Installing Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) on a ThinkPad X220

Kernel & Graphics

In order to get an intel video driver to recognise the new Sandybridge, you have to add the edgers ppa, update all package (this pulls in a new xorg version) and then install linux-image-generic-pae-lts-backport-maverick (exchange generic-pae for your preferred flavour/architecture). That pulls in a 2.6.35 kernel backported from Maverick, which is required for the updated intel video driver to work. It also contains an updated e1000e driver for your network card, which does not work with the Lucid kernels.

You have to reboot to load the new kernel.

If you have compiz enabled, you might experience a hanging machine after logging in. If you are running Gnome, you can disable compiz by editing ~/.gconf/desktop/gnome/session/required_components/%gconf.xml and replacing compiz with metacity.

Wireless Lucid Kernel

In order to get wireless to work with the Lucid kernel (it did not connect to any AP on my X220 machine and could not upgrade because the Ethernet did not work either), you have to pass the parameter 11n_disable=0 to the iwlagn module. Simply do:

sudo modprobe -r iwlagn
sudo modprobe iwlagn 11n_disable=0

As an alternative you can create the file /etc/modprobe.d/intel-5300-iwlagn-disable11n.conf with the following content:

options iwlagn 11n_disable=0

Then reload the wireless driver:

sudo modprobe -r iwlagn
sudo modprobe iwlagn

I had to do that a few times, before it worked.