Lenovo ThinkPad P51 (2017)

 nosplit "Computers" words: 714

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Bought: 2017 for approximately 2400 pounds to be Ciro Santilli's main personal laptop.

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https://cirosantilli.com/linux-kernel-module-cheat/#p51 (permalink)

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2022-01-04 updated firmward after noticing that ubuntu 21.10 does not wake up from suspend seemed to happen every time when not connected to external power. dmidecode diff excerpt:
```
 BIOS Information
        Vendor: LENOVO
-       Version: N1UET40W (1.14 )
-       Release Date: 09/28/2017
+       Version: N1UET71W (1.45 )
+       Release Date: 07/18/2018
```
used the "Ubuntu Software" GUI as mentioned at: https://support.lenovo.com/gb/en/solutions/ht510810-how-to-do-software-updates-linux. Kudos for making this accessible to newbs.
After doing that, another update became available to: 0.1.56, clicked it and was much faster than the previous one, and didn't auto reboot. After manual reboot, dmidecode diffed again:
```
 BIOS Information
        Vendor: LENOVO
-       Version: N1UET71W (1.45 )
-       Release Date: 07/18/2018
+       Version: N1UET82W (1.56 )
+       Release Date: 08/12/2021
```
plus a bunch of other lines.

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2021-06-05 upgraded to Ubuntu 21.04 with a clean install from an ISO. Selected

"Minimal installation"
"Erase disk and install Ubuntu". Notably, this erased the Microsoft Windows that came with the computer and was never used not even once
"Erase disk ans use ZFS"
Encrypt the new Ubuntu installation for security

After this, the GUI felt fast, who would have thought that erasing a bunch of stuff would make the system faster!

lsblk contains:

zd0               230:0    0   500M  0 disk
└─keystore-rpool  253:0    0   484M  0 crypt /run/keystore/rpool
nvme0n1           259:0    0 476.9G  0 disk
├─nvme0n1p1       259:1    0   512M  0 part  /boot/efi
├─nvme0n1p2       259:2    0     2G  0 part
│ └─cryptoswap    253:1    0     2G  0 crypt
├─nvme0n1p3       259:3    0     2G  0 part
└─nvme0n1p4       259:4    0 472.4G  0 part

and lsblk -f:

zd0               crypto_LUKS 2
└─keystore-rpool  ext4        1.0   keystore-rpool
nvme0n1
├─nvme0n1p1       vfat        FAT32
├─nvme0n1p2       crypto_LUKS 2
│ └─cryptoswap
├─nvme0n1p3       zfs_member  5000  bpool
└─nvme0n1p4       zfs_member  5000  rpoo

Then:

grep '[rb]pool' /proc/mounts

contains:

rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq / zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/USERDATA/ciro_czngbg /home/ciro zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/USERDATA/root_czngbg /root zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/srv /srv zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/usr/local /usr/local zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/games /var/games zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/log /var/log zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/lib /var/lib zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/mail /var/mail zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/snap /var/snap zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/www /var/www zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/spool /var/spool zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/lib/AccountsService /var/lib/AccountsService zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/lib/NetworkManager /var/lib/NetworkManager zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/lib/apt /var/lib/apt zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/lib/dpkg /var/lib/dpkg zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
bpool/BOOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq /boot zfs rw,nodev,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0

which gives an idea of how the above map to mountpoints.

Had two GUI freezes since installation, a fixed images shows no matter what I do, possibly graphics only, but impossible to tell (next time I'll try SSH access). No Nvidia drivers installed yet.

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2020-06-06: dropped some lemon juice on the bottom left of touchpad. Bottom left button not working anymore... I'm an idiot. There are many other alternatives, but very aggravating, I'll replace it for sure. Can't find the exact replacement part or any videos showing its replacement online easliy, dang. For the T430: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3lzV9uXRjU Asked at: https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-P-and-W-Series-Mobile-Workstations/P51-left-bottom-button-below-trackpad-mouse-left-click-stopped-working-possible-to-replace/m-p/5019903 Also I could not access it because you need to remove the HDD first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Klawxc7T_Y and I can't pull it out even with considerable force, unlike in the video... And OMG, those button caps are impossible to re-install once removed!!! Then when I put the whole thing back together, the upper buttons were not working anymore. FUUUUUUUUCK. When first opening I pulled on it without properly removing the cap and it came off, but it didn't look broken in any way and I put it back in. Keyboard works thank God, so right black connector is fine, left white one oppears to be the one for upper keys and trackpoint, both of which stopped working. The hardware manual confirms that they are both part of the same device, so basically a mouse :-) TODO can it be bought separately from te keyboard? Doesn't look like it, photo of keyboard part includes those buttons. The manual also confirms that the bottom buttons are one device with the trackpad "trackpad with buttons", thus forming the second entire mouse.

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2019-04-17: popup asking about "ThinkPad P51 Management Engine Update" from from 182.29.3287 to 184.60.3561, said yes.

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Ubuntu 17.10 setup after buying it:

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