Want to disable "flip to boot" on Lenovo Ideapad

Support General Device Support
1

System Details

  • Device: Lenovo Ideapad 3i-15 (Blipper)
  • OS: Lubuntu 26.04 LTS
  • Firmware Type: UEFI Full ROM
  • Firmware Version: MrChromebox-2603.1 04/10/2026
  • Internal storage type: eMMC

Summary of the Issue

Laptop turns on when lid is opened. I don’t know how far it has to be opened to trigger this, but it doesn’t seem to be very far since it has happened accidentally sometimes.

I’m new to chromebooks, and I’d assumed this behavior was either related to chromeOS or the chromebook firmware, but it has persisted since I flashed it and installed Lubuntu. I’ve since learned that it is a Lenovo thing – “flip to boot” or “flip to start”. I’d like to disable this if possible, but everything I’ve read so far indicates it has to either be turned off in the original BIOS/firmware or via the Lenovo Vantage utility software. Neither of which are an option at this point.

Sometimes it hasn’t fully shutdown either – I’d tried shutting down both from the menu and from the terminal – and when the lid is opened later, it wakes to the lock screen. I read somewhere that this can happen due to something related to the swap, and since I have started turning off the swap prior to shutdown attempts, this seems to allow it to shut down properly. But if there is a better/easier way to accomplish this without that step every time, I’d like to figure that out, too. (I’m looking into setting up zram or zswap, but that’s a whole other thing)

I found settings in the Power Management utility and in the /etc/systemd/logind.conf file that are supposed to disable actions when the lid is closed but nothing for when it is opened. I don’t know if that’s because whatever triggers it is coded in a special chip somewhere or what, since it apparently happens independently of the OS. Even with the things listed above disabled, closing the lid still suspends and opening it wakes or boots it up.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Turn off swap: sudo swapoff -a

  2. Shut down Lubuntu (via menu or terminal)

  3. Wait ~10 seconds

  4. Close lid

  5. Open lid, system automatically boots up

Expected Behavior

System should stay powered off when lid is opened until power button is pressed. System should not do anything when lid is closed.

2

No, it’s a Chromebook thing. There’s no mechanism to disable it.

3

No way around it, huh? That’s what I was afraid of.

If that’s the case, I’m really surprised there doesn’t seem to be more discussion about it. I can’t be the only one who hates this “feature”.

Anyway, thanks for the answer and for all your hard work :+1: