For many months I was looking upgrade my old laptop. I was using Debian but the free nvidia video driver died frequently, so I install Parabola trying to fix that problem.
When I use Parabola I loved it. It is a better and easier alternative for develop.
Parabola and their newer versions of the packages didn't fix my video problem, and also I can't install the private driver of my wifi card or change that card.
So I buy a Razer Blade Stealth with intel video, and change the wifi card. I buy a wifi card from: https://www.thinkpenguin.com/catalog/wireless-networking-gnulinux
I read the Parabola beginners guide, but next are what I exactly did.
I first make a bootable usb with the dd utility and disable bios usb secure boot on the Razer laptop.
Partition:
parted /dev/nvme0n1p
mklabel gpt
mkpart ESP fat32 1MiB 513MiB
set 1 boot on
mkpart primary ext4 513MiB 15.5GiB
mkpart primary linux-swap 15.5GiB 19GiB
mkpart primary ext4 19GiB 100%
mkfs.vfat -F32 /dev/nvme0n1p1
mkfs.ext4 /dev/nvme0n1p2
mkswap /dev/nvme0n1p3
mkfs.ext4 /dev/nvme0n1p4
Install base:lsblk
swapon /dev/nvme0n1p3
mount /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt
mkdir /mnt/home
mount /dev/nvme0n1p4 /mnt/home
pacstrap -i /mnt base
genfstab -U -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
grub:arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash
pacman -S grub efibootmgr
nano /etc/default/grub
GRUB_TIMEOUT=1
mkdir /boot/efi
mount -t vfat /dev/nvme0n1p1 /boot/efi
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=parabola --recheck
cp /usr/share/locale/en\@quot/LC_MESSAGES/grub.mo /boot/grub/locale/en.mo
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
efibootmgr -c -d /dev/nvme0n1p1 -l /EFI/parabola/grubx64.efi -L "parabola"
Configuration:passwd
useradd -m -s /bin/bash wagner
passwd wagner
ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/Costa_Rica /etc/localtime
ls -l /etc/localtime
nano /etc/locale.gen
en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8
locale-gen
echo LANG=en_US.UTF-8 > /etc/locale.conf
export LANG=en_US.UTF-8
Programs I used:pacman -S screen emacs-nox htop unp unzip openssh sshfs wget sudo
net-tools usb_modeswitch iw wpa_supplicant lm_sensors alsa-utils
pacman -S xorg-server xorg-xinit xorg-xrandr xorg-xev
xf86-input-libinput xf86-video-intel ttf-dejavu
i3 dmenu lxterminal networkmanager network-manager-applet
feh gpicview mpv gimp inkscape gnuchess
Video configuration:xrandr --output eDP1 --mode 1600x900
nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "eDP1"
Option "Primary" "true"
Option "PreferredMode" "1600x900"
EndSection
nano .bash_profile
...
[[ -z $DISPLAY && $XDG_VTNR -eq 1 ]] && exec startx
nano .xinitrc
#!/bin/bash
exec i3
Touchpad configuration:nano /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/60-libinput.conf
Section "InputClass"
Identifier "libinput touchpad catchall"
MatchIsTouchpad "on"
MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
Driver "libinput"
Option "Tapping" "on"
EndSection
Backlight configuration:nano /usr/local/bin/bl
#!/bin/bash
curr=$(cat /sys/class/backlight/intel_backlight/brightness)
if [ $1 = "down" ] ; then
if [ $curr -gt "0" ] ; then
down=$(( $curr-100 ))
tee /sys/class/backlight/intel_backlight/brightness <<< $down
else
echo "already min"
fi
fi
if [ $1 = "up" ] ; then
if [ $curr -lt "900" ] ; then
up=$(( $curr+100 ))
tee /sys/class/backlight/intel_backlight/brightness <<< $up
else
echo "already max"
fi
fi
chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/bl
export EDITOR="emacs"
visudo
wagner ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/local/bin/bl
i3 configuration:nano .config/i3/config
...
