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MSI gaming laptop questions (self.linux)

submitted 1 week ago by Crashumbc to c/linux

6 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I'm thinking about putting Linux on my MSI laptop.

First how does Linux handle 2 video cards. CPU Intel and a discrete Nvidia 970...

Can Linux work the light up keyboard? ( I game in the dark lot.

External monitor hooked to the display port?

Last what would be the best noob friendly distro to use. Haven't played with Linux in 10 years and really don't have time to tinker now

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

I have a MSI summit flip 13 that I have Debian 12 and KDE plasma 5. keyboard, touchscreen and most everything worked with the default OS load, the Nvida required proprietary driver be loaded and the fan speed cpu throttling required this

https://github.com/dmitry-s93/MControlCenter

[–] darkan15 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

MSI Sword 15 here, with Intel + Nvidia, In my personal experience is runs almost without issues using Manjaro as a Distro (have not tried other distros on this specific machine).

Your experience could be different depending on your specific laptop model and how recent it is.

Keyboard lighting and fan on/off works without issues, the only 'Fn' key that does not work apart from the one for MSI windows software is the one to block the trackpad (and I just configured another keyboard shortcut for it).

Using Wayland, I can not use an external monitor connected to the HDMI port on the Nvidia card (No idea if it is fixable now, haven't looked on it recently), but with Xorg I can run an external monitor in the HDMI port and extra ones with a dongle on the USB-C (so far tried with 3 without issues)

Friendly distros recommended these days as far as I know are Mint and Zorin if looking for something Ubuntu or Debian Based, Apart from that there is Fedora or Arch based distros but may need a bit more knowledge and getting used to.

[–] supernicepojo 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Msi laptops have famously bad hinges, try to find something that has a bit of longevity.

[–] Crashumbc 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

shrug its 12? years old and I've never had a issue with it...

[–] supernicepojo 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Understood. Have a good day! Just as an fyi nvidia and linux support is painful and is prone to breaking for weird reasons.

[–] Crashumbc 2 points 1 week ago

Yeah that's one of the reasons I've held off.

But I need to reload Windows, so I figured I'd check out alternatives.