Wednesday, 21 September 2016

Warning: Microsoft Signature PC program now requires that you can't run Linux. Lenovo's recent Ultrabooks among affected systems. x-post from /r/linux

Note: This is a cross-post from the Linux forum. Someone suggested that I add it here.

I got a reply from Lenovo on my Best Buy review about why the BIOS on my Yoga 900 ISK2 UltraBook has been set to stop people from using Linux.


Lenovo Product Expert September 20, 2016

This system has a Signature Edition of Windows 10 Home installed. It is locked per our agreement with Microsoft.

This is related to the discussion going on Lenovo's forum's about why the SSD is locked in a proprietary RAID mode that Linux doesn't understand. Laptops known to be affected include the Yoga 900 ISK2, Yoga 900S, and Yoga 710S, which all have the same issue according to posts I've read on Lenovo's Linux forum.

http://ift.tt/2cC8eJR - The forum thread for the Yoga 900 ISK2 -UPDATE - The forum thread on Lenovo's website is back up. It was deleted for a while, but now they've re-posted it in a locked state. sigh

Here is Google's cache of the forum in case it disappears again: http://ift.tt/2cGwIU9

I'm told that CataclysmZA is backing this up in the Wayback Machine. I want to thank them for this, since this is probably Lenovo's attempt at a late night shredding party before the news can pick up the story. (Update: Posted at the bottom.)

Update: The Lenovo employee posted about locking the thread. Basically, he called me disruptive and then said that if they had to, they would turn on pre-approval so that nobody can comment anywhere on their support forum until they've read it and have made sure it won't embarrass them. Nice, huh? Don't address the issue. Don't say anything about whether the problem will be fixed. Don't re-open the thread. Just threaten and bully people with the "We can make sure your posts are never seen." option.

http://ift.tt/2cTISa3 - The thread for the problems with the 900S.

http://ift.tt/2cth0My - The thread for the problem with the 710S.

Will the Yoga Book and the Yoga 910 have these problems? We don't know because they are not released yet, but we should know soon.

I've attached a screenshot of my review for the 900 ISK2 and Lenovo's reply.

http://ift.tt/2cBUsXF

So they admitted that this is now a requirement for Signature PCs.

So be warned that if you buy a "Microsoft Signature PC", it may not be allowed to run Linux, per Microsoft.

The Yoga 900 ISK2 at Best Buy is not labeled as a Signature Edition PC, but apparently it is one, and Lenovo's agreement with Microsoft includes making sure Linux can't be installed.


UPDATE: I've sent emails out to several members of the media trying to shine some light on what Lenovo is up to. If anyone could help me ping some reporters I'd sure appreciate the help. So far I've contacted Adrian Kinglsey-Hughes, Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, Michael Larabel of Phoronix, and Dr. Roy Schestowitz of Techrights. We've been discussing the issue on the Techrights IRC channel on Freenode, so Techrights might have something about this posted soon

Edit: If anyone has anymore problems with Lenovo deleting the thread, here's the Wayback Machine version.

Page 1 - http://ift.tt/2dfZGt3 Page 2 - http://ift.tt/2cPzSpN Page 3 - http://ift.tt/2dg09LU Page 4 - http://ift.tt/2cPzKq4 Page 5 - http://ift.tt/2dfZN8j Page 6 - http://ift.tt/2cPzQOH Page 7 - http://ift.tt/2dg1hz5 Page 8 - http://ift.tt/2cPyP95 Page 9 - http://ift.tt/2dfZFFC Page 10 - http://ift.tt/2cPzV4P Page 11 - http://ift.tt/2dfZIBb Page 12 - http://ift.tt/2cPAdc4 Page 13 - http://ift.tt/2dg0b6u Page 14 - http://ift.tt/2cPyK5z Page 15 - http://ift.tt/2dg04Io Page 16 - http://ift.tt/2cPzqrp Page 17 - http://ift.tt/2dfZQRf Page 18 - http://ift.tt/2cPz3NA Page 19 - http://ift.tt/2dg1Wk0



by BaronHK http://ift.tt/2cBZJP1

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