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This is a guide to running Linux with the Asus G50V laptop.
This guide is intended to provide you details on how well this laptop works with Linux and which modules you need to configure. For details on how to actually install and configure the required modules have a look at our guides section for distribution specific instructions.
If you would like to edit this page please first view our Editing Guidelines.
For full specifications see the Asus G50V specifications page.
| Name | Asus G50V |
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Duo |
| Screen | 15.4” WXGA or WXGA+ or WSXGA+ Widescreen |
| RAM | 1GB to 4GB |
| HDD | 2 x 200GB to 500GB |
| Optical Drive | DVD+-RW or Blu-ray |
| Graphics | NVIDIA Geforce 9700M GT |
| Network | Ethernet, Intel 3945ABG 802.11abgn or Intel 4965AGN 802.11abgn, Bluetooth |
| Device | Compatibility | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Yes | |
| Screen | Yes | |
| HDD | Yes | |
| Optical Drive | Yes | |
| Graphics | Yes | See notes below |
| Sound | Yes | See notes below |
| Ethernet | Yes | |
| Wireless | Yes | |
| Bluetooth | Yes | |
| USB | Yes | |
| Firewire | Yes | |
| Card Reader | Yes | |
| Camera | Yes |
Depending on the Linux distribution you use, you may need to install the proprietary NVIDIA driver to get the display working at all. In any case you will need these drivers if you require 3D support. See our guides section on this site for installation details.
While sound works, the headphone jack does not work properly. No sound comes out of the headphones. Adding this line to the bottom of /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base (it may be called alsa-base.conf on newer distros) may fix this problem:
options snd-hda-intel model=m51va
Other options known to work are:
options snd-hda-intel model=asus-mode3
options snd-hda-intel model=g71v options snd-hda-intel probe_mask=1
After editing the file, try the following commands as root in order until one works (or just reboot):/etc/init.d/alsasound restartalsa force-reloadupdate-modules
For users with two hard disks, using RAID via the Intel ICH9M in Enhanced Mode is possible by passing the dmraid=true argument to the installer at boot time for some newer distributions (confirmed working on Debian Lenny, Ubuntu Intrepid Alternate Installer).
Using key combinations that include the number pad (with Numlock off), such as Shift+Home and Shift+End may not work as expected. This behavior can be changed by adding the following line to the InputDevice section of /etc/X11/xorg.conf for Generic Keyboard:
Option "XkbOptions" "numpad:microsoft"
Currently there is no way to disable the lights on the sides of the lid. There was a way to disable the lights on the ASUS G1 but it does not work for the G50. The touchpad light can be disabled. Note that this only works with the asus_laptop module, it does not work with asus_acpi.
echo 0 > /sys/class/leds/asus\:\:touchpad/brightness
The OLED display can be used with the ASUS OLED driver and G50 OLED daemon.
On most distributions there should be no problems with hotkeys.
However, on Debian Sid, HAL may cause problems because two events are triggered per keypress. Mute and play/pause will not function properly; volume up/down will move two notches instead of one. An update to acpi-support and acpi-support-base fix the problem with the volume hotkeys, however play/pause and next/previous track still malfunction. To resolve the issue, rename a few files and restart acpid as root:
cd /etc/acpi/events mv asus-media-play-pause asus-media-play-pause.x mv asus-media-prev asus-media-prev.x mv asus-media-next asus-media-next.x mv asus-volume-mute asus-volume-mute.x mv asus-voume-up asus-volume-up.x /etc/init.d/acpid restart
Your GPU may run hot (causing the fan to always run) using the proprietary NVIDIA drivers. The solution is to enable PowerMizer in /etc/X11/xorg.conf under the Device section for the graphics card. This will clock down the GPU and memory when the GPU is not in use by a 3D application. If you use a compositing window manager (like compiz), this setting will have little effect since the card will always be doing 3D.
To enable power saving on both AC and battery, add this line:
Option "RegistryDwords" "PowerMizerEnable=0x1; PerfLevelSrc=0x3333;"
To enable power saving only on battery, add this line instead:
Option "RegistryDwords" "PowerMizerEnable=0x1; PerfLevelSrc=0x3322"
Everything should run fine after a bit of tweaking.
