Arch Linux

StaphY

Member

Registered: 2015-04-30

Posts: 1

Re: Laptops which run Arch

Any developers that could help me out? I just got hired as a developer and my boss just asked me to order a laptop for work. I will work mainly with GROOVY/GRAILS but a new project will use the MEAN stack there will also be some MULE/IIB/BizTalk work as well. I use IDEA and Android Studio for some of my hobby projects. No heavy 3D-graphics work or anything like that.

Privately i have an ASUS G750JX running Arch, and I'm very happy with it. But for work I want something a bit lighter and easier to carry around. They offer two standard laptops: A HP ZBook 15 G2 and a HP 840 G2, if I choose one of them the company buys them for me no questions asked. But I can choose to order a non-standard laptop, if I can justify the expense. But a co-worker ordered a fully pimped out macbook pro without getting any flack for it.

So my question is. Do you guys know any lightweight laptops preferably with an SSD and at least a 13 inch screen, that will run arch without any major driver issues? When it comes to performance it will only have to do some minor compiling but I sometimes test the webapp by running mongodb, docker, tomcat and jenkins locally while running geb/selenium tests on it, and that requires a bit of power.

Since the company pays for it the price isn't that big of an issue, but I'd prefer not to make a fool out of myself trying to get them to pay a massive amount.

By the way, they have some sort of deal with https://www.dustin.se/ so if the laptop is available there it would simplify things.

Any suggestions?

Last edited by StaphY (2015-04-30 06:49:49)

frederik

Member

Registered: 2014-01-05

Posts: 8

Re: Laptops which run Arch

Take the HP 840 G2 if you can get the version without AMD graphics. Very durable, light and reliable.

morlog

Member

Registered: 2015-05-06

Posts: 1

Re: Laptops which run Arch

I got a Lenovo G50-80 couple of weeks ago.  Got everything but the bluetooth working pretty easily.  You need to turn off safe boot in the uefi which you can get to by pressing the button by the power jack.  Install with uefi goes without a hitch.

ystem:    Host daementor Kernel 4.0.1-1-ARCH x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop i3 4.10.2 Distro Arch Linux
Machine:   System LENOVO product 80E5 v Lenovo G50-80
           Mobo LENOVO model Lenovo G50-80 v 31900058 WIN Bios LENOVO v B0CN69WW date 06/20/2014
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core i5-5200U (-HT-MCP-) cache 3072 KB
           clock speeds max 2700 MHz 1 2200 MHz 2 2234 MHz 3 2326 MHz 4 2273 MHz
Graphics:  Card Intel Broadwell-U Integrated Graphics
           Display Server X.Org 1.17.1 driver N/A
           Resolution 1366x768@60.00hz, 1280x1024@60.02hz, 1440x900@59.89hz
           GLX Renderer Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 5500 (Broadwell GT2) GLX Version 3.0 Mesa 10.5.4
Audio:     Card-1 Intel Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio Controller driver snd_hda_intel
           Card-2 Intel Broadwell-U Audio Controller driver snd_hda_intel
           Sound Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v k4.0.1-1-ARCH
Network:   Card-1 Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller driver r8169
           IF enp2s0 state up speed 1000 Mbps duplex full mac <filter>
           Card-2 Broadcom BCM43142 802.11b/g/n driver wl
           IF wlp3s0 state down mac <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size 500.1GB (45.2% used) ID-1 /dev/sda model ST500LT012 size 500.1GB
Partition: ID-1 / size 15G used 5.7G (41%) fs ext4 dev /dev/sda2
           ID-2 /boot size 511M used 38M (8%) fs vfat dev /dev/sda1
           ID-3 /home size 444G used 205G (49%) fs ext4 dev /dev/sda3
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu 47.0C mobo N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu N/A
Info:      Processes 152 Uptime 4 days Memory 1836.4/5888.1MB Client WeeChat 1.1.1  inxi 2.2.19

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The typos and mispellings were on purpose.

ibrunton

Member

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-05-05

Posts: 270

Re: Laptops which run Arch

I have had an HP Pavilion 15 since Septemer 2014 that runs Arch nicely.  In fact, it's the only distro I could get to run on it, for some reason.  It was my first time installing on anything with UEFI, and Arch handled it without a problem.

