Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

huvber · 2015-03-07 13:34:29

Thanks Dreger. About what you said I used the x686 rule for grub but actually the system is x86_64 architecture. I think the T100 need the 32bit rule for grub even if after the system will run at 64bit.

In any case I was able to run perfectly arch with graphics interface (xfce4 for now because of only 5Gb of partition), but I needed to buy an external Eth interface because otherwise I wasn't able to update and install. I notice that the wifi works good only when is costantly solicit. Using something like wicd or NetworkManager will solve this issue even if is still not so good wifi (but as I can say wasn't so good also on Windows).

I'm still struggling with audio mostly. I think using more recent kernel will solve also this. I will try to install

linux-git

from AUR and see what could I do.

Also the battery seem not recognised by the system

Last edited by huvber (2015-03-07 13:38:49)

Dregel · 2015-03-08 15:37:54

Yeah, I managed to get Arch up and running and i tried out the touch screen functions of both Plasma 5 and Gnome 3 for a while without much problem, but i could not get wifi, sound or battery to work, the devices were not even recognized by the system.
So i would be very interested in knowing how you got the wifi to work at all, i have to use a usb wifi dongle for now and as such i cant use the computer in "tablet mode" at all.

I installed Ubuntu 14.10 on the machine, and thats what I-m currently running on it, just to se how ubuntu handeled the hardware, but the situation is exactly the same:
graphics and input(touchscreen, touchpad and keyboard) works fine.
Wifi, battery and sound is not even recognized by the system.
I've seen some info that sugests that these things are connected directly to sdio on the chip and as such can be a problem to recognize, so I have emailed ASUS in the hopes of them telling me the make and model of these coponens and how they are connected.

So I'm still hopefull that I can get linux up and running on this thing flawlessly sooner or later, but right now it seems quite a challenge.

I would love some mor info on how you got the wifi working!

Last edited by Dregel (2015-03-08 15:39:31)

huvber · 2015-04-07 16:27:56

Actually I can see the wifi but is unsable or at least it is with NetworkManager. I noticed that with Wicd was working slow but regularly. I cannot figured-out why doesn't work with NetworkManager

huvber · 2015-05-13 13:36:08

After reinstalling all the system for some trouble I wasn't able to run grub anymore. There are some differences with the new kernel?

sergiocava · 2015-05-17 16:39:38

Following the steps in this topic, I have booted and successfully installed arch on a Lenovo Thinkpad 8. However, I have problems starting directly from the system. I did not understand exactly how I can do this. I understand that you can not do directly from the device's hard drive, but indirectly via a USB stick. That's right? Another issue that did not quite understand: is it best to install the i686 or x86_64? I ask this question because of the limited boot in 32 bits.

sergiocava · 2015-07-11 14:59:48

At the moment, the only issues are still wifi and sound. Even with the new 4.1.2 kernel in testing repository. Does anyone could have wifi working without an external adapter?

huvber · 2015-07-13 07:41:24

After update to the last kernel I found that the sound is working... my primaly issue is the random blocks. With any kind of predetermination the computer stop to work and is impossible to rescue. The only thing is possible to do is hard reboot

huvber · 2015-07-13 17:22:07

anyone solve the random frezzes with linux 4.1?

sergiocava · 2015-07-18 12:50:37

I also have random freeze. It seems to me that it is better with the new kernel. But I need to test more, because I stopped using it as a primary machine, due to lack of network and sound.

parkerlreed · 2015-07-20 14:19:44

Wifi is working. You just have to use the command outlined here. efivars was already mounted for me

https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebia … 100TA#WiFi

huvber · 2015-07-21 10:03:18

On a different forum about AsusT100 one answer me like this about random freezes:

On a different device I found that systemd would decide that I wanted to suspend it, and that would lock it up.
Because I am running debian, I switched to sysv start/stop system scripts and that made the problem go away.
I think someone posted a fix to tell systemd to ignore suspend requests.

