# Thinkpads?



## IceCold7777 (Aug 26, 2017)

Hey there, Never used BSD before expect for a few months on a VM but I am experienced with Linux. Next Christmas I plan on buying a Think-pad that supports both Linux and BSD alike only problem is I can't seem to find one too my liking.. I've searched for countless hours but can't seem to find any Think-pads that Support 1920x1080 and have a bunch of space (at least 500 GB) are these Laptops just rare? Do they exist? As Ive said im not the most experienced with BSD so thought id reach out to the Community for some advice. Although Ive had problems finding BSD supported Laptops in general. All reply's are appreciated thanks -IceCold7777


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## wolffnx (Aug 26, 2017)

hello,FreeBSD runs well on thinkpad,i have the thinkpad t400 with 4G of ram and ssd disk(pretty basic but runs like hell)
for the resolution...mine is 1440x900, but the E560 supports 1920x1080


https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenov...-Radeon-R7-M370-Notebook-Review.155741.0.html

it has a AMD Radeon R7 M370 graphics controllers,that seems to be suported in FreeBSD, this is an important point..using vesa in
a machine like this is not good, core i7,is a nice one for christmas present..


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## Deleted member 30996 (Aug 26, 2017)

IceCold7777 said:


> Next Christmas I plan on buying a Think-pad that supports both Linux and BSD alike only problem is I can't seem to find one too my liking.. I've searched for countless hours but can't seem to find any Think-pads that Support 1920x1080 and have a bunch of space (at least 500 GB) are these Laptops just rare? Do they exist?



My Thinkpad W520 has 1920x1080 resolution. It has Intel Quad Core i7-2760QM @ 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD and NVIDIA Quadro 1000M with 96 CUDA cores and Optimus Technology.

That said, it's 9 years old, but I only paid $205 for it and it looks and runs like new. I've got OpenBSD on it and it's running now.

I have a T61 and an X61 with an Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 @ 2.0GHz and 4GB RAM running FreeBSD, too.

Those older models are the real Thinkpads and hard to beat as far as quality of construction. New ones from what I understand can't hold a candle to them.

The ThinkWiki will give you an idea of the specs of older Thinkpads.


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## vermaden (Aug 26, 2017)

_IceCold7777_
If You want to get ThinkPad that is FOR SURE supported by FreeBSD, then get xx*20* or xx*30* one, for example X2*20*/T4*20*/T5*20*/W5*20* or X2*30*/T4*30*/T5*30*/W5*30*.


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## vermaden (Aug 26, 2017)

vermaden said:


> _IceCold7777_
> If You want to get ThinkPad that is FOR SURE supported by FreeBSD, then get xx*20* or xx*30* one, for example X2*20*/T4*20*/T5*20*/W5*20* or X2*30*/T4*30*/T5*30*/W5*30*.


Of course all earlier models also work for sure, I just pointed out LATEST working models.


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## Minbari (Aug 26, 2017)

I have a T430 with 8GB ram, i5-3320M but I intend to replace the i5 with a i7-3632QM, the display it's 1600x900 (HD+), and can support up to 3 storage devices: 1 mSATA ssd + 1 HDD/SSD in caddy + HDD/SSD. The trakpoint it's working OK, but the touchpad it's not working correctly, it's a driver problem not a hardware one.


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## Phishfry (Aug 26, 2017)

Minbari said:


> i7-3632QM


I did this upgrade with a Dell. Nice CPU.


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## IceCold7777 (Aug 27, 2017)

Trihexagonal said:


> My Thinkpad W520 has 1920x1080 resolution. It has Intel Quad Core i7-2760QM @ 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD and NVIDIA Quadro 1000M with 96 CUDA cores and Optimus Technology.
> 
> That said, it's 9 years old, but I only paid $205 for it and it looks and runs like new. I've got OpenBSD on it and it's running now.
> 
> ...



Oh wow those Specs are beautiful. Have you tried BSD on it? The W520 looks quite nice haha.


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## Deleted member 30996 (Aug 27, 2017)

IceCold7777 said:


> Oh wow those Specs are beautiful. Have you tried BSD on it? The W520 looks quite nice haha.



Yes, I have. It has Optimus (Intell and Nvidia graphics both on board) which takes some tweaking but it works with FreeBSD. OpenBSD works out-of-the-box on it.

I got mine on ebay, there are several listed now in the $200 range. Some much higher than that but that doesn't mean they're going to be any better than those going for less.

Make sure that it comes with a 170 watt power adapter because it's supposed to and that it has a gray velcro keeper wrapped at the end of the cord as a sign of it being genuine and not aftermarket. And if it comes with a battery and HDD. A HDD can be had pretty cheap but be sure of what you're buying. No OS isn't a problem since you'll be installing one anyway.

Watch for signs of not being used much, like one that has the stickers still on the hand rest, or signs of wear like shiny keys or spots on the spacebar, dead pixels, scuffs and dings, etc., though a brand new computer can have a dead pixel.

