Table of contents

Arch Linux on Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (GA401I)

Guide to install Arch Linux with btrfs, disc encryption, auto-snapshots, no-noise fan-curves on Asus ROG Zephyrus G14. Credits to asus-zephyrus and Unim8rix, this guide is a fork of their guide with some variation.

Screenshot_20210922_175229

Basic Install

Prepare and Booting ISO

Boot Arch Linux using a prepared USB stick. Rufus can be used on windows, Etcher can be used on Windows or Linux.

Networking

For Network i use wireless, if you need wired please check the Arch WiKi.

Launch iwctl and connect to your AP like this:

  • station wlan0 scan
  • station wlan0 get-networks
  • station wlan0 connect YOURSSID

Type exit to leave.

Update System clock with timedatectl set-ntp true

Format Disk

  • My Disk is nvme0n1, check with lsblk

  • Format Disk using cfdisk /dev/nvme0n1 with this simple layout:

    Mount Point Partition Partition type Size
    /mnt/boot /dev/boot_partition EFI system partition At least 300MB (Would suggest more if planning to run multiple kernels)
    /mnt /dev/root_partition Linux Filesystem Remainder of device

After partitioning, run lsblk to identify your partitions:

Sample lsblk output:

NAME        MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
nvme0n1     259:0    0 476.9G  0 disk
├─nvme0n1p1 259:1    0   300M  0 part 			 // This is our EFI partition
└─nvme0n1p2 259:2    0 476.6G  0 part 			 // This is our Home partition

Identify your EFI partition, in this case /dev/nvme0n1p1, and format it like this:

mkfs.vfat -F 32 -n EFI /dev/nvme0n1p1

Create encrypted filesystem

Note: This step is optional. If you do not want to use encryption, you can skip this step. Just remember that you need to replace any lines that contain /dev/mapper/luks with your “Linux Filesystem” partition (/dev/nvme0n1p2 in this case).

cryptsetup luksFormat /dev/nvme0n1p2  
cryptsetup open /dev/nvme0n1p2 luks

Create and Mount btrfs Subvolumes

mkfs.btrfs -f -L ROOTFS /dev/mapper/luks btrfs filesystem for root partition

Mount Partitions und create Subvol for btrfs. I dont want home, etc in my snapshots, so create subvol for them.

  • mount -t btrfs LABEL=ROOTFS /mnt Mount root filesystem to /mnt
  • btrfs sub create /mnt/@
  • btrfs sub create /mnt/@home
  • btrfs sub create /mnt/@snapshots
  • btrfs sub create /mnt/@swap

Create a btrfs swapfile and remount subvols

truncate -s 0 /mnt/@swap/swapfile
chattr +C /mnt/@swap/swapfile
btrfs property set /mnt/@swap/swapfile compression none
fallocate -l ${SWAP_SIZE} /mnt/@swap/swapfile
chmod 600 /mnt/@swap/swapfile
mkswap /mnt/@swap/swapfile
mkdir /mnt/@/swap

Replace ${SWAP_SIZE} with the amount of swap space you want. Typically you should have the same amount of swap as RAM. So if you have 16GB of ram, you should have 16GB of swap space. For example, a 16GB swap would be created like this: fallocate -l 16G /mnt/@swap/swapfile. Notice that the size in GB is denoted with a G as a suffix and NOT GB.

