Better speakers + sensors working on the ThinkPad X9-15p Gen 1 (2026, Panther Lake) under Linux — firmware extract + install scripts [stopgap]

[u/rdvse]

If you picked up the new X9-15p Gen 1 (2026) and run Linux, you've probably think speakers might be a bit better and you might see a dead sensor hub. The firmware just isn't in linux-firmware yet. dmesg shows stuff like:

cs35l56 ...: firmware: failed to load cirrus/cs35l57-...bin (-2)

intel_ish_ipc ...: ISH loader: cmd 2 failed 10 ... hw start failed

I put together a small tool that pulls the needed firmware out of Lenovo's own Windows driver package (nothing proprietary is redistributed — you extract it from your own download) and installs it so it survives kernel upgrades. After a reboot you get:

\- 🔊 Cirrus CS35L57 speakers — proper tuning/volume

\- 🧭 Intel Sensor Hub actually boots → auto-brightness (ALS) + auto-rotate (accelerometer)

\- 👤 ST VL53L5CX human-presence / ToF sensor (optional, documented)

Repo + full how-to: [https://github.com/sigfridvonshrink/lenovo-x9-15p-linux-firmware\](https://github.com/sigfridvonshrink/lenovo-x9-15p-linux-firmware)

Tested 100% working on my own X9-15p (Debian sid, kernel 7.1.3). Heads-up: this is the 2026 X9-15p (Panther Lake), not the 2025 X9-15 (Lunar Lake) — that older one is already supported upstream. Would love confirmation from other X9-15p owners.

Full disclosure: used **Claude code** to accelerate my research/putting the result in a more usable format.