Great news are always comming.....
For everyone who want to use Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 G834 (2023) on Linux Ubuntu/Mint - we can confirm that it is working properly. But first you need to prepare your laptop and make next steps below
1)Check for the latest BIOS and update it to the latest version (currently 317)
2)Even if you want to use such laptop not for the games, we recommend to have installed both OS (Windows & Linux), as sooner or later you will need to configure your laptop's "lighting zones" or update your "mouse" firmware. For that needs you certainly need Asus Armoury Create software that is working only under the Windows.
3)Download windows 11 installer from https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows11. Please select 2-nd option (Create Windows 11 Installation Media). Do not use 3-rd option (Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO)) as, somewhow, that image doesn't have necessary drivers and your SSD devices can be "missing" while installing (basically it's a question to the Microsoft why).
4)Please, BEFORE making some changes inside BIOS, copy ALL files(except Windows system files) from your SSD devices into external device. Especially when you have 2 SSD as RAID 0.
5)Make sure once again that you have copied all data that you need later from internal SSD to external. If you have SSDs as RAID we will switch to "non-raid" mode and all data on internal SSD devices will be lost.
6)In BIOS go to "NVMe Configuration" and delete all RAID items. After you need to see 2 SSD as independent devices.
7)In BIOS check and set next options:
- Advanced:
- ErP -> disabled
- Display Mode -> Dynamic
- Auto install app service mechanism -> toggle off
- Network Stack Configuration -> disabled
- VMD setup menu -> disabled
- Boot
- Fast boot -> disabled
- Security
- Secure boot -> disabled
8)Install Windows 11 first. While installing Windows you can create 3 partitions: 1)for Linux 2)for swap 3)windows with NTFS file system.
9)Install all necessary software under the Windows, including "Asus Armoury Create" and configure "lighting zones" if you need it.
10)Install Linux Ubuntu/Mint 21.2 and do not install NVIDIA drivers currently.
11)Install Linux kernel 6.2 as it is necessary for NVIDIA drivers and BIOS option "Display mode" -> "Dynamic". Under kernel 5.15 you will not be able to boot using NVIDIA drivers as it leads to the error "GPU" not found. Also you are able to change your screen brightness only when using BIOS "Display mode" -> "Dynamic" (only Linux kernel issue).
11)If your speakers are not working you can make next things:
a)make sure, using programm manager, that "Pulseaudio" already installed
b)find file "/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf"
c)edit under the root user and add next line "options snd-hda-intel model=asus-zenbook" (described https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/ASUS_ROG_STRIX_G732LXS#Audio)
d)reboot your laptop
e)After reboot you need to wait ~ 3 minutes and you speakers should work as "analog stereo output". Further reboot will lead that your speakers will work just after loading Linux and you don't need to wait ~3 minutes as it was after the first boot.
Note: currently we have next issues under Linux kernel 5.15 (and that's why we need to install Linux kernel 6.2):
- BIOS option "Display mode" -> "Dynamic" will bring error "GPU" not found after boot while using NVIDIA drivers
- BIOS option "Display mode" -> "GPU" will solve issue while booting but you are not able to change screen brightness
- We are not able to use 4.0 audio output and we will create necessary ticket here https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pulseaudio (as it seems that we just need some another configuration instead "model=asus-zenbook")
Good luck with your Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 G834 (2023) and have fun 🙂
