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The year of Linux on my Laptop: Part 2

Fedora on Laptop

Introduction

This is part 2 of setting up my ASUS ROG Zephyrus GA402RJ laptop. See Part 1 for the introduction. In this blog, I'll install a Linux Distro and get the laptop and specifically the hardware properly set up.

Fedora as the Linux Distro

The first thing to decide on is the Linux distro. My old favorite is Linux Mint, but I was willing to try a new contender such as Pop OS. In the end though, I decided on Fedora.

  • ASUS Linux is my primary source on getting Linux support for this laptop. Their recommended flavor of Linux is Fedora.
  • Uses the latest Linux kernel. This is important as the latest kernel has updates that may directly improve the laptop.
  • Leading edge distro while still being stable.
  • Shiny and New! At least for me.

Follow the Guide

I'm following the ASUS Linux guide on setting Fedora on the laptop and getting two important applications (asusctl and supergfxctl) installed. I'm not going to go repeat the steps here but instead, highlight my thoughts.

Backup the eSupport Drivers Folder

The first step is to back up a folder on the laptop. It contains apps and drivers that cannot be sourced from ASUS website or the MyASUS utility. It's under C:\eSupport. See this for more information. Store it in a safe place. I zipped the folder cause my backup server complained about the length of some subfolders.

I had to complete the Windows installation before being able to copy the folder. There's probably a way to boot directly to a command prompt to copy the folder.

Create the Fedora live installation image

You can use this link to create a Fedora live installation image. I was running Linux Mint, so I just downloaded the ISO and used the default create bootable USB option.

Install Fedora

Installing Fedora is a straightforward process.

  • I decided to not dual-booting, so I had Fedora wipe the system.
  • I decided to do full-drive encryption. The performance cost is worth the peace of mind.
  • The initial restart took a few minutes. I got to the point where I was scared that it was stuck, but I just needed to wait it out.

Setup Fedora

Setting up Fedora is a straightforward process so nothing exciting here.

Setup Laptop Support

  • Adding patches to the kernel is always a fun event, but fairly uneventful. This does cause us to have to disable Secure Boot, but hopefully, we can re-enable it in the future.
  • I skipped the Install Nvidia Graphics Drivers and Update System Boot Configuration portions because I have an AMD GPU.
  • I installed the asusctl-rog-gui app.
  • The re-enabling Secure Boot section was Nvidia-specific, but I may try to sign the kernel patches.
  • I added the desktop widgets. This required adding a Firefox extension called GNOME Shell integration. More information in the next blog.

Key Mapping

Many of the function keys don't work by default in Fedora. Let's change that. See this to see how to map keys in Fedora.

Test Key Command Info
Launchers -> Settings M4 Launches Settings
Screenshots fn-F6 Sets up screenshots. I use CTRL to take a screenshot, normal for interactive mode, and ALT for window screenshot.
Custom fn-F4 rog-control-center Launches the ASUS ROG Control Center
Custom fn-F5 asusctl profile -n Switches power profile. See info
  • Airplane mode doesn't work. I used this link, but Gnome shortcut couldn't make a shortcut for fn-F12 and the command didn't work as a shortcut. It wasn't important so I'm skipping it.

Current State

So this is the current state of the machine.

  • Keyboard backlight works
  • Screen brightness works
  • Able to determine if I'm on the integrated or discrete GPU
  • Have 3 different power profiles and able to switch profile
  • Can switch to integrate, hybrid, or discrete GPU. This requires either a logout or reboot.
  • All keys but fn-F12 are mapped or can be mapped.

These are things I haven't tested yet.

  • Using the dGPU in Hybrid mode
  • Suspending the laptop by closing the laptop

I encountered the following issues.

  • Wi-Fi disappears after a few restarts. This requires a hard reboot (remove power, press and hold the power button as it cycles through and shuts down again).
  • I set a charge limit of 85%. The system is sometimes flaky on whether it'll accept the charge limit.
  • Coming out of hibernation takes a while.

The next step is setting up some software. See you there.