Suse Linux on Laptop "Lenovo W520 (4284)"

Model: Lenovo W520, Subtype: 4284-4MG
This is a high-end laptop (4 cores and 8GB memory), and consequently quite expensive.
Please note: This page only shows the configuration of components, which I actually use on this laptop. I.e. the NVidia card, Bluetooth card, webcam and fingerprint sensor may work, but were not tested yet. When I will need those components, I will update this page.

Configuration

Hardware components	Status under linux	Notes
Intel Core i7-2860QM (2.5GHz), 8 cores	Works
Nvidia Quadro FX 880M	---	switched off in the BIOS (to save power)
15.6'' FHD (1920×1080) LED Screen	Works	Native resolution works out of the box
500GB IDE (7,200rpm) SATA Hard Drive	Works
DVD+-RW Drive Optiarc RW AD-7740H	Works	/dev/sr0
ACPI	Works	Memory and disk suspend work.
Intel Ethernet controller	Works	module `e1000e` (included in the kernel).
WLAN (WiFi Link 6000 Series)	Works	Driver `iwlagn` included in recent kernels.
Modem (F5521gw)	Works	Vodafone (contract Websessions)
Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio	Works
Bluetooth Card	---
USB 2.0 and 3.0	---
SDHC-card reader	Works
Fingerprint Sensor	recognized

Basic installation

I used the openSuse 12.1 installation DVD, which worked without any problems. All hardware components were recognized from scratch. As desktop I use KDE-4 which looks quite nice.
Kernel: Linux 3.1.9-1.4-desktop x86_64
Partitioning: The notebook came with preinstalled Windows 7, which I did not want to delete. Unfortunately, the Lenovo recovery partition was located after the Windows partition, so I had no possibility to shrink it, and 178 GB remained occupied.

Some experiences from the first use:

Broadband driver: cdc_ncm
Network manager: The toggling between the three network interfaces (LAN, WLAN, Broadband/Vodafone) worked without problems. The only annoying problem is, that one always has to enter the PIN for the SIM-card, even after a memory suspend. If anyone can tell me, how to fix this, it would be nice.
Switch off annoying CapsLock-key: in KDE-menu "Personal Settings" → Hardware → Input Devices → Keyboard settings → Advanced → Caps Lock key behavior → select: "Caps Lock is disabled"
With TLP there exists a project regarding powermanagement for laptops (in German, English version) as part of the Think-Wiki, the german Wiki for ThinkPads.

You can contact me by email to wolfk@gfz-potsdam.de

Last change 27. 4. 2012 Wolfgang Köhler