IdeaPad Y580 Laptop - 59359513 - Dawn Gray

[Warren Block]

On Sun, 2 Dec 2012, Kevin Oberman wrote:

> On Sun, Dec 2, 2012 at 11:35 AM, Eitan Adler <lists at eitanadler.com> wrote:
>> On 2 December 2012 14:31, Warren Block <wblock at wonkity.com> wrote:
>>> X will only work if the dual-graphics mode can be disabled.
>>
>> And this is a BIOS feature which isn't guaranteed to exist?
>
> It is not, but as far as I know, it is available on all prior ThinkPads.

Definitely the kind of thing a person wants to check before buying.

> The problem is that the nVidia chip used is a supported one, but it
> lacks a frame buffer. Instead it uses the frame buffer on the Intel
> graphics part of the CPU. On Windows, it also only uses the nVidia GPU
> for some operations and the Intel for more basic ones where its
> integration into the CPU will result in optimum performance. The
> result is no support on anything but Windows for the nVidia.You can
> find more on this at:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Optimus/
>
> The other big issue with the graphics is the lack of the ability to
> switch back to console mode. Once X is started, you have no ability to
> get a vty screen. This is especially annoying when something in the
> graphics (probably the KMS) glitches and the display goes bad. the
> only recovery is a re-boot. I keep hoping that console mode support
> will be written at some point, but it has not happened to this point
> and kib (who wrote the KMS code) has stated that he has no plans to
> write it.

I thought that was all that was left to be done to finish the Intel KMS 
support, and was part of the plan.

> Lenovo does white-list wireless cards and the cards on it all have
> Lenovo specific PCI IDs. I bought a standard Intel 2200/BGN card and
> it would not work. I had to buy a Levovo branded card at four times
> the price. (My T520 came with a RealTek card.)

Some people have patched the BIOS, replacing one of the allowed card IDs 
with that of the new card.  On the older Thinkpads with mini-PCI slots, 
it was possible to tape over one of the fingers, and the card would work 
but with some disadvantages (power management, AFAIR).