[LEFT]So just got a fancy new Zenbook UX32VD handed to me with instructions to install openSUSE 12.1 on it and virtualization isn’t an option… SO far I have hit issue after issue and cant seem to find a lot of information on the problems I have encountered and I figured what better place to start collecting it then right here.
Laptop Manual
First issue I ran into when installing 12.1 on a Zenbook is there is no disc drive. I solved this by making a bootable USB drive.
Second issue I ran into is that the installer doesn’t seem support the USB 3.0 ports on the Zenbook. Fortunately USB 3.0 is backwards compatible so I had to create another bootable USB on a 2.0 USB with openSUSE 12.1’s Installation data.
Third issue I hit is a black screen after the installer loads udev; screen just completely goes black and nothing comes back up. It looks like the drives are still busy and loading is going on in the background but nothing happens. I think this is the optimus technology making openSUSE choke so I figured using VESA mode would take care of it…NOPE! Instead for some reason using the installation parameter nomodeset in the openSUSE boot menu works which is strange because to my understand nomodeset is the same as selecting VESA. Maybe I’m wrong? but nomodeset works for installation.
Fourth issue I ran into is that there are no drivers to support the Intel wifi in the stock installation of 12.1. In addition to this issue; there are no ethernet ports. Instead Asus has included a usb to ethernet adapter and I cant find out the spec on it; perhaps its not working because it USB 3.0 Ethernet adapter? cant find out and its not working.
Fifth (Major Issue!) After then install I’m already in a pickle because I cant update due to the connectivity issues I’m dealing with in the above issue. The biggest problem is however that after my install is completed and I reboot from the KDE desktop It boots straight int the system BIOS! The drives are detected by the BIOS and listed in the SATA configuration but there are no boot options and no options to set boot options. All I get is delete boot options. This is a real issue because all the work I have done up to this point is gone and for any alternative to installation I try requires me to repeat this installation process.
I’m stuck here and humbly need the help of the community! Thanks for reading this post and a big thanks in advance for any help contributed to accomplishing this install![/LEFT]