Installing Ubuntu 23.10 on ASUS Zephyrus G15 (2022 Model) is easy
My ASUS Zephyrus G15 laptop was purchased in 2022 and has been running Linux since then. So far, I have used Fedora, Ubuntu, and openSUSE on this device. Currently, Ubuntu seems to perform the best among these distributions, which is why I prefer it over Fedora for my Zephyrus G15 laptop.
Unlike Fedora, which requires separate installation of NVIDIA drivers, Ubuntu takes care of this during the initial setup process. Upon restarting my Zephyrus G15 laptop, all components functioned seamlessly.
See a one mintue YouTube video of my Zephyrus G15 running Ubuntu and performing AI image generation. You never guess the how long it takes to render an image!
Here is my setup
To connect my ASUS Zephyrus G15 laptop to an external LG ultrawide monitor using a USB C to DP cable, I navigated to Settings > Display on my device. By dragging the laptop icon from its original position on the left and applying changes, I was able to align it correctly with the right side of the ultrawide screen.
Ubuntu 23.10 had no issues with pairing my Logitech MX Mechanical Mini via Bluetooth, and GNOME displays the keyboard’s battery charge level seamlessly. This demonstrates how well hardware integrates with software in this free, state-of-the-art operating system.
Zephyrus G15 Gnome Extensions
To enhance my ASUS Zephyrus G15 laptop’s user experience running Ubuntu 23.10, I installed the Gnome Extensions Manager. This allowed me to add more extensions to the default ones already available on this distribution.
sudo apt-get install gnome-shell-extension-manager and
sudo apt-get install lm-sensors
After that, I use the Extension Manager and install the following Gnome extensions:
- Battery Health Charging
- Freon
When installing Ubuntu 23.10 on a Zephyrus G15 laptop, it’s advisable to follow the steps mentioned earlier to prevent the battery from charging fully unless necessary. My device is primarily used for AI image generation and 3D modeling in my home office setting.
After installing lm-sensors and the Battery Health Charging extension, I click on the icon group located in the right upper corner of my screen. From there, I select the battery arrow to access its settings.
- Full Capacity Mode
- Balanced Mode
- Maximum Lifespan Mode
Using Stable Diffusion on my ASUS Zephyrus G15 laptop fully utilizes its powerful NVIDIA RTX 3080 graphics card, which is why I opted for the Freon extension to monitor temperatures during these intensive tasks.
Gnome Settings
After installing Ubuntu 23.10 on my ASUS Zephyrus G15 laptop, I personalized its settings according to my preferences using the Gnome desktop environment. As a Linux user familiar with this interface, I found it easy to adjust various options such as microphone input levels and screen timeouts.
Installing Ubuntu 23.10 on my ASUS Zephyrus G15 laptop was straightforward, particularly since I don’t have a pre-installed Windows operating system. If you do, it is essential to back up your important files before proceeding as the entire SSD will be overwritten by the new OS. While dual-booting is an option, I recommend opting for a clean installation of Ubuntu 23.10 unless you are interested in Windows 11 advertisements and its accompanying software.
Recommended Additional Software
In no particular order, I’ve added the following opensource applications via the new App Center:
- GIMP (deb not snap)
An open-source alternative to Adobe Photoshop for image editing and manipulation. - Blender
A professional-grade 3D creation suite for modeling, animation, rendering, and video editing. - GPT4All
A powerful AI text generation model that can be used in various applications like language translation or content generation. - Automatic1111
A versatile tool for training and deploying machine learning models, particularly useful for generating AI-powered artworks and text. - VS Code
A popular and versatile code editor that supports multiple programming languages and has a rich ecosystem of extensions.
If you’re using your Zephyrus laptop for AI work, then you should already be familiar with GPT4All and Automatic1111. If not, you are in for a treat. The powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card handles everything nicely considering the low power consumption of the mobile version.
Conclusion
The latest release of Ubuntu is a noticeable step forward, and just like the previous release (24.04), it performs above my expectations. As mentioned on Reddit and other sites, the fingerprint reader may not be working for some users; however, this isn’t an issue for me as GNOME allows me to reassign that prominent button to launch a custom application instead.
If you’re working with AI-generated images, you will appreciate how easy it is to batch rename files using GNOME. Simply highlight/select the images, right-click > Rename, clear out the field (backspace), and enter a custom name along with a numbering scheme. Many of these generated images may be unusable; however, I prefer to use the built-in GNOME Image Viewer for deletion purposes. The viewer automatically advances to the next image after pressing the delete button.
There are countless other reasons why I choose GNOME as my preferred desktop environment, but these features highlight its versatility and ease of use for various tasks such as managing AI-generated images.
I hope that this blog post sheds some light on the current state of running Ubuntu 23.10 on an ASUS Zephyrus laptop. If Ubuntu isn’t to your liking, consider giving Fedora 39 a try when it is released in the coming week. Thank you for taking the time to read through my experiences and recommendations.