Discussion
I just added the Hotkeys section but I forgot to log in before editing lol. Had some problems with Mute and Volume hotkeys on Debian Sid AMD64 so hopefully this helps someone. This is only a fix for this specific problem, if your hotkeys don't work at all something else is wrong.
Edit: Updated the hotkeys fix since a new version of acpi-support came out which fixed the problem with the volume hotkeys.
I have everything working on my ASUS G50vt running openSUSE 11.1 with KDE4.2.
I use for sound setting asus-mode3
I just tried some of the sound settings suggested here, but the asus-mode3 setting gives more functionality and allows for the use of an external microphone. External speakers work extremely well with these settings.
The OLED display works extremely well, and I have been in contact with the developer of asusg50oled OLED Daemon and got the installer to correctly identify openSUSE, also getting Amarok2 to display.
The webcam can indeed be made to work properly (upside right) with a simple patch. It works with amsn, ekiga, kopete, and skype.
Currently using nvidia 185.13 beta drivers and they work well as do the 180.29 drivers in the nvidia repository included with opensuse.
Firewire works extremely well and kino with avc controls can control my minidv camcorder.
Wireless and wired works perfectly for me.
Camera card reader works and the express card slot also works.
DVD playback is great as is DVD and CD burning, and the the lighscribe burning works extremely also.
In short, everything works, I have been extremely happy with this laptop using Linux.
Asus G50vt-X5: I've had this running under an AMD64 profile in Gentoo since the latter part of February 09.
Using the MonaLisa link in this article I was able to setup the OLED properly and the hotkeys work to turn the OLED and the touchpad LEDs off. I've found no way yet to turn off the lid lights.
I haven't tried compiz on this laptop but the kwin composite enhancements (desktop cube, etc) render without a hiccup. Even with my system load at 4+ while compiling I can still spin the cube at near 60FPS. I realize the load has less to do with video performance but it should have some effect none the less ;)
I also had the headphone issue at first and fixed it with something similar to the original author. Gentoo Specific: In my /etc/modprobe.d/alsa I added the following
options snd-hda-intel model=g71v
options snd-hda-intel probe_mask=1
then ran update-modules. Other distros may just be able to add the above options to their modules.conf file.
While slightly off-topic for this forum, I also have Vista64 bit running Crysis on high settings. This is definitely a rig capable of gaming.
I've yet to figure out why the Bluetooth LED is lit when I'm not supposed to have that module. I've double-check lspci and lsusb but nothing there hints that it should exist.
Oh yeah, the integrated camera works with the UVC drivers but the image is flipped upside down. There is a kernel-patch to fix the problem but it is manual process right now.
I still have some work to do to get the FN-media keys to work. I expected the acpid samples to fix that but they didn't by default. I suspect I need to go in and tweak the keycodes or something. Not a big issue for me yet :)
Overall this has system been a good experience outside of the bungling I did trying to setup full-drive encryption. That's another story though :P
Just updated the entry with a fix for the headphone jack sense problem that worked for me on my G50V-A2. Added details about using the OLED, installing with RAID configured, disabling the lights and modifying numpad behavior. Linked to MonALISA Team Blog's Ubuntu howto. Also, I saw NRG's comment below about CPU usage; BIOS 209 and later “solve the bug of the CPU speed full run issue” (ASUS release notes). I don't know if it's the cause of the issue NRG described but it's worth a try. For reference I'm on Debian Sid AMD64 with kernel 2.6.29-rc6 and ALSA 1.0.16.
G50V-X1 (The 'Best Buy' (Store) Model)
Currently running OpenSUSE 11.0. OpenSUSE looks and feels great on this machine. Some issues, however, have made the experience less than adequate.
ALSA doesn't work correctly with the headphone jack. Sound works through the speakers, but the phone jack is weird. If I barely slide the phone plug in–just until it makes contact–if I'm lucky, it will stay there and I'll have sound through the headphones.
If I push the plug in the normal way, I have no sound.
Now this jack is a combo: It's S/PDIF as well as the headphone jack. I surmise that ALSA is not processing the pinouts correctly, thereby not allowing the proper signals to get to the proper contacts within the jack, itself.
