Which laptop do YOU run Debian on?

[cmdr_x]

Hi.
I am in the process of getting a used laptop to install Debian bookworm onto it.
I have been reading about some laptops having difficulties with Linux e.g. Thinkpad T480 throttling issue (if it still exists)

I am wondering which exact laptop do you have your Debian on?
Which Debian version do you run?
Did you have any problems when first running Debian on that machine?
How did you fix the problem?
When choosing a laptop, what should be avoided? e.g. I read that one should choose an Intel GPU over nvidia.

Thanks for any replies and advice.

cmdr_x

[lewulff]

I am using a MSI Raider GE76 (12th Gen I9 version) running KDE Plasma.The only issue I have experienced so far is choppy audio recording from USB mixer output (works fine with bluetooth, so it is a configuration issue I still need to run down). And suspend function is somewhat flaky also, but I don't really use that.

It does have both Intel integrated graphics and a nvidia gpu. I am currenty using the prorietory nvidia drivers and they work well.

My suggestion, review the spec sheet of any laptop you are interested in and then search for linux compatability. If the laptop does not have a wired network adapter, pay close attention to the wifi adapter used, as that will need to be enabled during install.

PS: Debian 12 Bookworm.

[arzgi]

I have a Dell Latitude 3340, I use Xfce, and no any problems to suspend or to resume. @lewulff's points are good. I have been so impressed of this laptop, so I think when this dies next one be Dell also.

[PsychoHermit]

Hi,

I'm running Debian testing on an HP Envy x360 15-fh0xxx laptop with an amd gpu and a Realtek RTL8852CE wireless adapter. Everything worked from the first install except the sound. I have headphones only as my audio chip is not fully supported by the kernel.

Good luck,
--glenn

[friendlysalmon88]

Over the last two plus decades that I've been running Linux machines that I mainly use I've had the best success getting Debian to work correctly on Dell,Hp and IBM, Lenovo. When it comes down to laptops Hp is i the lead in my success ratio with IBM/Lenovo coming in a close second and Dell a distant third however, on the desktop end of it it goes Hp then Dell then IBM/Lenovo.

[randomguy32]

Asus N56VZ works very well.

[bbbhltz]

A Lenovo ThinkPad 13 G2 (https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/ ... (2nd-gen)/)

Obviously something that old works.

[Uptorn]

I'm not really a fan of laptops.

One that I have cannot run anything newer that Debian Stretch since it requires Mali display drivers and something got dropped or borked since Buster, and I haven't had the motivation to investigate further.

Another was a PowerPC 32-bit laptop, which got to retire after Debian dropped 32 bit PowerPC.

I have a couple of Intel (Core 2 era) laptops which have taken really well to Debian. Good proofs that Debian really does run everywhere, and rather fast on those old, constricted laptops.

[Hallvor]

I mainly use a ThinkPad T440s, but I also own a ThinkPad X240.

All-Intel parts haven't failed me yet, especially if the computer is at least a couple of years old.

You could also take a look here to see other users' experience with certain hardware.

https://linux-hardware.org/

[wizard10000]

Debian Unstable on a Dell Latitude 7390 laptop and a Fujitsu Stylistic Q665 tablet with a detachable keyboard.

[CwF]

Fujitsu Stylistic Q665 tablet

Looks interesting, cheap enough as an embedded...thing.

Does the wifi work well?
Does the touch work, with onboard?
I assume the usb is ok in the bios with a keyboard or dongle, and bootable from the other?
Legacy bios?

[wizard10000]

Does the wifi work well?
Does the touch work, with onboard?
I assume the usb is ok in the bios with a keyboard or dongle, and bootable from the other?
Legacy bios?

Wifi is Intel 7265 - works just fine.

onboard works but I've had issues with gestures and right-clicking stuff. Digitizer and stylus are Wacom which should be well-supported but I've never really put the work into getting touchscreen issues figured out.

One USB3 and one USB2 port, one micro-SD slot and one mini-HDMI output. I *think* the machine will boot from either USB port; mine has the detachable keyboard that I bought separately - when I used it at work I used a 4-port USB hub in the USB2 port for mouse and keyboard. Now that the machine is retired to my bedroom I use the detachable keyboard w/touchpad but the keyboard is kinda small (11 inch screen but it is 1920x1080).

BIOS is UEFI; although there's an Ethernet chipset listed below there's no way to connect to it without their proprietary docking station as the tablet doesn't have an Ethernet port. Processor is kinda wimpy and since the machine is fanless it heats up quick so I wouldn't ask a whole lot from the CPU but works just fine for web surfing and general home office stuff.

