Hi all,
I installed Linux Mint on a newly formatted Crucial 500 GiB SSD on a Lenovo ThinkPad X260. Everything seems to work very well, but occasionally when I am moving my cursor down a menu or a bookmarks list in a browser for example, the cursor will freeze even though I am continuing the movement on the trackpad, and then after a second or so, the cursor will jump further down the list, and on a couple of occasions the window itself has frozen for a short period. I have done all available updates, and have searched the forum for other threads on this subject but without luck. I am hoping that someone can suggest a fix. Here is my system info.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions you may have.
Last edited by LockBot on Mon Jul 31, 2023 10:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Reason:Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
I am replying to my own thread to say that after a few more days of testing, the freezing appears to be more widespread than just my cursor. I have had a couple of instances where my open windows have frozen as well. Any suggestions of where to start to diagnose this would be welcome. Here is my inxi output again:
KentC wrote: ⤴Thu Feb 02, 2023 11:27 pm
I am replying to my own thread to say that after a few more days of testing, the freezing appears to be more widespread than just my cursor. I have had a couple of instances where my open windows have frozen as well. Any suggestions of where to start to diagnose this would be welcome.
Thanks for your reply. Yes, I know that the BIOS needs updating, but the only mechanisms that I saw to update the BIOS required Windows. I haven't done enough investigating to know if there are linux-friendly alternatives for the BIOS updates. I'll do some reading and see what I find.
Thanks again for taking the time to make your suggestions. Also, thanks for putting the code tags around my system info (above). Sorry I missed that.
The gnome software center (package: gnome-software) is the easiest method in to update a thinkpad bios in linux. Firmware updates will appear in the updates list of the center, simply click to install ^_^
Florian wrote: ⤴Sun Feb 05, 2023 1:21 am
The gnome software center (package: gnome-software) is the easiest method in to update a thinkpad bios in linux. Firmware updates will appear in the updates list of the center, simply click to install ^_^
Lenovo does not make BIOS updates available for all models using that method. Some are only available for Windows or through the CD update.
Also, I think gnome software center may just be a GUI to access Linux Vendor Firmware Service. If so, one can get the updates without installing gnome software center.
Florian wrote: ⤴Sun Feb 05, 2023 1:21 am
The gnome software center (package: gnome-software) is the easiest method in to update a thinkpad bios in linux. Firmware updates will appear in the updates list of the center, simply click to install ^_^
Lenovo does not make BIOS updates available for all models using that method. Some are only available for Windows or through the CD update.
Also, I think gnome software center may just be a GUI to access Linux Vendor Firmware Service. If so, one can get the updates without installing gnome software center.
Thank you both (Florian and SMG) for this information. I'll see if I can now update my BIOS and with luck that will solve my freezing issue!
Best regards,
KC
Florian wrote: ⤴Sun Feb 05, 2023 1:21 am
The gnome software center (package: gnome-software) is the easiest method in to update a thinkpad bios in linux. Firmware updates will appear in the updates list of the center, simply click to install ^_^
Lenovo does not make BIOS updates available for all models using that method. Some are only available for Windows or through the CD update.
Also, I think gnome software center may just be a GUI to access Linux Vendor Firmware Service. If so, one can get the updates without installing gnome software center.
Hi again SMG,
You were correct and the BIOS update does not appear to be available through the Gnome Software Center. I followed your link to the LVFS page and found the BIOS update there, and first ran fwupdmgr get-devices and then fwupdmgr get-updates in the terminal and I can see the update is there and available, but after looking at the --help menu I am unsure which command to use, or how to use the correct syntax in the command. There is the following command:
install FILE [DEVICE-ID|GUID] Install a firmware file on this hardware
And there is also another command:
update [DEVICE-ID|GUID] Updates all specified devices to latest firmware version, or all devices if unspecified
I am sure that I am missing something simple, but I am unsure how to proceed from here. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I am sure that I am missing something simple, but I am unsure how to proceed from here. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hi again SMG, et al,
Well I'm sure that this happened more by good luck than good management, but the BIOS update showed up in Gnome-software. I don't know if it had anything to do with my running the fwupdmgr commands (see above) in the terminal, or not (I suspect not), but after all my dinking around I decided to re-open Gnome-software to see if there was anyway that it could be updated, and the BIOS update was just there. I installed it successfully:
Looking at the readme it appears there are several MCU (microcontroller) updates. Perhaps they will help.
Hi again,
After using the laptop for a few hours after the BIOS update, I would say that the freezing problem is not completely fixed, but seems to be occurring less frequently (or it might be wishful thinking?).
I may just have to write this off as an idiosyncrasy of this 7 year old hardware. I'll keep looking around and see what I can see.
If you want, you could disable the Cinnamon Effects to see if that helps. Open the Effects app and there is a slider to disable all at once or you could disable them individually.
SMG wrote: ⤴Sun Feb 05, 2023 7:36 pm
If you want, you could disable the Cinnamon Effects to see if that helps. Open the Effects app and there is a slider to disable all at once or you could disable them individually.
Ok, thanks. I have turned all Cinnamon effects off, and I'll see if that makes a difference.
SMG wrote: ⤴Sun Feb 05, 2023 7:36 pm
If you want, you could disable the Cinnamon Effects to see if that helps. Open the Effects app and there is a slider to disable all at once or you could disable them individually.
Ok, thanks. I have turned all Cinnamon effects off, and I'll see if that makes a difference.
Sadly, turning off the effects didn't resolve the problem. On a happier note, I kind-of like the unvarnished UX without the effects on.
:^)
I'll adjust my trackpad settings and see if it makes a difference if I turn off two finger scrolling, etc.
Thanks again for your help.
KC