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Setting up Ubuntu on Asus ROG GL552VW

Posted on March 10, 2017


If you are new to Linux probably switching from Windows, getting Linux up and running on your system can be tiresome. Here, I have tried to list down the problems I faced while setting up my system along with their solutions. Also, I have added some extra things you might want to do as a developer. In the end I have added some useful Linux commands which will be helpful to you if you are a first time Linux user. I will be more specific towards the issues which may arise while installing and skip the common steps which you can find from a google search. I have Asus ROG GL552VW which comes with Nvidia graphics card and Windows installed.

Installing Ubuntu

Issue: Ubuntu stuck while booting

This problem arises due the Nvidia graphics.

Solution:

This is just a temporary work around. After the installation make sure you do the following:

  1. Open the GRUB file.
sudo gedit /etc/default/grub
  1. Find the following command
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

And change it to

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash nouveau.modeset=0"
  1. Save and go back to terminal and run:
sudo update-grub
  1. Finally reboot your system.

Reference: askUbuntu.com/questions/760934/graphics-issues-after-while-installing-Ubuntu-16-04-16-10-with-nvidia-graphics

Chrome Flickering

Issue: Some pages with heavy animations when opened in chrome, screen starts flickering.

Solution:

  1. Open the following file to edit
sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/google-chrome.desktop
  1. Find and change the line
Exec=/usr/bin/google-chrome-stable %U

to

Exec=/usr/bin/google-chrome-stable %U "--disable-gpu-driver-bug-workarounds" "--enable-native-gpu-memory-buffers"

Note that you'll have to do this each time after chrome is updated.

Extra Setup For Developers

Install JDK

sudo apt-get install default-jdk

Set up LAMP

sudo apt-get install apache2
sudo apt-get install mysql-server
sudo apt-get install php7.0-cli
sudo apt-get install libapache2-mod-php
sudo apt-get install php-mysql

Above commands will Install LAMP. Once you're done with that, following are some addition tools and useful commands:

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
mysql -u root -p
sudo apt-get install adminer
sudo wget "http://www.adminer.org/latest.php" -O /usr/share/adminer/latest.php
sudo ln -s /usr/share/adminer/latest.php /usr/share/adminer/adminer.php
echo "Alias /adminer.php /usr/share/adminer/adminer.php" | sudo tee /etc/apache2/conf-available/adminer.conf
sudo a2enconf adminer.conf //access here: http://localhost/adminer.php

Additionally, if you would like to install postgresql follow the Stack Overflow answer bellow.

Reference: stackoverflow.com/questions/1471571/how-to-configure-postgresql-for-the-first-time

Useful Linux Commands And Tricks For Newbies

Update System

Update everything with this single command

sudo apt-get update && time sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Show Password Feedback In Terminal

sudo gedit /etc/sudoers

Find the following line in the file opened

Defaults env_reset

And replace it with

Defaults env_reset,pwfeedback

Install A Package

sudo apt-get install [packagename]

Completely Uninstall A Package

sudo apt-get remove --purge [packagename]
sudo apt-get autoremove
sudo aptitude purge [packagename]

Reinstall a Installed Package

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install --reinstall [packagename]

Open File Browser As Super User

sudo apt install gksu
gksu nautilus

Automatically Mount Partitions

If you have more than one hard drive partitions on your system Ubuntu will only mount the one on which it is installed. Other partitions will mount as you try to open them. This gives some lag when you open the unmounted drive for the first time.

You may refer the following Stack Overflow link to mount partitions automatically on startup.

Reference: stackoverflow.com/questions/1471571/how-to-configure-postgresql-for-the-first-time