Lenovo 14w Laptop: AMD A6-9220C, 14" 1080p, 4GB DDR4, 64GB eMMC Expired

RAM is not upgradable. There appears to be no SSD connector to add an SSD:
https://slickdeals.net/f/13497700-lenovo-14w-14-windows-10-pro-laptop-129?p=131449135#post131449135

You can use the microSD slot for storage, and some system files.

Using an SD card (or USB) as Permanent Storage in Windows 10:
https://www.radishlogic.com/tools...indows-10/

The simple, minimum steps needed to update the software and settings, withou reinstalling:
https://slickdeals.net/f/13497700-lenovo-14w-laptop-amd-a6-9220c-14-1080p-4gb-ddr4-64gb-emmc-129-free-shipping?p=131637961#post131637961

Also, make sure hardware acceleration is turned on for the browser and apps you are using.
How To Manage Graphics Performance Per App On Windows 10
https://www.addictivetips.com/win...indows-10/

It may also be affected by the battery/performance settings. You may want to keep the settings on max performance, even on battery.

Lenovo Support Page for 14w/Type 81MQ:
https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/e...s/14w/81mq

User Guide:
https://download.lenovo.com/consu...201903.pdf

Hardware Maintenance Manual:
https://download.lenovo.com/consu...201903.pdf

You cannot upgrade the SSD in this version of the 14w (the m.2 header is missing)
https://jameshasanswers.com/how-t...mq-laptop/

Bios update link:
https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/e...e%3Abv0as6

Windows 10 Debloater - Guide on removing misc items that is not essential to use windows
https://github.com/Sycnex/Windows10Debloater


HotKey
For anyone that's interested in locking the FN key as primary button (Ex. volume , brightness etc).

Hit F2 repeatly to go to bios at the Lenovo screen.
Go to the setting call Hot key and enable it.
Then go to the last page to save and exit.

Here is the link to the manual if anyone needed it:https://download.lenovo.com/consu...201903.pdf
It's page 19 of the PDF, page 13 of the manual, if anyone is looking for it.

Touch pad driver use Elan

Graphic driver:
I went ahead and uninstall the original Radeon software and install the win 10 software (425MB). It did a complete install and updated the video driver.

https://www.amd.com/en/support/gr...on-r5-m430

My graphic driver is date 11/1/2019 version 26.20.13031.10003

Chrome youtube playback issue:
Installed H264ify extension for Chrome to optimize the GPU of this unit instead of using all the CPU's resource.

Chrome Hardware Acceleration turn on/off
https://www.lifewire.com/hardware...me-4125122

For better coloring screen:
Radeon setting and turned on the Virtual Super Resolution (VSR) and the color is completely different.

Orrrrr -
For a way nicer image from defaults:

On the desktop, right click and then clock AMD radeon settings.
Click "display"
Turn OFF varibright, virtual super res, GPU scaling; scaling mode should be full panel.
Click "color" near the top and set color temp to "automatic."

Windows Reinstall-Clean(A lot of people contributed this and put together, thx)
Step 1: download the Windows Media Creation Tool [microsoft.com]
-- plug in your USB, run the Media Creation Tool and select "Create installation media for another PC" and select version Windows 10 Pro x64

Now you have a live USB to install Windows


Step 2: download the Lenovo eMMC driver [lenovo.com]
-- open File Explorer and navigate to your Downloads folder
-- click the File menu (top left corner) > Open Windows Powershell
-- copy/paste the following command to extract the drivers:

.\annt06ww.exe /verysilent /dir=c:\lenovo_14w /extract="YES"

This puts 4 files in a folder called "lenovo_14w" on your C drive
-- When you install Windows, delete the existing partitions, click "Load driver", and navigate to this folder on your USB and select the .inf file to load your eMMC driver

Step 3: download the Qualcomm WLAN Driver [lenovo.com]
-- move this file from your Downloads folder to your "lenovo_14w" folder on the C drive that you created in Step 2
-- drag/drop to copy this whole folder to your USB

Now restart your PC and tap the F12 key while it boots
-- select your USB key from the boot manager menu

Note: Others to consider:
When downloading touch pad dirver use Elan.
When finish all windows updates use Windows 10 Debloater to get rid of junks.

Quote from DealzOnWheels : It was slow for me too, guys, but if you tweak the system, allocate virtual space for ram, etc., It is actually pretty decent... My worries were ram and hd, I fixed those though, thankfully. My secret?: Tweek (not the powder or rocks, ie ur settings, fix them n00bz) Create virtual memory from the he, I allocated 16gb so for me I have 20gb of ram on this, 4gb + 16 virtual Get large memory card, I have 256gb and may upgrade, as needed ...