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github

MrEvilBreakfast

Member

From: Abbotsford, BC

Registered: 2011-11-03

Posts: 30

Re: Laptops which run Arch

I'm running Arch on an old MSI GT780DX. It was released in early 2012. Overall I'm really pleased with it - supported everything out of the box with a few minor exceptions. Example, I cannot change the colour of my LED keyboard, and the my Nvidia 570M doesn't clock fully. The laptop has a turbo button that in Windows would clock the GPU at it's maximum, but seeing as how that button was controlled by an MSI Windows program, I don't have that. Nvidia-settings also won't let me clock the card any higher than it's artificial maximum.

But, so far so good.

Edit: I saw gtlm-git in the AUR, which is decribed as a keyboard LED manager for MSI GT laptops, but after installing it, I have no idea how to use it

Edit 2: I figure out how to use it, and it cannot find my LED controller. O_o

Last edited by MrEvilBreakfast (2015-05-08 20:40:26)

magnetux

Member

From: France

Registered: 2015-05-08

Posts: 7

Re: Laptops which run Arch

Apple Macbook Air 3,2 (the last with NVidia and without keyboard backlight).

Fully functional with Arch 4.0.1-1, even 3D acceleration with proprietary driver (see my first post).

pommed from AUR needed for volume and screen backlight keys.

Last edited by magnetux (2015-05-08 21:03:20)

LeonardK

Member

From: Berlin, Germany

Registered: 2014-07-31

Posts: 591

Re: Laptops which run Arch

I'm running Arch on an old MSI GT780DX. It was released in early 2012. Overall I'm really pleased with it - supported everything out of the box with a few minor exceptions. Example, I cannot change the colour of my LED keyboard, and the my Nvidia 570M doesn't clock fully. The laptop has a turbo button that in Windows would clock the GPU at it's maximum, but seeing as how that button was controlled by an MSI Windows program, I don't have that. Nvidia-settings also won't let me clock the card any higher than it's artificial maximum.

But, so far so good.

Edit: I saw gtlm-git in the AUR, which is decribed as a keyboard LED manager for MSI GT laptops, but after installing it, I have no idea how to use it

Edit 2: I figure out how to use it, and it cannot find my LED controller. O_o

Just a hint: You may try searching for embedded controllers for your device and looking at the DSDT.

Then you can just write the correct value to some offset in /dev/port and you might control it that way.

Like this I can control my fan – which normally is handled by the BIOS, which does a bad job doing so.

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It's 106 miles to Chicago we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, its dark and we're wearing sunglasses.

Axo-Tak

Member

Registered: 2015-02-23

Posts: 4

Re: Laptops which run Arch

Using Arch Linux on an Asus Q500A with the 1080p touchscreen. Runs pretty stable.

Sure it's 6 pounds but it's not really that heavy in my opinion.

Last edited by Axo-Tak (2015-05-12 21:45:29)

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Used to run Arch Linux on retro computers, now I run it on whatever I feel like.
I have no idea what I am doing whatsoever.

macaivar

Member

Registered: 2015-03-30

Posts: 4

Re: Laptops which run Arch

Running Arch for about two months now on old HP 6910p (with T9300 cpu, 4Gb ram, x3100 gpu, 1440x900 display).
Equipped with SSD, Arch is very fast. And after reboot with empty awesomeWM it displays only 160Mb of memory usage.
Installed Arch from scratch and Im very proud of it, beause I've *indows user since *in95, that is about 20 years
Only few things I cannot get properly work, if anyone care to help, then it would be appreciated:
- after sleep, cpu fan is always on. After half hour, it slows down. Or after some cpu stressing.
- I want to use awesomeWM with Plasma 5.3, but it wont work properly. GUI option to change Kwin to something else is disabled in Plasma. Change script (import KWIN=awesome) works but seems Kwin and awesome work both then.
- how to install 64bit Adobe Lightroom with Crossover?
- built-in Ricoh smartcard reader seems not have right driver

All in all, Arch seems right way to go, it's fast and slim, Arch's community is great, wiki is large, pacman and yaourt are nice package managers

kyusaki

Member

From: Tokyo, Japan

Registered: 2015-04-13

Posts: 10

Re: Laptops which run Arch

Lenovo (IBM) Thinkpad L420

Works out of the box, but to use it all, tlp and the intel graphics drivers is a must.

