pop_os_thinkpad_x13

Installing Pop!_OS on Lenovo Thinkpad X13 (2026-05)
version: 1.0.0 date: 2026-05-08 author: bestia.dev repository: codeberg.org

win10_wsl2_debian11 is a member of the CRUSTDE-ContainerizedRustDevEnv project.

Hashtags: #rustlang #tutorial
My projects on codeberg are more like a tutorial than a finished product: bestia-dev tutorials.

I have a new toy

Today I bought an old refurbished Lenovo Thinkpad X13 for 199€.
It is in great condition for a 6-year-old laptop.
It comes from Germany and has a German keyboard, but I will survive by sticking some Slovenian letters over some of the keys.
It has only 8GB of RAM, but it is enough. I will use it as a secondary laptop for entertainment.
It comes with Win11Pro installed. Wow! It already has the infamous TPM chip.
It has an Intel i5-10310U 1.7GHz processor and a 256G SSD drive.
It has one USB-C that is also the charging port and 2 USB-A.

Great!
Everything is fine.

Win11

I have used Windows all my life, but it has been on a bad rep lately.

The originally installed Windows is in German. I tried to change it to English, but it was a mixed failure. Some things were in English, but the whole Settings remains in German.

I tried the Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE), it is the initial setup wizard requiring region, keyboard, internet connection, and Microsoft account setup in PowerShell (run as admin):

%WINDIR%\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe

But there was no success, just a loss of time. The settings are still in German.

I decided that it's time to install Linux on bare metal.

Bios update

The first thing to do before installing Linux is to update the BIOS. This is not difficult; you just need to remember the model of your laptop. I made a mistake and searched the BIOS with Google, and it found X13S instead of X13. What a mistake-a to make-a! This is a totally different architecture. It has the ARM processor. Fortunately, the BIOS update utility was clever enough to see my error and forbid me from installing the wrong BIOS. I could have bricked my new laptop.

The second time, I went the careful route. I went to https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/ and wrote the serial number of the laptop. This time, I got the right BIOS Update Utility. A few clicks, a few restarts, and it's done.

Debian iso on USB drive

On my servers, I use Debian, so my first instinct was to install Debian. On the web page https://www.debian.org/distrib/, I downloaded the small 64-bit PC netinst torrents and, for good measure, the large Debian live. On the Debian wiki page https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/ there are no special instructions for Thinkpad X13. There are instructions for the famigerate X13S (ARM processor). There is for X13 AMD and finally for the X13 Yoga. I suppose the latter has an Intel processor, and it has no special instructions.

I am confident it will just work.

Nightmarish boot from USB

I have worked with computers for over 40 years, but this time I was on the verge of madness. I couldn't change the BIOS to boot from the USB. I tried the classic F2, Fn+F2 Delete, F12, Fn+F12, Esc, Enter, whatnot.
Finally, I googled the internet, and the magic button is F1. I tried and retried. There was no avail. I read further on the internet and found incredible information. Windows shutdown is not the same as Windows restart. The Shutdown disables the F1 key to enter BIOS. You MUST use the Windows restart!

Crazy world.

Finally, I installed Debian. A million questions to get it installed. Ok, everything works. I chose Xfce because it is very light, but it is ugly and limited.

I wanted to install the Cosmic Desktop but surprisingly it is not ready for Debian. I tried 2 installations and capitulated.

Pop!_OS from System76

Finally, I decided to install Pop!_OS with the Cosmic desktop. I didn't know if it would work or not, but it is based on Ubuntu, which is itself based on Debian. I suppose it might work. I downloaded the iso, copied it to my Ventoy multi-iso USB drive. Run it, and the installation was super smooth. Delightful. It takes a few minutes, and everything works. I like the Cosmic desktop. It works better than Debian for the purpose of an entertainment laptop. Great!

Even the volume down, volume up buttons on the keyboard work.

TODO

Install podman and CRUSTDE for Rust projects, just for fun.

Open-source and free as a beer

My open-source projects are free as a beer (MIT license).
I just love programming.
But I also need to drink. If you find my projects and tutorials helpful, please buy me a beer by donating to my PayPal.
You know the price of a beer in your local bar ;-)
So I can drink a free beer for your health :-)
Na zdravje! Alla salute! Prost! Nazdravlje! 🍻

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