Linux Distro(installed to eMMC not live usb):
https://slickdeals.net/f/13497700-lenovo-14w-laptop-amd-a6-9220c-14-1080p-4gb-ddr4-64gb-emmc-129-free-shipping?p=132126397#post132126397

Quote from SennamonTea : Ok so I've had this laptop for a few days now and tested almost all the LInux Distros for those interested. Here are the list of the best experiences right after install(all are 64bit): #1 Zorin Lite 15 #1 Xubuntu 18.04, only edit you will need is change touchpad behavior to disable trackpad while typing(enable and set it to 0.2 seconds, increase time if you need to). Other minor gripe is it doesn't come with htop, but it'll prompt you in terminal on how to install. Super fast start up(~5seconds to log in from cold) #1*Peppermint 10, this distro actually works the best right out of the box, all hotkeys work and everything. HOWEVER, this is a big however. I cannot get this distro to install, it errors out at configing since it doesn't have the controller for the eMMc drive. If you can get it to install I figure it'd be just as good if not better than Xubuntu #2 Manjaro 18.1.2XFCE, very good but has some screen flicker at max brightness and slower than Xubuntu. Also sometimes on start up it has graphical glitches. #3 Lubuntu 18.10. Everything good except one thing, which for me is a pretty big no, default driver for touchpad does not enable tap to click on touchpad, I didn't stay long enough to enable it. #4 Lubuntu Mate18.04.3 :good but slower than previous distros, also has more screen tear for me on youtube #5 Crunchbang++, keeps freezing and having issues #6 Debian cannot start Edit: I haven't tried installing to the eMMC, but the machine runs Debian stable reasonably well installed on a USB 3.0 dongle. I highly recommend the 5.2 backports kernel & the backports firmware-atheros package. Bluetooth is working. #7Bodhi LInux 5.0.0: freezing/slow/slow startup #8 PopOS: I tried a heavier OS for fun, this seems to work just fine, a little slower than the rest but as expected for a heavier specced OS I didn't try Linux mint or Ubuntu, those are heavier distros that I did not want to touch. They usually work with everything but not my purpose of using this laptop. Hope this helps you.

Quote from nnSlick : MX-Linux installs perfectly on my two lw14s. Even the hotkeys work at the first boot and hardware video decoding works beautifully without requiring any tweak when I tried VLC or YouTube.

Zorin Lite 15 works
Linux Mint Mate 19.3 installs and works.
Ubuntu Mate 19.10 installs smoothly.
xubuntu 19.10 installs but may experience screen tearing when boot up, known issue.
Elementary OS 15.1 installs and browser gpu hardware acceleration optimized.
A lot of distros have problem dealing with the emmc/controller from other user's test.

Interested in Linux and a beginner a quick reading article wrote by Gnudist,
https://slickdeals.net/f/13497700-lenovo-14w-laptop-amd-a6-9220c-14-1080p-4gb-ddr4-64gb-emmc-129-free-shipping?p=131914594#post131914594

Cloudyready (Chromebook alike)
You can install cloudyready
https://www.neverware.com/freedownload

to make it a chromebook (touchpad does not work as of now). You may need this hack(link should be working now):
https://neverware.zendesk.com/hc/...-3-upgrade

Chromium Hardware Acceleration In Linux
Elementary OS 5.1 may have this implemented, according to user tenkay.

tenkay's Chromium Hardware Acceleration:
https://slickdeals.net/f/13497700-lenovo-14w-laptop-amd-a6-9220c-14-1080p-4gb-ddr4-64gb-emmc-129-free-shipping?p=133126067#post133126067
It works and successfully changes the Chromium codec to MojoVideoDecoder in xubuntu 19.10 confirmed by slickkitty.

GPU monitor Radeontop Installation
https://slickdeals.net/f/13497700-lenovo-14w-laptop-amd-a6-9220c-14-1080p-4gb-ddr4-64gb-emmc-129-free-shipping?p=133159409#post133159409

For those still reading July 3rd 2020: Fresh Installed Ubuntu Mate 20.04 LTS runs great for couple of months since the version came out in April. The previous 19.10 had a bit of stability issues but this one is very stable. Trust me I tried to messed it up like how I did to 19.10.

Before Mate I tried xubuntu 20.04, very good and stable too. It is just my personal favor for mate. Xubuntu gives more custom adjustable options which I like. Mate is more smooth more versatile on software packages of how I like to operate. I did notice on comparison of the version that xubuntu used less ram right after boot up. Mate used a bit more but manage seemed smarter after usage.

Happy Fourth, stay healthy, and strong mind(meditation helps a lot, more than you think ).

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