{"id":186,"date":"2013-11-30T19:58:31","date_gmt":"2013-11-30T23:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mufljuz.com\/?p=186"},"modified":"2014-09-23T10:44:54","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T14:44:54","slug":"kubuntu-on-asus-zenbook-prime-ux31a-dh5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mufljuz.com\/?p=186","title":{"rendered":"Kubuntu on ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A-DH5"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a few problems I can confirm ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A-DH5 working with Kubuntu 13.10. Here are the steps I did:<\/p>\n

Get kubuntu from http:\/\/www.kubuntu.org\/getkubuntu\/download<\/strong>
\nAt the time of writing, version 13.10 was the most recent. It should work with BIOS Secure Boot option.<\/p>\n

Copy iso image to usb device
\n
\ndmesg
\n<\/code><\/p>\n

\r\n[67675.270470] sdf: sdf1 sdf2\r\n[67675.335259] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdf] No Caching mode page found\r\n[67675.335261] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdf] Assuming drive cache: write through\r\n[67675.335263] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdf] Attached SCSI removable disk\r\n<\/pre>\n
dd if=kubuntu-13.10-desktop-amd64.iso of=\/dev\/sdf<\/code><\/p>\n
Create a partition where ubuntu will be installed. In Windows 8 under Settings -> Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Storage -> Disk Management –> Shrink Volume<\/p>\n
BIOS update<\/strong>
\nUpdated bios to 219 version. Make sure you have correct model, in my case its UX31A. Go to assus support site<\/a> and get the BIOS file. Copy the BIOS file onto a USB stick. Reboot and press the esc button to enter the BIOS menu. Then select “Enter Setup”. From the Advanced tab, choose the Easy Flash option and then select the BIOS file to update.<\/p>\n
Installing from a Live USB<\/strong>
\nReboot than press and hold ESC for boot menu. I had trouble booting from one USB key and had to use another. Eventually the USB device got recognized and I got grub2 menu. After selecting kubuntu, the screen went black!1&(^$!@(*^& I connected external monitor and viola, ubuntu was there. See this bug<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Selected manual partitions, created 4GB swap and ~33GB \/ ext4 partition and proceeded with install.<\/p>\n
Update<\/strong>
\nsudo apt-get update
\nsudo apt-get upgrade
\nsudo apt-get dist-update<\/p>\n
Black screen after the 1st boot<\/strong>
\nKernel 3.11 has a bug with intel4000
\nLaptop screen black due to this<\/a> bug. It is fixed in kernel-3.12, however this patch is not included with Kubuntu-13.10 :(. Kernel can be updated to v 3.12 as described here:<\/p>\n

\nmkdir kernel\\ v3.12.2-trusty && cd kernel\\ v3.12.2-trusty<\/p>\n
wget http:\/\/kernel.ubuntu.com\/~kernel-ppa\/mainline\/v3.12.2-trusty\/linux-image-3.12.2-031202-generic_3.12.2-031202.201311291538_amd64.deb--2013-11-30 18:47:15--  http:\/\/kernel.ubuntu.com\/~kernel-ppa\/mainline\/v3.12.2-trusty\/linux-image-3.12.2-031202-generic_3.12.2-031202.201311291538_amd64.deb<\/p>\n
wget http:\/\/kernel.ubuntu.com\/~kernel-ppa\/mainline\/v3.12.2-trusty\/linux-headers-3.12.2-031202_3.12.2-031202.201311291538_all.deb
\nwget http:\/\/kernel.ubuntu.com\/~kernel-ppa\/mainline\/v3.12.2-trusty\/linux-headers-3.12.2-031202-generic_3.12.2-031202.201311291538_amd64.deb<\/p>\n
sudo dpkg -i linux-*.deb
\nsudo update-grub
\nsudo reboot now
\n<\/code><\/p>\n
My Zenbook now properly boots with laptop screen working as it is supposed to!<\/p>\n
Other tips<\/strong>
\nSome other tips for power saving optimization include modifying kernel parameters:<\/p>\n
sudo nano -w \/etc\/default\/grub<\/code><\/p>\n
modify to include:<\/p>\n
\r\nGRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=\"quiet splash acpi_osi='!Windows 2012' pcie_aspm=force drm.vblankoffdelay=1 i915.semaphores=1 nmi_watchdog=0\"\r\n<\/pre>\n
and update grub with
\nsudo update-grub<\/code><\/p>\n
SSD tweeks<\/strong>
\nIncrease the life of your SSD by reducing number of OS writes to SSD
\nsudo nano -w \/etc\/fstab<\/code><\/p>\n
and add discard,noatime,nodiratime params to your SSD partition as well as tmpfs. noatime disable (or significantly reduce) disk writes whenever a file is read. nodiratime gives you the same functionality for directories. discard filesystem option is for automatic\/online TRIM.<\/p>\n
\r\nUUID=0d67e753-acb6-46c4-acb4-1bd4f14fe92c \/               ext4    discard,noatime,nodiratime,errors=remount-ro 0       1\r\ntmpfs \/tmp tmpfs defaults,discard,noatime,mode=1777 0 0\r\n<\/pre>\n
Make sure deadline is used as IO Scheduler<\/p>\n

