Lenovo Legion Y530 Linux issues and solutions for wifi and touchpad mostly (Debian & Ubuntu)

lenovo_legion_y530_linux_compatibility_issues_fix.md

Intel i7-8750H nVidia GTX 1050 Ti

Summary of my findings (Please comment if you can get further than me) :

edit: 06/2019 guys in the comments have found workarounds and new solutions !

Most importantly : Lenovo refuses to provide any kind of support for their product on Linux, even though the computer is sold without an OS

Ubuntu 18.04

• switch the BIOS to UEFI (and don't forget to create the EFI partition, ~256Mb)
• the computer will randomly freezes, during the setup phase, or afterwards. Current theory is that switching from iGPU to dedicated GPU causes the computer to freeze/hang (cursor still moves, but nothing else).
• the keyboard and trackppad are not usable during the setup, though afterwards they both work.
• the graphics performance are good (until the computer feezes of course)

Debian 9.5 (stable)

• Switch the bios to UEFI (don't use legacy, don't forget to create the EFI partition, ~256Mb)
• It installs properly in command-line using the expert mode.
• GNOME will start and work as expected
• The graphics drivers used by defaults appears to be "nouveau", graphics performances are poor
• Installing nvidia-driver thru apt will cause GDM to fail starting.
• The keyboard works during the setup and afterwards too
• The touchpad doesn't work at all
• The wifi works after typing sudo modprobe -r ideapad_laptop or adding blacklist ideapad_laptop to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf otherwise
• The function keys are enabled by default, so altering the volume requires using the Fn key, for example.

Debian buster

• no issues ! Install Debian 9.5 stable, changes your /etc/apt/sources.list to buster then apt update && apt upgrade && apt dist-upgade).
• [edit] actually two things : no keyboard backlight, you have to use the Fn key to change the volume/brightness

In KDE i had to install the latest Nvidia driver 390.
Then generate the xorg.conf file from inside the driver
it has this option in "X Server Display Configuration" section.
Chances are you're going to see only the external monitor there,
which is connected either to HDMI/Mini-DP or USB-Type C.
On this panel choose some options for the monitor.
Then save the options with "Save to X Configuration File".
A dialog box will open with info for the file but don't change it yet.
It generates all of the necessary configs to run the setup,
just save it and then the fun begins.
After that you have to change the config file as to your needs.
The problem is that X is sending signal to the monitor which,
is detected from the activated GPU in our case NVIDIA 1050.
But all display ports are hardwired directly to the Dedicated GPU
and the laptop display is hardwired to the Integrated GPU that's Intel,
therefore NVIDIA driver can't register laptop screen.
Try it out with xrandr result value returns only the external monitor.
So the only thing you have to do, is whitelist your integrated driver,
probe for some device ID's and finally set up the xorg.config file.
Just a friendly advice, NO syntax errors in the xorg.config file.
Example:
` # nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings

nvidia-settings: version 390.77 (buildd@lcy01-amd64-022) Thu Sep 6 07:51:39 UTC 2018

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout0"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 1920 0
Screen 1 "Screen1" 1920 0
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
Option "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "extmod"
Load "type1"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
# generated from default
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
# generated from default
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
# HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Acer SA220Q"
HorizSync 31.0 - 75.0
VertRefresh 56.0 - 75.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
# HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
Identifier "Monitor1"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "eDP-1-1"
HorizSync 31.0 - 75.0
VertRefresh 56.0 - 75.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce GTX 1050"
Option "RegistryDwords" "PowerMizerEnable=0x1; PerfLevelSrc=0x2222; PowerMizerLevel=0x1;PowerMizerDefault=0x3; PowerMizerDefaultAC=0x3"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device1"
Driver "noveau"
VendorName "noveau"
BoardName "Intel Corporation Device 3e9b"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Device0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "Stereo" "0"
Option "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-4"
Option "metamodes" "DFP-4: 1920x1080_60 +1920+0 {ForceCompositionPipeline=On, ForceFullCompositionPipeline=On}"

Option         "SLI" "Off"
Option         "MultiGPU" "On"
Option         "BaseMosaic" "off"
SubSection     "Display"
    Depth       24
EndSubSection

EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen1"
Device "Device1"
Monitor "Monitor1"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "Stereo" "0"
Option "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-4"
Option "metamodes" "DFP-4: 1920x1080_59.98 +0+0"

Option         "SLI" "Off"
Option         "MultiGPU" "On"
Option         "BaseMosaic" "off"
SubSection     "Display"
    Depth       24
EndSubSection

EndSection
`

I'd like to share my experience if it's ok.

