UK Linux Vendor Star Labs Systems Supporting LVFS+Fwupd For Firmware Updates
Star Labs Systems is the latest albeit smaller vendor seeing system firmware support via LVFS+Fwupd. Their support is focused on updating the system firmware, embedded controller (EC), and SSD storage firmware. The system firmware relies upon AMI and should be working shortly while the EC firmware is being further worked on for the IT8987 while the solid-state drive's controller firmware now has a fix to Fwupd for handling it.
Lead LVFS/Fwupd maintainer Richard Hughes worked with Star Labs on this support. In announcing the support, Richard also had praise for the company's systems especially the quality for being from a smaller vendor: "There is a lot to like, the aluminium cases feel both solid and tactile (like an XPS 13) and it feels really “premium” unlike the Clevo reference hardware. Star Labs doesn’t use the Clevo platform any more, which allows it to take some other bolder system design choices. Some things I love: the LED IPS screen, USB-C charging, the trackpad and keyboard."
The Star Lite 11-inch laptop starts out at £457 for a Pentium N4200-based system and 8GB of memory and 240GB SSD. The more powerful Star LabTop has a 13.3-inch display, Core i7 8550U, 480GB SSD, and 8GB of RAM with the starting model at £997. Both their Star Lite and Star LabTop systems are made of anodized aluminum, black glass screen surround, USB Type-C 3.0 with power delivery, and support for a variety of Linux distributions. Star Labs Systems has a one-year warranty and technical support period. Those wanting to learn more about these Linux laptops can do so at starlabs.systems.
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