cannot install MX Linux on Windows 11 laptop [Solved]

[user101]

Current Quick System Info:

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System:    Kernel: 6.0.0-6mx-amd64 [6.0.12-1~mx21+1] x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 10.2.1 
           parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.0.0-6mx-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash 
           Desktop: Xfce 4.18.1 tk: Gtk 3.24.24 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm 4.18.0 vt: 7 
           dm: LightDM 1.26.0 Distro: MX-21.3_ahs_x64 Wildflower January 15  2023 
           base: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye) 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: Acer product: Swift SF114-34 v: V1.03 serial: <filter> Chassis: 
           type: 10 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: JSL model: Labatt_JL v: V1.03 serial: <filter> UEFI: Insyde v: 1.03 
           date: 12/28/2020 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 23.8 Wh (56.3%) condition: 42.3/48.0 Wh (88.1%) volts: 11.2 
           min: 11.2 model: LGC KT0030G020 AP18C8K type: Li-ion serial: <filter> 
           status: Discharging cycles: 60 
CPU:       Info: Dual Core model: Intel Celeron N4500 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Tremont family: 6 
           model-id: 9C (156) stepping: 0 microcode: 24000023 cache: L2: 4 MiB 
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 4454 
           Speed: 791 MHz min/max: 800/2800 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 800 2: 800 
           Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected 
           Type: l1tf status: Not affected 
           Type: mds status: Not affected 
           Type: meltdown status: Not affected 
           Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT disabled 
           Type: retbleed status: Not affected 
           Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl 
           Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
           Type: spectre_v2 
           mitigation: Enhanced IBRS, IBPB: conditional, RSB filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected 
           Type: srbds status: Vulnerable: No microcode 
           Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel JasperLake [UHD Graphics] vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: i915 
           v: kernel bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:4e55 class-ID: 0300 
           Device-2: Chicony HD User Facing type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-4:2 
           chip-ID: 04f2:b6dd class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter> 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.14 compositor: xfwm4 v: 4.18.0 driver: 
           loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1 
           Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.0x11.2") 
           s-diag: 582mm (22.9") 
           Monitor-1: eDP-1 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 158 size: 309x173mm (12.2x6.8") 
           diag: 354mm (13.9") 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics (JSL) v: 4.6 Mesa 22.0.5 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Jasper Lake HD Audio vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI 
           driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel alternate: snd_sof_pci_intel_icl bus-ID: 00:1f.3 
           chip-ID: 8086:4dc8 class-ID: 0401 
           Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k6.0.0-6mx-amd64 running: yes 
           Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 14.2 running: yes 
Network:   Device-1: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 160MHz driver: iwlwifi v: kernel modules: wl port: 3000 
           bus-ID: 00:14.3 chip-ID: 8086:4df0 class-ID: 0280 
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter> 
Bluetooth: Device-1: Intel type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-8:4 chip-ID: 8087:0026 
           class-ID: e001 
           Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: down bt-service: N/A rfk-block: 
           hardware: no software: yes address: <filter> 
           Info: acl-mtu: 1021:4 sco-mtu: 96:6 link-policy: rswitch sniff link-mode: slave accept 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 58.31 GiB used: 7.3 GiB (12.5%) 
           ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 maj-min: 179:0 vendor: Kingston model: TA2964 size: 58.31 GiB 
           block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 0x8 
           scheme: GPT 
           SMART Message: Unknown smartctl error. Unable to generate data. 
Partition: ID-1: / raw-size: 24.94 GiB size: 24.38 GiB (97.76%) used: 7.29 GiB (29.9%) fs: ext4 
           dev: /dev/mmcblk0p3 maj-min: 179:3 
           ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 116 MiB size: 114.2 MiB (98.45%) used: 282 KiB (0.2%) 
           fs: vfat dev: /dev/mmcblk0p1 maj-min: 179:1 
Swap:      Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) 
           ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 2.39 GiB used: 9.8 MiB (0.4%) priority: -2 
           dev: /dev/mmcblk0p6 maj-min: 179:6 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 33.0 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     Packages: note: see --pkg apt: 1969 lib: 990 flatpak: 0 
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye main contrib non-free
           2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bullseye-security main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
           1: deb http://mirror.datamossa.io/mxlinux/mx/repo/ bullseye main non-free
           2: deb http://mirror.datamossa.io/mxlinux/mx/repo/ bullseye ahs
Info:      Processes: 216 Uptime: 1h 2m wakeups: 17 Memory: 3.65 GiB used: 2.51 GiB (68.7%) 
           Init: SysVinit v: 2.96 runlevel: 5 default: 5 tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: N/A 
           alt: 10 Client: shell wrapper v: 5.1.4-release inxi: 3.3.06 
Boot Mode: UEFI

Thanks for all the responses. I tried the Brightness Systray with the non AHS MX-Linux release and changing things there would have zero effect. I remember it saying Software brightness. No hardware settting. It still does say Softwware now, but now I can see brightness changes if I adjust the slider. Now I just use the F3 and F4 keys, which double as Brightness controls.

