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I have a Lenovo Thinkpad x120e (0596-2RU) running Ubuntu 11.04. It crashes too much. I'd like to run a distribution that almost never crashes. Can anyone personally vouch that their x120e never crashes in Linux? How did you set up your computer?

I believe I'm suffering from (at least) the following problems:

Also the machine occasionally shuts down immediately when plugged/unplugged from AC power. I suspect this may be a thermal issue, but the machine doesn't seem unusually hot.

By 'hard freeze', I mean the screen stays on, but becomes 100% unresponsive and must be restarted by holding down the power button. By 'hard crash', I mean the machine responds as if it had lost power (screen dies, hard drive spins down, power light goes off). By 'shuts down immediately', I mean, goes through a software shutdown sequence, but very rapidly, with no opportunity for user input or cancellation.

I'm used to googling a bit after installing Ubuntu to get everything perfect, but these crashes seem beyond my ability. I have tried several of the suggested fixes, to no avail. Has anybody gotten this machine truly stable with Linux? I'm willing to switch distributions, but I cannot tolerate these crashes.

Hardware details: Fusion E350(1.60GHz),4GB RAM,320GB 7200rpm HD,11.6in 1366x768 LCD,ATI Radeon HD6310,802.11bgn wireless,WWAN option,Bluetooth,1Gb Ethernet,UltraNav,6c Li-Ion

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Not an answer directly but as an avid Linux user you may want to look into CentOS. I use it almost exclusively as a server OS and it is very stable. I also have a Linux guru buddy that runs it as a workstation as well because he wants something that never crashes. If you don get any solid answers of individuals regarding a specific experience with a distro on that model, CentOS might be worth a try. However it is also worth noting it is all about driver compatibility with your specific hardware. – Paperlantern Feb 5 '12 at 2:28
Hi, I heard about some stability problems in latest Ubuntu. I use Pclinuxos 2011 on my Dell Latitude with i3 and Intel graphics and never had bigger problems - only few minor KDE components crashes, but nothing more. Maybe try another distro. I need user friendly "clicking" distro so except ubuntu there is only Suse, Mandriva/Mageia and Pclinuxos - while the last one was the best for me. :-) – Juhele Feb 5 '12 at 17:19
I'm certainly not a veteran of this community, but this does not seem like an appropriate closing to me. This question has a single, correct answer: "I use this laptop with Linux distro [x], and it does not crash. Here's how I set it up". I don't see room for an opinion, or discussion. – Andrew Feb 16 '12 at 5:50

closed as not constructive by Simon Sheehan, Nifle, random♦ Feb 11 '12 at 5:41

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Depending on your ability to understand Linux and use config files etc., you might want to give Arch Linux a shot. It is extremely minimal and if you build up from the minimal core, you will be able to find out for sure where your problem lies. Setting up and getting an Arch system running to your exact needs is a chore and quite the time investment, but it is not only rewarding, it work extremely well.

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Good suggestion! I missed the valuable information here: wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Lenovo_ThinkPad_X120e – Andrew Feb 8 '12 at 15:26

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