Does Linux work on the new Predator Helios 300 PH315-52-78VL?
I have heard Linux does not work on the Triton 500 without sending your laptop into Acer to disable some UEFI option. Is this the same with the new Helios 300?
Want to know before buying.
Thanks!
Best Answers
I am running Ubuntu 19.04 on the PH315-52-78VL. My first issue was incompatible M.2 NVME drives. I finally found one that worked after I put a standard 2.5″ SSD in the hard drive bay. Later on I found a different M.2 that did work. AHCI is necessary and Secure Boot needs to be turned off. Because of the confusion with the M.2 drives I ended up dual booting the included Win10 256GB M.2 and installed / on the 2.5″ SSD. I installed the Nvidia drivers and the screen is awesome. I’ve been trying to figure out how to have Linux recognize the Predator key but it is outside of the normal keyboard layout so no joy yet. The battery is definitely an issue with about one hour +/- 15 minutes. I read a reference that there is a way to set Ubuntu/Linux to not use the nvidia card and instead use the integrated video on the CPU but I haven’t found a simple method to do that. I’ve heard that one person increased their battery life to three hours so I’m hopeful. I’ve had six different Linux distros running simultaneously in VMware without any problems, the extra four processor threads is awesome, especially after you increase the RAM to 32GB. After a lot of panicked fighting with the Linux install I am now very pleased with the model.
This is a post I put on Amazon review as well, but the info on the install is on topic for this thread.
Many have already posted how pleased they are with this model and I agree. Great speed, and response. Pay an extra 200 by getting an extra 1tb ssd and 1tb ssd m.2 drive and install them. I have Crucial https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077SF8KMG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Don’t waste money buying M.2 Heatsink Copper, m2 pcie NVMe Laptop Heatsink Copper，with Silicone Thermal Pad, for M.2 2280 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QNRP9HK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
because the Sabrent already has a good copper heatsink. I liked the thickness of the 3rd party heatsink but it was too thick to play around with in the Predator.
1. This is not the RGB version. keyboard is only blue. Emblem on back lights up blue as well. You can turn it up in brightness or off.
h. Install. BUT in your INSTALL make sure your boot loader is sent to your windows operating system’s M.2. In linux it will be a weird name, not sda etc.
j. If you select Windows Boot Manager you will get a blue Error page. SO DON’T do that yet. Instead go to your Linux option and make sure it boots up correctly.
k. Once you have linux up and running then restart. You don’t need Grub Customizer, it will only show you your linux not windows.
l. After restart hit F2 immediately. Change ACHI back to Intel Optane, which is the middle option, I did not test on Premium. So don’t select Optane Premium.
n. Don’t go into your options yet. Go to Windows option hit F6 to move it up to the primary. then hit enter. You should boot into windows.
o. When you want to boot into linux just use the F12 option and it will take you to the Linux partition. You will not see Grub show up.
Runs great. Look for limitations on line with Ubuntu/Kubuntu regarding no ability for Linux to choose between Intel graphics and nvidia which does consume a lot of power. No use of turbo or fan options built into the Acer.
Credit: Much of the information I provided was from this thread and other threads throughout the internet and my own testing and hours off frustration. Thanks to everyone above for your information, i couldn’t have done this without you.
Answers
I do not know any information about that.
It is perfectly possible to install a Linux distribution on Bios with UEFi mode.
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I am running Ubuntu 19.04 on the PH315-52-78VL. My first issue was incompatible M.2 NVME drives. I finally found one that worked after I put a standard 2.5″ SSD in the hard drive bay. Later on I found a different M.2 that did work. AHCI is necessary and Secure Boot needs to be turned off. Because of the confusion with the M.2 drives I ended up dual booting the included Win10 256GB M.2 and installed / on the 2.5″ SSD. I installed the Nvidia drivers and the screen is awesome. I’ve been trying to figure out how to have Linux recognize the Predator key but it is outside of the normal keyboard layout so no joy yet. The battery is definitely an issue with about one hour +/- 15 minutes. I read a reference that there is a way to set Ubuntu/Linux to not use the nvidia card and instead use the integrated video on the CPU but I haven’t found a simple method to do that. I’ve heard that one person increased their battery life to three hours so I’m hopeful. I’ve had six different Linux distros running simultaneously in VMware without any problems, the extra four processor threads is awesome, especially after you increase the RAM to 32GB. After a lot of panicked fighting with the Linux install I am now very pleased with the model.
I am running Ubuntu 19.04 on the PH315-52-78VL. My first issue was incompatible M.2 NVME drives. I finally found one that worked after I put a standard 2.5″ SSD in the hard drive bay. Later on I found a different M.2 that did work. AHCI is necessary and Secure Boot needs to be turned off. Because of the confusion with the M.2 drives I ended up dual booting the included Win10 256GB M.2 and installed / on the 2.5″ SSD. I installed the Nvidia drivers and the screen is awesome. I’ve been trying to figure out how to have Linux recognize the Predator key but it is outside of the normal keyboard layout so no joy yet. The battery is definitely an issue with about one hour +/- 15 minutes. I read a reference that there is a way to set Ubuntu/Linux to not use the nvidia card and instead use the integrated video on the CPU but I haven’t found a simple method to do that. I’ve heard that one person increased their battery life to three hours so I’m hopeful. I’ve had six different Linux distros running simultaneously in VMware without any problems, the extra four processor threads is awesome, especially after you increase the RAM to 32GB. After a lot of panicked fighting with the Linux install I am now very pleased with the model.