\nsudo cat \/sys\/block\/sda\/queue\/scheduler
\nnoop [deadline] cfq
\n<\/code><\/p>\n
Swap<\/strong>
\nMost systems with more than 2GB RAM rarely use swap space except for hibernate. Reduce usage of swap space in order to minimise number of writes to swap with<\/p>\n

\nsudo echo 1 > \/proc\/sys\/vm\/swappiness
\n<\/code><\/p>\n
alternatively, this can be done by modifying sysctl
\n
\nsudo nano -w \/etc\/sysctl.d\/99-sysctl.conf
\n<\/code>
\nto look like<\/p>\n
\r\nvm.swappiness=1\r\nvm.vfs_cache_pressure=50\r\n<\/pre>\n
Resolution<\/strong>
\nCurrent Xorg-server uses a display resolution setting of 96dpi by default. UX31E Zenbooks have a resolution of ~138dpi. The default value of 96dpi makes fonts look really small. You can list the current setting with: <\/p>\n
xdpyinfo|grep resolution<\/code><\/p>\n
Override the default value with<\/p>\n
xrandr --dpi 138\/eDP1<\/code><\/p>\n
To keep this permanent add xrand call to \/etc\/X11\/xinit\/xinitrc
\nsudo nano -w \/etc\/X11\/xinit\/xinitrc<\/code><\/p>\n
Touchpad<\/strong>
\nRight and middle mouse clicks are not working. This needs specific xinput instruct. A quick recipe is given here<\/a>. Create an executable script:
\n
\nsudo nano -w \/usr\/local\/bin\/touchpad.sh
\nchmod +x \/usr\/local\/bin\/touchpad.sh
\n<\/code><\/p>\n
and add the following code<\/p>\n
\r\n#!\/bin\/bash \r\nxinput set-prop \"ETPS\/2 Elantech Touchpad\" \"Synaptics ClickPad\" 1 \r\nxinput set-prop \"ETPS\/2 Elantech Touchpad\" \"Synaptics Soft Button Areas\" 1956 0 1737 0 1304 1955 1737 0 \r\nsyndaemon -i 1.7 -d -t -K \r\n<\/pre>\n
Lastly start this script
\n\/usr\/local\/bin\/touchpad.sh<\/code><\/p>\n
To make it permanent add it to SystemSettings–>Startup and Shutdown–>AutoStart<\/p>\n
Skype<\/strong>
\nSkype is not in official repos, to install it add ‘partner’ repository.
\n
\nsudo add-apt-repository \"deb http:\/\/archive.canonical.com\/ $(lsb_release -sc) partner\"
\nsudo apt-get update
\nsudo apt-get install skype
\n<\/code><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After a few problems I can confirm ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A-DH5 working with Kubuntu 13.10. Here are the steps I did: Get kubuntu from http:\/\/www.kubuntu.org\/getkubuntu\/download At the time of writing, version 13.10 was the most recent. It should work with BIOS Secure Boot option. Copy iso image to usb device dmesg [67675.270470] sdf: sdf1 sdf2 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[34,20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mufljuz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mufljuz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mufljuz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mufljuz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mufljuz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=186"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.mufljuz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":203,"href":"https:\/\/www.mufljuz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186\/revisions\/203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mufljuz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mufljuz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mufljuz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}