Just unmount with umount /mnt/ and remount with subvolumes

mount -o noatime,compress=zstd,space_cache,commit=120,subvol=@ /dev/mapper/luks /mnt
mkdir -p /mnt/boot
mkdir -p /mnt/home
mkdir -p /mnt/.snapshots
mkdir -p /mnt/btrfs

mount -o noatime,compress=zstd,space_cache,commit=120,subvol=@home /dev/mapper/luks /mnt/home/
mount -o noatime,compress=zstd,space_cache,commit=120,subvol=@snapshots /dev/mapper/luks /mnt/.snapshots/
mount -o noatime,space_cache,commit=120,subvol=@swap /dev/mapper/luks /mnt/swap/

mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/boot/

mount -o noatime,compress=zstd,space_cache,commit=120,subvolid=5 /dev/mapper/luks /mnt/btrfs/

Check mountpoints with df -Th

Install the system using pacstrap

pacstrap /mnt base base-devel linux linux-firmware btrfs-progs nano networkmanager amd-ucode

After this, generate the filesystem table using genfstab -Lp /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab

Add swapfile echo "/swap/swapfile none swap defaults 0 0" >> /mnt/etc/fstab

Chroot into the new system and change language settings

You can use a hostname of your choice, I have gone with zephyrus-g14.

arch-chroot /mnt
echo zephyrus-g14 > /etc/hostname
echo LANG=en_US.UTF-8 > /etc/locale.conf
echo LANGUAGE=en_US >> /etc/locale.conf
ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Asia/Karachi /etc/localtime
hwclock --systohc

Modify nano /etc/hosts with these entries. For static IPs, remove 127.0.1.1. Replace zephyrus-g14 with your hostname.

127.0.0.1		localhost
::1				localhost
127.0.1.1		zephyrus-g14.localdomain	zephyrus-g14

nano /etc/locale.gen to uncomment the following line

en_US.UTF-8

Execute locale-gen to create the locales now

Add a password for root using passwd root

Add btrfs and encrypt to Initramfs

nano /etc/mkinitcpio.conf and add encrypt btrfs to hooks between block/filesystems. NOTE: If you chose to not encrypt your home partition, do not add encrypt to HOOKS.

HOOKS="base udev autodetect modconf block encrypt btrfs filesystems keyboard fsck

Also include amdgpu in the MODULES section

create Initramfs using mkinitcpio -P

Install Systemd Bootloader

bootctl --path=/boot install installs bootloader

nano /boot/loader/loader.conf delete everything and add these few lines and save

default	arch.conf
timeout	3
editor	0

` nano /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf` with these lines and save.

title	Arch Linux
linux	/vmlinuz-linux
initrd	/amd-ucode.img
initrd	/initramfs-linux.img

copy boot-options with ` echo “options cryptdevice=UUID=$(blkid -s UUID -o value /dev/nvme0n1p2):luks root=/dev/mapper/luks rootflags=subvol=@ rw” » /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf` NOTE: If you chose to not encrypt your home partition, use this command:

ROOT_PARTITION=<!!!YOUR_ROOT_PARTITION_HERE!!!> && echo "options root=UUID=$(blkid -s UUID -o value ${ROOT_PARTITION}) rootflags=subvol=@ rw" >> /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf

Set nvidia-nouveau onto blacklist

using nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nvidia-nouveau.conf with these lines

	blacklist nouveau
	options nouveau modeset=0

Leave Chroot and Reboot

Type exit to exit chroot

umount -R /mnt/ to unmount all volumes

Now its time to reboot into the new system!

Finetuning after first Reboot

Enable Networkmanager

Configure WiFi Connection.

systemctl enable NetworkManager
systemctl start NetworkManager
nmcli device wifi connect YOURSSID password SSIDPASSWORD

Create a new user

First create my new local user and point it to zsh

useradd -m -g users -G wheel,power,audio -s /usr/bin/zsh MYUSERNAME
passwd MYUSERNAME

Edit nano /etc/sudoers and uncomment %wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL

Now exit and relogin with the new MYUSERNAME

Update your system

The first thing you should do after installing is to update your system. Open a commandd line and run:

sudo pacman -Syu

Install some Deamons before we reboot

sudo pacman -S acpid dbus 
sudo systemctl enable acpid

Setup Automatic Snapshots for pacman:

To setup automatic snapshots everytime system updates, follow the section from Unim8rix’s guide

Install Desktop Environment

Get X.Org and KDE Plasma

Install xorg and kde packages

pacman -S xorg 
sudo pacman -S plasma kde-applications pulseaudio

SDDM Loginmanager

sudo pacman -S sddm
sudo systemctl enable sddm

Reboot and login to your new Desktop.

