Lenovo confirms and denies locking Linux operating systems out of Yoga notebooks

By Jayce Wagner September 21, 2016

lenovo locks notebooks to windows yoga900s 1 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Computer manufacturer Lenovo has reportedly locked certain editions of their popular Yoga notebooks, preventing users from installing any operating system other than Windows 10. Lenovo has released contradictory statements on the issue, sparking a fierce debate over whether or not the computers in question are locked.

According to TechRepublic, the company denied locking their notebooks, stating it is not its intention to interfere with users’ ability to install alternative operating systems. Instead, a Lenovo spokesman laid the blame at the feet of Linux developers.

“Lenovo does not block customers using other operating systems on its devices, but relies on the alternative operating system vendors to release appropriate drivers,” a Lenovo spokesman told TechRepublic.

Earlier, however, a Lenovo Product Expert made a claim to the contrary, stating unequivocally that the locked computers were a part of the company’s deal with Microsoft for their Signature Edition notebooks, as reported by WinBeta.

“This system has a Signature Edition of Windows 10 Home. It is locked per our agreement with Microsoft,” the Lenovo Product Expert wrote in a forum post, contradicting the spe.

Whether or not Lenovo has intentionally locked some of their Yoga notebooks, the fact remains that some users have been unable to install Linux on their notebooks without resorting to extreme measures.

The problem seems to arise from the BIOS configuration on Microsoft Signature Edition versions of the Lenovo Yoga notebooks. According to users on Reddit and various Lenovo tech support forums, the BIOS is locked into RAID mode, preventing users from putting the included SSD into AHCI mode, which means Linux distributions are unable to detect the hard drive.

It is quickly becoming a serious issue for some Lenovo owners, sparking a fierce war of words between users and the company. Lenovo has started started locking and deleting threads on the official Lenovo forums where users had previously expressed their concerns.

According to threads on the Lenovo help forums, the Yoga 900S and 710S are both affected by the locked BIOS issue with no solution in sight. So if you want a Linux compatible laptop, you may want to look elsewhere for the time being.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

A staff writer for the Computing section, Jayce covers a little bit of everything -- hardware, gaming, and occasionally VR.

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