · 2019-09-26 13:43:32

fsmithred wrote:

It's a mouse, not a rat. (I've known that for so long, I can't cite the source.)
It's possible to run a 5.2 kernel in beowulf, which is mostly ready. (If you need policykit and its friends, getting there might be tricky right now.)
I don't think there's a way to delete an account without also deleting that user's posts. That would be too great a loss. Just stick with the new name.

Whatever works for admin, works for me; you got root, i'm just a mouthy guest. <g>

The officially official Devuan Forum!

#1 2019-09-05 22:35:29

[solved] not Cranky anymore: Lenovo 300e

#2 2019-09-06 13:37:09

Re: [solved] not Cranky anymore: Lenovo 300e

#3 2019-09-16 12:22:03

Re: [solved] not Cranky anymore: Lenovo 300e

#4 2019-09-16 14:41:13

Re: [solved] not Cranky anymore: Lenovo 300e

#5 2019-09-25 13:40:24

Re: [solved] not Cranky anymore: Lenovo 300e

#6 2019-09-26 12:50:35

Re: [solved] not Cranky anymore: Lenovo 300e

#7 2019-09-26 13:19:33

Re: [solved] not Cranky anymore: Lenovo 300e

#8 2019-09-26 13:43:32

Re: [solved] not Cranky anymore: Lenovo 300e

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