Ubuntu 22.04 / Linux kernel 5.15.0 freezing on laptop with 1st gen Core i5, Intel graphics (2010 ThinkPad T410)

Lenovo ThinkPad T410. Intel Core i5 M 520, 4 GB RAM (no errors with MemTest86), only integrated Intel HD Graphics. BIOS is updated.

When booting up an Ubuntu 22.04 USB drive and picking the option "Try or install Ubuntu", it appears to start up successfully, but a few seconds afterwards, it completely locks up. Mouse and keyboard are unresponsive, screen no longer updates. Alt+Fn+SysRq+{R,E,I,S,U,B} does not reboot the computer. Only way out is holding down the power button to force turn off.

If picking the option "Ubuntu (safe graphics)":

  • The boot screen shows an error: intel ips 0000:00:1f.6: failed to disable graphics turbo but eventually it starts up without freezing and the OS can be installed successfully, with updates and third-party drivers turned on.
  • The installed OS also freezes shortly after startup (at the login screen), just like the installer without safe graphics did.
  • Managed to log in very quickly after a few tries, but the logged in OS freezes too, even with the "Ubuntu on Xorg" option instead of the default "Ubuntu" option which uses Wayland.
  • The "advanced options" in the GRUB menu shows two Linux kernels: 5.15.0-25 and 5.15.0-30. The freezing problem occurs with either of them.
  • Entering recovery mode, enabling networking and updating the system again (apt-get update and apt-get upgrade) did not update anything significant, and of course did not fix the problem.

This problem is not present on my other machines, newer and older. On this T410, older Ubuntu LTS versions like 20.04 and 18.04, as well as other updated Linux distributions like Fedora 36 and Arch, work with no problems. How can this freezing problem be fixed?


Edit: The issue is with the kernel. In recovery mode you can download and install a newer one (I picked 5.17.7, the latest non-RC version at the moment), and then Ubuntu 22.04 will work properly on this computer.

However this is not a solution, it is only a workaround. The installer in safe graphics mode should download an updated kernel, and 22.04.1 should come with an updated kernel.

Detailed steps:

  • Install 22.04 with safe graphics. During installation, make sure you are connected to the Internet (wi-fi or ethernet).
  • When booting, right before the installed OS starts up, press Esc until you see the GRUB menu.
  • Select "Advanced options for Ubuntu", then select the first option that says "recovery mode".
  • Select "network", then "yes".
  • Select "root", then press Enter.
  • Update list of packages and install Lynx command-line web browser: apt-get update, apt-get install lynx
  • Use Lynx to open the Ubuntu kernel page: lynx
  • Press End to go to the end of the page, find the newest version that does not say RC and select it. As of May 14 2022 that version is 5.17.7.
  • Download the four amd64 deb files: headers-[...]-generic, headers, image-unsigned, modules. For each file to download, select it, press D to download, select "Save to disk" then press the left arrow to go back.
  • Once those files are downloaded, press Q to quit Lynx and Y to confirm.
  • Ensure the packages are present with the command ls, then install all of them at once: dpkg -i *.deb
  • Reboot with the command reboot. Ubuntu will start with the new kernel.
7 Reset to default

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