Update on Debian with Lenovo X1 Carbon

On my previous post, I noted that the X11 trackpad customisations. Since then I have implemented the SSD optimisation recommendations as recommended here. I'll give a summary below, where detailed notes on my configuration are here.
Firstly are /etc/fstab options to reduce writes:

# /dev/sda1

UUID=??? / ext4 discard,noatime,commit=600,errors=remount-ro 0 1

# /dev/sda5 (swap)

UUID=??? swap swap sw,discard 0 0

Next, reduce swappiness. Add to /etc/sysctl.conf

# optimise for SSD

vm.swappiness = 0

Finally, use the deadline scheduler. In /etc/udev/rules.d/60-ssd-scheduler.rules

# Only sda is SSD, see https://wiki.debian.org/SSDOptimization

# set deadline scheduler for non-rotating disks

ACTION=="add|change", KERNEL=="sd[a-z]", ATTR{queue/rotational}=="0", ATTR{queue/scheduler}="deadline"

In my case I need only do this on the sda device.

Please read my document on this as it provides extra information and links.

Debian Linux on Lenovo X1 Carbon

I am now using a Lenovo X1 Carbon for work. After the installation hassles with the Samsung Series 9, I'm certainly sticking with Lenovo. It was such a breeze. While I had every intention to maintain the Windows 7 partition, between Lenovo and Windows they consumed all the spare volumes. If required, I can resort to Mac OS X as a commercial alternative. Besides, I have been Windows free since 1998, so have not got a valid reason to retain it. So Windows and Lenovo recovery got dumped onto an unused external hard disk. Someday, I may need to recover, but history is against it.

My notes on the installation, though thin are here. It is running Debian, with Xfce installation. The only customisation worth noting are the X11 settings for the trackpad. The custom settings used are:

#
# File: /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-synaptics.conf 
#
Section "InputClass"
   Identifier                      "lenovo x1 carbon touchpad"
   Driver                          "synaptics"
   MatchIsTouchpad                 "yes"

   # three fingers for the middle button
   Option "TapButton1"             "1"
   Option "TapButton2"             "2"
   Option "TapButton3"             "3"
   Option "ClickPad"               "1"

   # drag lock
   Option "LockedDrags"            "0"

   # prevents too many intentional clicks
   Option "PalmDetect"             "1"

   # vertical and horizontal scrolling
   Option "VertTwoFingerScroll"    "1"
   Option "HorizTwoFingerScroll"   "1"
   Option "VertEdgeScroll"         "1"
   Option "CoastingSpeed"          "8"

EndSection

Update on Samsung Series 9

I have been using a Samsung Series 9 with Linux Mint Debian Edition for nearly two years. It is a wonderful machine to use. Crisp screen. Fast. Silent. Lovely keyboard. But it was a real pain to get working reliably under Linux. And with the reported BIOS bug you feel like on tender hooks doing a reinstall or upgrade.
I'm, however, relatively happy to report that apart from the occasional kernel panic when using USB ports it has been reliable. Now that I know it is USB sensitive, I take extra precautions when yanking out USB devices. Ensure it is properly unmounted, eject if able. Put machine into suspend mode, then yank out. A pain, but I'm more confident going the extra effort to avoid uncontrolled panics while in the middle of an edit.

I am disappointed with recent change of direction of Linux Mint Debian Edition. I like the rolling release. Having successfully implement two updates now, the process is relatively smooth. However they have abandoned the Xfce desktop as a installation choice. That will push me back to using base Debian. Which is not such a bad idea. I used Linux Mint initially due to its rolling distribution option. That this is simply a pointer to Debian testing, means I should be able to revert to Debian. More on this in a later post.

Please be sure to check my updated notes on this installation here. It has been maintained as the machine was tweaked and optimised.