TravelMate P214-55 series on Linux. Do you run with SecureBoot on/off?

Species8472
Species8472 Member Posts: 7 New User
edited November 20 in TravelMate and Extensa

Several features are broken on Linux (even with a kernel version as new as 6.11.6) for me (some of the items from this list could potentially be made to work):

  • fingerprint reader
  • fancontrol
  • bluetooth microphone input
  • athx support is missing completely, which works on other devices
  • WiFi is unstable, because it keeps switching between two different radios (5GHz and 2.4GHz). I suspect this is something that can be resolved by changing my router configuration, but it is inconvenient and other wireless implementations do support such setups without issues.

This topic is mostly to keep track when such features, if ever, start working possibly with workarounds and potentially to somewhat organize a small user group. The more specific a particular device is, the more relevant the content will be to users.

For example, did anyone already install the 1.24 BIOS? If so, how do you install your BIOS upgrades without Windows?

Do you run with SecureBoot on/off?

Do you know how to make the laptop run a lot hotter such that you trade silence vs temperature?

Do you think Intel 13th gen on laptops suffers from the issues on the desktop processors?

Is there a way to configure the CPU to run completely in performance mode with all cores maxed out without any throttling?

Relevant features that do work:

  • Fairly fast booting from poweroff
  • Fast unlocking from suspend (from RAM) with acceptable loss of battery per unit time (I suspect you can just leave it running in suspend to RAM mode all weekend which is my bar to determine whether it works, although I didn't measure it)

Things I personally don't like are the high activation force required to press a button on the keyboard, but if you were to use this in an office, you should just use a professional keyboard anyway. It is a keyboard and it takes time to get used to one. I don't like the lack of separate pageup and pagedown keys, but otherwise everything is in a usable position.

Answers

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,219 Trailblazer

    You should be running with Secure Boot ON. Add the EFI file as trusted if needed, but leaving Secure Boot OFF opens you up to some nasty malware.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Species8472
    Species8472 Member Posts: 7 New User

    Secure Boot configuration is still non-trivial (and often experimental) on many versions of Linux, AFAIK, but indeed it would provide some security, although I think it still would depend on a Microsoft key, which means it's not real security.

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,219 Trailblazer

    No, it only requires that you set the EFI image you are using as trusted. If it's signed correctly then setting it as trusted is not needed, but if not signed you just need to set it.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.

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