Asus T100TA - Linux Mint 20 - Almost flawless OOTB!!!

[Magoso]

Hi all,

I was trying to get my T100ta to install Linux, since I prefer it over Windows 10 and its less demanding on the system. After a couple of days I was finally able to figure out how to install it with ease.

Almost everything works out of the box. Bluetooth, touch screen, no screen tearing, sound (though you still have to fix the popping due to power-save features), even the function keys to control screen brightness and volume work. Everything just works!!!

The only thing I can't seem to get working is the volume rocker on the left had side of the display, but that's not really an issue for me as I usually use the software controls.

Also you have to configure the WiFi with a simple command to get it working, but that is no trouble fix and you only have to do it twice and it will work forever after that. I am noticing that the WiFi drops off once and a while, but it connects again right away.

I followed the guide at (https://github.com/5bentz/linux-asus...100TA_guide.md ) to help get it working. Though these specific instructions are for Ubuntu version 18.04.1 and I ran into errors using Mint 20. But it did contain some good information which helped me eventually get things working.

Anyways, here is how to do it.



Make a USB installer with the Linux Mint 20 ISO from the mint website:

https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

I used the Cinnamon desktop version, but I'm sure the others will work with this method.

Add the bootia32.efi too the EFI/BOOT folder on your install disk on the ISO after burning it:

https://github.com/hirotakaster/baytail-bootia32.efi

This will allow you to boot into the the system with the Live ISO to test out and install Mint. Also make sure Secureboot is disabled in the BIOS so it can boot the ISO.


Once you have gotten into the live environment you MUST get the WiFi working before you do the install. If you don’t you will have a grub error and wont be able to boot. The instructions I was following had you install Mint first by running Ubiquity in -b mode to get around the boot issue, then to manually set up the grub boot yourself. The instructions only had you fix the WiFi AFTER you installed the system.

So fix the WiFi before you install from the Live ISO. To fix it:

Open a terminal and type:

sudo -s


Then copy this command into the terminal:


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

then

modprobe -r brcmfmac

then

modprobe brcmfmac

This will get the WiFi working for the install. You will have to run those 3 lines again once you boot into the system for the first time without the Live ISO stick. After that it works fine and logs onto your network automatically. As I said above, I have experienced a few drops, but it automatically signs back on right away.

Now that your WiFi is enabled go ahead and run the installer normally by running the install icon on the desktop. Once that is finished go ahead and reboot, it will ask you to remove the install media then press enter.

After that everything should boot fine, again you need to run the WiFi fix once more on the freshly installed system and that’s it.

To fix the audio popping issue I followed one of the instructions at:
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=184635

Specifically this instruction:
Go to /usr/lib/pm-utils/power.d/ and edit the intel-audio-powersave file.
Find the line that says:
INTEL_AUDIO_POWERSAVE=${INTEL_AUDIO_POWERSAVE:-true}
Hash this out so it reads:
#INTEL_AUDIO_POWERSAVE=${INTEL_AUDIO_POWERSAVE:-true}
Add this directly underneath it:
INTEL_AUDIO_POWERSAVE=false

You must reboot for the fix to take effect.

This fixed the sound popping when I would play or pause a video or audio file. It still pops just once before the login screen, but is fine after that. If anyone knows a fix for that let me know please.

Anyways, this should get it installed and working on the T100TA and I assume others in the Transformer series. I also have a T101HA but haven’t tried it on it yet. Though the T101HA has that stupid portrait default that can be set to landscape in both Windows and Linux Mint in the display settings. But some older games display weird and I get a black bar on the right hand side of the screen.

If anyone knows how to delete the portrait mode from the T101HA permanently please let me know as I would rather it just function like a little laptop. Would love to have Linux on it as well for the old games I play off Steam, but the screen issue is a deal breaker. Since I can usually find work around for Windows on it, I’ll leave Windows on there for now.

Well, that’s about all there is to get it working really well. I’ve been using it for a few days now and it works awesome. Let me know how it works for you if you give it a go.

Kind Regards,
Matthew

[Magoso]

Just an update...

I tried a live boot of Mint 20 on my T101HA (yes, I have two transformers...hehe) and WiFi worked right out of the box. I still had to flip the display from portrait to Landscape, but I had to do that with Windows as well. Because of the screen issues I also had to fix the screen tearing which was a quick and easy fix.

I didn't install to this one, just tested out the live boot. Just thought I would post in case anyone is looking for a good Linux OS for their transformer book.

Kind Regards,
Matthew

[anxdroid]

Just an update...

I tried a live boot of Mint 20 on my T101HA (yes, I have two transformers...hehe) and WiFi worked right out of the box. I still had to flip the display from portrait to Landscape, but I had to do that with Windows as well. Because of the screen issues I also had to fix the screen tearing which was a quick and easy fix.

I didn't install to this one, just tested out the live boot. Just thought I would post in case anyone is looking for a good Linux OS for their transformer book.

