Dual boot Ubuntu on ASUS X555LA UEFI laptop alongside Windows 10

I recently successfully dual booted Ubuntu on an ASUS X555LA laptop, the X555LAB variety. This guide will work on most Ubuntu derivatives, I installed Xubuntu using these steps. The only things that are different between them are window managers and preinstalled software.

Specs:

Intel® Core™ i5-5200U CPU @ 2.20GHz, max: 2.70GHz
Intel® HD Graphics 5500
8GB RAM, 1TB HDD
1920x1080 screen, 2xUSB3.0, 1xUSB2.0

Here’s a step by step guide to what I needed to do.

Download Ubuntu #

1. You must use a 64bit version.
2. You should use 16.04 or later (earlier versions may work but may require different instructions).

Burn to a DVD-R #

1. Double click the .iso file.
2. Windows Disc Burner should open, if using Windows.
3. Burn to a disc, I suggest enabling the “verify disc after burn” option.

Disable fast startup in Windows 10 #

1. Search for “power options” using search.
2. Click “change what the buttons do”.
3. Click something like “show hidden/disabled settings”. It will be a link or button at the top with a UAC badge next to it.
4. Uncheck the fast startup checkbox near the bottom of the page.
5. Apply changes.

Disable fast boot in UEFI settings #

1. Click Windows flag, click power options, click “restart” whilst holding shift.
2. Wait for computer to go into an options menu.
3. Click trouble shooting.
4. Click advanced.
5. Click change UEFI settings.
6. Go to boot tab.
7. Disable “fast boot”.
8. You do not need to disable secure boot.

Check boot order #

The only option should be: “Windows Boot Manager”.

Install Ubuntu #

1. Insert disc and restart computer
2. When booting, a blue menu should come up. It’ll have a Windows Boot Manager option, a disc option, and an UEFI settings option. Select the disc option. If this menu does not appear, restart and press esc during the “ASUS” logo.
3. A GRUB menu screen will now appear. If it does not appear, then the disc hasn’t been loaded in UEFI mode.
4. Select “Install Ubuntu”.
5. Install as normal. You’ll need to disable “install sources from third party providers” as that will disable secure boot and break windows - don’t worry, you can install many of these things later.
6. On the partitions manager, Files (sda5) is the Windows partition, and Ubuntu (sda6) is the Ubuntu partition. Note that they won’t add up to a full 1TB, as the laptop comes with two partitions already.

Problems #

Here are some problems.

• The touchpad was super sensitive and I often clicked whilst typing, deleting text.
  • Solution: add touchpad delay (Settings -> Mouse -> Touchpad)
• Occasional WiFi problems
  • sudo service network-manager restart
• Fixed as of 16.10 Locking causes the mouse to disappear when unlocking. Work arounds:
  • ctrl+alt+f1 then ctrl+alt+f7
  • Move mouse between monitor boundaries if dual booting
• Fixed as of 16.10 Occasionally when web browsing, tears appear making some text unreadable.
  • A work around is to press ctrl+a, which causes the page to re-render.

These problems are made up for that fact that 1. you now have a real terminal and 2. double tapping doesn’t break like on Windows (damn ASUS Smart Touch).

See also #

Thanks for reading this. For more info, see: ubuntu.com/community/UEFI/.