Here's an inxi -F - looks like this thing could use a battery replacement

Code: Select all

wizard@wizard-tablet 05:36 $ sudo inxi -F
System:
  Host: wizard-tablet Kernel: 6.7.9-amd64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64
  Desktop: Openbox v: 3.6.1 Distro: Debian GNU/Linux trixie/sid
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: FUJITSU product: STYLISTIC Q665 v: N/A serial: R5X00740
  Mobo: FUJITSU model: FJNB28F v: C3 serial: D5 MCNY
    UEFI: FUJITSU // Phoenix v: Version 1.07 date: 07/24/2015
Battery:
  ID-1: CMB1 charge: 8.8 Wh (100.0%) condition: 8.8/38.3 Wh (22.9%)
CPU:
  Info: dual core model: Intel Core M-5Y71 bits: 64 type: MT MCP cache:
    L2: 512 KiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 799 min/max: 500/2900 cores: 1: 709 2: 811 3: 914 4: 762
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 5300 driver: i915 v: kernel
  Device-2: Realtek FJ Camera driver: uvcvideo type: USB
  Device-3: Chicony FJ 5M Camera driver: uvcvideo type: USB
  Display: server: X.Org v: 21.1.11 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
    unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: swrast gpu: i915 resolution: 3440x1440~60Hz
  API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: iris,swrast platforms: gbm,x11,surfaceless,device
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: mesa v: 24.0.2-1
    renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 17.0.6 256 bits)
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Broadwell-U Audio driver: snd_hda_intel
  Device-2: Intel Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio
    driver: snd_hda_intel
  API: ALSA v: k6.7.9-amd64 status: kernel-api
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Ethernet I218-LM driver: e1000e
  IF: enp0s25 state: down mac: c4:7d:46:15:5c:af
  Device-2: Intel Wireless 7265 driver: iwlwifi
  IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: 5c:e0:c5:3b:00:e2
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface driver: btusb type: USB
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: down
    bt-service: enabled,running rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes
    address: 5C:E0:C5:3B:00:E6
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 357.72 GiB used: 34.1 GiB (9.5%)
  ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 vendor: Samsung model: GD4QT size: 119.25 GiB
    type: Removable
  ID-2: /dev/sda vendor: Samsung model: MZNTE256HMHP-00000 size: 238.47 GiB
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 233.18 GiB used: 34.09 GiB (14.6%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
  ID-2: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 7 MiB (1.4%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 4 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) file: /swapfile
Sensors:
  Src: /sys System Temperatures: cpu: 38.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
  Memory: total: 8 GiB available: 7.64 GiB used: 818.1 MiB (10.5%)
    igpu: 32 MiB
  Processes: 169 Uptime: 38m Shell: Sudo inxi: 3.3.33

[NFT5]

Two, at the moment.

HP15-g216au
This model was available ex factory with Win8, Ubuntu or SUSE, so Linux compatible out of the box. I bought it new and it had Win8 pre-installed which I wiped and it's run Debian 9, 10, 11. MATE desktop.

Processor is AMD A6-5200 which I'd call the minimum standard, but in saying that it runs well, albeit a little slower than I'd like. RAM upgraded to 8GB and now has an SSD in place of the original HDD.
AMD GPU runs a 4K TV faultlessly and that's its current use. Wi-Fi is strong, if a touch slow while network is 10/100 only, but that's good enough. Sound is surprisingly good.

These notebooks have a known problem with keyboards. Replaced once and looks like may need again. Bit disappointing in a package that is otherwise pretty solid.


Lenovo Ideapad 110-15AST
AMD A9 (7th Gen) processor is noticeably faster than the HP and I've upgraded RAM to 8GB and HDD to an SSD. More than capable of handling just about anything I'm likely to do while on the road.
Only shortfall with this notebook is the sound, which is pretty awful.

Running Debian 12 now, previously Debian 10 and 11 with KDE. Absolutely no problems with the operating system, peripheral drivers or any of the hardware or software.

Used for business primarily. Various applications including Win7 in Virtualbox which runs faultlessly.

New ones have Core 5 CPUs and Full HD screens plus M2 SSD and 16GB RAM. They're still good value at under $1K AUD. I'd buy another one of these, but only new. Used notebooks can have had a chequered history and sometimes rough handling.

[CwF]

I wouldn't ask a whole lot from the CPU but works just fine for web surfing and general home office stuff.

as an intranet vm server client with a ~2G OS. Looks promising. Getting smooth user input pumped through wifi to remote systems will be the challenge. Compounding its weak cpu with remotes should be fine, 8GB memory is plenty. Thanks, I've been searching for good candidates that are Intel x86 only.

[kc1di]

Running bookworm on Lenovo T450 thinkpad all works well.

[xuhdev]

Acer Aspire A515-57 with no problem.

[cds60601]

Code: Select all

Host: VivoBook_ASUSLaptop X512DA_F512DA (1.0)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700U with Radeon Vega Mobile Gfx (8) @ 2.30 GHz
GPU: AMD Radeon Vega 10 Graphics @ 0.20 GHz [Integrated]
Memory: 1.12 GiB / 17.51 GiB (6%)

[scouser]

Dell XPS17 - 9730
Dell XPS17 - 9720

[unix_joe]

system76 Galago Pro. Everything works.

[Gerowen]

Up until recently I was using like a 2017-2018 model Lenovo Ideapad 330S with a Ryzen 5 2500U. It did great, but I needed more RAM and the plastic chassis wasn't holding up that well any more. I recently upgraded to a Lenovo Ideapad 82SG with a Ryzen 7 5825U, double the RAM and a metal chassis; only ran me like $400. All of my hardware seemed to work out of the box and I even set up fingerprint authentication, but I did still opt for the backports kernel since I had seen mention of improvements for things like the Lenovo Ideapad keyboard backlight in kernel 6.6.