Kind Regards,
Matthew

Hi, I just manged to install xubuntu on a T100TA and almost everything works out of the box, except the volume rocker and the webcam. I looked online but it seems the cam without a patched kernel, it's impossibile to get it to work. Did you have any luck with that ?

best,
Antonello

[Tor]

I don't have the T100TA, but what webcam does it have? "lspci" should tell you some details - look for the line which says "VGA" something. "-v" gives more details.

Edit: Ops, the above looks for the display device, not the camera.. see below

[anxdroid]

hi, this is the output for "VGA":

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Graphics & Display (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Graphics & Display
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 45
Memory at 90000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4M]
Memory at 80000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
I/O ports at 1000 [size=8]
Expansion ROM at 000c0000 [virtual] [disabled] [size=128K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: i915
Kernel modules: i915

"lsusb" gives no clues and also in "dmesg" I don't know what to look for. I found online that the cam is Aptina MT9M114 but I couldn't find a reliable driver

[anxdroid]

I just found out that the driver for this camera was removed from the kernel tree in 2018 but it will be back in kernel 5.8. I just tried to install it using this link https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.8/ + dpkg and actually, "dmesg | grep isp" gives:

[ 4.963655] atomisp_gmin_platform: module is from the staging directory, the quality is unknown, you have been warned.
[ 5.038816] atomisp_mt9m114: module is from the staging directory, the quality is unknown, you have been warned.
[ 6.418449] Modules linked in: snd_hdmi_lpe_audio(+) gpio_keys intel_rapl_msr mei_hdcp intel_soc_dts_thermal intel_powerclamp coretemp kvm_intel kvm punit_atom_debug crct10dif_pclmul ghash_clmulni_intel aesni_intel crypto_simd cryptd glue_helper intel_cstate brcmfmac joydev asus_wmi sparse_keymap brcmutil efi_pstore cfg80211 uas usb_storage usbhid ak8975 hid_multitouch snd_soc_rt5670 snd_soc_rt5651 snd_soc_rt5645 snd_intel_sst_acpi snd_intel_sst_core mac_hid snd_soc_sst_atom_hifi2_platform snd_soc_rt5640 snd_soc_acpi_intel_match snd_soc_acpi snd_soc_rl6231 snd_soc_core i915 snd_compress ac97_bus snd_pcm_dmaengine snd_pcm drm_kms_helper cec snd_seq_midi dptf_power snd_seq_midi_event snd_rawmidi soc_button_array rc_core hci_uart btqca int3400_thermal processor_thermal_device btrtl i2c_algo_bit btbcm intel_rapl_common snd_seq atomisp_mt9m114(C) fb_sys_fops btintel int3403_thermal acpi_thermal_rel int3406_thermal intel_soc_dts_iosf syscopyarea int340x_thermal_zone atomisp_gmin_platform(C)

and "lsmod | grep mt9":

atomisp_mt9m114 32768 0
atomisp_gmin_platform 36864 1 atomisp_mt9m114
videodev 245760 1 atomisp_mt9m114
mc 57344 2 videodev,atomisp_mt9m114

something is happening... I still can't find the camera in Zoom (e.g.) though

[Tor]

My mistake - I meant 'lsusb', we're not looking for the display driver.. presumably it works (intel i915). Can you show the output of 'lsusb' please?

Edit: We posted at the same time - does "cat /proc/devices" show anything for video?

[anxdroid]

thank you for your time and answers !
Here is the output of "cat /proc/devices"

Character devices:
1 mem
4 /dev/vc/0
4 tty
4 ttyS
5 /dev/tty
5 /dev/console
5 /dev/ptmx
5 ttyprintk
6 lp
7 vcs
10 misc
13 input
21 sg
29 fb
81 video4linux
89 i2c
99 ppdev
108 ppp
116 alsa
128 ptm
136 pts
180 usb
189 usb_device
204 ttyMAX
216 rfcomm
226 drm
234 aux
235 cec
236 BaseRemoteCtl
237 mei
238 media
239 iio
240 rpmb
241 ttyDBC
242 hidraw
243 vfio
244 bsg
245 watchdog
246 ptp
247 pps
248 rtc
249 dma_heap
250 dax
251 dimmctl
252 ndctl
253 tpm
254 gpiochip

Block devices:
7 loop
8 sd
9 md
11 sr
65 sd
66 sd
67 sd
68 sd
69 sd
70 sd
71 sd
128 sd
129 sd
130 sd
131 sd
132 sd
133 sd
134 sd
135 sd
179 mmc
253 device-mapper
254 mdp
259 blkext

I found on this link https://cateee.net/lkddb/web-lkddb/VIDEO_ATOMISP.html that the drivers looks for these entries in the PCI bus:

vendor: 8086 ("Intel Corporation"), device: 0f38 ("Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Camera ISP")
vendor: 8086 ("Intel Corporation"), device: 0f38 ("Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Camera ISP")

but none of them appears in lspci...

