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Lenovo Denies Claims It Plotted With Microsoft To Block Linux Installs (theregister.co.uk)

Posted by msmash on from the their-side-of-the-story dept.

Reader kruug writes: Several users noted certain new Lenovo machines' SSDs are locked in a RAID mode, with AHCI removed from the BIOS. Windows is able to see the SSD while in RAID mode due to a proprietary driver, but the SSD is hidden from Linux installations -- for which such a driver is unavailable. Speaking to The Register today, a Lenovo spokesperson claimed the Chinese giant "does not intentionally block customers using other operating systems on its devices and is fully committed to providing Linux certifications and installation guidance on a wide range of products."
Complaints on Lenovo's forums suggest that users have been unable to install GNU/Linux operating systems on models from the Yoga 900S to the Ideapad 710S, with one 19-page thread going into detail about the BIOS issue and users' attempts to work around it.

5 of 181 comments (clear)

  1. Paranoia amongst the minority. by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Often a minority group thinks it is being persecuted against because the majority doesn't go out of its way to make the minority welcomed.

    I expect Lenovo wasn't really actively stopping Linux however they weren't actively trying to make something that Linux will work on either. They were making sure it would work for Windows though.

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    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    1. Re:Paranoia amongst the minority. by Quikah · · Score: 1, Insightful

      The most logical reason is so that people who buy the laptop to run windows don't break their laptops when they go messing around in the bios. There are tons of options in the BIOS that are not always exposed to the end user. If you need one of those option, then buy the system that gives it to you.

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      Q.
  2. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  3. "Security" by Fire_Wraith · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Of course they didn't conspire to block Linux installs - it was all about providing security to the user, by preventing anyone from attacking the BIOS and the operating system. The fact that this includes the user, and prevents them from "attacking" the operating system by replacing it, is entirely unintentional - or so they'd have you believe.

    Sarcasm aside, there is a lot of security-related motivation in attempts to lock down the BIOS, UEFI, etc. The problem is that much of this also has consequences, and we clearly can't rely on companies to simply keep our best interests at heart on their own - but that should come as a surprise to no one here.

  4. Re:Never attribute to malice ... by iris-n · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If the issue was only that Linux lacked drivers for their SSD configuration that wouldn't be a problem (even though a bit of a dick move from their side). The problem is that there was BIOS setting to change the configuration from RAID to AHCI, but this setting was locked down. The person had to go through some pretty heroic lengths to unlock it.

    Not having a Linux driver? That's explainable by stupidity.
    Not having a legacy compatibility mode? Could have been explained by stupidity if it were the case.
    Having a legacy compatibility mode, but making it inaccessible without a soldering iron? That's just malice.

    And frankly, if the company is even considering locking down the BIOS like this, it shows that they have a very weird idea about who owns the damn laptop, and they're never getting my money.

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    entropy happens