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Arch Linux

Installing the Latest Arch Linux on a Lenovo/IBM ThinkCentre M625q Tiny

Guide status: Updated for Arch Linux 2026.08.01, the current official release as of August 31, 2026. The release includes kernel 7.1.5 and is approximately 1.5 GB.

Target machine: ThinkCentre M625q Tiny / M625q Thin Client
Installation method: UEFI + GPT + archinstall
Difficulty: Intermediate
Result: A clean, minimal Arch Linux installation suitable for a desktop, server, media machine or lightweight workstation.

The M625q is a particularly interesting little machine for Arch Linux. Lenovo specifies an AMD A9-9420e processor, Radeon integrated graphics, up to 8 GB of DDR4 memory, SATA and optional M.2 NVMe storage, Gigabit Ethernet and two DisplayPort outputs.

1. What you will need

Important: The installation below assumes that you want to replace the existing operating system. The disk-partitioning stage can erase the entire internal drive.

2. Download the latest Arch Linux

The current official Arch release is Arch Linux 2026.08.01.

Download Arch Linux from the official Arch Linux website

archlinux-2026.08.01-x86_64.iso

Verify the ISO

sha256sum archlinux-2026.08.01-x86_64.iso

The SHA-256 checksum given in the conversation was:

4e82dced1c4fd3e498b22a853f8db2a4d262d32b97e7e07d97390d9e425ffe5

Arch also recommends verifying the PGP signature, particularly when downloading from a mirror.

3. Create the bootable USB

Use a USB-writing application such as Rufus, Balena Etcher, Fedora Media Writer or the Linux dd command.

lsblk

sudo dd if=archlinux-2026.08.01-x86_64.iso \
    of=/dev/sdX \
    bs=4M \
    status=progress \
    oflag=sync

Replace /dev/sdX with the whole USB device, not a partition such as /dev/sdX1.

⚠️ dd can destroy another disk if you select the wrong device.

4. Prepare the M625q

Shut down the ThinkCentre and connect the monitor, keyboard, Ethernet cable, Arch USB and power supply.

5. Enter the M625q boot menu

Power on the machine. During startup, use the Lenovo startup/boot-menu key shown on screen. On ThinkCentre systems this is commonly F12 for the temporary boot menu and F1 for BIOS/UEFI setup, although the exact firmware configuration can vary.

Choose the USB device as a UEFI boot device, then select:

Arch Linux install medium

6. Important: Secure Boot

Arch's official installation image does not support Secure Boot. If the M625q refuses to boot the USB, enter the firmware setup and disable Secure Boot.

UEFI: Enabled
Secure Boot: Disabled
CSM/Legacy Boot: Disabled

7. Confirm that Arch has booted in UEFI mode

cat /sys/firmware/efi/fw_platform_size

You want:

64

If you receive “No such file or directory”, you have probably booted in legacy/BIOS mode. Reboot and select the USB's UEFI entry.

8. Connect to the Internet

For the M625q, Ethernet is recommended.

ip link
ping -c 3 archlinux.org

9. Update the installer

pacman -Sy archinstall
archinstall

10. Configure archinstall

The exact appearance and available options can change between archinstall versions.

For a standard UK keyboard:

Keyboard layout: uk

For US:

Keyboard layout: us

11. Select the M625q's disk

lsblk

The M625q was sold with either SATA storage or M.2 NVMe storage depending on configuration.

Example:

/dev/nvme0n1
├─nvme0n1p1
└─nvme0n1p2
⚠️ Stop if you have important data. Selecting the disk for automatic partitioning can erase its existing contents.

12. Recommended partition layout

PartitionSizeFilesystemPurpose
EFI System Partition1 GiBFAT32UEFI boot
Root /Remaining spaceext4Arch Linux
SwapOptional—Memory/swap

13. Filesystem

For a first Arch installation on this hardware, choose ext4.

14. Boot loader

For a modern UEFI installation, a straightforward choice is:

systemd-boot

15. Choose the CPU microcode

The M625q uses an AMD APU. Choose:

amd-ucode

16. Choose the graphics configuration

The M625q uses integrated AMD Radeon graphics. You generally do not need a proprietary AMD graphics driver. The normal Linux kernel graphics stack is the appropriate starting point.

lspci | grep -Ei 'vga|3d|display'

17. Choose a desktop environment

For this hardware, XFCE is a good first choice. LXQt is also reasonable; KDE Plasma is more demanding; or install no desktop environment for a server.