[anxdroid]

Following this tutorial https://github.com/jfwells/linux-asu.../master/webcam I'm trying (blindly) to get the webcam appear in the hw list.
In particular:

Install ISP Firmware
Copy the firmware files into /lib/firmware. The files required are:
iaisp_2400_css.bin.big
iaisp_2400_css.bin.small
Reboot the machine.

but I couldn't be able to operate on the BIOS as there is no "Uncore Configuration". After reboot still no trace of the webcam in lspci but in "dmesg | grep mt9" i got:

[ 4.807070] atomisp_mt9m114: module is from the staging directory, the quality is unknown, you have been warned.
[ 4.974218] mt9m114 i2c-INT33F0:00: gmin: power management provided via Crystal Cove PMIC (i2c addr 0x6e)
[ 4.974242] mt9m114 i2c-INT33F0:00: gmin_subdev_add: ACPI path is \_SB.I2C4.CAM0
[ 4.974741] mt9m114 i2c-INT33F0:00: Failed to find EFI variable INT33F0:00_ClkSrc
[ 4.974746] mt9m114 i2c-INT33F0:00: ClkSrc: using default (1)
[ 4.975447] mt9m114 i2c-INT33F0:00: Found DMI entry for 'INT33F0:00_CsiPort'
[ 4.975811] mt9m114 i2c-INT33F0:00: Found DMI entry for 'INT33F0:00_CsiLanes'
[ 4.976006] mt9m114 i2c-INT33F0:00: will handle gpio0 via ACPI
[ 4.976104] mt9m114 i2c-INT33F0:00: will handle gpio1 via ACPI
[ 4.976185] mt9m114 i2c-INT33F0:00: Failed to find EFI gmin variable gmin_V1P8GPIO
[ 4.976189] mt9m114 i2c-INT33F0:00: V1P8GPIO: using default (-1)
[ 4.976257] mt9m114 i2c-INT33F0:00: Failed to find EFI gmin variable gmin_V2P8GPIO
[ 4.976260] mt9m114 i2c-INT33F0:00: V2P8GPIO: using default (-1)
[ 4.976300] mt9m114 i2c-INT33F0:00: Will use CLK1 (pmc_plt_clk_1)
[ 4.976321] mt9m114 i2c-INT33F0:00: ACPI didn't mapped the OpRegion needed to access I2C address 0x6e.
[ 4.976511] mt9m114 i2c-INT33F0:00: ACPI didn't mapped the OpRegion needed to access I2C address 0x6e.
[ 4.976714] mt9m114 i2c-INT33F0:00: sensor power-up failed
[ 4.976777] INT33F0:00: mt9m114 power-up err
[ 5.044718] atomisp_mt9m114: module is from the staging directory, the quality is unknown, you have been warned.
[ 5.062106] mt9m114: probe of i2c-INT33F0:00 failed with error -95
[ 6.195191] Modules linked in: snd_hdmi_lpe_audio(+) snd_soc_sst_bytcr_rt5640(+) hid_asus(+) gpio_keys mei_hdcp intel_rapl_msr intel_soc_dts_thermal intel_powerclamp coretemp kvm_intel kvm punit_atom_debug crct10dif_pclmul ghash_clmulni_intel aesni_intel crypto_simd cryptd glue_helper intel_cstate asus_wmi brcmfmac sparse_keymap brcmutil cfg80211 efi_pstore joydev ak8975 snd_soc_rt5670 snd_soc_rt5651 snd_soc_rt5645 snd_intel_sst_acpi uas snd_intel_sst_core hid_multitouch snd_soc_rt5640 snd_soc_sst_atom_hifi2_platform usb_storage usbhid snd_soc_rl6231 snd_soc_acpi_intel_match snd_soc_acpi i915 snd_soc_core snd_compress ac97_bus snd_pcm_dmaengine hci_uart snd_pcm btqca btrtl drm_kms_helper btbcm mac_hid btintel snd_seq_midi cec snd_seq_midi_event rc_core atomisp_mt9m114(C) bluetooth snd_rawmidi i2c_algo_bit atomisp_gmin_platform(C) fb_sys_fops soc_button_array syscopyarea processor_thermal_device dptf_power snd_seq videodev inv_mpu6050_i2c sysfillrect ecdh_generic int3400_thermal

I'm not sure that the lines starting with "mt9m114 i2c-INT33F0:00" are caused by the firmware files, because lately I was looking for "dmesg | grep isp"

[Tor]

It looks like the driver is not in a particularly good shape. Reading up on some kernel lists I get the impression that the atomisp driver has a lot of problems (one of them is that it's not updated to work with the newer kernel Video 4 Linux framework, and other things). But it looks like someone is actually working on this right now, so maybe it'll start working at some point. I'm assuming that the cam hardware is similar to what's in the MS Surface, although (due to how it's detected) the updates may not be immediately available for the T100TA when this gets updated - but I'm not sure about that.