Риал Краесис

Member

Registered: 2015-02-19

Posts: 19

Re: Laptops which run Arch

HP Pavilion DV6-6199ee!
System:    Host: fouruhar Kernel: 4.0.3-1-ARCH x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.1.0)
           Desktop: Gnome 3.16.2 (Gtk 3.16.3) Distro: Arch Linux
Machine:   System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook PC v: 058D110000244620001620100
           Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 3388 v: 10.31
           Bios: Hewlett-Packard v: F.1B date: 10/05/2011
CPU:       Quad core Intel Core i7-2630QM (-HT-MCP-) cache: 6144 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 15969
           clock speeds: max: 2900 MHz 1: 2307 MHz 2: 2558 MHz 3: 2620 MHz
           4: 2737 MHz 5: 1806 MHz 6: 2375 MHz 7: 2579 MHz 8: 2338 MHz
Graphics:  Card-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller
           bus-ID: 00:02.0
           Card-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Whistler [Radeon HD 6730M/6770M/7690M XT]
           bus-ID: 01:00.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.17.1 driver: intel
           Resolution: 1920x1080@60.00hz
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Sandybridge Mobile
           GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.5.5 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.0.3-1-ARCH
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
           driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: 4000 bus-ID: 07:00.0
           IF: eno1 state: down mac: 10:1f:74:04:17:08
           Card-2: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 [Rainbow Peak]
           driver: iwlwifi bus-ID: 0d:00.0
           IF: wlo1 state: up mac: bc:77:37:b1:cc:9a
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 1000.2GB (20.1% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: TOSHIBA_MQ01ABD1 size: 1000.2GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 20G used: 11G (58%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
           ID-2: /home size: 99G used: 68G (73%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda3
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 2.15GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda1
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 65.0C mobo: N/A gpu: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 242 Uptime: 5:11 Memory: 2587.7/7936.3MB
           Init: systemd Gcc sys: 4.9.2
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.331) inxi: 2.2.21
1: backlight worked until kernel v3.19.1 after updating to 4 wont work any more!

Coldbird

Member

Registered: 2015-06-02

Posts: 1

Re: Laptops which run Arch

I'm running Arch Linux on an Dell XPS 13 9343. So far it's been a pleasure.

bezerker

Member

Registered: 2013-03-15

Posts: 1

Re: Laptops which run Arch

I'm running Arch Linux on an Dell XPS 13 9343. So far it's been a pleasure.

This is the 2015 model right?  Did you have to do anything crazy for functionality to work other than follow the wiki?

I'm looking into a new laptop and the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition looked right up my alley, but wanted to confirm things function well.

jinal

Member

Registered: 2014-10-26

Posts: 19

Re: Laptops which run Arch

HP Folio 13 Ultrabook works perfectly when configured correcty.

betseg

Member

From: Turkey

Registered: 2015-04-25

Posts: 182

Re: Laptops which run Arch

HP Pavilion Ultrabook 15-b030st runs Arch.
My laptop is this but inxi says Sleekbook. Why?

soren121

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2011-11-20

Posts: 9

Re: Laptops which run Arch

I'm running Arch Linux on an Dell XPS 13 9343. So far it's been a pleasure.

This is the 2015 model right?  Did you have to do anything crazy for functionality to work other than follow the wiki?

I'm looking into a new laptop and the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition looked right up my alley, but wanted to confirm things function well.

I've had the 2015 XPS 13 for about a month now, and it works really well. The touchpad support isn't perfect yet, but it's very close; close enough to not be a bother.

Additionally, I help maintain the wiki page for it, so the instructions there are complete, as far as I know.

Last edited by soren121 (2015-06-07 02:28:12)

MrEvilBreakfast

Member

From: Abbotsford, BC

Registered: 2011-11-03

Posts: 30

Re: Laptops which run Arch

I'm running Arch on an old MSI GT780DX. It was released in early 2012. Overall I'm really pleased with it - supported everything out of the box with a few minor exceptions. Example, I cannot change the colour of my LED keyboard, and the my Nvidia 570M doesn't clock fully. The laptop has a turbo button that in Windows would clock the GPU at it's maximum, but seeing as how that button was controlled by an MSI Windows program, I don't have that. Nvidia-settings also won't let me clock the card any higher than it's artificial maximum.

