Installing Debian On ThinkBook 16 G5+ APO

28 December, 2023

The SKU for my device includes an AMD Ryzen 7 7840H, 32 GiB memory, and no discrete GPU. I have replaced the wireless card with an Intel AX210 for potentially improved wireless stability.

Debian Bookworm runs almost flawlessly on this setup (dmesg). No special instructions are needed for installation. Integrated devices such as the keyboard, touchpad, internal mic, and camera work well. However, there are a few minor issues to note.

System Summary

$ neofetch --off --color_blocks off --disable title underline packages resolution uptime | sed '/^$/d'
OS: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm) x86_64
Host: 21J2 ThinkBook 16 G5+ APO
Kernel: 6.6.13+bpo-amd64
Shell: bash 5.2.15
WM: sway
Terminal: foot
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (16) @ 5.137GHz
GPU: AMD ATI 64:00.0 Phoenix1
Memory: 10677MiB / 27754MiB

Internal microphone

The Linux kernel in the Bookworm and Bookworm-backports channels is currently compiled without the Pink Sardine (PS) driver. Future versions (like in trixie) enabling the CONFIG_SND_SOC_AMD_PS flag allow the internal microphone to function.

Update: It works after Bookworm-backports accepts the Linux kernel image 6.6.13-1~bpo12+1.

UEFI Firmware Upgrade Unavailable

Lenovo currently offers UEFI firmware upgrades only through Windows executables, lacking a bootable ISO option. This might change following a global release of this model.

A temporary solution involves using Rufus alongside a Windows installation ISO to create a Windows To Go drive, which can then be used to upgrade the UEFI firmware.

Battery Saving

By default, Debian’s settings allow the laptop to run for about 2 hours under normal usage without AC power. Installing tlp may improve battery life. The following configuration (saved as “/etc/tlp.d/50-my.conf”) can extend battery life to approximately 4 hours:

# CPU
PLATFORM_PROFILE_ON_AC=performance
PLATFORM_PROFILE_ON_BAT=low-power

CPU_SCALING_GOVERNOR_ON_AC=performance
CPU_SCALING_GOVERNOR_ON_BAT=powersave

# Lan
WOL_DISABLE=N

# Wi-Fi
WIFI_PWR_ON_AC=off
WIFI_PWR_ON_BAT=off

Update: Battery time has considerably improved after Linux 6.3 due to the new performance scaling driver, amd-pstate-epp.

AMDGPU May Crash When Using Firefox

To resolve this, disable “media.ffmpeg.vaapi.enabled” in “about:config” or “user.js”.

Updated: 18 March, 2024
Created: 28 December, 2023