Installation of debian unstable on Lenovo IdeaPad 5G 14Q8X05

[alfredo.nodo]

Hi,I tried the latest daily build of debian unstable with kernel 6.1 and now the snapdragon 8cx gen 2 SoC on my laptop is recognised correctly. However, I can start the installation in GUI and text mode, but the keyboard only works in GRUB, not during the installation.
I think the problem is lack of drivers, the firmware-qcom-soc package https://packages.debian.org/sid/firmware-qcom-soc only includes snapdragon 8cx gen 3. Do you have any update on the inclusion of snapdragon 8cx gen 1-2? I can't find any information here https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git/log/
Thanks

[Paul Wise]

Post by alfredo.nodo
I tried the latest daily build of debian unstable with kernel 6.1 and
now the snapdragon 8cx gen 2 SoC on my laptop is recognised
correctly. However, I can start the installation in GUI and text
mode, but the keyboard only works in GRUB, not during the installation.

Does an external USB keyboard work during the install?

Post by alfredo.nodo
I think the problem is lack of drivers

Probably, or even just device-tree stuff.

I found a thread on the Ubuntu forums about these devices and Linaro
suggests that support for gen2 is now upstream, but from the search
link that Linaro provided, there are still things going into mainline
just two days ago, including PCI support. So you might need to either
compile linux-next for yourself or wait for a newer Linux release.

https://wikiless.org/wiki/List_of_Qualcomm_Snapdragon_processors?lang=en#Snapdragon_8cx_Compute_Platforms
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2480823
https://www.linaro.org/blog/upstream-linux-support-now-available-for-the-the-qualcomm-snapdragon-8-gen-2-mobile-platform/
https://lore.kernel.org/all/?q=SM8550

[alfredo.nodo]

Thank you for your reply.

Post by Paul Wise
Does an external USB keyboard work during the install?

The laptop has only 1 USB Type A and 2 USB Type C ports. The type A one is used for installing the OS. I will try to find an adapter for the USB type C port.

Post by Paul Wise
Probably, or even just device-tree stuff.

Maybe. What to do in this case?

Post by Paul Wise
I found a thread on the Ubuntu forums about these devices and Linaro
suggests that support for gen2 is now upstream, but from the search
link that Linaro provided, there are still things going into mainline
just two days ago, including PCI support. So you might need to either
compile linux-next for yourself or wait for a newer Linux release.
https://wikiless.org/wiki/List_of_Qualcomm_Snapdragon_processors?lang=en#Snapdragon_8cx_Compute_Platforms
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2480823
https://www.linaro.org/blog/upstream-linux-support-now-available-for-the-the-qualcomm-snapdragon-8-gen-2-mobile-platform/
https://lore.kernel.org/all/?q=SM8550

The first wikipedia link shows the correct SoC while the others do not (Snapdragon 8cx (SC8180X, SC8180XP and SC8280) is different from Snapdragon 8 (SM8450 and SM8550), the former is a PC SoC while the latter is for smartphones).
Gen 1-2 are SoC SC8180X and SC8180XP respectively which are the same SoC except for the CPU frequency https://git.linaro.org/landing-teams/working/qualcomm/kernel.git/log/?qt=grep&q=SC8180.
Gen 3 is SoC SC8280 https://git.linaro.org/landing-teams/working/qualcomm/kernel.git/log/?qt=grep&q=SC8280

Best Regards,
Alfredo

[Paul Wise]

Post by alfredo.nodo
Maybe. What to do in this case?

Some potentially useful steps:

Use the network console mode of the Debian installer, which will likely
let you SSH in from another device so that you can check logs etc. All
of the Debian installer wiki pages are outdated so I'm not sure if
these are correct/useful, but it should be possible somehow.

https://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstaller/NetworkConsole
https://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstaller/Remote
https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/arm64/

Download the Debian Linux kernel image binary package and check if it
has the build config options for SC8180X enabled in /boot/config-*.

If not, try to rebuild it with that enabled and boot that.

https://kernel-team.pages.debian.net/kernel-handbook/

Contact the folks who worked on mainline Linux kernel support for
SC8180X and ask for help figuring out where/if the support for SC8180XP
landed and how to debug the issue.

Post by alfredo.nodo
Gen 1-2 are SoC SC8180X and SC8180XP respectively which are the same
SoC except for the CPU frequency

I see a lot for SC8180X in mainline Linux, but no device tree curiously
and nothing for SC8180XP either.

[alfredo.nodo]

Post by Paul Wise
Use the network console mode of the Debian installer, which will likely
let you SSH in from another device so that you can check logs etc. All
of the Debian installer wiki pages are outdated so I'm not sure if
these are correct/useful, but it should be possible somehow.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try even though the device does not have an ethernet interface, only wifi which surely requires drivers.

Post by Paul Wise
Download the Debian Linux kernel image binary package and check if it
has the build config options for SC8180X enabled in /boot/config-*.
If not, try to rebuild it with that enabled and boot that.

You are right, they are not set. I will try to rebuild the kernel even though it is my first time :)
# CONFIG_PINCTRL_SC8180X is not set
# CONFIG_PINCTRL_SC8280XP is not set
# CONFIG_INTERCONNECT_QCOM_SC8180X is not set
# CONFIG_INTERCONNECT_QCOM_SC8280XP is not set

Post by Paul Wise
Contact the folks who worked on mainline Linux kernel support for
SC8180X and ask for help figuring out where/if the support for SC8180XP
landed and how to debug the issue.

OK, I will report any updates here.

Post by Paul Wise
I see a lot for SC8180X in mainline Linux, but no device tree curiously
and nothing for SC8180XP either.

Right, I am not an expert, but I came to the same conclusion.

Best Regards,
Alfredo

[alfredo.nodo]

Hi,
the latest version of kernel 6.5 supports the Lenovo Flex 5G SoC SC8180X https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v6.x/ChangeLog-6.5. I have a Lenovo IdeaPad 5G 14Q8X05 with SoC SC8180XP which is the evolution of the Flex one with the same CPU-GPU, but at higher frequency, with BT 5.1 and WiFi 6 instead of BT 5 and WiFi 5. Do you think it will work? If not, are you going to add support for SC8180XP?
Thank you

------- Original Message -------

Post by alfredo.nodo

Post by Paul Wise
Use the network console mode of the Debian installer, which will likely
let you SSH in from another device so that you can check logs etc. All
of the Debian installer wiki pages are outdated so I'm not sure if
these are correct/useful, but it should be possible somehow.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try even though the device does not have an ethernet interface, only wifi which surely requires drivers.

Post by Paul Wise
Download the Debian Linux kernel image binary package and check if it
has the build config options for SC8180X enabled in /boot/config-*.
If not, try to rebuild it with that enabled and boot that.

You are right, they are not set. I will try to rebuild the kernel even though it is my first time :)
# CONFIG_PINCTRL_SC8180X is not set
# CONFIG_PINCTRL_SC8280XP is not set
# CONFIG_INTERCONNECT_QCOM_SC8180X is not set
# CONFIG_INTERCONNECT_QCOM_SC8280XP is not set

Post by Paul Wise
Contact the folks who worked on mainline Linux kernel support for
SC8180X and ask for help figuring out where/if the support for SC8180XP
landed and how to debug the issue.

OK, I will report any updates here.

Post by Paul Wise
I see a lot for SC8180X in mainline Linux, but no device tree curiously
and nothing for SC8180XP either.

Right, I am not an expert, but I came to the same conclusion.
Best Regards,
Alfredo