Using this information is it possible to know why and prevent systemd supending? Or is it possible to disable completely the possibility that systemd supend the pc?

huvber · 2015-07-30 07:31:28

Any news about freezes? It's practically the only things that made is still unusable. Battery monitoring and screen brightness are important but not make it unusable

sergiocava · 2015-08-08 16:35:53

huvber, actually, I tested recently using the latest kernel, and also with linux-ck, and freezes continue. To adjust the brightness, use "xbacklight -set 60" in command line or xbacklight -set "other value 0-100"

dodgejcr · 2015-09-24 14:37:35

So I used the ubuntu magic-stick to get some form of linux booting and used the install bootstrap to install Arch on another parition. I then chrooted and built a base. I also used the ubuntu fix for wifi and it seems pretty stable for me. (no drops or speed reduction). I do have the random freeze issues that are listed previously in kernel 4.1 and 4.2. Also the graphical glitches in TTY are present but go away when running X. AwesomeWM works great and looks amazing on the small screen so no issues there.

I cant seem to get anything working with battery or backlight. I dont care about sound but it isnt working either. I would have to say if the freezes, battery display (not really necessary) and backlight (really need) can be fixed, this would be ready to go.

There is a linux-baytrail AUR package but before I build or attempt to build it, I was curious if anyone has tried it with luck. Until something works better I may just have to strip the ubuntu install down to a minimal OS with awesomeWM and just use that as it seems pretty stable thus far but I really, really dont want to. Ive been using pacman for the past 6 or so years and cant comfortably switch to apt.

EDIT***
I went ahead and compiled linux-baytrail with hopes to get backlight or sound working but no luck. I did however get sound working (doesnt need baytrail kernel) well and the kernel seems much more stable (no freezes). I also figured out the battery display issue. Apparently this is using BATC instead of BAT0, no biggie.

I will try to mess with backlight more but I think it may have to be kernel patches. Ill post back when I know more.

Last edited by dodgejcr (2015-09-25 03:33:53)

huvber · 2015-09-28 07:19:40

You can find a compile version of the kernel with audio, battery and wifi working here http://bazdara.com/arch/ , thanks to Luka Karinja. You can add it to your pacman.cfg. Unfortunately last version of this kernel still have random freezes.

dodgejcr · 2015-09-28 23:37:50

I got WiFi sound and battery working now. Just need backlight and suspend. I'm going to compile a kernel tonight with Ubuntu's backlight patch for the t100 and possibly straighten that out as well.

Thanks for the link though. Saves me time messing with the configurations to get the others working.

steelcowboy · 2015-11-11 19:20:06

How are things going for this tablet? I'm seriously considering one for Christmas as I'd love something small and light to take notes on, want to know if this is a good choice. Also, should things work as well as they do on the t100ta as they would on a t100ha (I want the extra 2GB of RAM). If not, anyone have any better suggestions for a good tablet I can run Arch on?

dodgejcr · 2015-11-23 05:16:23

Arch Linux is very usable, I wouldn't call it 100% but here's what I have currently: Gnome desktop (I hate gnome but everything is already implemented) and the patched iio-sensors from bazdara (link 3 posts up); Rotation, automatic adaptive brightness, audio working, battery working, the kernel freezes are fixed, bluetooth, wifi, touchscreen and anything else important. The only thing that I do not have working 100% is the multitouch on the touchpad (scroll, pinch gestures, etc...)

I use it for classes daily and take plenty of notes and browse the internet when the lecture gets boring. Only strange thing that did not happen on other DEs is when resuming from suspend or hibernate, screen flashes and logs out of the environment. I typically have to reboot as it happens every 10-20 seconds. I think it is something with gnome but I have been too busy with the kernel to mess with a DE

At the current level, I would buy the tablet again knowing that Arch Linux is mostly working. It is a bit dated but honestly it runs amazing. It does everything I need it to do. I dont know about the HA, I know its probably got some different hardware in it but not sure it wont work. I know I would be more than happy to help you get it working.

olive · 2015-11-23 08:15:34

Do you know where can I download the source code of the http://bazdara.com/arch/ packages? Is it the linux-baytrail from the AUR?
Update: it is apparently here: https://github.com/pinkflozd/T100TAF_kernel/

Last edited by olive (2015-11-23 16:05:57)

olive · 2015-11-23 08:23:35

Please delete.

