Debian Buster on a Thinkpad T14 (Intel)

I got model 20S0000HGE (Intel Core i5-10210U Comet Lake, Intel Graphics, WWAN card) with memory upgraded to 32GB, disk upgraded to 1TB and a US keyboard. I got it from lapstars.de and was quite satisfied with the service, quick delivery (UPS) and no issues.

I used Debian Buster (stable) from a netinst image on a USB stick. This time I wiped Microsoft Windows completely, no more dual boot (on my previous machine I never used it after initial installation, so good riddance).

BIOS Setting for Suspend

Enter BIOS, set Config -> Power -> Sleep to "Linux" (see this).

Kernel

Initially the X-server didn't work, it needs a newer kernel than the one available in Buster. I use linux-image-5.10.0-0.bpo.3-amd64 from buster-backports.

Firmware

Wifi didn't work either with Buster, firmware-iwlwifi is too old. I installed firmware-iwlwifi and firmware-misc-nonfree from Bullseye (testing).

Audio

The internal speaker also needs a small tweak to work. Add a file /etc/default/grub.d/disable-dmic-detect.cfg:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="snd_hda_intel.dmic_detect=0"

Then run update-grub and reboot.

After that internal audio works (tested speaker, headphone, mic).

Function Keys

Function keys are disabled out of the box, you need to press FnLock for them to become active. Which is not funny if things don't work, you try to switch to another console and nothing happens. Also, the indicator light for FnLock is a rather bright and unpleasantly piercing white, I covered it with a small sticker.

Power Supply

The 65W power supply now has a USB-C/Thunderbolt style connector. There is a separate socket for the power supply (last one on the left side).

Thunderbolt 3

Works with a Thunderbolt 3 Dock (40AC) and a 2m cable from Starlink. The Thunderbolt port is the next to last on the left side. You can also plug it into the power port, but then Thunderbolt doesn't work, only charging (just saying).

Thunderbolt was the reason to get the Intel version, I have everything nicely set up from my previous machine. The AMD version apparently needs a much clunkier cable that combines cables for power and USB-C.

Ethernet

Works (last port on the right side).

MicroSD Card Reader

Works (first slot on the left side).

Smart Card Reader

Works (first long slot on the right side, tested with pcsc_scan). NFC is apparently not supported (according to specification, I don't know how to check that).

Fingerprint Sensor

Not tested.

Wifi and Bluetooth

Intel AX201 11ax, 2x2 + BT5.0. Wifi works, I haven't tested Bluetooth yet.

WWAN Card

A Fibocom L850-GL. Not tested yet, at the moment I don't have a mobile data contract.

PCI Bus

Thunderbolt dock is disconnected:

$ lspci -nn
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:9b61] (rev 0c)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:9b41] (rev 02)
00:04.0 Signal processing controller [1180]: Intel Corporation Skylake Processor Thermal Subsystem [8086:1903] (rev 0c)
00:08.0 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Skylake Gaussian Mixture Model [8086:1911]
00:12.0 Signal processing controller [1180]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:02f9]
00:14.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:02ed]
00:14.2 RAM memory [0500]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:02ef]
00:14.3 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:02f0]
00:16.0 Communication controller [0780]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:02e0]
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:02b8] (rev f0)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:02bc] (rev f0)
00:1c.6 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:02be] (rev f0)
00:1d.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:02b0] (rev f0)
00:1d.4 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:02b4] (rev f0)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:0284]
00:1f.3 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:02c8]
00:1f.4 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:02a3]
00:1f.5 Serial bus controller [0c80]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:02a4]
00:1f.6 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:0d4f]
02:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS522A PCI Express Card Reader [10ec:522a] (rev 01)
03:00.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation JHL6240 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge (Low Power) [Alpine Ridge LP 2016] [8086:15c0] (rev 01)
04:00.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation JHL6240 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge (Low Power) [Alpine Ridge LP 2016] [8086:15c0] (rev 01)
04:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation JHL6240 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge (Low Power) [Alpine Ridge LP 2016] [8086:15c0] (rev 01)
04:02.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation JHL6240 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge (Low Power) [Alpine Ridge LP 2016] [8086:15c0] (rev 01)
05:00.0 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation JHL6240 Thunderbolt 3 NHI (Low Power) [Alpine Ridge LP 2016] [8086:15bf] (rev 01)
2b:00.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:15c1] (rev 01)
2c:00.0 Wireless controller [0d40]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:7360] (rev 01)
2e:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller [0108]: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd NVMe SSD Controller SM981/PM981 [144d:a808]

Tree view:

$ lspci -t
-[0000:00]-+-00.0
           +-02.0
           +-04.0
           +-08.0
           +-12.0
           +-14.0
           +-14.2
           +-14.3
           +-16.0
           +-1c.0-[02]----00.0
           +-1c.4-[03-2b]----00.0-[04-2b]--+-00.0-[05]----00.0
           |                               +-01.0-[06-2a]--
           |                               \-02.0-[2b]----00.0
           +-1c.6-[2c]----00.0
           +-1d.0-[2d]--
           +-1d.4-[2e]----00.0
           +-1f.0
           +-1f.3
           +-1f.4
           +-1f.5
           \-1f.6

Internal USB Devices

$ lsusb -s 1:
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 06cb:00bd Synaptics, Inc. 
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 13d3:5406 IMC Networks 
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 8087:0026 Intel Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 058f:9540 Alcor Micro Corp. AU9540 Smartcard Reader
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub