Installing Linux on ASUS Vivobook S15 - Debian 9-Stretch

After using the Windows 10 that came with the laptop for a few days I decided to dual boot the system with a Linux distribution. Since most of my college works are done on Debian, I decided to install the latest version of Debian itself. At the time I was looking to download, the latest version available was Debian 9.3.0. I downloaded the amd-64 version from the official website : https://www.debian.org/.

I will describe all the steps I did for the installation. You can follow this guide under your own risk. But if you take the precautions as I mention you might not face any issues.

1. Download the Debian ISO image from the website.

The Debian installation DVD is uploaded in different parts. So the Debian version DVD-1.iso will be the file you should be downloading for installation. The rest Debian version DVD-2.iso and Debian version DVD-3.iso will be containing extra packages which are not necessary for a regular install.

2. Once you get the ISO image next step is to make it bootable. The easiest way to do so is to use a software like Rufus and then make a USB drive bootable.

Download Rufus : https://rufus.akeo.ie/

After downloading the latest version now you can create a bootable USB with the Debian ISO image you downloaded.

3.Plug-in any USB drive of capacity 8 GB or greater and run the Rufus application you downloaded.

The ASUS Vivobook S15 is also partitioned with GPT partition as most of the laptops now available.

The process might take about 20-30 minutes or more.

4. After the USB Drive is bootable, now you can use it to install debian.

5.But before actually doing the installation procedure, I highly advice you to do the following:
    i. Take backup of all the data you have on the laptop. You can copy it to an external hard disk or another computer.
    ii. Create a restore point in windows if you have not done so. Steps and details for creating restore point in windows is available online please search the internet if you need any help.
   iii. Create a recovery drive in windows so that if at all anything fails you can get back into previous working condition. Steps and information regarding creation of recovery drive is also available online.
Taking the above precautions will save a lot of time and your data if at all anything goes wrong.

6. Now you can create a partition for installing Debian. To do so press Windows key + x and select Disk Management.

7. Now you have to restart your system and do some changes in the BIOS to boot from the USB DRIVE you created.
Keep the USB Drive plugged in and restart your system.
Before it starts again keep holding the function key and F2 key until it enters the BIOS. This is the key combination for ASUS Vivobook S15 but this remains same for most of ASUS laptops.
Now select the Advanced mode by pressing F7 and then go to boot security and then change the Safe Boot to Disabled.
Save and exit by pressing F10.
Again enter the BIOS with Fn+F2 keys. Now press F8 for boot menu and select the USB drive you had plugged in and press enter. Now the system should start booting from the USB drive you had plugged in. You should now get a Debian installation screen. Choose graphic install.

8. Follow the installation procedure after carefully ready each message and choosing options as required. The only thing you have to be careful is to choose the partition properly. It might show some errors of failing to load the drivers of WiFi, Bluetooth,..etc., but don't worry.
Remember the root password and account password you enter.
In the partition menu select manual partition and then select the partition we had previously created. You can look at the size of the partition to identify it. Make sure you had select the correct partition and select Done at the end of the list. Now continue and wait until the installation finishes.
Now after complete installation you should be able to login to your account.

9.The problem you might be facing now is that the WiFi might not be functioning due to no driver available. This might get fixed in the upcoming updates of Debian. Since I had this issue I will explain what I did to get it fixed. ASUS Vivobook is made in such a way as to make it very portable. So there is no ODD and RJ45 port in it (no ethernet card ). Since the WiFi is also not functiong what I did to connect to the internet was to use my mobile data on my android smartphone and then enabled USB tethering after connecting it to the ASUS Vivobook. With a working internet connection now you can install the drivers.

10. I tried a few methods available online but the one that worked for me was this.
First add the non free repositories to /etc/apt/sources.list
For more details : https://wiki.debian.org/SourcesList

Then enter : sudo apt-get update

With the following command you will get the available drivers related to iwlwifi:


sudo apt-cache search firmware-iwlwifi


If sudo doesn't work you can login as root user with su command and entering the root password. Then enter the commands without sudo.
Then install the package with :

apt-get install firmware-iwlwifi

Then restart the system.
The WiFi should be now working.