Installing Linux on Lenovo ThinkPad A485

thinkpad_a485_linux.md

Why

I was unable to boot to live Linux distro to install Linux on my newly bought A485 ThinkPad laptop. Although I was initially dissapointed, I was not alone. This gist documents the information I gathered from the net to complete the installation.

At the time of posting this gist, the issue is still persistent. It might not be relevant anymore once Lenovo release a working BIOS update to resolve the issue. [Update 19/01/2019]: Updating to BIOS 1.14 worked for me.

Sources

The information in this short gist was compiled from several sources. Although most are for E series, it worked for A485:

1. https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/9ia3e4/linux_on_thinkpad_a485/
2. https://evilazrael.de/node/401
3. https://askubuntu.com/questions/927924/how-to-install-ubuntu-in-uefi-mode
4. https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-11e-Windows-13-E-and/ThinkPad-E485-E585-Firmware-bug-ACPI-IVRS-table/td-p/4191484
5. https://askubuntu.com/questions/19486/how-do-i-add-a-kernel-boot-parameter

Linux distro

I tried Ubuntu 18.04.1, Mint 19 and Debian 9.5. The method worked for these distros.

BIOS update

I updated the BIOS version to 1.02 prior to the installation. [Update 19/01/2019]: Update to BIOS 1.14.

BIOS setup

1. Press F1 on startup.
2. Disable secure boot: Security > Secure Boot [Disabled].
3. UEFI setting: Startup > UEFI/Legacy Boot [UEFI Only] - CSM Support [No]

Booting into USB Linux Live Distro

1. Press Enter > F12 and select USB HDD.
2. In the GRUB menu, press 'e' to edit the kernel boot parameter.
3. Add ivrs_ioapic[32]=00:14.0 to the boot parameter on linux ... line.
4. Press Ctrl+X to boot.
5. Now you should be able to boot into the live distro and install the distro as usual.

[Update 19/01/2019]: It seems the problem is solved with the release of BIOS 1.14. I was able to boot to Linux Mint 19.1 and install the distro without adding the above boot parameter. You can also skip the rest of the steps below.

Post installation, edit GRUB

To make the change to the boot parameter permanent (i.e. ivrs_ioapic[32]=00:14.0):

1. Open up a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T).
2. Run

sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

replace gedit with other editor of your choice e.g. mousepad, xed, nano or vi. 3. Find a line with GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT and edit as

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash ivrs_ioapic[32]=00:14.0"

4. In the terminal, after saving the changes to the file, run

sudo update-grub

5. Reboot and enjoy Linux on your new laptop ;-)

This bug is touching the E*85 series as well. Thanks for the summary.

Will the BIOS update fix the issue completely? NVM I read the revisions and see that the bios update should fix the issue.