Linux on the Aspire 3 A315-41-R3DQ

Hello all,

I recently bought a Acer Aspire 3 A315-41-R3DQ with a Ryzen 5 2500U and i'll share my adventure trying to install linux on this computer. First of all i must tell you that i've been using linux as a user for a few years but i'm not very techinical.

The computer came with Linpus Linux boot-up os and i tought that i could easilly install linux. First i tried to create a usb disk with Linpus but got a file differ error. Then i tried to boot Ubuntu 19.04 from a usb drive but i got several errors. After some search online i managed to boot Ubuntu with the "pci=noacpi" option on the grub menu. Everything worked fine and i tried to install Ubuntu to the HDD. In the last part of the instalation i got a error saying that Grub couldn't save on UEFI (i can't recall the exact words) and the installation was incomplete. When i rebooted the computer the only thing i got was a grub command line. I then tried to boot Manjaro and Fedora from usb drives but they weren't recognize on boot. The computer comes only with UEFI (no legacy mode) and disabling Secure Boot didn't help on any attempts.

Then i installed Windows 10 and updated the bios to the last version available (1.13) and tried to boot Ubuntu 19.04 from a USB drive: Ubuntu still only booted with the "pci=noacpi" option and the trackpad didn't worked. When i tried to install Ubuntu to the hard drive the "Grub can't save to UEFI" error still existed. This was my last attempt to install Linux on the Acer Aspire 3 A315-41-R3DQ and i'm now using Windows 10 on the computer.

If anyone knows how to install a linux os on this computer i would appreciate the help.

Accepted answers

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MaClane

Good evening RCh001 !

In the installation media you are using to install Linux, ISO is x64 bit and you are installing in UEFi compatibility mode?

RCh001

Hello MaClane,

Yes, i used the x64 ISOs. How can i check the UEFI compatibility mode? In the computer BIOS i only have UEFI and i can't even desable it.

MaClane

https://www.tecmint.com/ubuntu-19-04-installation-on-uefi-firmware/

https://www.itzgeek.com/how-tos/linux/ubuntu-how-tos/how-to-install-ubuntu-18-04-lts-bionic-beaver-on-uefi-and-legacy-bios-system.html

RCh001

MaClane,thank you for the links.

I knew the page from Tecmint and follow all the instructions but couldn't save GRUB settings. As soon as i've the time i'll try to install Ubuntu again with the Tecmint instructions. I may have follow them wrong.

Thank you once again.

MaClane

Good afternoon!
Once you've tried, let me know.

RCh001

Hello MaClane

I tried again to install Ubuntu 19.04 tweaking several settings in BIOS - even disabling fast boot that i have forgoted in the previous attempts - but no success.

I followed the Techmint instructions again but no success. Is a fatal error that GRUB cannot save to UEFI. With or whitout secure boot and fast boot disabled. Maybe there is a bug in the BIOS?

After more than a dozen attempts i give up and i'm running Windows on the Aspire 3. The installation was fast and the computers is running with no problems.

Thank you very much for your help.

MaClane

The installation comes to an end but Grub is not activated or the installation simply can not continue?

RCh001

When the software, at the end, try to install GRUB and iits settings to the HDD I get a fatal error. The installation then sends a report of the error and it ends. When I restart the computer I only get minimal grub prompt. I have Ubuntu installed but I cannot access it.

MaClane

In this case I believe it is just some error in identifying the partitions by Grub.
try reinstalling and configuring Grub.
You can do it via Terminal or with Grub Repair:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/83771/recovering-grub-after-installing-windows-7

RCh001

I tried repairing with boot-repair on the live usb but no luck.

Commodore_1995#

I still think this problem is Amd's fault!

LogXx

RCh001, i think you should try noapic instead of pci=noacpi

LogXx

the other variants are:
1) acpi_osi=! acpi_osi="Windows 2009" i8042.nopnp
2) ivrs_ioapic[4]=14:00.0 ivrs_ioapic[5]=00:00.2

RCh001

Thank you all for your help.

After trying to install Ubuntu I managed to install Fedora 30 workstation but then I got a "BUG: soft lockup - CPU#02 stuck for 23s" almost Everytime at boot and found the computer a little slow and the hard drive working constantly.

I got tiered and installed Windows 10 and the computer is working fine.

Albert1st1

Upgrade to latest bios v1.15.

With latest bios you don't need any overrides in your boot loader anymore.

drsooraj

After going through lots of bug reports and solutions, managed to boot kubuntu 19.10 , kernel 5.3 with a working touchpad (elan)

device is ACER Aspire 3 A315-41-R955 ,bios 1.13 version, AMD Ryzen 5 2500U cpu

Steps -

1) disable secure boot in bios settings

2 Add these two lines in etc/default/grub

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="ivrs_ioapic[32]=00:14.0 nosplash irqpoll"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="psmouse.elantech_smbus=0"

then,

sudo update-grub

Thats all

RCh001

Hello all,

Thank you all for the help. The post from drsooraj reminded me to update this discussion:

After a while using Windows i got fed up and tried installing linux again on the Aspire A315-41-R3DQ. I managed to install POP OS! but i'm not a fan of GNOME and for a few months now i'm running Peppermint OS 10 with out a problem and with Secure Boot on!

In retrospect and after searching online i think the grub problems where due to a couple of faulty usb drives.

Thank you again for all your help.

drsooraj

drsooraj said:

After going through lots of bug reports and solutions, managed to boot kubuntu 19.10 , kernel 5.3 with a working touchpad (elan)
device is ACER Aspire 3 A315-41-R955 ,bios 1.13 version, AMD Ryzen 5 2500U cpu

Steps -
1) disable secure boot in bios settings
2 Add these two lines in etc/default/grub
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="ivrs_ioapic[32]=00:14.0 nosplash irqpoll"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="psmouse.elantech_smbus=0"

then,
sudo update-grub

Thats all

EDIT : there was no need to disable secure boot. this method works with secureboot enabled. I m not sure whether "psmouse.elantech_smbus=0" is also required or not. Anyways touchpad no issues yet. multitouch works too

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