Check how many the person has sold and the feedback history of who is selling it. What looks like a good deal is probably best passed on if they've had a lot of negative reviews or don't seem to care if you're satisfied or not.

If they've sold several of the same model or have several for sale it's a business lease return and it's the luck of the draw what you'll get. Mine was a business lease return and a nice machine. See if anybody has left feedback for one they bought. If they only have one for sale it's more likely than not a private owner. It could be a good or bad deal either way and where close scrutiny comes into play.


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## IceCold7777 (Aug 27, 2017)

Trihexagonal said:


> Yes, I have. It has Optimus (Intell and Nvidia graphics both on board) which takes some tweaking but it works with FreeBSD. OpenBSD works out-of-the-box on it.
> 
> I got mine on ebay, there are several listed now in the $200 range. Some much higher than that but that doesn't mean they're going to be any better than those going for less.
> 
> ...


Sounds good, Thanks for all the Information you've been really helpful all the other Forums ive been too Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu ect. Haven't been as helpful im actually surprised so many people contacted me.


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## Deleted member 30996 (Aug 27, 2017)

IceCold7777 said:


> Sounds good, Thanks for all the Information you've been really helpful all the other Forums ive been too Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu ect. Haven't been as helpful im actually surprised so many people contacted me.



My pleasure.

The T61 I'm using now has a 15.4" 1680x1050 (WSXGA+) widescreen and is a pretty nice machine. It's not as powerful as my W520 but more than enough to run FreeBSD, perform everyday desktop activities and can usually be had for $100 or less.

I use it all the time, a lot more than my W520.


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## vermaden (Aug 27, 2017)

Minbari said:


> I have a T430 with 8GB ram, i5-3320M but I intend to replace the i5 with a i7-3632QM, the display it's 1600x900 (HD+), and can support up to 3 storage devices: 1 mSATA ssd + 1 HDD/SSD in caddy + HDD/SSD. The trakpoint it's working OK, but the touchpad it's not working correctly, it's a driver problem not a hardware one.


Stramge, on my W530 touchpad worked without any issues for me.


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## Minbari (Aug 27, 2017)

vermaden said:


> Stramge, on my W530 touchpad worked without any issues for me.




```
synclient -l                                                                                                                                  -- INSERT --
Couldn't find synaptics properties. No synaptics driver loaded?
```

I don't know why he does not load the driver. I have acpi_ibm load in rc.conf and 

```
hw.psm.synaptics_support="1"
hw.psm.trackpoint_support="1"
```
 in /boot/loader.conf. Also if I add :


```
hw.psm.synaptics.weight_current: 3
hw.psm.synaptics.weight_previous: 6
hw.psm.synaptics.weight_previous_na: 20
hw.psm.synaptics.weight_len_squared: 2000

'''''
```

in /etc/sysctl.conf I'm receiving errors when the OS start services.


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## vermaden (Aug 27, 2017)

Minbari

I did not used *synaptics*, I just used the touchpad as it is supported by *moused(8) *daemon, for buttons and for movement/selection, and that worked perfectly.


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## Minbari (Aug 27, 2017)

vermader, thank you for your answer, that works for me too, though I would like to be able to block the synaptic/touchpad when I have a usb mouse attached and moused(8) does not permit that.


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## vermaden (Aug 27, 2017)

Minbari said:


> vermader, thank you for your answer, that works for me too, though I would like to be able to block the synaptic/touchpad when I have a usb mouse attached and moused(8) does not permit that.




Its possible to achieve that with *moused*.


```
% grep moused_enable /etc/rc.conf
moused_enable=YES

# /etc/rc.d/moused restart
Stopping moused.
Waiting for PIDS: 49358, 49358.
Starting default moused.

% ps auxwww | grep moused       
root     49610   0.4  0.0   12716    1876  -  Ss   23:39       0:00.00 /usr/sbin/moused -p /dev/psm0 -t auto
root       484   0.0  0.0   12720    1400  -  Ss   Mon22       3:03.08 /usr/sbin/moused -p /dev/ums0 -t auto -I /var/run/moused.ums0.pid

# kill $( ps auxwww|awk '/sbin\/moused\ -p\ \/dev\/psm0/ {print $2}' )

% ps auxwww | grep moused                                               
root       484   0.0  0.0   12720    1400  -  Is   Mon22       3:03.09 /usr/sbin/moused -p /dev/ums0 -t auto -I /var/run/moused.ums0.pid
vermaden 51875   0.0  0.0   14960    2144  7  R+   23:40       0:00.00 grep --color moused
```

... and now USB mouse works while touchpad is 'dead'.

I would want to know how to configure that permanently, but I do not unfortunately 

Regards,
vermaden


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## bookwormep (Sep 12, 2017)

I have used a Thinkpad SL510 (circa. 2009) which runs FreeBSD quite well. Added some RAM memory cards for better 
performance.


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