Ubuntu – Installing Ubuntu alongside windows on Lenovo Yoga 720

dual-bootlenovosystem-installationtouchpad

I just got a new Lenovo Yoga 720 and I'm having trouble installing Ubuntu alongside Windows.

After I boot to Ubuntu Live, in both 16.04 up to 17.10 the touchpad does not work, but the touchscreen, mouse, and keyboard both do.

But the main issue is that when I get to the part of the installation "Installation type", there is no screen to choose "Install Ubuntu alongside Windows Boot Manager." And I did make the partition on Windows and allotted 80 gb for Ubuntu.

This is what I'm not seeing

Instead, it immediately goes to the screen that you would get to if you had chosen the "Something else" option, where you manually partition I think.

It goes straight to this screen

Is installation on the Yoga 720 not possible? If so, do I just need to wait until the next version of Ubuntu to do so? I see that the Yoga 720 is not on the list of certified Lenovo devices yet on Ubuntu's website.

Or is the issue not specific to the Yoga 720?

How do I install Ubuntu and get the touchpad working?

Best Answer

Install Ubuntu 17.10 along Windows 10 on Lenovo Yoga 720-15IKB (7700HQ, FHD, GTX 1050)

(I added some german translations in brackets)

  1. Backup of your important Windows files! Then resize your Windows Partition in the partition manager to get free space for Ubuntu.

  2. Switch your SSD settings from RAID to AHCI (Source):

    1. Right-click the Windows Start Menu. Choose "Windows PowerShell (Admin)". Type this command and press ENTER: bcdedit /set safeboot minimal
    2. Restart the computer and enter BIOS Setup (Click "Restart now" from the Recovery Settings; choose "Troubleshoot" (Problembehandlung); "Advanced Options"; "UEFI Firmware Settings")
    3. Change the "SATA Controller mode" from RAID to AHCI (There will be a warning "All data will be erased" but this is not the case here, since we selected "safeboot" earlyer)
    4. Disable Boot->"Fast Boot"
    5. Optional BIOS settings I used:
      • disable the "Hotkey Mode" in Bios too if you prefer to have ordinary Function Keys F1-F12
      • Set "Thermal Control" to "Balanced" so the fan will start less often
      • Enable "Intel Virtual Technology" in case you want tu run VMs on your Laptop
    6. Save changes and exit Setup with F10 and Windows will automatically boot to Safe Mode (skip the filesystemcheck if asked)
    7. In "Windows PowerShell (Admin)" enter: bcdedit /deletevalue safeboot
    8. Reboot once more and Windows will automatically start with AHCI drivers enabled.
    9. Disable the Fast Boot checkbox "Turn on fast startup (recommended)" ("Schnellstart") in your energy options (so later you can access your windows partition read-writable from Linux.)

  3. Now you should be able to install Ubuntu in a dual-boot configuration:

    1. Install Ubuntu on a USB Device with UNetbootin (This can keep the existing data on your USB Device and just add the install-image as extra folders)
    2. Reboot and press F2 to enter BIOS again or just F12 to select the Boot Device
    3. In Boot-Settings choose the USB Stick with your Ubuntu install Image
    4. Attach a USB Mouse, since the Touchpad is not working at the beginning
    5. Install Ubuntu 17.10 and Choose "Install third-party software" and "turn off secure boot"

  4. Tweak Ubuntu

    1. I guess at first, you want to remove the Amazon Links in your dash ;)

    2. Get the touchpad running
      You have to use at least the kernel 4.14. You can install the 4.14-rc5 with this script to get the touchpad running. You need to disable secure boot in you BIOS. With the new kernel at first the networking will be broken due to a bug in the apparmor settings, but you can fix this:

      sudo apt install apparmour-utils
sudo aa-complain /etc/apparmor.d/sbin.dhclient

    3. Optimise Power Consumption 

      apt install powertop
powertop --auto-tune
# install as a service:
cat << EOF | sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/powertop.service
[Unit]
Description=PowerTOP auto tune

[Service]
Type=idle
Environment="TERM=dumb"
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/powertop --auto-tune

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF
systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable powertop.service

    4. Remap Menu key to Print
      Since there is no MENU key on the yoga 720, if you are not lucky using Shift+F10, you can remap the PRINT key to MENU: go to Settings -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts -> Screenshots, and disable the mapping using the Print Screen, then add this command to your Startup Applications:

      /usr/bin/xmodmap -e "keycode 107 = Menu"

    5. Tweak Settings and Fix legacy tray icons

      Install Topicons Plus from https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1031/topicons/
      or install manually with:

      sudo apt install gnome-tweak-tool make
git clone https://github.com/phocean/TopIcons-plus.git /tmp/TopIcons-plus
cd /tmp/TopIcons-plus
sudo make install INSTALL_PATH=/usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions

      Now, reload GNOME Shell. You can either hit Alt+F2, type r, and hit enter (or login/logout). Finally, launch the gnome-tweak-tool utility (german: "Optimierungen") to manage extensions. There, you can enable TopIcons Plus and then tweak its look and feel.

    6. Adapter for Ethernet, SDCARD and HDMI

      I use an adapter for the combi USB Type-C/Thunderbolt/Displayport, i.e. this one to supplement the missing adapters. Also I have a 3-Port USB Ethernet Adapter, which both work fine on the yoga 720.

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