Back in April we revealed the ROG-Core project, with an aim to better support ASUS ROG laptops on Linux and it seems it's really coming along nicely now.
This special 'Republic Of Gamers' brand of ASUS laptops (available here) comes with a bunch of flashy features, most of which are only directly supported on Windows. Frustrating for Linux buyers of course but great to see a community project spring up to allow Linux users to fully appreciate their kit.
While it started off initially focusing on the Zephyrus GX502GW, which the author of the project owned, it's now progressed onto supporting quite a lot of models including: GM501, GX502, GX531, G512, G712, G531, G532 and more like GA14/GA401 depending on kernel patches. Impressive progress for something so new. It also shows how hardware vendors could and should be doing it if a few people hacking away in their free time can do it so well.
So what can it do? Quite a lot now. Per-key LED settings, fancy LED modes, modifying built-in LED modes, a Daemon mode, various system control options like screen brightness and Touchpad toggle, hotkeys for things like media controls and more.
It's gained a bit of a following now too, and has spawned another project with ZephyrusBling which builds upon ROG-Core to allow owners of the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 with the AniMe Matrix LED display on the back to do things like this:
While I have no need of it, I suddenly feel like I need it. How could you not love that though? Brilliant bit of useless flashy tech for the super nerd to show off a bit.
See the ROG-Core project here and the ZephyrusBling project here. Going even further, there's even now another project aimed at supporting AMD based ASUS laptops.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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14 comments
I hate stuff like that, it's annoying :P
Also, I have the back of my lappy covered with stickers anyway
Also, I have the back of my lappy covered with stickers anyway
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Devastatorius Jul 21, 2020
Good news.
Hard to find good gaming laptop with good linux support.
Hard to find good gaming laptop with good linux support.
2 Likes, Who?
I'm looking forward to a time when tools like this are no longer necessary because we have an abstracted general standard interface instead, rather than a different reverse-engineered utility for each vendor (at best). Like we have with Piper, or LVFS, or hwmon. It's an uphill struggle, though, since OEMs want to be OEMs with their "added value," and they aren't really interested in us.
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Good news.
Hard to find good gaming laptop with good linux support.
If you're in the market for a gaming laptop that runs perfectly on Linux, check out the MSI Bravo 15. I bought one two weeks ago and have Arch Linux running perfectly on it. Plus, it has both an AMD CPU and GPU (RX5500m), and both the integrated Vega 8 and RX5500m work perfectly. No need for any proprietary drivers. Oh and did I mention, it actually comes with Intel WiFi? Excellent machine.
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ROG Strix GL702ZC - still alive and kicking. But silly ASUS still fails to deliver an UEFI firmware with Matisse-support -_-
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Devastatorius Jul 21, 2020
Good news.
Hard to find good gaming laptop with good linux support.
If you're in the market for a gaming laptop that runs perfectly on Linux, check out the MSI Bravo 15. I bought one two weeks ago and have Arch Linux running perfectly on it. Plus, it has both an AMD CPU and GPU (RX5500m), and both the integrated Vega 8 and RX5500m work perfectly. No need for any proprietary drivers. Oh and did I mention, it actually comes with Intel WiFi? Excellent machine.
No thanks. I love Asus stuff, i'll stick with it.
0 Likes
Cyba.Cowboy Jul 22, 2020
Good news.
Hard to find good gaming laptop with good linux support.
System76 have a good gaming laptop with (native) Linux support... But it's expensive, especially if you don't live in America.
--
Any idea if the changes in these projects are being pushed upstream (i.e. to the Linux Kernel Team), or if they intend to do so in the future?
I have an ASUS ZenBook Duo UX481FL dual-display/screen laptop, which shares some of the "unique" functionality of the 'ROG' range, and it would be nice to see these changes trickle down to me eventually... Right now, certain things either don't work, or require me to build custom kernels from source (in saying that, approximately 90-95% of the stuff "just works").
And I'm lazy, so the things that don't work or don't work properly just sit there doing nothing...
Last edited by Cyba.Cowboy on 22 July 2020 at 4:24 am UTC
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Luke_Nukem Jul 22, 2020
Good news.
Hard to find good gaming laptop with good linux support.
System76 have a good gaming laptop with (native) Linux support... But it's expensive, especially if you don't live in America.
--
Any idea if the changes in these projects are being pushed upstream (i.e. to the Linux Kernel Team), or if they intend to do so in the future?
I have an ASUS ZenBook Duo UX481FL dual-display/screen laptop, which shares some of the "unique" functionality of the 'ROG' range, and it would be nice to see these changes trickle down to me eventually... Right now, certain things either don't work, or require me to build custom kernels from source (in saying that, approximately 90-95% of the stuff "just works").
And I'm lazy, so the things that don't work or don't work properly just sit there doing nothing...
Dev here. I would love to get much of the basic functions in to the kernel but the kernel is very dense and unforgiving to read through to even get started. If lsusb shows `0b05:1866 ASUSTek Computer, Inc. N-KEY Device` then you can use rog-core.
1 Likes, Who?
Cyba.Cowboy Jul 22, 2020
If lsusb shows `0b05:1866 ASUSTek Computer, Inc. N-KEY Device` then you can use rog-core.
No such luck for me, but thanks anyway for all your work.
0 Likes
Luke_Nukem Jul 23, 2020
If lsusb shows `0b05:1866 ASUSTek Computer, Inc. N-KEY Device` then you can use rog-core.
No such luck for me, but thanks anyway for all your work.
What devices *did* it show?
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Cyba.Cowboy Jul 24, 2020
If lsusb shows `0b05:1866 ASUSTek Computer, Inc. N-KEY Device` then you can use rog-core.
No such luck for me, but thanks anyway for all your work.
What devices *did* it show?
Bus 002 Device 005: ID 0bda:8153 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8153 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 0bc2:3322 Seagate RSS LLC SRD0NF2 [Expansion Desktop Drive]
Bus 002 Device 006: ID 0781:5595 SanDisk Corp. Expansion
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 050d:092c Belkin Components USB3.0 Hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0bc2:2321 Seagate RSS LLC Expansion Portable
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 050d:092a Belkin Components
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 05e3:0751 Genesys Logic, Inc. microSD Card Reader
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 1a40:0801 Terminus Technology Inc.
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 050d:092b Belkin Components USB2.0 Hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 13d3:56cb IMC Networks USB2.0 HD IR UVC WebCam
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 8087:0026 Intel Corp.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hubYeah, I have a few storage drives connected... lol
It's not an ROG laptop - but it is an ASUS laptop that shares some of the same hardware characteristics as some of the more "unique" ROG laptops (such as the dual built-in displays).
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Luke_Nukem Jul 24, 2020
If lsusb shows `0b05:1866 ASUSTek Computer, Inc. N-KEY Device` then you can use rog-core.
No such luck for me, but thanks anyway for all your work.
What devices *did* it show?
Bus 002 Device 005: ID 0bda:8153 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8153 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 0bc2:3322 Seagate RSS LLC SRD0NF2 [Expansion Desktop Drive]
Bus 002 Device 006: ID 0781:5595 SanDisk Corp. Expansion
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 050d:092c Belkin Components USB3.0 Hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0bc2:2321 Seagate RSS LLC Expansion Portable
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 050d:092a Belkin Components
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 05e3:0751 Genesys Logic, Inc. microSD Card Reader
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 1a40:0801 Terminus Technology Inc.
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 050d:092b Belkin Components USB2.0 Hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 13d3:56cb IMC Networks USB2.0 HD IR UVC WebCam
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 8087:0026 Intel Corp.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Yeah, I have a few storage drives connected... lol
It's not an ROG laptop - but it is an ASUS laptop that shares some of the same hardware characteristics as some of the more "unique" ROG laptops (such as the dual built-in displays).
No ASUS usb devices at all. I'm guessing all your input stuff will be over smbus or similar. Interesting laptop for sure! How are you finding it for use?
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Looks great!
Also - I'm not buying a laptop with force-preloaded OEM Windows!
Also - I'm not buying a laptop with force-preloaded OEM Windows!
0 Likes
Cyba.Cowboy Jul 24, 2020
Interesting laptop for sure! How are you finding it for use?
Great.
I originally bought it because I was curious how well a Linux-based operating system would run on it and I happened to need a new laptop anyway... But I have found it super productive and not gimmicky at all, plus it mostly works with Ubuntu "out of the box" (still can't seem to get the stylus working with the touchscreen, and the brightness can only be adjusted when using a custom kernel).
When I replace the wife's laptop - my old laptop - it will definitely be the same model or another ASUS / ROG laptop with the dual built-in displays... Honestly, I don't know how I could go back to a single-display laptop.
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