Remove extra KDE Packages

kde-applications installs a bunch of packages that I do not need so I removed them. First remove the following groups of applications.

sudo pacman -Rns kdepim kde-games kde-education kde-multimedia

Then, remove some apps from other groups too.

sudo pacman -R kwrite kcharselect yakuake kdebugsettings kfloppy filelight kteatime konqueror konversation kopete

To see what various applications do, check out the kde-applications group on Arch website.

For KDE Theming you could check this nice Youtube Video from Linux Scoop

Nvidia

Install nvidia package from official repos. Double check to see if linux-headers are installed to avoid blackscreen on reboot. Do NOT run nvidia-xconfig on Arch as it results in black screen. Install the following packages:

sudo pacman -S nvidia-dkms nvidia-settings nvidia-prime acpi_call

Useful Customizations

Install asusctl tool

NOTE: asusctl and optimus-manager may conflinct with eachother. If using asusctl, it is recommended to uninstall optimus-manager with sudo pacman -Rns optimus-manager optimus-manager-qt

Add Luke Jones’s Repo to pacman.conf

sudo bash -c "echo -e '\r[g14]\nSigLevel = DatabaseNever Optional TrustAll\nServer = https://arch.asus-linux.org\n' >> /etc/pacman.conf"

sudo pacman -S asusctl

Activate DBUS Messaging for the new asus deamon to get asus notifications upon changing fan profile etc.

systemctl --user enable asus-notify
systemctl --user start asus-notify

Run the following commands for charge limit and fan speed:

asusctl -c 85 		# Sets charge limit to 85% if you do not want this, do not execute this line
asusctl fan-curve -m Quiet -f cpu -e true
asusctl fan-curve -m Quiet -f gpu -e true 
asusctl fan-curve -m Performance -f cpu -e true
asusctl fan-curve -m Performance -f gpu -e true
asusctl fan-curve -m Balanced -f cpu -e true
asusctl fan-curve -m Balanced -f gpu -e true

For fine-tuning read the Arch Linux Wiki or the Repository from Luke. asusctl requires kernel 5.15+, which at the time of writing has not been released. Install the ROG kernel instead.

Install ROG Kernel

After adding the above repo, install the ROG kernel by running

sudo pacman -S linux-g14 linux-g14-headers 
#kernel headers are very important otherwise nvidia module will not load, resulting in black screen.

After installing the kernel, edit /boot/loader/loader.conf and add the following to it:

default arch-g14.conf
timeout 3
editor 0

Then run sudo cp /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf /boot/loader/entries/arch-g14.conf && sudo nano /boot/loader/entries/arch-g14.conf

Replace the lines that start with title, linux, and initrd with this:

title   Arch Linux (g14)
linux   /vmlinuz-linux-g14
initrd  /amd-ucode.img
initrd  /initramfs-linux-g14.img

and finally do

sudo mkinitcpio -P

Switch Profile On Charger Connect

To automatically turn Performance profile on charger connect and Quiet profile on charger disconnect, run the following

echo "#\!/bin/bash\nasusctl profile -P Performance\n" > ~/.local/share/scripts/switch_performance.sh && echo "#\!/bin/bash\nasusctl profile -P Quiet\n" > ~/.local/share/scripts/switch_quiet.sh

Make the scripts executable by running

chmod +x  ~/.local/share/scripts/switch_performance.sh ~/.local/share/scripts/switch_quiet.sh

Go to Settings -> Power Management -> Energy Saving -> On AC Power. enable Run Script, select switch_performance script from ~/.local/share/scripts/ using open file dialogue button. Go to On Battery Tab, enable Run Script and select switch_quiet script from ~/.local/.local/share/scripts/ using open file dialogue button. Manually giving path does not appear to work for some reason.

