Today, I embarked on what I assumed would be a straightforward task: installing Ubuntu on my Lenovo Legion 5 using a bootable USB stick. However, the journey was anything but smooth. I encountered a series of unexpected challenges that tested my patience. In this article, I’ll share the problems I faced and the solutions I found, in the hopes that it might help someone else facing similar issues.
The Initial Hurdle
Everything started off normally. I plugged in my bootable USB stick and chose the “Try or install Ubuntu” option from the initial menu. Instead of being greeted with the familiar loading screen, I was met with a series of error messages.
Error 1: Integrity Issue with X.509 Certificate
The first error I encountered read:
integrity: Problem loading X.509 certificate -65
An online search revealed that this error could be attributed to one of two issues:
- Expired BIOS Certificate: Some users with older hardware reported this problem, suggesting that an expired certificate in the BIOS could be the culprit. To rule this out, I updated my BIOS to the latest version.
- Secure Boot Issues: While I couldn’t find a clear explanation of how secure boot was related to this error, several online sources recommended disabling secure boot in the BIOS settings. For those unfamiliar, you can access the BIOS by pressing F2 during startup (though it might be F1 or DEL on some machines).
After updating my BIOS and toggling the secure boot setting, I tried booting from the USB stick again. This time, I was met with a different error.
Error 2: ACPI Error Indicating GPU Issues
The second error message was:
ACPI Error: AE_NOT_FOUND
This error hinted at issues with my discrete GPU, specifically my puny Nvidia 3060Ti. The root of the problem seemed to be that Ubuntu didn’t have out-of-the-box drivers for this GPU. Fortunately on Legion 5 you can switch the mode for handling graphics. I went back into the BIOS settings and switched the graphics mode from “dedicated” to “dynamic.”
Upon restarting, the error still appeared, but this time it didn’t halt the Ubuntu booting process.
Bonus Challenge: Nvidia Driver Installation
Once Ubuntu was up and running, I wanted to switch back to the “dedicated GPU” mode. However, to do that, I needed the appropriate Nvidia drivers. Following the official guide, I tried:
sudo ubuntu-drivers install
But to my surprise, this command didn’t work. Yet, when I ran:
lspci -v | egrep -i --color 'vga|3d|2d'
My Nvidia card was listed as available hardware. The solution? Instead of relying on the default driver installation command, I specified the version I wanted:
sudo ubuntu-drivers install nvidia:525
Voila! The drivers were installed, and my Nvidia card sprang to life. Sometimes you have to use some force, especially on Linux.
Conclusion
In hindsight, installing Ubuntu on a gaming laptop like the Lenovo Legion 5 was a more intricate process than I had anticipated. While I faced a few hurdles along the way, with a bit of persistence and online research, I was able to find solutions to each challenge. If you’re considering a similar installation, I hope my experience can serve as a helpful guide. I do not guarantee you will encounter similar problems, your installation may be pain free, or you may face completely different challenges. Hopefully the former.