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Manjaro 21.3.1 v2.1

Minor Versionm

by Matt Hartley

Introduction

Once you have your Framework Laptop set up following the Quick Start Guide, you’re ready to install your preferred OS. The Framework Laptop is running some very recent hardware, so some manual workarounds are needed to get Manjaro working smoothly. Note that Manjaro offers a range of kernel options through the Manjaro Settings Manager. The default may be a very recent kernel where there is risk of driver regressions, especially if you are on the most recent generation of hardware. To reduce the risk of regressions, you can switch to the most recent LTS kernel that Manjaro offers.

This guide is specifically for the Manjaro XFCE version.

NOTE: This is a Compatible Community Supported Linux Distribution. Learn more here.

Tools

No tools specified.

  1. First, download the latest Manjaro ISO.  Manjaro has a detailed installation guide that you can follow.  We'll go through the steps in this Guide assuming you have a simple installation scenario of a fresh install on a blank drive.
    • First, download the latest Manjaro ISO. Manjaro has a detailed installation guide that you can follow. We'll go through the steps in this Guide assuming you have a simple installation scenario of a fresh install on a blank drive.

    • Download Rufus as a tool to create the USB installer from the ISO. Rufus is available for Windows, but you can reference Manjaro's manual for other OS's. You can either install it or download the portable version that runs directly from the executable.

    • Launch Rufus. Insert your USB drive (8GB or larger). Click on "Select" and select the Manjaro ISO that you downloaded. Make sure the USB drive you want is selected in the Device dropdown. Click "Start", accept any prompts that come up, and wait a minute or two for it to complete.

    • Once the USB drive creation is complete, you can close Rufus and eject the USB drive from your OS.

    • You'll need to first disable Secure Boot. While powering on your Framework laptop, tap F2 to enter the BIOS menu. In the Security tab, select Secure Boot. Under the Enforce Secure Boot option, select Disabled. Press F10 to Save and Exit.

    • Insert the USB drive into your powered off Framework Laptop, and then power on. If you have an existing OS installed on the Storage drive in your laptop, you'll need to tap F12 as you boot to bring up the Boot Manager screen. You can then select the "EFI USB Device" item with your arrow keys and hit Enter.

    • If you don't have an internal storage drive installed or it is blank, the laptop will boot to the USB drive directly.

    • Hit Enter again to boot into Manjaro.

    • After a few seconds, you're in! If you just want to try Manjaro out, you can use live USB version of it without touching the internal storage drive. If you do want to install Manjaro to the internal storage drive, go on to the next step.

    • Click on the Install Manjaro Linux icon on the desktop.

    • Select your language and click Next. Select your time zone and click Next. Select the keyboard language you'd like to use and click next.

    • On the "Partitions" screen, you may have a range of options available if there is already on OS on your internal drive. For the purposes of this guide, we're assuming a clean install with the "Erase disk" option. For the other advanced options around dual booting, you can follow Manjaro's guide. Click Next.

    • You can change "No Swap" to "Swap (with Hibernate)" to get access to hibernate functionality to extend battery life when suspended.

    • Set up your user name and password. Click Next. Click Install and Install Now. After installation completes, select Restart Now and click Done.

    • There are a range of quality of life improvements that you can make after installation, and there is a great Community thread on this.

    • We no longer provide official support using the fingerprint reader with Manjaro at this time.

    • For fully supported fingerprint reader access, we recommend the Ubuntu or Fedora which have outstanding support.

    • After installing your OS, we recommend updating to the latest firmware (11th Gen Intel Core or 12th Gen Intel Core) to make sure the laptop is running at optimal performance and stability.

    • The ALS and the brightness up/down keys conflict on currently shipping kernels. You can disable the ALS to restore brightness up/down functionality. First, edit /etc/default/grub as root.

    • Find the line that starts with GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT, and add module_blacklist=hid_sensor_hub to the end:

    • GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash apparmor=1 security=apparmor udev.log_priority=3 module_blacklist=hid_sensor_hub"

    • Save and close the file, then run "sudo update-grub" and then reboot.

    • While the 6.1.1-1 kernel that Manjaro currently ships with seems to work with 12th Gen Intel Core, there are improvements with newer kernels. You can install a newer kernels through the Kernel section of Manjaro Settings Manager when they are available.

Conclusion

Enjoy using Manjaro on your Framework Laptop! If you have any questions or run into any issues, we recommend bringing them to the Community in the Manjaro XFCE topic. Members of the Framework team participate in discussions there.

6 other people completed this guide.

Nirav Patel

Member since: 03/24/2021

21 Guides authored

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