NVIDIA MX350 graphics card, a problem?

User Support Hardware Issues
1

Hello.

I am very interested in the Qubes system: personally, but also professionally.

I would like to buy an Acer TravelMate Spin P4 TMP414RN-51 (product code: NX.VQ1EF.006), but I have a doubt about the NVIDIA MX350 graphics card. Could you tell me if it will cause any problems? Below is the essential configuration of this computer.

Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor
Intel VT-x with EPT (Extended Page Table) and Intel VT-d

Integrated Graphics Processor
Intel (IGP) Graphics Intel Iris Xᵉ

TPM (Trusted Platform Module)
Yes
https://store.acer.com/fr-fr/acer-travelmate-spin-p4-ordinateur-portable-convertible-4g-lte-tmp414rn-51-bleu-nx-vq1ef-006

Memory
32 GB DDR4 SDRAM

Storage
1 TB SSD

GPU
NVIDIA MX350 card
Nvidia GPUs may require troubleshooting.

2

you should sick with Integrated Graphics
overwise you should use AMD Graphics card because amd driver is open src
CPU seem also a problem too (i don’t have time to read the spec now)

3

Could you tell me if it will cause any problems?

If there isn’t already a positive report for machine in the HCL, no one can tell you with certainty.

Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor

This is a Tiger Lake CPU, which isn’t fully supported at this time.

Intel (IGP) Graphics Intel Iris Xᵉ

This might require some troubleshooting, but there are others using Tiger Lake CPU with Iris Xe graphics. You probably should start with the Qubes R4.1 Beta right away.

NVIDIA MX350 card
Nvidia GPUs may require troubleshooting.

In my experience not worth the trouble, but you can use the integrated graphics.

I don’t know you reasons for wanting this specific machine. You might be able to make it work, but it might require a substantial amount of troubleshooting and workarounds. If you have solid Linux knowledge and skills and don’t mind working on this for several days or even weeks, you might give it a shot.

If you however just want to learn about Qubes OS and are less technically inclined you should choose a machine that has a positive HCL report or is mentioned in the community-recommended list.

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4

for reference, i helped some user with I7-1165G7 CPU, it’s worked but still i don’t guarantee if it would work in your acer laptop even tough i believe it will, and you should take sven word for consideration.

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5

Thank you very much for your answers.

I often travel to different parts of the world, and I want to take with me a computer with a maximum of necessary or very useful features: SIM card reader, RJ45, touch screen with pen, long battery life (> 12 h), etc. It is difficult for me to find, in the long list you provide, the computer that comes closest to my needs. So I will only use the small list of computers recommended by the community.

It would be really interesting to have a detailed list of the technical characteristics of each computer. That’s what I’m going to do on my side, I’ll eventually send you my table, if you’re interested. There will be maybe only 5 or 10 computers analyzed, but it will be a start. The problem is also to know if the computers are still easy to find, because many of them are already a few years old: this will be an interesting information.

I noticed that you mostly recommend ThinkPads. Is there a technical reason for this?

6

These might be problematic with Qubes. It uses Fedora in dom0 with its Linux drivers, and devices designed for Windows (with no Linux in mind) may generally be problematic when you install Linux on them (unsurprisingly). I am not aware of any Linux laptop with a touchscreen and >12h battery life.

It’s because ThinkPads typically work very well with Linux and require no workarounds for suspend, WiFi and so on.

7

The investigation was not easy…
Here is my way to proceed…

On a selection site, I checked off the essential features I was looking for.

The list gave me the choice of HP EliteBook computers and Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga.

So I looked for the best matches with the long list you offer, but never found an exact match.

This method allowed me to find, in your long list, the few computers that would be the most similar to what I’m looking for: they are the “ThinkPad X1 Yoga”:

  1. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga (20FRS2BP00) i7-6600U Skylake Integrated Graphics (HD 520)

  2. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga (20JES15D01) i5-7300U Kaby Lake Integrated Graphics (HD 620)

I see that the other “Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga” had problems.

The problem is that the 2 computers above only have 8GB of RAM, and they are no longer available commercially (in Europe).

In one of your comments above, it seems to say that Linux can’t support a graphic display? That’s weird since the ThinkPad X1 Yoga are touchscreens.

I did a second investigation: I turned to the community-recommended list, and selected the following 3 computers:
ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 (unavailable in Europe)
ThinkPad T480 (unavailable in Europe)
ThinkPad T480s (in the big list) (unavailable in Europe)

When I say “unavailable in Europe”, it means that if I want to find a computer of this kind, I’ll have to dig around, and maybe settle for a used one.

If I choose a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga roughly similar to the one on your list, I’ll easily buy a computer that suits me well and is new … however, I’d have to be pretty sure that I can install Qubes-OS without any problem.

If this is not certain, I will have to search for an (old) ThinkPad T480 or T480s.

What do you think about it?

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I’d have to be pretty sure that I can install Qubes-OS without any problem.

Then you should start from the community-recommended list as those are the only ones you can “be pretty sure that I can install Qubes-OS without any problem”.

When I say “unavailable in Europe”, it means that if I want to find a computer of this kind, I’ll have to dig around, and maybe settle for a used one.

Understood. If you insist on buying a new one you will likely have to go with the Purism Librem 14 v1.

What do you think about it?

Since you are in Europe, I would strongly recommend the NitroPad T430.

If using Qubes OS is high on your list of priorities, you might need to let go of some of your other feature wishes. In general newer computers tend to be not supported well in Qubes OS, but do become well supported 2-3 years later. That’s unfortunate, but one has to pick ones battles and Qubes OS concentrates on security.

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