(Part 2) Best products from r/archlinux

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00COQ4ETG?ref_=pe_527950_34207380

Amazing laptop. Solid performance, decent discrete graphics card, sleek aluminum chassis with excellent build quality, full size backlit keyboard, Apple-style multitouch gesture track-pad, 1920x1080 resolution IPS display with high quality touch screen (not super useful but nice to have when you want it). Only negative is that it doesn't come with an SSD.

I disabled secure boot and have been running dual boot debian/win8(comes stock) without issue. Debian boots in about 8 seconds. I had to install xbacklight to adjust backlight settings in linux, but it worked without additional configuration. I booted into win8 once just to verify that grub was able to do it (the win8 netflix app isn't half bad).

Wow that's pretty cheap for a mechanical keyboard. I love mine, but if they were cheaper in general I would have 5 or 6 ones with different switches to see what they're all like.

Its odd that you should mention it but "right clicks like crazy" is exactly how I would describe trying to use the "Pro Pen 2" on an Intuos4. That particular pen is not compatible with the tablet, unfortunately. Its not a driver problem; the hardware itself is just incompatible. Does that look like your pen?

If that doesn't look like your pen, might it be an "Intuos Pro Pen" or the "Intuos 4 Grip Pen"? The Grip pen is definitely compatible (it should be what came in the box with the tablet), and the Pro Pen might be compatible (I've only used it for like 5 seconds with my Intuos4, but it doesn't immediately freak out).

tl;dr - Use fast USB3 drives and ports. SSD's are a good investment.

I run Arch, Fedora and Solus (mostly gnome) from Sandisk Extreme 32GB USB3 flash drives in T440p and T570 laptops USB3 port, reliably over years. Performance is satisfactory and likely better than a spinning drive. The only lag I experience is with long writes, such as updating the system, or copying large files. IME, an external SSD in a USB3 port is much, much faster in copying and updating. An internal SSD is even better. An SSD is a good investment.

Update:

The USB drives I use and my practical experience:

• Sandisk Extreme USB3 32GB - My work horses. About $23. Changed my perception of how good a flash drive could be. 32GB is plenty big enough for an install + some user files. Unfortunately, this drive is not mfg anymore. Here it is on Amazon
  
  
• Sandisk Ultra USB 3.0 32GB - $11. I tried this as a cheaper alternative to the above. Not nearly as fast as above, but far cheaper. You get what you pay for. Acceptable performance. On Amazon
  
  If you have a USB 3 port, don't even consider USB 2 drives IMO.
  
  
  

Hey /u/tqk_r!

Thank you for your answer and willingness to help, unfortunately I already gave up since my time was not really worth the exotic issue and restored my system with a reinstall. (took me like 20min)

My kernel was the 4.20.11 revision, running on this device.

What version of Windows are you running? Why are you passing through the soundcard instead of just sharing it?

I had this issue with Windows 8 and resorted to moving to Windows 7 with

-soundhw ac97

To get it to work right. Alternatively you can get something like this and pass it through. I have one and it works great.

MX200 should be fine. It is also SATA III 2.5"

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX200-250GB-Internal-Solid/dp/B00RQA6DTE

BX100 will also work. I have one in my X220 and it's great.

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-BX100-250GB-Internal-Solid/dp/B00RQA6TEI/

PLEASE PLEASE don't buy the BX200 though. If you have looked at the benchmarks, the BX200 sucks since it's mostly designed to cut costs.

I bought this one and it works flawlessly. Not the cheapest option but comes with VGA, HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet, and a USB 3.1 Type A. Well worth the extra cost. Also remember you get what you pay for. This one is well constructed and reliable:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01C316EIK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Edit: Also forgot to mention. I've got an XPS 15

Thank you!
This is the same card, right? Amazon link.

This one had better reviews.

All the major Dell/HP/Lenovo 14" machines that support slices should be able to get fairly close to this with the slice.

I can charge my rMB 12" on solar. It's a 100W panel and easily holds the MB till evening. You can run Linux on it just fine. I'm working on getting all the patches together for the 2017 machine, it's not 100% just yet.

Some cheap Amazon keyboard (this one, courtesy of Austin Evans on YouTube). It's got a generic Cherry MX compatible blue switch. I like it.

Yeah I have tried a bunch of distros on it and they all have the same issues. I ended up buying one of these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IRVQ0F8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_YCTj7pJsJmYWb for when I need sound. The last few comments on the GitHub issue suggested compiling a custom kernel may work, but the USB adapter I bought is getting me by. Let me know if you have any luck building a kernel.

Did you know Amazon will donate a portion of every purchase if you shop by going to smile.amazon.com instead? Over $50,000,000 has been raised for charity - all you need to do is change the URL!

Here are your smile-ified links:

Get this

---

^^i'm ^^a ^^friendly bot

try

this

It work great for me

Yep. That's the bugger. The HDMI, and supposedly VGA as well, doesn't work with the Linux kernel (even 4.9+). The ethernet and usb ports work, and video supposedly works with windows. Also, reports on the Arch wiki and across the web say that some third-party HDMI/displayport adapters work. I just ordered one made by "Cable Matters" based on a report that another adapter by the same manufacture works so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

How do I find out the model of it? If it helps, the name of it on it's amazon page is "USB Wifi Adapter AC600Mbps USBNOVEL Dual Band 2.4G / 5G Wireless Wifi Dongle Network Card"

I had the same issue with the 9360 in that I didn't know which one to buy. I ended up getting a really cheap one (€20) and it worked well. However, I'm having issues with the sound not working through the dongle.
https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Thunderbolt-Compatible-Adapter/dp/B00X4S5C7G/ref=sr_1_12?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1487797501&sr=1-12&keywords=usb+c+hdmi

While I haven't installed Arch on my 9350 yet, a verified reviewer states that the one linked below works on Linux.

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Multiport-Thunderbolt-Compatible/dp/B01C316EIK

BTW, if anyone wants to swap a 512GB 2260 M.2 drive for a 2280 M.2 drive, that'd be great...

Get this, I use it with my pc and my Raspberry pi, works out of the box with linux.

I know it's not that helpful. But I struggled with sound out of the laptop's headphone jack for a couple months. I eventually broke down and just bought a small USB DAC and that fixed it right up and even sounded better than Window's did.

Something like this: Sabrent USB DAC [Amazon]