Ubuntu 9.10 on a Lenovo Ideapad Y450
Updated 29 December 2009



Introduction
The purpose of this document is to provide information about running the Ubuntu 9.10 Linux distribution on a Lenovo Ideapad Y450 with a specific focus on hardware support. The information contained on this web page is also intended to be useful for other computer models which contain the same or similar components as the Lenovo Ideapad Y450.

CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo CPU P8700 2.53 GHz
Graphics Card	NVIDIA GeForce 512MB
Hard Drive	320 GB SATA
Wireless Network Card	Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 5100 (ABGN)
Pointing Devices	Synaptics TouchPad
Laptop Specific Function Keys
Wired Ethernet Network	Gigabit Ethernet Controller
Audio / Sound Card	Realtek HD Audio System
Power Management
Bluetooth	Bluetooth Version 2.1 + EDR
Webcam	Lenovo Webcam

CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor (P8700 2.53 GHz)
Ubuntu 9.10 supports the Lenovo Ideapad's Intel Core 2 Duo processor out of the box and does not require any additional configuration.

Graphics Card
NVIDIA GeForce 512MB
Ubuntu 9.10 has basic support for the NVIDIA graphics card out of the box. The default support for the NVIDIA is provided by an open source driver. This driver does not necessarily support the full capabilities of the NVIDIA graphics card. A proprietary graphics card driver for Linux is developed by NVIDIA. This driver can be enabled on Ubuntu 9.10 by clicking “System,” pointing to “Administration,” and clicking “Hardware Drivers.” Proprietary drivers for the NVIDIA graphics card and any other hardware can be enabled using this window.

Integrated Intel Graphics
Most versions of the Lenovo Ideapad Y450 ship with integrated Intel graphics rather than dedicated NVIDIA graphics cards. The full capabilities of Intel graphics should be available upon installing Ubuntu 9.10 because Intel makes open source drivers available for its graphics products. More information about Intel graphics on Linux can be found on Intel's support page.

Hard Drive
The Lenovo Ideapad Y450 uses a standard Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive which is supported by Ubuntu 9.10. No special configuration is required.


802.11agn Wi-Fi Card
Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 5100 (ABGN)
The drivers for common Intel wi-fi cards are included with Ubuntu 9.10. The necessary firmware to run an Intel wireless card on Ubuntu is also included meaning that an Intel wireless card will work out of the box. The Lenovo Ideapad Y450's Wi-Fi indicator light does work out of the box. The hardware switch to disable/enable wi-fi and bluetooth works on Linux the same as in Windows Vista or Windows 7 to enable and disable wireless capabilities.



Connecting to a Wireless network
To connect to a wireless network, click the network icon in the system tray which is located in the upper right corner of the screen. If the computer is connected to a wireless network, there is signal strength indicator (pictured). After locating the network icon, click it and select the wireless network you would like to connect to.


Pointing Devices / Mouse
Synaptics Touchpad
Ubuntu 9.10 supports the Synaptics touchpad included with the Lenovo Ideapad Y450 and does not require any special configuration. Additionally, a USB mouse can be plugged into the Lenovo Y450 and will function immediately with no additional configuration necessary. Preferences for pointing devices can be accessed by clicking “System,” pointing to “Preferences,” and clicking “Mouse.”


Laptop Specific Function Keys
Some of the Lenovo Ideapad Y450's function keys work properly out of the box. The most important keys such as those to control screen brightness and audio volume work exactly as they would when using Windows 7 or Vista. Other key combinations such as Fn+F6 to disable the touchpad do not function under Ubuntu 9.10.

Wired Ethernet Network
Ubuntu 9.10 supports the Lenovo Y450's wired network card out of the box with no additional configuration necessary.

Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio System
The Realtek HD audio system on the Lenovo Ideapad Y450 works out of the box with no additional configuration necessary. It might be necessary to install additional codecs to play file types such as mp3 before the audio system is particularly useful. By default, the Lenovo Y450's volume is relatively low so it may initially appear that the sound system is not working even though there are no actual problems. The volume controls above the keyboard work out of the box in addition to using the keyboard constrols (Fn+left/Fn+right). To access the Volume Controls on Ubuntu 9.10, right-click the picture of a speaker on the system tray in the upper right corner of the screen, then click "Sound Preferences".


Power Management System
Ubuntu 9.10 supports the full range of power management functions available on the Lenovo Ideapad Y450. User accessible capabilities such as the controls for screen brightness work out of the box with no additional configuration necessary (Fn+Up/Fn+Down). To access power management settings on Ubuntu 9.10 click “System,” point to “Preferences,” and click “Power Management.” When the laptop is running on battery power, power management preferences can also be accessed by right clicking the battery icon that appears in the system tray.


Bluetooth
The Lenovo Ideapad Y450's Bluetooth card works on Linux just as it does on Windows 7. There is no need to perform any extra configuration steps. In Ubuntu 9.10, Bluetooth settings can be controlled using the Bluetooth icon in the upper right part of the screen.


Lenovo Webcam
All versions of the Lenovo Ideapad Y450 include an integrated webcam above the screen. Ubuntu 9.10 does not support this webcam out of the box.



See also:
Index of Linux related documents
Running Fedora Core 9 on a Dell Latitude D610
Running openSUSE 10.3 on a Dell Latitude D610
Running Ubuntu 8.10 on a Dell Latitude D610




Questions, comments, complaints etc. linux@michaeleberhart.net
Copyright 2009 All rights reserved.