I could also just have a bad jack, but it works with Windows Vista 64 Home Premium, so I am doubtful of this.
OLED Display: I have it set through DirectConsole2 on the Vista side, to display my name and the battery level. Upon startup, the OLED displays either this, or the Republic of Gamers/Logo image. It's split about 50/50 between which display is likely to pop up.
It's not a functionality issue, but I don't know why it does this. DirectConsole2 is windows software, but I suppose that OpenSUSE 11.0 is reading a config file of some type during startup. I do not have a clue as to where this file might be or what it is.
Wireless: I've got the lower-end laptop of the G50V line. As such, it has a different Wi-Fi package than the Intel cards (PCI Express PCIe) that come with the higher-end units.
My card is a PCIe-form-factor, Atheros AR928x. The ath9k module is what is needed, and this was solved for me by upgrading to a newer kernel package.
General Networking Issue (Highly Annoying): I use a special type of Internet connection at my residence. It's a local Radio Link based system, using a large, square Tranceiver/Antenna unit. Go to www.tranzeo.com and look for the TR-CPQ-19f unit to see to what I am referring.
My Internet Service Provider (ISP) is www.radiowire.net out of Jefferson City, Missouri.
The system is linked through a network of wireless nodes, most on 2.4GHz, with some on 5.8GHz for specialized runs. Windows works flawlessly, but on OpenSUSE there is an annoyance that is going to have me remove OpenSUSE 11.0 if it continues.
The annoyance is this: There is a noticeable delay in the network connecting to various web pages. IRC (Internet Relay Chat) seems to be immune, so that may be telling to someone more networking-savvy than me.
Additionally, I have noticed that the KDE Network Manger tends to drop the IP connection mysteriously, then reconnects. This is when Ethernet is plugged-in. Wi-Fi does work, but the signal fluctuates. If this is due to the Atheros ath9k module, then I suppose I have some tweaking to do. Still, the IP shouldn't just drop on a hard-wire connection. It doesn't do it on the Vista 64 side, although there are some occasional lags. (This last part *probably* has something to do with RF Lag Time on the link; it's not frequent, and may be only during heavy use times or extremely wet weather.)
I have experienced numerous webpage timeouts. Refreshing the page usually, though not always, solves the problem. The KDE Network Manager may be the culprit. I have not tested it with GNOME or XFCE.
Pulse Audio System seems to not work. I can't make any connection with local sound nodes at any part of the system. Again, this is probably related to ALSA. ALSA 1.0.18–the version I'm using–seems to be working, when the 1.0.18 version of the alsa-driver package is utilized. It works for the on-board speakers on the G50V; it does not work for the headphone jack, save for the weird *tweak* in the opening paragraphs, the one by sliding the phone plug in just a little. I wouldn't recommend it, just for electrical-shorting reasons, since that is, essentially, what I'm doing: shorting the contact from another pin that's getting some kind of current to the phone jack.
It sure wasn't designed to work that way, and as stated previously, *the jack works perfectly with Vista64 Home Premium*, so it's not the computer's fault, it's either ALSA's (most likely), or OpenSUSE 11.0's (less likely, but it could be.)
Summarizing, once these problems are ironed out–especially the networking-lag-drop issues and the headphone-S/PDIF jack bug–OpenSUSE 11.0 will be a major power-distro for the G50V!
I'm aware there are issues that are currently being ironed out with the alsa-project, and I've filed a bug report with alsa-project.org, under alsa-driver.
If anyone else has anything further to add, please do so. I may also be reached at sabrown@inbox.com.
Works decently
I'm currently running Ubuntu 8.10/Intrepid Ibex on this system. It works decently, but is very jittery with compiz. CPU utilization sometimes spikes when doing simple tasks such as alt+tab or changing viewports in compiz. Disabling compiz seems to help some. For the most part, the glitches are not long-standing as long as you pause for a second to let it catch up.
Currently, I have not found anything for enabling the hot keys on the OLED display.
Even though the support is not crystal, all mandatory items are included (wifi/networking, video drivers, sound, touchpad, cpu, etc)
Linux on Asus G50V
It works well but it would be nice if they made the specific drivers available. Im currently running ubuntu 8.10