18. Recommended package list

amd-ucode
nano
vim
git
htop
networkmanager
openssh

19. Networking after installation

With NetworkManager:

systemctl status NetworkManager
nmcli device

20. Create your user

Don't use root as your normal desktop account. Create a normal user and give it administrative/sudo privileges.

21. Review everything carefully

A sensible summary is:

Drive:
  /dev/nvme0n1

Partitioning:
  GPT
  EFI System Partition
  ext4 /

Bootloader:
  systemd-boot

CPU microcode:
  amd-ucode

Network:
  NetworkManager

Desktop:
  XFCE

User:
  your-user-name

Timezone:
  Europe/London

Do not proceed until you are certain that the selected drive is the correct drive.

22. Start the installation

Select Install. archinstall will partition the drive, format the filesystems, install the base system and configure the selected components.

23. Reboot

Remove the USB stick, then:

reboot

The M625q should now boot from its internal drive.

24. First login

uname -r
lscpu
free -h
lspci | grep -Ei 'vga|3d|display'
lsblk
ip addr

25. Update the new system

sudo pacman -Syu

26. Install useful M625q tools

sudo pacman -S \
    base-devel \
    git \
    nano \
    vim \
    htop \
    lm_sensors \
    pciutils \
    usbutils \
    smartmontools
sudo sensors-detect
sensors

27. Check the AMD graphics driver

lspci -k | grep -A 3 -Ei 'vga|3d|display'

You're looking for:

Kernel driver in use: amdgpu

28. Enable NetworkManager

sudo systemctl enable --now NetworkManager
nmcli device status

For Wi-Fi:

nmcli device wifi list
nmcli device wifi connect "YOUR_WIFI_NAME" password "YOUR_PASSWORD"

29. Install XFCE, if you didn't select it

sudo pacman -S xfce4 xfce4-goodies
sudo pacman -S lightdm lightdm-gtk-greeter
sudo systemctl enable lightdm
sudo reboot

30. Recommended M625q configuration

ThinkCentre M625q
│
├── UEFI
├── GPT
│
├── 1 GiB EFI System Partition
│
├── ext4 /
│
├── systemd-boot
│
├── Linux kernel
├── amd-ucode
│
├── NetworkManager
│
├── XFCE
│
└── Firefox / Chromium / applications

31. M625q-specific considerations

32. Troubleshooting

USB doesn't appear in the boot menu

Secure Boot: Disabled
UEFI boot: Enabled

Try another USB port and recreate the USB.

Arch boots but the screen is blank

Try the other DisplayPort connector and check whether the monitor is receiving a signal. If the installer displays correctly but the installed desktop doesn't, investigate the graphics stack from a TTY.

No Internet

ip link
ip link set enp1s0 up
ping -c 3 archlinux.org

Use the actual interface name shown by ip link.

NVMe drive isn't visible

lsblk
lspci

If the machine has a SATA SSD, it may appear as /dev/sda rather than /dev/nvme0n1.

Wi-Fi isn't available

Not every M625q has Wi-Fi. Check:

lspci
rfkill

If there is no wireless adapter installed, use Ethernet or add a compatible wireless adapter.

33. The short version

1. Download Arch Linux 2026.08.01
2. Write ISO to USB
3. Boot M625q using UEFI
4. Disable Secure Boot
5. Connect Ethernet
6. Verify:
      cat /sys/firmware/efi/fw_platform_size
7. Update installer:
      pacman -Sy archinstall
8. Run:
      archinstall
9. Select internal SSD/NVMe
10. GPT + EFI + ext4
11. systemd-boot
12. amd-ucode
13. NetworkManager
14. XFCE (optional)
15. Create normal sudo user
16. Install
17. Remove USB
18. reboot
19. sudo pacman -Syu

The M625q doesn't require a special Arch Linux image. It is an x86-64 AMD system, and the standard Arch installation media is appropriate.

Official references