HPR1991: Adventures installing Linux on an Asus EeeBook X205A

High-level steps to install Ubuntu Mate on the Asus Eeebook X205A

Information compiled from Here, Here, and Here

Download and create startup disk

Download the 64-bit version of the iso, then create a bootable USB. I recommend using dcfldd.

Getting grub 32-bit

Compile or download grubia32.efi (see links), then move it into the /EFI/BOOT directory on the USB.

Installation

Boot from the disk (assuming you already disabled secure boot from the BIOS). Install the system as you like.

First Boot

Reboot, but leave in USB. Type c when grub loads, then enter in:

linux (hd1,gpt2)/boot/vmlinuz.... root=/dev/mmcblk0p2
initrd (hd1,gpt2)/boot/initrd....
boot

Wi-Fi

To get wi-fi working, put in terminal:

sudo cp /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/nvram-XXXXXX /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43340-sdio.txt

Then reload the brcmfmac driver:

sudo modprobe -r brcmfmac
sudo modprobe brcmfmac

Fix bootloader

Fix Bootloader with the following commands as root:

sudo apt-get install git bison libopts25 libselinux1-dev autogen m4 autoconf help2man libopts25-dev flex libfont-freetype-perl automake autotools-dev libfreetype6-dev texinfo

# from https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/grub-download.html
git clone git://git.savannah.gnu.org/grub.git

cd grub

./autogen.sh

./configure --with-platform=efi --target=i386 --program-prefix=""

make

cd grub-core
sudo su
../grub-install -d . --efi-directory /boot/efi/ --target=i386
cd /boot/efi/EFI
cp grub/grubia32.efi ubuntu/
exit

Then, we can just install grub-efi-ia32:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install grub-efi-ia32

Edit the grub configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/default/grub

Find the line starting GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT and add intel_idle.max_cstate=1 before quiet splash".

Then ctrl-o, ctrl-x to save & exit, and type: sudo update-grub to update Grub.

Remove the USB stick and reboot, and you should now have a self-sufficient booting system.

Conflict between sdhci-acpi and brcmfmac

Due to some conflict between sdhci-acpi and brcmfmac (https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=88061), a parameter has to be changed for the sdhci-acpi driver. There are several ways to do this, but a quick fix is to add this line in /etc/sysfs.conf (make sure you have the package sysfsutils installed), this way the option is passed before the brcmfmac driver is loaded :

# Disable SDHCI-ACPI for Wireless, otherwise WLAN doesn't work
bus/platform/drivers/sdhci-acpi/INT33BB:00/power/control = on

microSD Card Reader

Create a file /etc/modprobe.d/sdhci.conf with the following content:

# Adjustment to make micro SD card reader work
options sdhci debug_quirks=0x8000

Then run

update-initramfs -u -k all

After a reboot the card reader should be working.

Links

• https://www.asus.com/Notebooks/ASUS_EeeBook_X205TA/
• https://www.jfwhome.com/2016/01/04/latest-steps-to-install-ubuntu-on-the-asus-t100ta/
• https://github.com/lopaka/instructions/blob/master/ubuntu-14.10-install-asus-x205ta.md
• https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/Asus/X205TA
• https://dcfldd.sourceforge.net/

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