Installing linux on an asus T100TAF?

[DrHAX]

Anybody have any luck will pulling this off? I recently installed linux mint on a HP 15 running windows 10 and that took a good hour to do due to how locked down windows is now. It's a freaking virus So after fighting to get just to the UEFI and change settings so it can boot from the Disc I finally got it installed on the machine. (Typing it on it now Amazing how much faster it is.)

But this laptop is a bit too big for my uses.

I have an Asus T100TAF trasnformer that is just small enough to be useful for me, however, it doesn't detect usb cd-rom drives and any search on installing linux on it points too ubuntu, which I do not want for many reasons people have stated here.

However, I am enjoying linux mint again after seeing how it has changed in the last 8 years. Any ideas on how to get the distro onto the Asus T100TAF from what I can see the drivers are so specialized that the 32bit version of windows (Yes its running on 64 bit hardware.) has been optimized to work with the tablet like features of the device. Which isn't a big deal for me.. the touch screen is kind've cracked.

So any thoughts on this topic? I have thought about trying to make a bootable pen drive and seeing if I can some how make the UEFI load the EFI on the drive, but I am not 100% if that would work. All of this UEFI stuff is completely new to me/

 

[TrashyMG]

I had the T200TA which was the slightly more powerful and slightly larger version of that one, I liked it because I could throw another drive in the keyboard section. I did have Linux "Working" on it via a bootable USB3.0 thumb drive, but didn't try to get it working on the internal storage, and from what I read booting from the additional HDD was impossible without some serious hacking around. Even if though I could boot into Linux it was a miserable experience, sound, Wifi and Bluetooth didn't work. It seemed like there was no one trying to get Linux support on these devices so I ended up giving it to a family member as I wasn't going to deal with Windows.

 

[ekianjo]

Asus usually not linux friendly.

Lenovo and dell xps is the way to go.

 

[DrHAX]

Issue is I already have it and my current funds aren't amazing. (Out of a job) So purchasing a new system just to slap linux on it is silly. I currently have the unit beside me. I can live with windows its just... if I can avoid it I would prefer it. I do not trust windows as far as I can, well... throw it out of a window! Still its absurd how much faster the hp is now after getting rid of ten completely from its harddrive. I do not regret that decision a bit.

Shame about the T100TAF. I guess it'll just be a little windows rig for now.

 

[b_o_b]

I can live with windows

So you prefer a Linux distro but rather have Windows than Ubuntu? Hmm..

 

[levi]

Sounds a reasonable position to me

But ubuntu boots much like any other Linux when it comes down to nuts and bolts, so I'd hope that following instructions up to the point where it comes to booting off the installer should work for anything else.

 

[DrHAX]

So you prefer a Linux distro but rather have Windows than Ubuntu? Hmm..

Between the GUI, sketchy things with privacy, and the fact that it has horrible power management (On every laptop I have stuck it on. from 2007 and up to about 2013 when I stopped using it and it got bought out and became corporate)

So what I am giving up for ubuntu isn't worth the issues when windows does work on the pc just fine. It's not 10 and it runs decently enough.. However I would prefer a distro like Mint. The issue with the Asus machine is the drivers aren't sorted out from what I can see.

 

[pmprog]

So you prefer a Linux distro but rather have Windows than Ubuntu? Hmm..

Well, if the T100TAF is anything like the PU301LA, running anything other than Windows is asking for trouble. I ran Mint 17 on the laptop for a good while, but I've finally resigned myself to reinstalling Windows 7 because the WiFi is so shocking. It'll randomly disconnect whenever it damn well wants (particularly when you're copying files over samba shares). Not only that, you actually have to power off the machine completely in order to get it working again.

So yes, I too prefer a Linux distro, but am going to have to settle for Windows (or continuously plugging cables in, which removes the "portable" aspect of the laptop)

 

[b_o_b]

So it is not Ubuntu that is the problem but power management from any Linux distro?

I own three laptops with Linux distro's and two of them have Ubuntu on it. Never compared power management with Windows, because I don't care about Windows and it is good enough for me. There might be ways to optimize power consumption though.
To be honest since I've switched from Windows to Linux (my first distro was Mandrake) I accept any inconvenience that comes with it - and before buying something new just check if it has decent Linux support.

 

[ekianjo]

Issue is I already have it and my current funds aren't amazing. (Out of a job) So purchasing a new system just to slap linux on it is silly. I currently have the unit beside me. I can live with windows its just... if I can avoid it I would prefer it. I do not trust windows as far as I can, well... throw it out of a window! Still its absurd how much faster the hp is now after getting rid of ten completely from its harddrive. I do not regret that decision a bit.

Shame about the T100TAF. I guess it'll just be a little windows rig for now.

Run linux in a wm inside windows then

 

[levi]

FWIW, I assume that's a typo for VM. Running a linux window manager inside Windows, and running native linux apps inside that is some voodoo I've not seen.

 

[DrHAX]

FWIW, I assume that's a typo for VM. Running a linux window manager inside Windows, and running native linux apps inside that is some voodoo I've not seen.

That would be quite a glorious thing of black magic. Native linux AND windows at the same time. Sounds like a thing you'd have to sell your soul for, or at least refinance your house at a higher interest rate.