Ubuntu on W520 with Nvidia Quadro 2000M

Hi,
I am not quite sure what to do to install Ubuntu on my Thinkpad W520. I want to keep Windows 7 but primarily use Ubuntu.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks

 

I suggest you wait for Ubuntu 11.04 to be released before you install it (April, 29). I'm not sure if the current 10.10 version supports the new Intel Sandy Bridge processors.

Anyway, to install Ubuntu, just go to Ubuntu homepage | Ubuntu and hit the big orange "Download Ubuntu" icon. Then you'll have an option of selecting whether you want to download the 32 bit version of Ubuntu or the 64 bit version. I suggest that you download 64 bit version Ubuntu since minimum amount of RAM the W520 is sold with is 4GB. 64 bit Ubuntu can take advantage of all that RAM with any modifications. 32 bit Ubuntu can also take advantage of >4GB of RAM if you install a PAE kernel, but I don't think it's worth the effort to do that.

The file you download will be an .iso file. This is a disk image file, an exact copy of a CD or DVD. You will have to burn the .iso file to a CD/DVD. In Windows 7, you can right click the .iso file and open it with "Windows Disk Image Burner". It will look something like this: http://www.win7articles.com/image-files/iso-burning-3.gif. Just click Burn and you're good to go

Now, to the actual installation. Keep the CD in your computer and restart it. Your computer should start booting from the CD. Wait one or two minutes while Ubuntu boots up. Once it's up and running, you can double click the Installer on the desktop. The installer is really straight forward and should guide you through the install without any trouble. During the installation, there is an option to shrink your Windows 7 partition to make room for Ubuntu. After the installation is finished, reboot your computer and remove the CD.

When your computer reboots, you'll want to enter the BIOS. I'm not sure what key you have to press to get in the BIOS as I don't a W520. Once you're in the BIOS, set the graphics to the nVidia Quadro 2000m. nVidia's Optimus graphics switching isn't supported under Ubuntu since nVidia is unwilling to write drivers for it. Then, save the BIOS settings and restart.

When the computer boots, you will see that there's a bootloader menu that allows you to choose whether you want to boot into Ubuntu or Windows 7. So, choose Ubuntu and wait for it to boot up.

Most of your hardware will work out of the box, except for your nVidia graphics card and possibly your wireless card. To install the drivers, just click System > Administration > Hardware Drivers. That will guide you through installing your drivers. You will need a wired connection to do this if your wireless card doesn't work out of the box.

And that's it! If you want to the codecs needed to play MP3's, watch flash videos, etc., you can open up the Ubuntu Software Center and install "Ubuntu Restricted Extras". Alternatively, you can click this link in Firefox on Ubuntu: Install Ubuntu Restricted Extras.

I hope I didn't sound like I was underestimating your abilities . Have fun and enjoy Ubuntu!

By the way, how do you like the W520 so far?

 

cpm22... That is the exact same question/direction that I wanted to know? As soon as I have the required number of (pm) posted I can (pm) you for some tips on ¨Howto¨ install Ubuntu 11.04 onto a w520... Good luck.

 

Its not the operating system but possibly the 2.6.35 kernel used in 10.10 that may have issues with sandy bridge. Dont quote me on that, but you could try with a small partition and see if maybe they tweaked the modules in the current 10.10 iso.

 

The last modification date is October 10th last year, so I doubt they backported any kernel modules.

Source: Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat)

 

Im on 10.10 and my kernel is from 3/1/2011. I have not compiled a new kernel on this machine, but the 2.6.35 kernel starts at 11/2010 and ends in 3/2011. All I have done is install a disc I made in december and update and thats the kernel its currently running. Last time I check it was 2.6.33 but that was months ago and sever patches too.

I dont have sandy bridge hardware to test it on though.

 

What I was trying to say was that the Ubuntu 10.10 kernel on the CD might not load at all on a Sandy Bridge system.

 

If the 2.3 Ghz quad core chip is "Sandy Bridge," the 10.10 Ubuntu demo loaded up but did not work right. I did not try to install after that. Will the procedure given above be the same for the Nvidia 1000M? This will be my third time installing Ubuntu, but the first time on a new computer.

 

You could compile a newer kernel after installing it and that will make it run like it should.

Or use 11.04 beta and run it until it updates to full 11.04.

 

Have you tried using the text installation? If you can install it that way, you can just boot in root shell mode and update using the cli before starting up the graphical interface.

 

I'm thinking of installing the 11.04 beta 2 as was suggested as my daughter said she would like the new desktop (the w520 is for her) and I would like to know if it will get up to the final release by the normal updating process without any special attention.

 

It should patch to a normal 11.04 when the time comes. Someone can correct me if Im wrong though.

 

I recently received a w520. I installed Ubuntu 11.04 beta 2 from a CD. I set the display to discrete in the BIOS. After logging in for the first time I changed to NVidia proprietary driver. It installed version 270.41.06 and so far everything seems to work fine. Then again I have only had the machine for few hours so not much experience yet.

 

Why don't you try OpenSUSE 11.4. It came with 2.6.37 kernel by default, and it should work out of the box.

Plus OpenSUSE cli has yast ncurses. Way easier to work with if you have to work in cli mode.

 

Just to follow up, I did install the 11.04 final release on the W520 last weekend. It was a completely smooth uneventful installation. Everything was recognized right away including the video card. I set the graphics to 'discrete' in the BIOS before I started. You get into the BIOS on the W520 by holding down the F1 while powering up. My only mistake was not paying extra for the high definition screen when I ordered the W520 from Lenovo. It would have been worth the extra I think. In Windows 7 I'm only getting a max screen resolution of 1280x800 with the graphics set on discrete while in ubuntu it is getting 1600x900. Go figure.

 

Huh? That's weird. Why would you get only 1280x800 in Win7 and 1600x900 in Ubuntu? That means your monitor highest resolution is 1600x900. The driver you used in Win7 must be old. Update your driver.