I forgot to mention that the cursor will only move with a mouse attached. Touchpad gets no action with MX Linux on this laptop too.

What happend to Windows? I ended up killing it, or maybe it killed me first.

Initially I tried to resize the partition and restore the system to factory defaults, but it did not work. Computer still starts up with Microsoft's Preparing Automatic Repair, which always fails. Restoring to factory defaults always fails too. Microsoft is not making it easy. I load up GParted off the 'Live' USB.
* The existing 100MB ESP partition was deleted.
* The existing 16MB Microsoft reserved partition with 'unknown' file system (according to GParted) was deleted too.
* I create a new 116MB ESP partition out of those two (100MB + 16MB).

I decided to re-install MX Linux. I still kept the Acer recovery partition but I have no idea if I can use it. I am a mere hobbyist and it may be beyond my grasp. MX Linux is installed. Microsoft is gone. I did experience some strange error messages in MX Linux saying: 'Power Manager has left the Panel, would you like to restart it? Or words to that effect. I am not sure what that was about, but thought I would mention it.

[CharlesV]

I believe what Charlie is saying is that the reason WHY your not able to change the brightness, is because the wrong video driver is installed. (or more precisely NO video driver is installed. )

[CharlesV]

Your "recovery partition" will only be useful if your going to reinstall windows.

That 6.0 kernel your running now is know quirky and I would strongly suggest updating to either the 6.1 (LTS) or 6.2 kernel. (I really prefer the 6.2, seems to be smoother for me.)

[user101]

Thanks CharlesV. I upgraded the kenel to 6.1. I thought it would fail since I got some error, but it seemed to upgrade to 6.1. The error I got boiled down to:

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Errors were encountered while processing:
 appimagelauncher
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
update dkms modules for kernel:  6.1.0-9mx-ahs-amd64
see log at /var/log/rebuild-dkms.log
dkms: running auto installation service for kernel 6.1.0-9mx-ahs-amd64:Deprecated feature: MODULES_CONF (/var/lib/dkms/rtl8821ce/5.5.2.1+git20230504/source/dkms.conf)
Deprecated feature: MODULES_CONF (/var/lib/dkms/rtl8821ce/5.5.2.1+git20230504/source/dkms.conf)

The problems with screen brightness were from the previous non-AHS MX Linux. The AHS release seems to work.
PS. I kept the windows recovery partition on the off-chance I one day might want to retore the machine to its factory state. But I doubt that is happening now. I am not too stressed.

[Charlie Brown]

I believe what Charlie is saying is that the reason WHY your not able to change the brightness, is because the wrong video driver is installed. (or more precisely NO video driver is installed. )

Yep.

...The problems with screen brightness were from the previous non-AHS MX Linux. The AHS release seems to work...

Yep. Cause, now:

Graphics: Device-1: Intel JasperLake [UHD Graphics] vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: i915
v: kernel bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:4e55 class-ID: 0300
...
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.14 compositor: xfwm4 v: 4.18.0 driver:
loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
...
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics (JSL) v: 4.6 Mesa 22.0.5 direct render: Yes

(All fine)

But if you mean, brightness works, still the keys don't, you can try acpi_backlight parameter.

... I forgot to mention that the cursor will only move with a mouse attached. Touchpad gets no action with MX Linux on this laptop too...

"MX Tweak" - "Other" tab: "Use libinput driver..."

[Charlie Brown]

You can even get rid of that package as you don't have such a (wifi) device:

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sudo apt purge rtl8821ce-dkms -y

[user101]

"MX Tweak" - "Other" tab: "Use libinput driver..."

Thanks for this tip. Amazing what you find under MX Tweak! I tried it but unfortunately it's not working.
I'm pretty sure that the touchpad hardware has failed somehow, because I doubt I am using exotic hardware that Linux cannot support. especially something basic like a touchpad. I will verify it later tonight.

[asher]

In Linux all things are possible.
Just make a short cut here is the code that will dim your monitor.

xrandr --output eDP-1 --gamma 1:1:1 & xrandr --output VGA-1 --gamma 1:1:1 & xrandr --output HDMI-1 --gamma 1:1:1 &

xrandr --output eDP-1 --gamma 0.8:0.8:0.8 & xrandr --output VGA-1 --gamma 0.8:0.8:0.8 & xrandr --output HDMI-1 --gamma 0.8:0.8:0.8 &

xrandr --output eDP-1 --gamma 0.6:0.6:0.6 & xrandr --output VGA-1 --gamma 0.6:0.6:0.6 & xrandr --output HDMI-1 --gamma 0.6:0.6:0.6 &

[user101]

Hi asher, thanks for the info.
The dimming is working perfectly fine with the AHS MX Linux release (the laptop is running surprisingly good). I had problems with the non-AHS MX release at first, but things are fine now. Aside from a non-working touchpad (quite possibly a hardware fault which I had not noticed because I prefer using the mouse), things are good.

[j2mcgreg]

@user101

Please mark this thread as solved by clicking the check mark in the post that contained the solution. Then you can start a new thread for your problem touch pad.