But, so far so good.

Edit: I saw gtlm-git in the AUR, which is decribed as a keyboard LED manager for MSI GT laptops, but after installing it, I have no idea how to use it

Edit 2: I figure out how to use it, and it cannot find my LED controller. O_o

Just a hint: You may try searching for embedded controllers for your device and looking at the DSDT.

Then you can just write the correct value to some offset in /dev/port and you might control it that way.

Like this I can control my fan – which normally is handled by the BIOS, which does a bad job doing so.

I'm reading the Arch wiki article on DSDT now. I think this may slightly be over my head...

LeonardK

Member

From: Berlin, Germany

Registered: 2014-07-31

Posts: 591

Re: Laptops which run Arch

I'm running Arch on an old MSI GT780DX. It was released in early 2012. Overall I'm really pleased with it - supported everything out of the box with a few minor exceptions. Example, I cannot change the colour of my LED keyboard, and the my Nvidia 570M doesn't clock fully. The laptop has a turbo button that in Windows would clock the GPU at it's maximum, but seeing as how that button was controlled by an MSI Windows program, I don't have that. Nvidia-settings also won't let me clock the card any higher than it's artificial maximum.

But, so far so good.

Edit: I saw gtlm-git in the AUR, which is decribed as a keyboard LED manager for MSI GT laptops, but after installing it, I have no idea how to use it

Edit 2: I figure out how to use it, and it cannot find my LED controller. O_o

Just a hint: You may try searching for embedded controllers for your device and looking at the DSDT.

Then you can just write the correct value to some offset in /dev/port and you might control it that way.

Like this I can control my fan – which normally is handled by the BIOS, which does a bad job doing so.

I'm reading the Arch wiki article on DSDT now. I think this may slightly be over my head...

I had the luck of some people been doing that for similar models. Me alone wouldn't have made this in years ^^

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It's 106 miles to Chicago we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, its dark and we're wearing sunglasses.

cjm

Member

Registered: 2014-10-17

Posts: 11

Re: Laptops which run Arch

Running Arch on Lenovo U410. It's worked great. I think its been about 4 years, but it runs like a dream.

ant

Member

From: Italy

Registered: 2008-01-05

Posts: 6

Website

Re: Laptops which run Arch

Has anybody just bought a tablet/laptop that works perfectly with Arch Linux? I've sold my old EEE PC 1201T and would like to buy a new one. My budget is at most 250 euros. I want everything working, from camera to hibernation as it were in my old ASUS. Any buying advice is appreciated. Thanks.

Mercader1902

Member

Registered: 2014-09-01

Posts: 55

Re: Laptops which run Arch

Dell offers a laptop with Ubuntu installed in that price range.

antonio_aln

Member

From: PE, Brazil

Registered: 2015-06-22

Posts: 8

Re: Laptops which run Arch

I'm running Arch on my ASUS X552EA, and it's smooth, run like a breeze.
Everything works, if properly configured. Wi-Fi worked without any special setting, the Radeon video card works well with the open source driver, so I didn't have to use the closed source one.

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Newbie in life.

Trinakrian

Member

From: Acushnet, MA

Registered: 2014-10-13

Posts: 26

Website

Re: Laptops which run Arch

I'm running Arch on my Alienware M17 Rx3 - runs like a dream. And trust me, this laptop is a bitch and bitches about everything.

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If you're coming on, come on!!!

symec

Member

Registered: 2015-07-06

Posts: 5

Re: Laptops which run Arch

i was test on a lenovo t600 and works fine

ms

Member

From: Bandung, Indonesia

Registered: 2010-07-28

Posts: 81

Website

Re: Laptops which run Arch

I'm running Arch on my ASUS X552EA, and it's smooth, run like a breeze.
Everything works, if properly configured. Wi-Fi worked without any special setting, the Radeon video card works well with the open source driver, so I didn't have to use the closed source one.

Did Fn keys works? I have X550Z but Fn keys does not work. What about brightness?