Optional: Enable battery full charge notification. Go to KDE Settings -> Notifications -> Application Settings -> Configure Events. Select Charge Complete and Select Show a message in popup

ROG Key Map

Go to KDE Settings->Shortcuts->Custom Shortcuts. Click Edit->New->Global Shortcut->Command/URL. Name it NvidiaSettings. Set trigger to ROG Key and set action to nvidia-settings

Change Fan Profile

Go to KDE Settings->Shortcuts->Custom Shortcuts. Click Edit->New->Global Shortcut->Command/URL. Name it ChangeFanProfile, set trigger to fn + f5 and action to asusctl profile -n

KDE Tweaks

Gamma Correction

In display and monitor -> gamma, change gamma to 0.9 for better colors

Touchpad Gestures

Use fusuma to get touchpad gestures. Create ~/.local/share/scripts/fusuma.sh and add

 #!/bin/bash
 fusuma -d #for running in daemon mode

Add this scrpit to autostart in KDE settings. For macOS like gestures use this config. 4 finger gestures are not working. My config is in the repo.

Yet Another Magic Lamp

A better magic lamp effect. In latest plasma versions, exclude “disable unsupported effects” next to the search bar in settings for the effect to appear.

Maximize to new desktop

In Kwin scripts, install “kwin-maximize-to-new-desktop” and run:

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/kservices5
ln -s ~/.local/share/kwin/scripts/max2NewVirtualDesktop/metadata.desktop ~/.local/share/kservices5/max2NewVirtualDesktop.desktop

Then install kdesignerplugin through pacman -S kdesignerplugin. Logout and login again after configuration changes. My config:

Trigger: Maximize only
Position: Next to current

(git)

Fixing Audio on Linux

Audio was exceptionally low on linux. To fix, first remove everything pulseaudio related by running:

sudo pacman -Rdd pulseaudio pulseaudio-alsa pulseaudio-bluetooth pulseaudio-ctl pulseaudio-equalizer pulseaudio-jack pulseaudio-lirc pulseaudio-rtp pulseaudio-zeroconf pulseaudio-equalizer-ladspa

Most of this may not be installed already so remove it from the command. Then, install pipewire and its related packages.

sudo pacman -S pipewire pipewire-pulse gst-plugin-pipewire pipewire-alsa pipewire-media-session

Install bluetooth related packages

sudo pacman -S bluez bluez-utils
sudo systemctl enable bluetooth.service
sudo systemctl start bluetooth.service

Install pulseaudio-equalizer-ladspa

sudo pacman -S pulseaudio-equalizer-ladspa

Then for autostart the equalizer do this

pulseaudio-equalizer enable-config

Miscellaneous

Key delay

Reduce key input delay to 250 ms for a better keyboard experience.

Chaotic AUR

First, install the primary key - it can then be used to install our keyring and mirrorlist.

pacman-key --recv-key FBA220DFC880C036 --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com
pacman-key --lsign-key FBA220DFC880C036
pacman -U 'https://cdn-mirror.chaotic.cx/chaotic-aur/chaotic-keyring.pkg.tar.zst' 'https://cdn-mirror.chaotic.cx/chaotic-aur/chaotic-mirrorlist.pkg.tar.zst'
sudo bash -c "echo -e '\r[chaotic-aur]\nInclude = /etc/pacman.d/chaotic-mirrorlist\n' >> /etc/pacman.conf"

yay AUR Helper

This needs to be installed after chaotic aur.

sudo pacman -S yay

Now to search a package and install just type yay <package name or keyword> and it will bring you some result. Choose the right option and follow further prompts

Alternatively, you can use pamac, which also has a gui.

Reference: https://github.com/asus-zephyrus/archinstall

<
Blog Archive
Archive of all previous blog posts
>
Next Post
Fedora Setup for Zephyrus G14