I can assure you Slackware is Linux compatible

I maintain my old T420 for my wife, and have been considering flashing it with libreboot, because I figured if a T400 was on the compatibility list, then the T420 might be close enough.

According to this, Libreboot seems easier to install, as it has less compilation.

Its been on my bucket list. Curious to see how your project turns out.

Cheers.

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My wife runs Slackware64-current on her old T420 laptop; I maintain it. My T410 ran Slackware for years until it died today. Thinkpads are wonderful for Slackware.

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I'm running current on a ThinkPad X240

As coreboot has been mentioned a couple of times,
I thought this would interest you.
skulls makes it easy to install an unlocked, up-to-date and
easy to use coreboot-based BIOS on your laptop.
Supported laptops: Lenovo Thinkpad (X230, X230T, T430, T440p).

https://github.com/merge/skulls

A word of warning though. From the README flashrom (v1.2):
See also
https://www.flashrom.org/Supported_h..._tablets_etc.)

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@vonbiber
I was looking at something else to see if I could find a simpler option - but the devil is in the details whatever method I look at. It isn't likely I will risk it unless I can find a "cheapie" Thinkpad. Here are the links I was looking at.

https://github.com/n4ru/IVprep/
https://github.com/n4ru/1vyrain/

My T61 (my main laptop) and R40 (32 bit only) still works, both on current. R40 is showing its age but still run when I need to check on something on slow machine . I am not in a hurry to purchase a replace one, but I am having a great interest on frame.work.

Ahhh! Another T61 user. Nice! As I type this I'm upgrading December 2020 Current to December 2021 Current (15.0 RC2) to the tune of 1542 files. Mine has the Quadro GPU which does 1920 x 1200 and today I used a dongle to power up a 42inch Sony TV. Glorious! However the biggest boost of all was a Samsung 250GB SATA SSD which I bought new for $30.00 USD. Amazing speed boost despite being an ancient SATA chipset on the T61. It loves 15.0 RC2 (just finished and rebooted... sweet!).

I replaced the HDD to a SSD Crucial 512GB on T61

The OP brings up the topic of using old T-series laptops. I think it is important to consider the flaws in the Intel ME, and the flaws of Spectre and Meltdown and cousins, when selecting an old computer for front-line use. It may be that patches are not available for some, or all, of these flaws.

----

Back in 2015 I bought a used Lenovo T60p. I chose the T60-line because I had seen the ones we had at work held up well in service.

Sometime back then I became aware of the flaws in the Intel Management Engine (ME), and was disgusted to find out the 945PM chipset in my T60p had an Intel ME. I was even more disgusted to find out Intel would not supply patches to mitigate these flaws in anything made before mid-2013.

Not long after I bought my T60p I became aware OpenBoot BIOS was unable to initialize the Radeon video 'card', but OpenBoot could initialize the Intel video 'card' in a T60. In any case, I gave up on the idea of using OpenBoot, and just installed Slackware in the normal manner on my T60p.

In 2018 I read about the Spectre and Meltdown flaws in the Intel processors. I was disgusted to see that Intel was not going to deliver patches for processors which had been released to manufacture before ~2008. (The Core 2 Duo in my T60p was released to manufacture in 2006/August.)

The OP brings up the topic of using Thinkpad T{45}{123}0 laptops as one's primary machine. I am not familiar with these models, however I am well familiar with a T60 and several other computers which all have an Intel video 'card' which uses the Linux i915 kernel driver. Because of the problem I observed and investigated, I suggest one be leery.

----

For many years I have run Slackware on a flock of computers, and shortly after 14.2 was released I installed it on them. As I recollect, it was around the beginning of 2017 that a new kernel was promulgated to the world, and ever after there has been random crashing and/or video corruption in the computers which use the i915 kernel driver. This problem appears to be related to the changing of 'video mode'.

For example: switching back and forth between the console and X is like playing russian-roulette --> eventually (random), one or the other will have video lockup or corruption, or the computer will crash.

Another example: something the Xscreensaver does tickles this problem --> eventually (random), when going into or coming out of screensaver-mode there will be video corruption or video lockup.

Also, while running X, I have noticed a few instances where I suspected that something occurring in/with a web-browser tickled the problem described above.

In the cases of video lockup or corruption the underlying system is still running, and one can use ssh to login across the network in order to do a mostly proper shutdown.

----

I have read in some places that the i915 driver was written by Intel for Linux, and that the driver is a horrible piece of software. I have no personal knowledge on this topic.

The computers I work with are rather old. It may be that the i915 driver and some newer Intel video 'cards' do not have the problem. For instance, there is a Dell Optiplex 3020 (mid-2014) on which I have not observed the problem (yet).

you probably have a better chance de-soldering the OTP/ROM from older thinkpad than newer ones, although the industry seems to stick to cheaper soic8 packages that are relatively easy to de-solder.

what is your objective, tinkering, security or both ?

@_peter

I'm assuming you are asking me so I have to say this is a bit of a ramble but here goes.

For now, I'm mostly looking at options...but originally the end goal was to be able to populate the laptop with the best hardware that it is capable of supporting. This requires circumventing the restrictions the manufacturer has designed into the bios. These restrictions make normally simple upgrades like upgrading wireless cards risky. So, from my point of view, this thread is a list of methods to do just that, i.e circumvent the upgradeability obstacles without bricking my laptop. And also tinker along the way since there is always something to learn by doing that. Ivyrain/Ivprep, backing up the eeprom, and being able to restore it using a raspberry pi/flashrom are on my radar...

Upgrading the wireless card (from N to AC capability), for example, should be possible since those AC capable wireless cards are, technically, perfectly compatible with the laptop I have. Doing technical "pirouettes" (which can be an interesting sideline in itself) and accepting the risk of a brick is necessary to add that hardware. The same holds true for third party batteries and possibly other hardware that could be put in the Thinkpad I have.

And then there is also the wish to neuter the Intel Management Engine if possible because it is a security issue. At the beginning of the thread, I was preoccupied with Spectre/Meltdown when someone else pointed out that IME was an even bigger security issue. ooops.

I'm still looking at options - and one of them is getting another Thinkpad like the one I have (so it should be fairly cheap) to tinker with so that I can try out different procedures to see what works and what doesn't. Still researching when time permits though. I will probably have fun doing that. But I could also buy a raspberry pi and attach an ssd to it for peanuts and save a bundle and be done with it for now. No fuss, no muss. And (when/if) I see a company with a set of values I like, I will support it by buying its products.

Cheers!

ok thanks for the details. system76.com ought to be mentioned for their firmware options.

thinkpad or dells, because of company's size, have the advantage of replacement parts.
not necessarily the best one but the idea is you can get parts.

few years ago there was a guy who build his own laptop in wooden box, i can't remember the name, it looked fun.

Would that be this one?
https://hackaday.com/2017/06/28/wood...-old-thinkpad/