Asus X401A-BHPDN41

[caffeinatedev]

Has anyone had luck with running Ubuntu with the Asus X401A-BHPDN41 notebook?

Specs:

Intel Pentium CPU B980 @ 2.40GHz
4.00GB RAM
x64-based processor

Current Operating System:

Windows 8 64-bit

[2F4U]

Can you be more specific? What are your problems?

[caffeinatedev]

Specifically, I can't access BIOS from the boot screen and so I can't boot from USB.

Installing Ubuntu via Wubi presents some sort of error on boot up which basically won't allow me to boot into anything other than Windows.

Note that this is not ARM architecture so the user *should* be able to disable Secure Boot. My problem is that I don't know how to disable Secure Boot or even how to check to see if Secure Boot is enabled.

**The hardware doesn't seem to be the issue because I successfully ran Ubuntu in a VM.

[2F4U]

Specifically, I can't access BIOS from the boot screen and so I can't boot from USB.

There is usually a particular key you should press to get into the BIOS. Unfortunately, this is vendor specific, but often pressing F1 or F2 gets you in the BIOS. On some machines you can temporarily change the boot order by pressing F11 or F12 (depends on the machine) while the BIOS screen is active.

Installing Ubuntu via Wubi presents some sort of error on boot up which basically won't allow me to boot into anything other than Windows.

You would have to be more specific in what the error message is.

Note that this is not ARM architecture so the user *should* be able to disable Secure Boot. My problem is that I don't know how to disable Secure Boot or even how to check to see if Secure Boot is enabled.

To be honest, you can't attribute this Secure Boot thing to Ubuntu since it is clearly a Microsoft "invention".

**The hardware doesn't seem to be the issue because I successfully ran Ubuntu in a VM.

Totally irrelevant. The VM present the OS (Ubuntu) with a generic hardware designed by the VM vendor. It really has nothing to do with your real hardware and running any Linux distribution in a VM tells you nothing about how it runs on your real hardware. This is the whole purpose of virtualization, to be independent from particular hardware.

[sigmatht]

Specifically, I can't access BIOS from the boot screen and so I can't boot from USB.

Installing Ubuntu via Wubi presents some sort of error on boot up which basically won't allow me to boot into anything other than Windows.

Note that this is not ARM architecture so the user *should* be able to disable Secure Boot. My problem is that I don't know how to disable Secure Boot or even how to check to see if Secure Boot is enabled.

**The hardware doesn't seem to be the issue because I successfully ran Ubuntu in a VM.

Power off your machine, turn it on and hit f2. I like to just keep hitting it repeatedly until bios comes up.

Source: http://support.asus.com/Troubleshoot...R&os=8&no=1028

[bg4545]

I've got the same laptop in green. The issue with not being able to access the BIOS settings or boot a USB is because of Windows 8. Windows 8 skips the Boot options. In order to change settings you have to boot Windows and go to the PC Settings and under "General" if you scroll down it "Advanced Startup". You can click Restart now to load the Boot Menu and you can change BIOS settings there or Boot from a USB drive.
I haven't had any luck loading Ubuntu though, it just loads to a Black screen. I used Universal USB Installer to create the USB.

[caffeinatedev]

I feel like a n00b for not knowing about the VM thing, which I guess I still am

All very useful advice guys, thank you very much. I was able to access BIOS using F2 but the options available are very confusing to me.

I take it that the black screen is for a lack of a video driver?

And I'll be sure to post the error message when I get a chance to attempt a Wubi install again.

[GaryTheCat]

I'm hoping to buy one of these with Win7 preinstalled - I'm not too bothered about dual booting with Windows but may consider it.

Does anyone think I'll have the problems mentioned above?

Many thanks

G

[caffeinatedev]

I've got the same laptop in green. The issue with not being able to access the BIOS settings or boot a USB is because of Windows 8. Windows 8 skips the Boot options. In order to change settings you have to boot Windows and go to the PC Settings and under "General" if you scroll down it "Advanced Startup". You can click Restart now to load the Boot Menu and you can change BIOS settings there or Boot from a USB drive.
I haven't had any luck loading Ubuntu though, it just loads to a Black screen. I used Universal USB Installer to create the USB.

I can't figure out how to boot from USB. How did you do it?

[caffeinatedev]

I'm hoping to buy one of these with Win7 preinstalled - I'm not too bothered about dual booting with Windows but may consider it.

Does anyone think I'll have the problems mentioned above?

Many thanks

G

If it's the same hardware, most definitely. But Secure Boot shouldn't be a problem for you.