Installing Linux on T480

My setup

I prefer a really minimal desktop setup. This give me the possibilty to understand most of my enviorment and in case of problem I can fast find and solve the problem. Antoher advantage is that I have more RAM free for caches and buffers, this makes the system even faster.

I don’t use a display manager. I just use i3 as my Window Manager. To manage my network connections I use NetworkManager.

What is working what’s not

Here a short overview whats working and what is not working.

Wifi

The wifi is working without problems out of box.

Bluetooth

The Bluetooth is also working right out of box.

Fingerprint

The fingerprint sensor is not working because of the lack of linux drivers.

Touchpad

The touchpad was working after the installtion. In the debian installer I had to use the trackpoint. To get multitouch working you do a little tweaks.

Backlight

The backlight is working. I had some trouble with the change the brightness in I3.

Camera

The camera works without problems.

Graphics

The graphics works fine for me because I just have the onboard Intel UHD 620.

Installation

I use my laptop in UEFI Mode. The debian installer works quite well with the T480. You can just install it, the only part where you have to think is the partion layout with encryption.

harddrive

I have 4 partions * / * /boot * /boot/efi * /swap

I only encrypt / because it is most easy solution. Of course it not the most secure solution but for me it is enough.