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Installing Ubuntu on ASUS T100 TA

As of August 2018. (20180815)

John Brodie said

The problem with step by step guides. The information is only accurate for up to a few months.

Follow this guide with a grain of salt. Check if something is working before trying to repair it. After fixing it,
verify if it is really working.

Most importantly, backup your data. You already do it monthly, don't you?

Resources

Asus T100 Ubuntu group. Ask your questions here!

https://plus.google.com/communities/117853703024346186936
Various tutorials with screenshots https://tutorials.ubuntu.com/tutorial/
Linuxium and Isorespin: customize Ubuntu ISOs!
https://linuxiumcomau.blogspot.com/2017/06/customizing-ubuntu-isos-documentation.html

Other sources that made this guide possible

(old) Latest steps to install Ubuntu on the Asus T100TA: http://www.jfwhome.com/2016/01/04/latest-

steps-to-install-ubuntu-on-the-asus-t100ta/
(old) Installing Debian On AsusT100TA https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/Asus/T100TA

The guide starts here!

1. Download Ubuntu 18.04.1

Download the ISO file you prefer. I personally like Xubuntu for its lightweight, yet powerful & customizable
desktop environment.

Ubuntu: https://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop
Xubuntu: https://xubuntu.org/download
Other torrents: http://torrent.ubuntu.com/

Note: Download the 64 bit version. 32 bit versions may fail to boot.

2. Flash the installation media

Flash the installation media. We will need to write on it afterwards, so do not use dd or DD mode.

On Windows

Alternatively to this section's instructions, you can follow Ubuntu's tutorial.

https://tutorials.ubuntu.com/tutorial/tutorial-create-a-usb-stick-on-windows#0

Rufus download: https://rufus.ie/ (Rufus or Rufus Portable)

Run it

The defaults should be alright, I'd just recommend setting the partition scheme to GTP UEFI, since ASUS
T100 and Windows 10 are compatible with it. Make sure you are flashing the correct device.

Partition scheme: GPT UEFI

Name: 11 characters max, for example UBUNTU1804
File system: default (FAT32)
Cluster size: default (8192 bytes)
Image Mode: default (ISO).

3. Add the bootable GRUB file for our IA32-powered ASUS

T100.

Once Rufus has finished to flash the media:

Copy the bootia32.efi file in the EFI/BOOT directory. This directory should already contain various
EFI files: probably BOOTx64.EFI and grubx64.efi .

If, like jfwells, you would like to build bootia32.efi by yourself, follow his guide (primarily for Linux
Ubuntu and other Linux Debian-derivatives): https://github.com/jfwells/linux-asus-t100ta/tree/master/boot

4. Boot

Disable Secure Boot

Power on your ASUS T100

Press repetitively the F2 button at boot to prompt the UEFI menu, namely Setup Utility
Go to the tab Security , then Secure Boot menu
Make sure Secure Boot Support is [Disabled]

Boot the installation medium

It is time to boot the installation medium!

Power on your ASUS T100

Press repetitively the ESC button at boot to prompt the boot menu
Select your installation medium, in our case: UBUNTU1804
Try Ubuntu without installing
You might need to turn keyboard's numeric lock (NumLock) off
FN + numLock (or FN + Inser) on the keyboard
 or numlockx off in a terminal
Optionally, change your keyboard layout
setxkbmap countryCode (de for German, fr for French, etc)
In a terminal, run ubiquity -b # Does not install a bootloader (Thanks Steven Andrew Mielke!)

For novice users, follow Ubuntu's tutorial. But do not reboot at the end of the installation. Press the
button Continue testing instead. https://tutorials.ubuntu.com/tutorial/tutorial-install-ubuntu-desktop#4
When you are done with Ubuntu's tutorial, jump to the section Install bootloader in this document.

For more advanced users, choose the last installation type: Something else.

5. Partitioning

The changes done in this section are not effectively written on the disk. The actual partitioning will happen
when we'll run the installation. Therefore, you can go back at any time and try again.

Note: A new ESP's filesystem is displayed as ext4 in ubiquity when partitioning, before install. This is a
display bug. The ESP is a VFAT or FAT32 partition.

ESP stands for EFI System Partition.

Note: Ignore the device with a single partition of 8014 MB, namely /dev/mmcblk0 .

Make up space for Ubuntu

2 scenarios: keep Windows or ditch Windows.

Keep Windows

You should have already shrunk Windows's partition in Windows (Disks)

Windows 7: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg309169.aspx
Windows 10: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/disk-management/shrink-
a-basic-volume#BKMK_WINUI

Ditch Windows

Delete each partition, except the ESP. The ESP is probably one of the first partition, its size is 100
MB, and may be labeled SYSTEM .
Select the partition you want to delete
Press the - button to delete it.

Note: Alternatively, if you know what you are doing, you can create a new partition table and a new ESP.
Backup the old ESP, just in case.

