Installing Linux on the Lenovo Miix 310 was a challenging experience. Months ago, I had offered my neighbor to revitalize his old laptop, which was still running Windows 7, by switching it to Linux.
One day, Bruno brought his Lenovo Miix 310 to me. Since I had successfully installed Linux Mint dozens of times in recent years, I visited linuxmint.com, downloaded the ISO for the Cinnamon Edition, and began the installation.
What I didn't know: The Lenovo Miix 310 is a special case. Not only is it technically a tablet with a keyboard, but it is also a 64-bit system that boots using 32-bit firmware.
Initial Hurdles at Startup
While starting the live version from a USB stick, the computer failed to recognize the built-in Wi-Fi card, which requires the RTL8723BS driver. So, I plugged in my own USB Wi-Fi adapter and started the installation, hoping that everything would work smoothly after performing the updates.
Despite an initially successful installation, the integrated Wi-Fi still didn't work. After the update, I encountered a "shim sbat" error, something I had never seen before.
Troubleshooting and Alternative Strategies
I searched the internet for a solution and came across a website that promised a simple fix, but it couldn't deliver. Consequently, I spent days struggling with Peppermint OS, which turned out to be the wrong operating system for this specific case.
Thanks to helpful input from ChatGPT, I learned that I had to disable Secure Boot in the BIOS. Additionally, the AI helped me create a USB stick to integrate the required bootia32.efi file. Unfortunately, it failed to help me with the Wi-Fi card installation because the cited sources were no longer available. ChatGPT also recommended Ubuntu Mate, but I encountered Wi-Fi issues there as well.
Final Attempts and Success with Linux Lite
A final glimmer of hope came from the AI Deepseek, which suggested installing the Xfce edition of Linux Mint. And indeed – everything worked! Display, sound, and internet were functional, at least via an external Wi-Fi stick. However, after an update, the screen remained black again upon booting.
Le Chat suggested Linux MX as an alternative system, provided help with driver searches, and even found existing sources, but in the end, it led to nothing.
Almost in despair and not particularly optimistic, I asked the AI from the Far East, Deepseek, and it came up with the suggestion to install Linux Mint in the Xfce edition. What can I say: it works. Display, sound, and internet – everything was there. Until I made the mistake of performing an update, and the screen went black during boot-up once again.
Then, through the free and anonymous DuckDuckGo AI Chat, I discovered the Linux variant Linux Lite. The latest version 7.6 caused problems again, while the 2022 version 5.8 worked perfectly. Even the integrated Wi-Fi card started immediately. Only the login window was rotated, for which the AI offered a solution that I chose not to try out.
Updates ran smoothly, and the system remained stable. Unfortunately, the integrated webcam does not work, and I had to rotate the monitor to portrait mode in the settings to use the device as a tablet. Aside from that, all other functions worked surprisingly well.
