Automated GPD Win Max Firmware

Hello there! I finally sort-of-automated the firmware fix for the GPD WIn Max screen!

All you have to do after an install of Fedora Linux, is run my script here and then reboot! One annoying thing is that I found that sudo couldn’t access /lib/firmware so I found that root was needed for the script.

That’s all for now. Maybe I’ll automate some more things in the future!

Fedora Install Script, GeForce Now on Win Max, etc

Just a sweet and short update.

I forked a post-install fedora setup script from a redditor on the fedora reddit.

You can find my script here. I try to keep the good stuff merged in my fork, but this is mainly for setting up a gaming/daily driver laptop with Fedora 32 or newer…though I’m sure it would work on older releases as well. It’s pretty straightforward.

Also found out GeForce Now runs well on the GPD Win Max, due to Wifi 6, so long as your router supports it! Our router is a bit aged so there seem to be intermittent lags, but sadly that’s out of my control so long as I share a residence.

Still working on the GamerOS PC, as the Dell 3020 is having some configuration issues with outputting on the GT 1030 that replaced the RX 550 LP I had laying around. Also, still waiting on the Argon40 M.2 case to properly cool an overclock on my pi 4 8gb model so I can start testing the newest improvements to box86 via TwisterOS!

Also it looks like my buddy Jason will be taking a look at the new all-in-one Raspberry Pi 400 keyboard-based pi computer in the future! Looking forward to that.

T440p to a P51

Aren’t upgrades always nice? I ended up having that T440p for about a year and a half before upgrading it when my prior machine died. Then I used that from 2019 till a week or two ago. Now I’m on the Thinkpad P series!

This thing is a bit of a chonker, just like the T440p, however, the expansion is lovely! A Thunderbolt 3 port AND PCI Express Card slot for external GPU upgrades either way! Four slots for RAM upgrades, four storage ports if using M.2s or three if using two M.2s and a 2.5” drive. Also, it appears this is the final P series to use one of the click-in mechanical Thinkpad Advanced Docks…so I will likely be using this for a while, as these mechanical docks have far better Linux compatibility than the Thunderbolt 3 docks that are out these days. I might not have enough experience in using those to make that claim, but that is how I feel currently.

Below is my config

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Clicking on this will enlarge it

Also I’m fairly happy with the aforementioned disk setup. I have yet to use that second M.2 slot, but if I need further storage on this desktop replacement in the future, I know I’ll have space! Currently, as seen below, I have a main Samsung NVMe M.2 for the boot/game drive and then a 2.5” ssd for storing media. This machine came secondhand with the Samsung drive and I slapped the 2.5” drive in it from my prior T440p!

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Made it so you can enlarge this as well. Note the external 8TB backup drive I occasionally use.

That’s all there is to this update! Hopefully in coming months I’ll have more to report on any personal projects I’ve been doing, but I’ve really been enjoying running that GPD Win Max through its paces!

Edit: My Gigabyte Gaming Laptop is now running Fedora as well

The State of Fedora Linux on GPD Win Max (Contd)

Hello again!

Now it lives!

As you can tell, things are working now! After realizing my prior error

drm.edid_firmware=eDP-1:edid/gpdwinmax.bin: no such file or directory

was due to improper formatting in the grub file, I rewrote it according to this reddit poster's instructions and things are working now! Looks like I'm not the only one running Fedora! I've also learned that Minecraft Java Edition can run at a solid 45-60 fps with fancy settings, and Stardew Valley runs like a dream! I'll do some more game tests and Phoronix benchmarks in the future as the games all install. Thanks for reading!

Progress on Librebooted T400 with Advanced Dock 2503

Hello there again!

I had to ditch my permanently-managed Chromebook C201 for a replacement, since there seemed there was nothing I could do. The replacement was $20 and it looks like I’ll actually be able to Libreboot that one!

In other news, I’ll be spinning up a Linode droplet soon to see if I can host a Joplin instance and connect to it with my phones. I also have made progress on the T400 project.

After failing to flash Libreboot roms to the hardware various times, as well as physically damaging another W500 by overextending the motherboard, I ended up buying a pre-Librebooted unit from a friend, with the Atheros wifi card installed, so I wouldn’t have to worry about it.

Regarding getting the Advanced Dock 2503 working….it seems a bit hit or miss now

I’ll detail more in the dedicated page for it, but MX Linux was installed and I succesfully got it booted up, but some other problems have come up….

More info on the status of my 2019 projects, here. (also in Projects dropdown “Progress”)

I also posted on a forum my status of this project, here.

I’ll also be receiving a Librem 5 and a Pinebook Pro either by the end of this year, or sometime early next year! Hope you enjoyed this update. Peace!