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessUp exec sudo bl up
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessDown exec sudo bl down
bindsym XF86AudioMute exec amixer set Master toggle
bindsym XF86AudioLowerVolume exec amixer set Master 1%-
bindsym XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec amixer set Master 1%+
#bindsym XF86AudioPlay exec playerctl play-pause
#bindsym XF86AudioNext exec playerctl next
#bindsym XF86AudioPrev exec playerctl previous
#bindsym XF86AudioStop exec playerctl stop
bindsym $mod+Shift+Return exec opera # icecat chromium
focus_follows_mouse no
new_window none
exec feh --bg-fill '/home/wagner/gnus.jpg'
exec nm-applet
# for_window [class="Lingot"] floating enable
bar {
position top
status_command i3status
}
i3 bar configuration:nano /etc/i3status.conf
interval=1
Check battery configuration:nano /usr/local/bin/check_battery
#! /bin/bash
status=$(cat /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/status)
full=$(cat /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/charge_full)
now=$(cat /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/charge_now)
percent=$(($now * 100 / $full))
if [ $status = "Discharging" -a $percent -lt 5 ]; then
systemctl suspend
fi
chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/check_battery
nano /usr/lib/systemd/system/check_battery.service
[Unit]
Description=Check Battery
[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/check_battery
nano /usr/lib/systemd/system/check_battery.timer
[Unit]
Description=Runs check battery every minute
[Timer]
OnBootSec=5m
OnUnitActiveSec=1m
Unit=check_battery.service
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
systemctl start check_battery.timer
systemctl enable check_battery.timer
Install AUR packages:
pacman -S patch make automake autoconf pkg-config git fakeroot
mkdir build
AUR arduino-noide:cd /home/build/
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/arduino-noide.git
cd arduino-noide
makepkg -s
su
pacman -U arduino-noide-avr-xxx.pkg.tar.xz
pacman -U arduino-noide-libs-xxx.pkg.tar.xz
For arduino make-file I used: http://ed.am/dev/make/arduino-mk
su
cp arduino.mk /usr/share/arduino/
Arduino make file example:nano Makefile
BOARD := nano.atmega328
#LIBRARIES := SPI RF24 RF24Network
SERIALDEV := /dev/ttyUSB0
include /usr/share/arduino/arduino.mk
nano blink.ino
void setup() {
pinMode(13, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
digitalWrite(13, HIGH);
delay(1000);
digitalWrite(13, LOW);
delay(1000);
}
make make upload
For the web-browser:
cd /home/build/
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/inox-bin.git
cd inox-bin
makepkg -s
su
pacman -U inox-bin.......pkg.tar.xz
AUR wps-office:
cd /home/build/
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/libpng12.git
cd libpng12
makepkg -s
su
pacman -U libpng12.pkg.tar.xz
cd ..
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/wps-office.git
cd wps-office
makepkg -s
su
pacman -U wps-office.pkg.tar
I hope this guide help you!!!
Discussions
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many thanks for your reply :)
7-8h is pretty good; just a confirmation you got the QHD model I guess and not the UHD? Is Skylake or Kaby Lake? (I guess Skylake from the time of your article) then a Kaby Lake could get 1h more
Even with this https://github.com/terrycain/razer-drivers your are not able to build custom keyboard color by action/pattern?
Are you sure? yes | no
Hi! no issue with HDMI. The battery last about 7-8 hours and the laptop is always cold. The keyboard colors work perfect out of box, when you press function key + any number, it have 9 different patterns. Only I can't make a custom keyboard pattern...
Are you sure? yes | no
hi wagner and thanks for this article ! I am also under Parabola for 2 years now and I got a Dell XPS 13 but lot of issue with USB Type C and external monitor, I see that the latest version of Razer Blade Stealth has an HDMI included no issue for you with Parabola? recognized with different TV/monitors? what about the battery life and heating?last thing have you been able to make the keyboard color work under Parabola? many thanks!
Are you sure? yes | no