It seems like there's a patch on the kernel that fixes the wifi issues.

Pop_OS! 19.04 (tested, works ok) & Ubuntu 19.04 (not tested, should work)

Booting from the Pop_OS! live USB gives a fully functional experience. With the LTS version I had all the problems everyone has with the wireless card. Blacklisting the ideapad_laptop module did nothing and enabling the wireless on the BIOS caused the OS to not shutdown.

I'd like to give a few recommendations:

• Download Pop_OS! 19.04 NVIDIA (I found that the graphics card works perfectly right out of the box)
• Install Windows (if it's not already installed) and update the BIOS. Install the Lenovo Utilities to setup the hardware (like Lenovo Vantage).
• Reset the BIOS to default. Disable secure boot, set the boot mode to UEFI, keep the rest as it is.
• Keep the windows install. This will help you do some maintenance and tests on your hardware specially on the battery and BIOS with the Lenovo utilities.
• Shrink the windows partition and Install Pop_OS! on the remaining space.
• Enjoy!

Troubleshooting

In my case, every now and then when I boot up the wifi just stops working. For no apparent reason. I haven't found any reason why this happens or how to fix it in a clean way. To "fix" this:

• Boot up windows (another reason to keep it there in a corner of the disk)
• Check that the wifi works
• Restart again into Pop_OS
• Wifi should work again... sigh

Pop_OS! 19.04

I installed today newest Pop_OS! 19.04 (Nvidia) and everything is working like out from the box (wi-fi too). I have dual boot with Windows 10. I didn't have to do anything.

Yes, that's what I said:

Booting from the Pop_OS! live USB gives a fully functional experience.

My recommendations had more to do with keeping your system updated because there's no way to update the BIOS from Linux and (at least in my case) sometimes I turn the computer on and the wifi just won't work, no matter how many times I reboot. All I have to do then is boot into windows, do nothing, reboot back into Linux and the wifi is working again ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (it hasn't happened in a while, so maybe they fixed it?)

Well.. I have it.. to be exact the model with the 1060 gpu and no problems at all.

I just disabled secure boot in bios, then installed EndeavourOS (Arch based distro) and at the end Prime from this tutorial..
https://forum.manjaro.org/t/howto-set-up-prime-with-nvidia-proprietary-driver/40225
Machine works like a charm :)

The only one thing I changed vs. the original tutorial was switching from the normal nvidia drivers to the dkms ones, because of my desktop, which is compiz stand-alone-mode based. I just don't want do recompile entire compiz every time new nvidia drivers are released..
Yeap.. I am a bit lazy ;)

When I updated to Pop_OS 19.10, the wifi issue came back and most of the soolutions given here did not work. Downgraded it back to 19.04.

Hey @graciano! That's weird! I upgraded with no issues whatsoever. It actually seems to work even better.

However, every now and then (specially if I'm messing around with bluetooth or turning wifi on and off) it happens that I can't turn wifi or bluetooth back on. No matter what I do. The easy fix is what I mentioned before: Just boot up windows... that's it. Reboot on PopOS and it works again. Did that not work for you?

@Naahuel Updated it again and now it works just fine :)

Hello, I use pop os live usb but whenever I install it on my computer (ssd or hdd) it becomes very slow. It doesn't work smooth. why? I have y530.

Guys, If anyone can tell me what all battery backups you guys are having on your respective distros,
i have tried a few like pop os 19.10, manjaro, arch, ubuntu 19.10 and recently ubuntu 20.04 lts beta build.
Apparently the battery sucks even after installs tools like tlp and powertop, It doesn't seem to last long.
I need help!

and for notes, everything works superfine in all those distros. The wifi, bluetooth and trackpad, everything smoothly except the battery for some reason

I have troubles only with the touchpad in my 81FV Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH using Ubuntu 20.04.1 I think its a weird one. It happens only after being locked and suspended. I think it could be due to absence of swap but I did set up.

I have an issue with the battery. It sometimes shows two batteries. I have put up the issue on another page.
kfechter/LegionY530Ubuntu#105 (comment)