All thinkpads have a Wifi card whitelist at the BIOS level that prevent installing certain WiFi cards. The restriction can be bypassed with a BIOS modification: either installing Libreboot, Coreboot or editing the official Lenovo/IBM BIOS.

Tested with LiveCD. Bluetooth works on startup. All multimedia keys work on startup except for microphone mute. This includes screen brightness and keyboard light.

0a5c:217f Broadcom Corp. Bluetooth Controller

Cores: 4

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2540M CPU @ 2.60GHz

Frequency stepping is allowed

lspci -vmmnn

Slot:	00:00.0
Class:	Host bridge [0600]
Vendor:	Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:	2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller [0104]
SVendor:	Lenovo [17aa]
SDevice:	Device [21ce]
Rev:	09

Slot:	00:02.0
Class:	VGA compatible controller [0300]
Vendor:	Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:	2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller [0126]
SVendor:	Lenovo [17aa]
SDevice:	Device [21ce]
Rev:	09

Slot:	00:16.0
Class:	Communication controller [0780]
Vendor:	Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:	6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 [1c3a]
SVendor:	Lenovo [17aa]
SDevice:	Device [21ce]
Rev:	04

Slot:	00:19.0
Class:	Ethernet controller [0200]
Vendor:	Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:	82579LM Gigabit Network Connection [1502]
SVendor:	Lenovo [17aa]
SDevice:	Device [21ce]
Rev:	04

Slot:	00:1a.0
Class:	USB controller [0c03]
Vendor:	Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:	6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 [1c2d]
SVendor:	Lenovo [17aa]
SDevice:	Device [21ce]
Rev:	04
ProgIf:	20

Slot:	00:1b.0
Class:	Audio device [0403]
Vendor:	Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:	6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller [1c20]
SVendor:	Lenovo [17aa]
SDevice:	Device [21ce]
Rev:	04

Slot:	00:1c.0
Class:	PCI bridge [0604]
Vendor:	Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:	6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 [1c10]
Rev:	b4

Slot:	00:1c.1
Class:	PCI bridge [0604]
Vendor:	Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:	6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 [1c12]
Rev:	b4

Slot:	00:1c.3
Class:	PCI bridge [0604]
Vendor:	Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:	6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4 [1c16]
Rev:	b4

Slot:	00:1c.4
Class:	PCI bridge [0604]
Vendor:	Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:	6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 5 [1c18]
Rev:	b4

Slot:	00:1d.0
Class:	USB controller [0c03]
Vendor:	Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:	6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 [1c26]
SVendor:	Lenovo [17aa]
SDevice:	Device [21ce]
Rev:	04
ProgIf:	20

Slot:	00:1f.0
Class:	ISA bridge [0601]
Vendor:	Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:	QM67 Express Chipset Family LPC Controller [1c4f]
SVendor:	Lenovo [17aa]
SDevice:	Device [21ce]
Rev:	04

Slot:	00:1f.2
Class:	SATA controller [0106]
Vendor:	Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:	6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller [1c03]
SVendor:	Lenovo [17aa]
SDevice:	Device [21ce]
Rev:	04
ProgIf:	01

Slot:	00:1f.3
Class:	SMBus [0c05]
Vendor:	Intel Corporation [8086]
Device:	6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller [1c22]
SVendor:	Lenovo [17aa]
SDevice:	Device [21ce]
Rev:	04

Slot:	03:00.0
Class:	Network controller [0280]
Vendor:	Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. [10ec]
Device:	RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter [8176]
SVendor:	Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. [10ec]
SDevice:	Device [8195]
Rev:	01

Slot:	0d:00.0
Class:	System peripheral [0880]
Vendor:	Ricoh Co Ltd [1180]
Device:	MMC/SD Host Controller [e822]
SVendor:	Lenovo [17aa]
SDevice:	Device [2133]
Rev:	05
ProgIf:	01

lspci -nnk

00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller [8086:0104] (rev 09)
	Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21ce]
	Kernel driver in use: agpgart-intel
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0126] (rev 09)
	Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21ce]
	Kernel driver in use: i915
	Kernel modules: i915
00:16.0 Communication controller [0780]: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 [8086:1c3a] (rev 04)
	Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21ce]
	Kernel driver in use: mei
	Kernel modules: mei
00:19.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection [8086:1502] (rev 04)
	Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21ce]
	Kernel driver in use: e1000e
	Kernel modules: e1000e
00:1a.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 [8086:1c2d] (rev 04)
	Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21ce]
	Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller [8086:1c20] (rev 04)
	Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21ce]
	Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
	Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 [8086:1c10] (rev b4)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 [8086:1c12] (rev b4)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4 [8086:1c16] (rev b4)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.4 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 5 [8086:1c18] (rev b4)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1d.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 [8086:1c26] (rev 04)
	Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21ce]
	Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation QM67 Express Chipset Family LPC Controller [8086:1c4f] (rev 04)
	Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21ce]
	Kernel modules: iTCO_wdt
00:1f.2 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller [8086:1c03] (rev 04)
	Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21ce]
	Kernel driver in use: ahci
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller [8086:1c22] (rev 04)
	Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21ce]
	Kernel modules: i2c-i801
03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter [10ec:8176] (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device [10ec:8195]
	Kernel driver in use: rtl8192ce
	Kernel modules: rtl8192ce
0d:00.0 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd MMC/SD Host Controller [1180:e822] (rev 05)
	Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:2133]
	Kernel driver in use: sdhci-pci
	Kernel modules: sdhci-pci