1 TheAlt Linux Compatibility Rating
Our Linux Compatibility Rating is a quick, visual summary showing how well a laptop works with Linux based on our hands‑on tests. We install and use each machine, check essential hardware (screen, keyboard, trackpad, audio, Wi‑Fi, USB) and important extras, then assign one of three colors:
Green — everything essential works out‑of‑the‑box; minor tweaks for non‑essentials possible.
Yellow — one or more non‑essential features need tweaks or the installer required extra steps (e.g., disabling Secure Boot); core functionality is present.
Red — an essential feature is missing or broken after installation, making the laptop unsuitable without major fixes.
Our rating is based on a standardized checklist: we record kernel and distro, note install experience, mark each essential, non‑essential, and nice‑to‑have item (e.g., touchscreen, lid suspend, Bluetooth, DisplayPort over USB‑C), and note necessary tweaks. We will provide our results along with neccessary tweaks to get some things working. The Protocols can be found on our GitLab.
The result helps you quickly asses whether a laptop will work with minimal effort or if it’ll need time and technical work to get fully functional
We thank Project Neptun for collaborating with us, and providing us with the laptops to test.
2 Laptops
2.1 Lenovo
2.1.1 Lenovo T14 Gen 6
| Item | Status | Short note |
| Kernel | 6.16.3 | Fedora 42 (display fixed after kernel update) |
| Install experience | complicated | KDE live: display bugged under Kernel 6.14.0 |
| Screen (resolution) | only with tweaks | Update to 6.16.3 resolved the issue |
| Keyboard | works | — |
| Trackpad | works | — |
| Audio | works | — |
| Wi‑Fi | works | — |
| USB ports | works | — |
| Fn keys | works | — |
| Touchscreen | works | — |
| Lid sensor (suspend/resume) | works | Suspend/resume OK |
| Pen tablet | not present | — |
| Tablet mode (tilt sensor) | not present | — |
| Power profiles | works | — |
| SD reader | not present | — |
| HDMI / DisplayPort | works | — |
| DisplayPort over USB‑C | works | — |
| Camera | works | — |
| Bluetooth | works | Required a hard reboot after updates |
| Thunderbolt | works | — |
| Fingerprint | works | — |
| Recommended tweaks | Kernel & reboot | Update to Kernel 6.16.3; hard reboot after updates. |
2.1.2 Lenovo ThinkPad X9-14 Gen 1
| Item | Status | Short note |
| Kernel | 6.16.3 | Fedora Linux 42 |
| Install experience | disable Secure Boot | Secure Boot had to be disabled |
| Screen (resolution) | works | — |
| Keyboard | works | — |
| Trackpad | works | — |
| Audio | works | — |
| Wi‑Fi | works | — |
| USB ports | works | — |
| Fn keys | works | — |
| Touchscreen | not present | — |
| Lid sensor (suspend/resume) | works | Suspend/resume OK |
| Pen tablet | not present | — |
| Tablet mode (tilt sensor) | not present | — |
| Power profiles | works | — |
| SD reader | not present | — |
| HDMI / DisplayPort | works | — |
| DisplayPort over USB‑C | works | — |
| Camera | works | — |
| Bluetooth | works | — |
| Thunderbolt | works | — |
| Fingerprint | works | — |
2.1.3 Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10
| Item | Status | Short note |
| Kernel | 6.14.0-27-generic | Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS |
| Install experience | disable Secure Boot | Secure Boot had to be disabled |
| Screen (resolution) | works | — |
| Keyboard | works | — |
| Trackpad | works | — |
| Audio | only with tweaks | Requires configuration/tweaks to work |
| Wi‑Fi | works | — |
| USB ports | works | — |
| Fn keys | works | — |
| Touchscreen | works | — |
| Lid sensor (suspend/resume) | works | Suspend/resume OK |
| Pen tablet | not present | — |
| Tablet mode (tilt sensor) | not present | — |
| Power profiles | works | — |
| SD reader | not present | — |
| HDMI / DisplayPort | works | — |
| DisplayPort over USB‑C | works | — |
| Camera | works | — |
| Bluetooth | works | — |
| Thunderbolt | works | — |
| Fingerprint | works | — |
2.1.4 Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 13
| Item | Status | Short note |
| Kernel | 6.14.0 | Fedora 42 (Debian 13 had missing firmware) |
| Install experience | disable Secure Boot | Secure Boot had to be disabled |
| Screen (resolution) | works | — |
| Keyboard | works | — |
| Trackpad | works | — |
| Audio | works | — |
| Wi‑Fi | works | — |
| USB ports | works | — |
| Fn keys | works | All keys work except "Mode", a screenshot/snipping key, and one unknown symbol; PrtSc works |
| Touchscreen | not present | — |
| Lid sensor (suspend/resume) | works | Suspend/resume OK |
| Pen tablet | not present | — |
| Tablet mode (tilt sensor) | not present | — |
| Power profiles | works | — |
| SD reader | not present | — |
| HDMI / DisplayPort | works | — |
| DisplayPort over USB‑C | works | — |
| Camera | works | — |
| Bluetooth | only with tweaks | Required firmware placement and reboot (see referenced fix) |
| Thunderbolt | works | — |
| Fingerprint | works | — |
| Recommended tweaks | Bluetooth firmware | Try to update to the latest Kernel, and reboot. If it does not work, manually add firmware for Bluetooth (see fix) and reboot. |
(https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/bluetooth-not-work-after-update-to-25-04/61329/2)
2.1.5 Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 1
| Item | Status | Short note |
| Kernel | 6.12.38 | Debian 13 |
| Install experience | disable Secure Boot | Secure Boot had to be disabled |
| Screen (resolution) | works | — |
| Keyboard | works | — |
| Trackpad | works | — |
| Audio | works | Bass/treble OK |
| Wi‑Fi | works | — |
| USB ports | works | — |
| Fn keys | works | Vendor‑specific functions do not; generic keys OK |
| Touchscreen | works | — |
| Lid sensor (suspend/resume) | works | Suspend/resume OK |
| Pen tablet | works | — |
| Tablet mode (tilt sensor) | works | — |
| Power profiles | works | — |
| SD reader | not present | — |
| HDMI / DisplayPort | works | — |
| DisplayPort over USB‑C | works | — |
| Camera | works | — |
| Microphone | works | — |
| Bluetooth | works | — |
| Thunderbolt | works | — |
| Fingerprint | works | — |
| S3 Sleep | only with tweaks | Set "Sleep State" to "Linux" in UEFI Config > Power |
| Recommended tweaks | S3 setting | enable Linux S3 sleep in UEFI. |
2.2 HP
2.2.1 HP ZBook Ultra G1a
| Item | Status | Short note |
| Kernel | 6.14.0 | Fedora 42 |
| Install experience | disable Secure Boot | Secure Boot had to be disabled |
| Screen (resolution) | works | — |
| Keyboard | works | — |
| Trackpad | works | — |
| Audio | works | — |
| Wi‑Fi | works | — |
| USB ports | works | — |
| Fn keys | works | — |
| Touchscreen | not present | — |
| Lid sensor (suspend/resume) | works | Suspend/resume OK |
| Pen tablet | not present | — |
| Tablet mode (tilt sensor) | not present | — |
| Power profiles | works | — |
| SD reader | not present | — |
| HDMI / DisplayPort | unknown | Not tested / no note provided |
| DisplayPort over USB‑C | works | — |
| Camera | only with tweaks | Uses AMD ISP4; kernel 6.16.3 lacks driver; upstream module (Linux_ISP_libcamera) may be required or use Ubuntu OEM kernel |
| Bluetooth | works | — |
| Thunderbolt | works | — |
| Fingerprint | works | — |
| Recommended tweaks | camera driver | add/compile AMD ISP4 driver or use a kernel/OEM build that includes it. |
(https://github.com/amd/Linux_ISP_libcamera)