In ubuntu the gui software updater have in «other software» the option to install nvidia drivers (apropiatives) and when install it you have the opcion to choose the discrete or the integrate gpu
I left a guide to solve the heating issues on Nvidia cards and Linux Nvidia Driver 430.
This is a post I put on Amazon review as well, but the info on the install is on topic for this thread.
Many have already posted how pleased they are with this model and I agree. Great speed, and response. Pay an extra 200 by getting an extra 1tb ssd and 1tb ssd m.2 drive and install them. I have Crucial https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077SF8KMG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Don’t waste money buying M.2 Heatsink Copper, m2 pcie NVMe Laptop Heatsink Copper，with Silicone Thermal Pad, for M.2 2280 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QNRP9HK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
because the Sabrent already has a good copper heatsink. I liked the thickness of the 3rd party heatsink but it was too thick to play around with in the Predator.
1. This is not the RGB version. keyboard is only blue. Emblem on back lights up blue as well. You can turn it up in brightness or off.
h. Install. BUT in your INSTALL make sure your boot loader is sent to your windows operating system’s M.2. In linux it will be a weird name, not sda etc.
j. If you select Windows Boot Manager you will get a blue Error page. SO DON’T do that yet. Instead go to your Linux option and make sure it boots up correctly.
k. Once you have linux up and running then restart. You don’t need Grub Customizer, it will only show you your linux not windows.
l. After restart hit F2 immediately. Change ACHI back to Intel Optane, which is the middle option, I did not test on Premium. So don’t select Optane Premium.
n. Don’t go into your options yet. Go to Windows option hit F6 to move it up to the primary. then hit enter. You should boot into windows.
o. When you want to boot into linux just use the F12 option and it will take you to the Linux partition. You will not see Grub show up.
Runs great. Look for limitations on line with Ubuntu/Kubuntu regarding no ability for Linux to choose between Intel graphics and nvidia which does consume a lot of power. No use of turbo or fan options built into the Acer.
Credit: Much of the information I provided was from this thread and other threads throughout the internet and my own testing and hours off frustration. Thanks to everyone above for your information, i couldn’t have done this without you.
How compatible is Ubuntu with Predator Helios 300 series
I’d like to install ubuntu instead of windows 10 on Acer Predator Helios 300 laptop. The official drivers are all for windows, so how compatible is Ubuntu (or maybe some other linux distro like linux mint) with these laptops and is there any significant impact on performance, overheating, battery in this case ?
Answers
Hi natasha7, As you are interested to have Ubuntu in Acer Predator, I recommended to have a look the below given blog. This could help you.
If you think I’ve answered your question, please hit the Accept Answer
( 0) Pre-shrink Windows partition to desired unallocated space for Linux Mint installation.
( 1) Make bootable GPT/FAT32(default) stick from the Mint installation iso such as Cinnamon with Rufus.
( 2) Set BIOS supervisor password(SECURITY), disable secure boot(BOOT)& enable F12 Windows boot mgr (MAIN). Save BIOS settings & exit. May not be needed with some Linux installations like Mint.
( 3) Shutdown & insert bootable Linux stick
( 4) Turn back on while immediately tapping F12. Select Linux stick to run.
( 5) Preferrably select a default Linux install option
( 6) Follow on-screen instructions to install alongside Windows.
( 7) Let Linux automatically set & resize partitions for Linux & its swap. Adjust for more or less space only if absolutely necessary.
( 8) Shutdown & remove Cinnamon stick.
( 9) Turn back on while tapping F2.
(10) Re-enable secure boot(BOOT) & select UEFI file as trusted(MAIN). Select HDD0, SSD0 or eMMC0, then , then , then grubx64.efi the UEFI file. Enter grubx64.efi in the space provided if selecting it doesn’t automatically enter it. Save BIOS setting and exit.
(11) Boot into Windows. Then shutdown again.
(12) Turn back on while tapping F12.
(13) If desired, put grubx64.efi ahead of Windows boot manager in UEFI bootstrapper
There may be a few minor driver issues but nothing like the driver havoc created with some of the major Win10updates.
Hi, thank you for this explanation.
Small question : is it possible to pre-shrink the SSD Windows partition or it is recommanded to use only the hdd for ubuntu ?
Eric
Sure. If you’ve got enough room for Linux system and swap partitions. Jack E/NJ
Thanks JackE.
I followed the instructions to install Ubuntu with a usb disk drive but the installation freezes on the first screen (the country choice) : the mouse doesn’t move and the keyboard doesn’t work
kaboume
(1) Do you have fast boot disabled in Control Panel power button section?
(2) Which Linux version are you trying to install alongside Windows?
(3) Could you post a screenshot of your BIOS information tab?
1/ i fonction know ?
2/ last Ubuntu version 18.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso
3/ yes! 
>>>2/ last Ubuntu version 18.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso>>>
The iso that you chose is one problem. You have an Intel, not AMD, mainboard. It’s also a laptop, not a desktop. Jack E/NJ
However, it’s the same version for laptop & desktop and no precision on intel vs amd : https://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop
You do not seem to have an optane card installed. Please set SATA to ACHI mode in Main tab. Jack E/NJ