Manjaro / Arch Linux on Asus K55A

It took a little bit to figure out differences between a K55A laptop install and an older computer, thus it seems worth the while to document how i finally got Arch (Manjaro) to boot on my K55A using Grub.

Software you'll need before you start:
A Manjaro image 0.8.7 or later (I chose and Openbox based one):
http://sourceforge.net/projects/manjarolinux/files/release/

An Ubuntu x86_64 12.04.03 or later  or x86_64 13.04 image (I choose 13.04)
http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop

1. Make a bootable USB, CD or DVD for both the Ubuntu and Manjaro images.
2. Access the boot manager by pressing <esc> during boot up and selecting "enter setup" (formally known as the BIOS)
3. Disable Secure boot, and activate alternate UFEI booting.

Insert the Manjaro cd, and restart the system.  Press escape to get into the UFEI loader again and choose to boot the CD in UFEI mode.

(Continuing from step 4 here: http://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php?title=UEFI_-_Install_Guide ) Boot with your USB or DVD & use the rEFInd - Main Menu... to choose which GPU drivers you want to have installed, the open-source or proprietary:

* Boot Manjaro Linux ... (default) - 
  This chooses the open-source - free GPU drivers.
* Boot Manjaro Linux ... (nonfree) - 
  This option chooses the proprietary GPU drivers
  from Nvidia or ATI.

Open terminal and enter

$ sudo setup 

Choose 2. Use testing installer (EFI support).

From here you can continue to install via your preferred setup method.  When you get to 5. Install Boot loader choose Grub (2) UFEI

It will almost work, but then fail with the error:

  efivars kernel module was not loaded properly.

  Manually load it and create a boot entry for DISC

  /dev/sda , PART 1 and LOADER

  \EFI\manjaro_grub\grubx64.efi , in UFEI Boot Manager

  using efibootmanager

(I had a guess as to what this meant, but when I tried to execute efibootmanager it became apparent it wasn't available via the live CD.  Thuse I began a Ubuntu install on a separate partition hoping to salvage my Arch install later.)

Install Ubuntu in UFEI mode:

1. Insert the Ubuntu Disc into your computer
2. Once again reboot the computer and enter UFEI loader via the esc key.
3. Install Ubuntu via the usual manner

From there remove the install CD, reboot the system pressing esc to get into the UFEI loader, and choose Ubuntu Loader.  From the Grub menu, you'll be able to select Ubuntu, Grub, and any other OS that might be on your system.







 

Giving Arch / Manjaro a Shot

So I first heard about Arch while I was having some dependency problems with a Debian based distribution.  From all accounts it sounded like Arch was the only distro that had the packed in question working properly, (I don't remember the package name or what it was for) which intrigued me.

Moreover, it seemed like Arch had a lot of the same advantages of Gentoo, but was more user focused, and from what I can tell the documentation was better as well.  Further, the claim to adhere to principal of simplicity, as well as the way they've build upon and re-instituted the apt-packgage manager made me feel it was worth trying.

Unfortunately, the text based installer leaves you without a X window system, and configuring that is no easy task.  After days of tying to force arch onto my desktop I finally gave up on it. 

Recently, however, I heard of Manjaro Linux.  Which esentially is an installer script for Arch that leaves you with an XFCE or OpenBox desktop.  The process, while not perfect, was far easier, and if I can work out a coupple bugs, I may decide to start using Arch full-time.