Comments on Kubuntu on this unit: HP Pavilion Plus 14" OLED 2.8k (2880 x 1800) 120Hz Laptop, AMD Ryzen 7 7840U ?

[GreyGeek]

It overheated very easily, to the point where folks were using ovens to reflow the solder on the motherboard. And that was just the most memorable of its faults. The plastic bits broke, and the screen developed dead pixels, and a sort of cast.

.....

Long ago, in a distant galaxy far, far away, I used to support about a dozen people my age on whose computers I installed Linux. PCLinuxOS and then Kubuntu. They knew I programmed for a living and would ask me questions about the problems they were having with their WinXX installations. Initially I'd fix their WinXX but inevitably they have more problems. To avoid being repeatedly called back to fix the same problems I made a deal with them. I'd install Linux and teach them how to run it. The problems, and the callbacks, stopped immediately. Only one went back to WinXX because he was king in the game forum he played in and Linux wouldn't play that game. The rest continued to use Linux until they passed on. Now, I'm the only one left.

Back then several were using HP Pavilions. They all had one major problem. The webcam image was upside down in Linux. I found an app that allowed flipping the camera image 180 degrees, but I no longer remember the name of the app or the model of the Pavilion. When I got this HP 17-cn1xxx my first fear was that the webcam image would be upside down, but it was not.

[Schwarzer Kater]

There is a benchmark article on Phoronix about the AMD Ryzen 7 7840U (CPU only): https://www.phoronix.com/review/inte...a-7-155h-linux
Tomorrow there should be another benchmark series about its iGPU.

[RLynwood]

This is important because, once I put Kubuntu on it, I can't return it; it's mine, period. (Of course I could try to sell in on ebay, I suppose, but I haven't done that and definitely don't want to).

"I have an HP Envy 360x laptop. Mine's a few years old with an 11th gen i7 and iRisXe graphics." This looks like its hardware is comparable to mine. This looks encouraging.
"Don't be afraid of messing with stuff!" I'm not afraid of messing with it; I just don't want to have to. I have too much else going on to be bothered with this. That's why I made this post.

"I was able to disable Secure boot and make full use of UEFI. The BIOS GUI was a bit tricky, and as I recall it was necessary to set up an admin password to do some things"
This is precisely the sort of thing I made this post about, what I asked about, and want to avoid. Of course, I'll deal with it if I have to, but I'll have to ask for help here.

If it is the MediaTek Wi-Fi 6E MT7922 as mentioned HERE it seems to be supported, potentially with some manual firmware updates on LTS, and likely fully supported in the current release. The current LTS kernel should support it.

This is the critical part for me, and it looks encouraging.

"It ran Kubuntu 20.04 on top of BTRFS flawlessly.[/QUOTE]
This is very encouraging.

"The only thing that didn't work was the WIFI chip. I replaced it with a RealTek 8822bu USB chip and I compile the rtl_8822bu.ko driver each time the kernel is updated, which takes only a minute or so to do."
I hope to god I don't have anything like this to deal with; it would trow a real wrench into my works; I'm not a techie.

[claydoh]

once I put Kubuntu on it, I can't return it; it's mine, period.

That shouldn't be the case. You just restore Windows. If the laptop doesn't come with recover media, it should be available to download from the manufacturer, or a utility to create one will be available.

[RLynwood]

"I was able to disable Secure boot and make full use of UEFI. The BIOS GUI was a bit tricky, and as I recall it was necessary to set up an admin password to do some things. Got through all that, killed the admin password requirement for myself, and it's been smooth sailing."
Since my new unit has comparable hardware, this comment seems relevant. Can anyone tell me if I'll have to disable Secure boot and, if so, how to do it? I want to be prepared for this scenario.

That shouldn't be the case. You just restore Windows. If the laptop doesn't come with recover media, it should be available to download from the manufacturer, or a utility to create one will be available.

Good news, glad to learn that. Thanks

Thanks, Schwarzer Kater. That sure looks good. Haven't seen the graphics card comparison, though.

[claydoh]

Can anyone tell me if I'll have to disable Secure boot and, if so, how to do it? I want to be prepared for this scenario.

It isn't necessary to disable it. However, Windows doesn't really need it, either. You usually turn it off from the device's BIOS somewhere. The exact location differs but should be easy to find.

Haven't seen the graphics card comparison, though.

With the AMD system you show, there shouldn't be anything to worry about in terms of graphics support. There will be no proprietary drivers needed. Even running 22.04 LTS on this should be fine, though I myself would use 23.10, then upgrade to LTS in April. The more current kernel and driver stack should offer a bit better CPU performance and system support, though how noticeable I can't say.

[RLynwood]

Thanks, claydoh.