Create the partition for Ubuntu

Select the Free Space

Press the + button to add a new partition
Size: the rest (this is the default)
Use as: ext4 journaling file system
Mountpoint dropdown-menu: /
OK
6. Installation

Make sure 'Device for bootloader installation' is the right device, probably /dev/mmcblk2
Install now
...Installation...
When finished, Continue testing

7. Install bootloader

Enable WiFi

/!\ Theses filenames are for T100TA only. Other T100's (T100CHI, etc) has other brcmfmac numbers

cp /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/nvram-* /lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43241b4-sdio.txt #useful

now
cp /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/nvram-* /target/lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43241b4-sdio.txt
#useful after reboot
modprobe -r brcmfmac
modprobe brcmfmac

Now, you should be able to connect your ASUS T100 to your network.

Chroot steps

Find the EFI System Partition. This should be the VFAT partition next to /target
lsblk -f

lsblk -f
NAME FSTYPE LABEL UUID MOUNTPOINT
loop0 squashfs /rofs
sda
└─sda1 ntfs Restore 0A32F68B32F67AD1
sdb
└─sdb1 vfat XUBUNTU_18_ D85F-FC95 /cdrom
mmcblk2
├─mmcblk2p1 vfat 1DA4-A881
└─mmcblk2p2 ext4 a1994fa2-ddf3-...ff /target
mmcblk2boot0
mmcblk2boot1
mmcblk0
└─mmcblk0p1 vfat 9016-4EF8 /media/xubuntu/9016-4EF8

In this example, it is mmcblk2p1

If you are unsure, check its size with lsblk , it should be about 100M.
mount /dev/mmcblk2p1 /target/boot/efi
Then, we have to mount some filesystems before chrooting:

for dir in /dev /dev/pts /proc /run /sys;

do mount --bind "$dir" /target/"$dir";
done

chroot /target /bin/bash

Bootloader Installation

apt update
apt install grub-efi-ia32 # grub-pc removed is normal behavior
grub-install --efi-directory /boot/efi

update-grub

Check efibootmgr to see if ubuntu is in BootCurrent and first in BootOrder, as shown below:

BootCurrent: 0001
Timeout: 1 seconds
BootOrder: 0001,0002
Boot0001* ubuntu
Boot0002* UEFI: USB stick

8. Boot options

Power saving

Edit kernel boot options to add intel_idle.max_cstate=1 before quiet

nano /etc/default/grub

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="intel_idle.max_cstate=1 quiet splash"

cstate <= 1 is STABLE in 2018.

I don't know if cstate >= 2 is stable.

GRUB boot screen

If you want the system to boot faster, let's say 1 second after the GRUB boot screen

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
GRUB_TIMEOUT=1

Update the grub configuration file in /boot/efi/grub/grub.cfg

update-grub

9. Feel free to do other things in the chroot environment

When you are done. Just execute exit .

Before the reboot
umount /target/boot/efi

10. Sound (T100TA)

/!\ T100TA only. Other T100's (T100CHI, etc) has other audio device numbers

Download the following folder

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B4DiU2o72FbuOXdwRXhfZ3ZmOFE?
 tid=0B9C1WK1FQhjfcXNrbzN6djQzajg
Extract it and enter the folder

I'm following the instructions from the file README.txt

sudo rm /var/lib/alsa/asound.state

sudo mkdir /usr/share/alsa/ucm/bytcr-rt5640

sudo cp HiFi bytcr-rt5640.conf /usr/share/alsa/ucm/bytcr-rt5640

ll /usr/share/alsa/ucm/bytcr-rt5640
total 16
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8552 Aug 1 21:35 HiFi
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 118 Aug 1 21:35 bytcr-rt5640.conf

sudo alsactl restore

We have sound devices in Pulseaudio now :3 But still no sound.
Lower the sound volume, just in case.
reboot
a new asound file is generated (created before or after reboot), but still no sound
sudo cp kernel4.5.xand4.4.x.asound.state /var/lib/alsa/asound.state
sudo alsactl restore
Now we have sound!

If you have no sound, make sure Pulseaudio is correctly set:

pavucontrol
Configuration pane
Card Name: off
Built-in audio: Play HiFi quality music
Input device: ignore it, this is for your micro.
Output device
Port: Headphones or speaker playback
You are good!

11. Backlit control

Use xbacklight. Working for kernel >= 4.13 (Ubuntu 1804 has 4.15)

xbacklight -inc 1 and xbacklight -dec 1

xbacklight requires to configure Xorg: /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Section "Device"
Identifier "Card0"
Driver "intel"
Option "Backlight" "intel_backlight"
EndSection

12. Hardware video decoding

apt install ubuntu-restricted-addons

reboot
 apt install vainfo
vainfo
Parole should use around 25% CPU when playing a 720p, h264 video fullscreen, instead of 70-100%
without hardware decoding.

13. Disable numlock at boot

Numlock is especially annoying in the login screen, when typing the password...since we do not see
the actual characters.
apt remove numlockx

History

20180815

Use 64 bit ISOs

Disable Secure Boot
Keep the ESP instead of wiping it

20180802

First version