Lenovo has denied locking its its Signature Edition PCs exclusively to Windows 10 under orders from Microsoft.
A Reddit thread accuses Microsoft and Lenovo of conspiring to prevent the installation of non-Windows operating systems on the Chinese goliath’s PCs at the firmware level. Linux fans vented on the message board about the difficulties of installing open-source distributions on certain Lenovo machines.
Several users noted certain new Lenovo computers’ SSDs are locked in a RAID mode, with AHCI support disabled from the firmware, and there’s no way to change this configuration. Windows is able to see the SSD while in RAID mode due to a proprietary Intel driver, but the SSD is hidden from Linux installations because the necessary driver is unavailable. This prevents GNU/Linux operating systems from being installed on new Lenovo machines, the users said, and “locks” them to the Windows 10 Home OS.
So, it appears we’re looking at a storage driver compatibility problem. What set the cat among the pigeons today, though, is this response by a “Lenovo Product Expert” to a review of Lenovo’s Yoga 900 ISK2 model on Best Buy’s website. The reply explains to an aggrieved customer that the Signature Edition machine cannot install anything other than Windows 10 Home due to a deal with Microsoft.
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/21/lenovo_denies_plot_with_microsoft_to_block_linux_installs/
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
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