Razer Blade Stealth Linux

Hey,

I just wanted to ask if someone already tried running Linux on the new Blade Stealth. I would love to hear some experiences.

 

I am running Ubuntu. 14.04 wasn't registering WiFi card nor touchpad so I switched to 15.10. Touchpad was working default. Had to head to killer wireless site to download WiFi drivers to get them working. WiFi has and continues to be fickle. Not sure if its me or this WiFi card is a problem across the board. It is a killer 1535. Other than wireless it is phenomenal.

 

Thanks for the update!
What exactly do you mean by fickle? Is the connection stable enough that you can do your casual browsing?

 

Use the ath10k driver which is included in the latest kernel updates.
Download:
http://www.killernetworking.com/support/board.bin
and put it in the /lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA6174/hw3.0/ folder (create the folder if it doesn’t exist)

 

Thx Capt! Wifi is now working great on my Blade Stealth (Ubuntu 15.10, Cinnamon 2.8.6).

I'm still experiencing issues with Bluetooth, and the display shutting off but the laptop not sleeping when the lid is closed. Any chance there might be an equally-effortless fix?

Edit: Bluetooth is fine, Microsoft's Arc mice apparently use a low energy profile that's notoriously finicky with linux. Sleep (both when lid is closed and manually initiated) is functional from Ubuntu login screen, but stops working the moment I jump into Cinnamon. Will continue to investigate...

Seems that issues with inability to sleep / infinite sleep loops when resuming from sleep were all related to Intel's Management Engine Interface. System suspension has been functioning flawlessly since I added the following two lines to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf two hours ago:

blacklist mei
blacklist mei_me

 

Why you do this on a blade

 

I'll be curious to see if anyone can get the Razer Core working on the Stealth with Linux.

 

Does anyone know how the Stealth plays with Kali either in dual boot or VM? I think I'd prefer the 2016 Blade but the Stealth is just too damn portable to cross off.

 

Because I have a serious hate on for Windows 10.

Thanks, I'm going to tuck that info away someplace safe.

Glad you are getting everything working. Quick question, what kernel are you running?

That will be my goal when it is finally released.

Since your talking about Kali, I tried to find info on packet injection, (getting wireless to work should be relatively simple is you use the firmware I mentioned in my reply to Aubrey) unfortunately I have not been able to find anything. So until mine gets here I won;t know. It uses a Killer Wireless 1535 AC but I do not know if it will support any of the advanced features needed for pen testing (promiscuous mode and packet injection).

If it does I would recommend dual boot so Kali has direct access to the physical hardware.

 

Hey thanks for the reply man! It's a fairly expensive little project but the Stealth may be ideal if all hardware functionality is retained in Kali. You can also use a desktop GPU for password cracking if the Core works in Kali. Best of both worlds, really.

 

Don't forget wifi cards are replaceable. You could find a more linux friendly m.2 wifi card and swap it out.

And I like that idea of using the core for that.

 

this doesn't fix the problem for me unfortunately. Which kernel and distribution are you running?

 

Alright guys, so, good news. I got fedora up and running nearly flawlessly on my Razer Blade Stealth. I made a howto of sorts on reddit, I hope it helps someone.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fedora/comments/46vwid/howto_fedora_23_winderz_10_dual_boot_on_the_razer/

EDIT:
I felt I should elaborate on the *nearly* flawless part. I do have a problem where it gives me a black screen on boot, but if I press the power button to sleep it and then wake it, everything comes up normal. So, there's that. But otherwise, everything is working great!

 

Nice. May I ask, does the webcam work in Fedora? Mine dies after about 2 seconds in Ubuntu.

 

So far works brilliantly. Also, major props _ramsey_, it's thanks to your razer blade thread that I was able to get as far as I did. I would have spent quite a while fighting stuff if it wasn't for your leg work

 

How does the chroma backlighting work with Linux?Once I get my stealth, I'll try to get this to work: https://github.com/pez2001/razer_chroma_drivers

 

It works great. Currently I just do my customization in windows and it just stays active when I reboot. I haven't tried those drivers yet though.

 

That's great news. The drivers definitely wont work w/o slight modifications. This is a long shot, but if the keyboard is viewed as a usb device, it'll be trivial to modify: https://github.com/pez2001/razer_chroma_drivers/issues/82

Otherwise, the code will require new methods I think. Could you try running the "lsusb" command in a terminal when you have a chance and see if the keyboard is there?

 

It does, in fact, show up. Here's the lsusb output:

Spoiler

Bus 001 Device 004: ID 1532:0205 Razer USA, Ltd
Couldn't open device, some information will be missing
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 2.00
bDeviceClass 0
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 64
idVendor 0x1532 Razer USA, Ltd
idProduct 0x0205
bcdDevice 2.00
iManufacturer 1
iProduct 2
iSerial 0
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 107
bNumInterfaces 4
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0xa0
(Bus Powered)
Remote Wakeup
MaxPower 500mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 1
bInterfaceClass 3 Human Interface Device
bInterfaceSubClass 1 Boot Interface Subclass
bInterfaceProtocol 1 Keyboard
iInterface 0
HID Device Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 33
bcdHID 1.11
bCountryCode 0 Not supported
bNumDescriptors 1
bDescriptorType 34 Report
wDescriptorLength 61
Report Descriptors:
** UNAVAILABLE **
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 3
Transfer Type Interrupt
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0008 1x 8 bytes
bInterval 1
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 1
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 1
bInterfaceClass 3 Human Interface Device
bInterfaceSubClass 0
bInterfaceProtocol 1 Keyboard
iInterface 0
HID Device Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 33
bcdHID 1.11
bCountryCode 0 Not supported
bNumDescriptors 1
bDescriptorType 34 Report
wDescriptorLength 159
Report Descriptors:
** UNAVAILABLE **
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x82 EP 2 IN
bmAttributes 3
Transfer Type Interrupt
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0010 1x 16 bytes
bInterval 1
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 2
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 1
bInterfaceClass 3 Human Interface Device
bInterfaceSubClass 1 Boot Interface Subclass
bInterfaceProtocol 2 Mouse
iInterface 0
HID Device Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 33
bInterfaceNumber 2
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 1
bInterfaceClass 3 Human Interface Device
bInterfaceSubClass 1 Boot Interface Subclass
bInterfaceProtocol 2 Mouse
iInterface 0
HID Device Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 33
bcdHID 1.11
bCountryCode 0 Not supported
bNumDescriptors 1
bDescriptorType 34 Report
wDescriptorLength 94
Report Descriptors:
** UNAVAILABLE **
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x83 EP 3 IN
bmAttributes 3
Transfer Type Interrupt
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0008 1x 8 bytes
bInterval 1
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 3
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 2
bInterfaceClass 255 Vendor Specific Class
bInterfaceSubClass 255 Vendor Specific Subclass
bInterfaceProtocol 0
iInterface 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x84 EP 4 IN
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0040 1x 64 bytes
bInterval 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x04 EP 4 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0040 1x 64 bytes
bInterval 0

 

Got a dual boot working on my Blade Stealth, I've managed to get the wifi working, but haven't been able to get the touchpad up and running. Any advice?