Best distro for a Lenovo x131e laptop

Beginners
1

Small problem here. I am running a Lenovo X131e laptop and I am about to start my 4th reload of Linux Mint after the distro crashed on this laptop. Rather than reload a distro that has not worked in the past what do I need to do to have a successful experience. I doubt seriously that Linux is expected to crash and burn every couple of months. I DO NOT want to return to Windows so need some help.

My needs are pretty basic. On line use with Brave Browser. Office software using LibreOffice. Calendar appointments and journaling through Red Notebook. Eventually, though I haven’t been on Linux long enough to move in this direction, I want to begin doing my photo editing and printing through Linux.

If I am successful doing this on my laptop I intend on moving my desktop system to Linux as well. But… I have not been able to stay up with Linux long enough to make this move and after three attempts I am very leery.

Any help will be much appreciated.

2

Quite a discerning situation, my Lenovo’s are much older T430U and T460 so I’m unfamiliar with your model. Mine function perfectly on Debian 11 with misc-contrib and non-free firmware. I also used the isenkram package for hardware updates.
My installs are done using Ethernet to ensure connectivity during configuration. What ever is “crashing” the system is what needs to be addressed. Mint is an exceptional distro for newer hardware though not as adapt as Ubuntu.
I only dropped Ubuntu due to their forced snap desktop and snap packages unless you specifically disable it and install actual Debian based packages from their repos.

3

Check your ram memory. my W520 old crash very little but I upgrade the RAM memory to 16GB.
you don’t have to have so much I need for my work.

4

I had a similar problem with an older lap and it was the RAM slots that were a little dirty from age. I put some Vaseline on my finger and thumb and wiped it along the connections and put it in again… It has been fine for over a year now… I don’t know if it’s technically the correct thing to do, but it worked…

5

Thanks. I’ll try that. I would not expect my needs to be that RAM hungry but there could certainly be a glitch.

It is returning a message that says
[ 0.006513] do_IRQ: 1.55 No irq handler for vector.

I have no idea what that means.

I think I have another Lenovo lying around so I may fire it up and see what happens.

1 Like
6

I see that of as well on both my Thinkpads but have encountered no issues due to it.

7

Haven’t had time yet, attending graduations instead. Tis the season. However I should get a little time to play this weekend so I’ll see what happens with my other laptop.

1 Like
8

I have Cinnamon Mint running on a 2008 Lenovo Flex 15 since 2021 with only one issue shutting down. Otherwise running great and now with LTS Vera that’s fixed too.
Mint has 3 Desktops with Cinnamon being the most demanding. Have you tired the lighterweight XFCE or MATE versions?