Pain Points of Running Ubuntu on Lenovo IdeaPad Duet
Problem
Users want to run Linux on tablets like the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet, but are hindered by locked bootloaders, pre‑installed bloatware, and insufficient tablet‑mode support, leading to a poor experience and a need for better solutions or tools.
Pain points
- Bootloader locked, preventing free flashing of custom Linux systems
- Pre‑installed bloatware causing security risks and performance degradation
- Tablet mode lacks dedicated hardware sensors, making debugging and mode switching difficult
- No official Linux drivers or documentation for this device
Questions to verify
- Are you looking for a tablet that can easily flash mainline Linux?
- Would you be willing to pay extra for a tablet that supports Ubuntu and offers a better development experience?
- Are you interested in using or contributing to automated tools (e.g., LLMs) to accelerate driver and firmware porting?
Evidence
quote · @匿名 · sourcecomment_1
I was shocked, in 2026, to know how hard it is to find a good tablet. iPad is out of question for me, gifted mine to my gf (the only apple device I ever bought).Landed on a Lenovo Idea Tab pro, which has so much junk pre-installed that keep installing other malware on it.We need rules that take companies responsible when they trick people into hands of scammers.As long as I can't unlock its bootloader, it's not much better than that iPad.
quote · @匿名 · sourcecomment_3
Recently I was in the market for what I would call a 'low cost linux netbook/tablet' and settled on the Chuwi Minibook X. It has an Intel N150 processor, 16GB of memory and a 512GB nvme drive. For less than $300. I am wildly impressed by it. Touchpad is really terrible but otherwise it is a surprisingly compelling little device. I am still fine tuning the tablet mode stuff -- it doesn't have any hinge measurement sensors it relies on an accelerometer in each half. Codex has been helping me write some cool tools to debug and parse those raw readings into "im in laptop mode" or "im in tablet mode, disable kb/touchpad". I just installed KDE Plasma Mobile yesterday which is quite a cool alternate DE that is more suited to tablets.
fact · @匿名 · sourcecomment_4
For x86 based ChromeOS devices check https://docs.mrchromebox.tech/docs/supported-devices.html It allows installing a standard UEFI environment if supported.
quote · @匿名 · sourcecomment_5
Wow! Serendipitous, I was just doing the same thing on my duet (trogdor) but I was focused on using Claude to enable the camera (missing in the device tree). I taught it to use depthcharge to reboot into the previous Kernel if a build failed; otherwise boot and start the same Claude chat so I could just let it iterate for days. It took a day to get something usable, pretty amazing.Then I setup `howdy` to use the camera for auth.now I’m just trying to figure out if I’m allowed to submit this upstream. Postmarketos explicitly rejects LLM submission, but I can submit it to linux-next. Seems to me a shame, this enables folks who have devices and want to fix things (but lack the time/knowledge) to use these LLM powers for a very good cause.Plasma mobile has been really great for me, you sh
Disclaimer: this card is distilled by AI from community discussions as “pain point evidence”. It is a starting point for need analysis and validation, not a “validated market need”. AI has analytical limits; please open the original discussion above to manually verify before key decisions.