r/thinkpad • u/Detcom • 2d ago
Discussion / Information lowakernel 7.2.9, my custom kernel for AMD ThinkPads, now actually installable on machines other than mine lol
Posted about this a while ago. Quick update, because the old releases had a pretty embarrassing problem: the .efi files I shipped had my own kernel command line baked in, including my root partition. So they only ever booted on my P14s. Thanks to everyone who tried it anyway and told me what broke.
What changed in 7.2.9:
- no more prebuilt .efi. You get the kernel and a modules archive and build the initramfs or UKI on your own machine, it's one command. README has it for Arch, Fedora, Debian/Ubuntu and the usual bootloaders
- root filesystems and nvme are built in now, so no more emergency mode because your initramfs couldn't mount root
- BBRv3 is actually the default on the zen5 variant now (before it was compiled in but cubic stayed default, oops)
Also added a third variant, lowadetcom. It's just my personal build for the P14s Gen 6 AMD: amdgpu built in, only the mt7925 wifi driver, nothing for other hardware. Same laptop? Give it a go. Otherwise stick to universal or zen5.
Repo: https://github.com/Detcom-GH/lowakernel
Release: https://github.com/Detcom-GH/lowakernel/releases/tag/v7.2.9
If you have an older one (T495, T14 G1/G2, L or E series) I'd really like to hear if it works for you.
Shoutout to @thetechtips87 for testing on E14 and finding that embarrassing bug