How to check Thinkpad Thunderbolt driver on Fedora KDE Desktop?

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1

I recently got a thinkpad T480, which I’ve heard has bad thunderbolt firmware that you need to update ASAP. How can I check the thunderbolt controller firmware version, and if necessary update the controller firmware?
Also, if it’s relevant, the thinkpad has Libreboot

2

ASAP in 2019 :slight_smile: Critical Intel Thunderbolt Software and Firmware Updates - ThinkPad - Lenovo Support US

you could try to investigate with fwupdtool
fwupdtool search t480 shows many updates for the T480 and a Thunderbolt controller update

ThinkPad T480 Thunderbolt Controller Update:
      New version:        23.00
      Remote ID:          lvfs
      Release ID:         26905
      Summary:            Lenovo ThinkPad T480 Thunderbolt Firmware
      License:            Proprietary
      Size:               262.1 kB
      Created:            2023-03-23 00:00:00
      Urgency:            High
      Vendor:             Lenovo
      Description:        
      This stable release fixes the following issue:
      
      • Fixed Thunderbolt vulnerability.
      • Intel NVM version update to 23.
      • PD FW version update to F407.06.33.
      Checksum:           391c6be40422dc1d253f5a6b9bdf0c122ddc5f61f9fcb3ba4e61cf42a7c6f7bc

fwupdtool get-updates will show you available updates for the system and the currently installed version.

3

Libreboot seems to be interfering with it:

redacted@fedora:~$ sudo fwupdtool get-updates
Loading…                 [ -                                     ]04:41:15.400 FuPluginFlashrom     Warning: Setting BIOS Control at 0xdc from 0x8b to 0x89 failed.
New value is 0x8b.
Loading…                 [******************                     ]04:41:15.855 FuEngine             failed to add device /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb2/2-3/2-3:1.0/host3/target3:0:0/3:0:0:0/block/sdb: failed to subclass open: failed to open /dev/sdb: No medium found
04:41:15.871 FuEngine             failed to add device /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb2/2-3/2-3:1.0/host3/target3:0:0/3:0:0:0/block/sdb: failed to subclass open: failed to open /dev/sdb: No medium found
Loading…                 [************************************** ]
WARNING: UEFI ESP partition not detected or configured
See https://github.com/fwupd/fwupd/wiki/PluginFlag:esp-not-found for more information.
Devices with no available firmware updates:
 • 1100 SATA 512GB
No updates available for remaining devices
4

I get a similar error on my T480s without libreboot:

$ sudo fwupdtool get-updates
Loading…                 [****************                       ]07:48:13.887 FuEngine             failed to add device /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0/drm/card1/card1-DP-2/drm_dp_aux2: failed to setup: invalid chip ID
Loading…                 [*****************                      ]07:48:16.890 FuEngine             failed to add device /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-4: failed to setup: failed to read SPI chip ID: failed to read chip ID: USB error: Operation timed out [-7]
Loading…                 [*******************                    ]07:48:16.897 FuEngine             failed to add device /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb2/2-3/2-3:1.0/host0/target0:0:0/0:0:0:0/block/sda: failed to subclass open: failed to open /dev/sda: No medium found
07:48:16.905 FuEngine             failed to add device /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb2/2-3/2-3:1.0/host0/target0:0:0/0:0:0:0/block/sda: failed to subclass open: failed to open /dev/sda: No medium found

This seems to have changed with F43, I have run get-updates before and never saw those errors (only the summary that follows then)

5

“ASAP or you might permanently lose the port” is just as relevant in 2026 as in 2019.

6

I’d expect the affected FW would have killed / filled up the nvram and killed the thunderbolt controller a long time ago. Unless you have a new old stock system or a spare that wan’t used much.