Last edited by olive (2015-11-23 08:26:49)

andya · 2016-01-20 08:02:42

I was wondering about battery health now that you are running it since some months. Does it last the same as on the evil os? Does it last the same as when first bought?
To me, this has always been the most annoying thing on linux laptops; I would buy this asus only to use it outside, so what I need most is battery life.

FlyingBuzz · 2016-02-03 10:59:14

andya wrote:

I was wondering about battery health now that you are running it since some months. Does it last the same as on the evil os? Does it last the same as when first bought?
To me, this has always been the most annoying thing on linux laptops; I would buy this asus only to use it outside, so what I need most is battery life.

+1 for that question. I'm currently trying to run Arch on bay-trail tablet very simillar to Asus T100, so info from this thread was very helpful.

fraunos · 2016-05-30 22:39:22

I think imma buy this thing. Was there any progress since then?

Edit: So I bought the T100TAF version and finally managed to get it to work on Arch thanks to @dodgejcr tutorial
http://dodgejcr.com/index.php/2015/09/2 … us-t100ta/
At the moment i'm not really happy with it, i run it with dwm, i got no graphics acceleration so firefox is really sluggish, it run faster on Ubuntu Magic Stick. Additionally i got no wifi, no brightness control, no sound not mentioning other tablet specfic features.
Will try more or go back to Ubuntu Magic Stick.

Edit2: Ok performance is better after reboot - it seems i have CPU lockups... On Ubuntu Magic Stick there where common freezes, which don't occur on Arch.

Last edited by fraunos (2016-06-03 18:53:08)

fraunos · 2016-06-04 16:53:39

I managed to install https://github.com/Asus-T100/kernel this kernel and CPU works great now, no freezes and no lockups.
But i still couldn't get Sound to work. Has anyone got any suggestions?

After i kill pulseaudio and try to start it over i get

E: [pulseaudio] module-alsa-card.c: Failed to find a working profile.
E: [pulseaudio] module.c: Failed to load module "module-alsa-card" (argument: "device_id="0" name="platform-bytcr_rt5640" card_name="alsa_card.platform-bytcr_rt5640" namereg_fail=false tsched=yes fixed_latency_range=no ignore_dB=no deferred_volume=yes use_ucm=yes card_properties="module-udev-detect.discovered=1""): initialization failed.
E: [pulseaudio] module-alsa-card.c: Failed to find a working profile.
E: [pulseaudio] module.c: Failed to load module "module-alsa-card" (argument: "device_id="1" name="platform-hdmi-audio" card_name="alsa_card.platform-hdmi-audio" namereg_fail=false tsched=yes fixed_latency_range=no ignore_dB=no deferred_volume=yes use_ucm=yes card_properties="module-udev-detect.discovered=1""): initialization
failed.
E: [pulseaudio] socket-server.c: bind(): Address already in use
E: [pulseaudio] module.c: Failed to load module "module-native-protocol-unix" (argument: ""): initialization failed.
E: [pulseaudio] main.c: Module load failed.
E: [pulseaudio] main.c: Failed to initialize daemon.

I copied intel firmware into appropriate folder restored t100_B.state with alsactl.

Arch Linux

#26 2015-03-07 13:34:29

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#27 2015-03-08 15:37:54

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#28 2015-04-07 16:27:56

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#29 2015-05-13 13:36:08

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#30 2015-05-17 16:39:38

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#31 2015-07-11 14:59:48

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#32 2015-07-13 07:41:24

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#33 2015-07-13 17:22:07

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#34 2015-07-18 12:50:37

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#35 2015-07-20 14:19:44

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#36 2015-07-21 10:03:18

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#37 2015-07-30 07:31:28

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#38 2015-08-08 16:35:53

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#39 2015-09-24 14:37:35

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#40 2015-09-28 07:19:40

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#41 2015-09-28 23:37:50

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#42 2015-11-11 19:20:06

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#43 2015-11-23 05:16:23

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#44 2015-11-23 08:15:34

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#45 2015-11-23 08:23:35

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#46 2016-01-20 08:02:42

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#47 2016-02-03 10:59:14

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#48 2016-05-30 22:39:22

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

#49 2016-06-04 16:53:39

Re: Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

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