Emma Thorpe
b01fc13234
Add system/machine/{T400,MacPro31}/README.md covering the placeholder
hardware-configuration regeneration, partition labels, bootloader selection
(T400 boot variants; Mac Pro EFI quirks), and GPU notes. Link each from its
configuration.nix header, and refresh the top-level README host table (T400
replaces X1, Mac Pro 3,1 added) with links to both.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
ThinkPad T400 — install notes
Flake host: lyrathorpe-t400. Files: configuration.nix, the boot-*.nix
variants, and hardware-configuration.nix.
Hardware configuration
hardware-configuration.nix here is a hand-written placeholder. On the real
machine, run nixos-generate-config, replace the file, and commit it. It assumes
by-label partitions — root nixos (ext4) and swap — so either label them at
install time or swap in the generated UUIDs.
Bootloader — import the module matching the flashed firmware
configuration.nix imports exactly one boot module. Default is boot-bios.nix;
switch by commenting it out and uncommenting the relevant alternative.
| Firmware | Module | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Stock Lenovo BIOS, or coreboot + SeaBIOS payload | boot-bios.nix |
GRUB on the MBR. Set device to the real install disk (/dev/sda by default). MBR/legacy layout. |
| coreboot + GRUB payload | boot-coreboot-grub.nix |
GRUB is config-only (device = "nodev"); NixOS does not write to a disk. Your coreboot grub.cfg (in the flash chip) must search for and configfile the on-disk /boot/grub/grub.cfg, or chainload the disk's GRUB. |
| coreboot + Tianocore/edk2 (UEFI) payload | boot-coreboot-uefi.nix |
systemd-boot. canTouchEfiVariables = true (coreboot honours NVRAM writes). The module declares its own ESP (/boot vfat, label ESP) — when you regenerate hardware-configuration.nix, do not let it also define /boot. Create + label an ESP vfat partition (GPT). |
Graphics
This unit has the optional discrete ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470 (RV620). The
open radeon KMS driver is loaded in the initrd for early modesetting; firmware
comes from enableRedistributableFirmware.
The T400 has switchable graphics (discrete ATI + Intel GMA 4500MHD). Select
Discrete in the firmware's graphics setting so only the ATI is live. If you
run Integrated instead, the Intel i915 driver takes over with no config
change and radeon stays idle.
Apply
sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake .#lyrathorpe-t400