ASUS ZenBook Pro UX501VW-US71 15.6-Inch 4K Touchscreen Laptop (Core i7-6700HQ CPU, 16 GB DDR4, 512 GB NVMe SSD, GTX960M GPU, Thunderbolt III, Windows 10 MS Signature Image)

On the zenbook ux501 I have been able to install linux mint (a version of ubuntu) along side of Windowsin a dual boot configuration. The result is a beautiful, high performance,mobile linux workstation. But there are a few problems along the way. These instructionsare written for a reasonably experienced user.You will need a live dvd for mint v 18.3, an external dvd drive, a usb mouse, anda magnifying glass. The last item is because if you end up in command line mode thefont is unreadable. The mouse is because neither the touchscreen nor the touchpadcan be used easily for the high resolution screen.First shrink the disk partition in Windows. By default Windows will notgo below 50% but there is a workaround for this. I have 140GB set aside forWindows and 360GB for Linux.Next power off and plug in the DVD drive with the live dvd. Then boot into the BIOSby holding F2 down during power up. Disable secure boot and look at the boot entries.There should be one for the disk and one for the DVD, so fiddle with the BIOS untilthe DVD is selected. F10 will then finish the boot. A grub menu appears. Select thecinnamon entry and type 'e' to edit the entry. Add 'nomodeset' to the kernel parameterline and F10 to complete booting. The mint install menu should come up.During the install process DO select "use 3rd party ..." and also DO DO DO select"Install Linux side by side with windows". Otherwise the install should bestraightforward.Reboot the system normally without the DVD installed. The machine shoulddisplay a grub menu with about 4 entries, one of these being Windows. Youcan select it to test that Windows still works. Another thing to do for grinsis to select the cinnamon entry and edit the kernel parameter line, adding'single'. Then boot into single command-line mode and try out your magnifyingglass. If you can read it then tu esta un hombre mejor que yo.To boot into multiuser mode correctly you will probably need to disable thenoveau driver. Just add noveau.blacklist to the kernel command line in thegrub menu, then F10 to complete the boot. This does not change the commandline permanently, so one of the first things to do in the running multiusersystem is to edit the /etc/default/grub file and modify the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUXline to look as follows:GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="noveau.blacklist=1 quiet splash acpi_osi="and then reinitialize grub.I did several things to improve the system. I upgraded the kernel to the4.4.0-47 version. This fixes the problem with the sound so that theheadphones work, although if the laptop is closed or even sleeps the problemcomes back. I installed the nvidia drivers to get the best windowing andOpenGL performance. Finally, the cinnamon gui is by default designed for amuch smaller screen size, so do Menu->Preferences->General and then selectDouble under the Desktop Scaling item. I also run xterm in preference tognome terminal (because function keys) and this can be launched in a usablemode as xterm -fa "Monotype:size=12" geometry=90x40 -- you can choose adifferent font if you like. Finally, I run Google chrome as my browser, itcan stream Netflix and Amazon. Enjoy your new laptop.

OH MY GOSH< HAD TO UPDATE!!!!So, this trackpad is in the most horrid inconvenient location. it is not centered on the QWERTY part of the keyboard, so your right hand is constantly brushing it, causing the cursor to constantly be moved, highlight text, causing you to either write random text all over the place, or when highlighted, completely erase what you had written.Amazing feature when you are typing essay and paper after paper every week, isn't it?!!!! HUNK OF GARBAGE DOWNGRADE TO 1 STARI wanted to enjoy this computer... but not so.Cons: (so so many for such a beautiful pc)1. Color reproduction with the screen. There is a hazy yellow tint to the screen no matter the calibrations, adjustments or any action taken. It will just not go away.2. Again, the screen- there is a horrible buzzing sound that comes from the screen all the time, and gets especially worse when you are scrolling through a page.3. HORRID trackpad. Or is it trackpad software? When scrolling, it will suddenly take off in the direction you are scrolling. It will shoot the screen to the very bottom of a page with a touch. And the other half of the time.... it will jump BACKWARDS up the screen every time you attempt to scroll down!! It is so very very frustrating trying to read an article, but it will not let you go any further down the page!!!4. Terrible sound from speakers. I just cannot hear a darn thing out of these speakers.5. Again, screen issues. The screen does not get very bright. and the gloss finish doubles down on that issue.Now, if you made it through the bad, here is the good.1. Fast... oh, so very fast. Bootup, accessing data, web browsing. It is a speed demon.2. seems to have great battery life so far. I'm used to a 17.3" laptop, and going to 6-8 hours of battery life is a pleasure, from its 1-2 hours of life.3. just all around nice looking, stout feeling laptop. Very thin for its power (not the gigantic power block though, my gosh) But, a very portable laptop for its specifications.