Installation of Arch Linux on the Huawei MateBook Pro X 2019 with Full Disk Encryption.

This was done with a new Huawei MateBook Pro X 2019 Intel Core i7-8565U, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD. 2019/05/19.

Boot into Windows 10/11 once, and let it go through it's whole setup so you can update the BIOS.

Download the Arch ISO. Burn it to a UBS Key like so:

$ sudo dd bs=4M if=path/to/archlinux.iso of=/dev/sdx status=progress oflag=sync

If on Windows you can use Rufus which worked great every-time I used it.

To access the Boot menu, first disable Secure Boot in the BIOS (Enter with <F12).

Security Setting > Secure Boot > Disable.

Then hold down F2 while booting to enter the BIOS device selection and choose your Arch USB.

Make the console font larger so it's readable, we'll set a permanent font later:

# setfont ter-132b

Most of this next part is from the Arch Install Guide.

# iwctl
[iwd]# station wlan0 scan
[iwd]# station wlan0 get-networks
[iwd]# station wlan0 connect SSID

Check that it works, it may take a few seconds for networking to come up.

# ping archlinux.org

Update the system clock.

# timedatectl set-ntp true

This install will use full disk encryption, with the exception of the EFI boot partition.

gdisk /dev/nvme0n1

GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.1
Command (? for help): o
This option deletes all partitions and creates a new protective MBR.
Proceed? (Y/N): Y
Command (? for help): n
Partition number (1-128, default 1):
First sector (34-242187466, default = 2048) or {+-}size{KMGTP}:
Last sector (2048-242187466, default = 242187466) or {+-}size{KMGTP}: +512M
Current type is 'Linux filesystem'
Hex code or GUID (L to show codes, Enter = 8300): EF00
Changed type of partition to 'EFI System'
Command (? for help): n
Partition number (2-128, default 2):
First sector (34-242187466, default = 1050624) or {+-}size{KMGTP}:
Last sector (1050624-242187466, default = 242187466) or {+-}size{KMGTP}:
Current type is 'Linux filesystem'
Hex code or GUID (L to show codes, Enter = 8300):
Changed type of partition to 'Linux filesystem'
Command (? for help): p
Disk /dev/sda: 242187500 sectors, 115.5 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 9FB9AC2C-8F29-41AE-8D61-21EA9E0B4C2A
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 242187466
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 2014 sectors (1007.0 KiB)
Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name
   1            2048         1050623   512.0 MiB   EF00  EFI System
   2         1050624       242187466   115.0 GiB   8300  Linux filesystem
Command (? for help): w

I chose the relatively simple LVM on LUKS setup combining instructions from: Encrypting_an_entire_system

There will be a single LUKS2 volume with LVM on top. LVM will then divide that volume into root, home and swap. Setup and open the LUKS2 volume

# cryptsetup luksFormat --type luks2 /dev/nvme0n1p2
# cryptsetup open /dev/nvme0n1p2 S3V0

Setup LVM, with swap at least as large as RAM to support hibernate

# pvcreate /dev/mapper/S3V0
# vgcreate archvg /dev/mapper/S3V0
# lvcreate -L 16G S3V0 -n swap
# lvcreate -L 64G S3V0 -n root
# lvcreate -l 100%FREE S3V0 -n home

Format the filesystems

# mkfs.vfat -F32 /dev/nvme0n1p1
# mkfs.ext4 /dev/S3V0/root
# mkfs.ext4 /dev/S3V0/home
# mkswap /dev/S3V0/swap

Mount the partitions

# mount /dev/S3V0/root /mnt
# mkdir /mnt/home
# mount /dev/S3V0/home /mnt/home
# swapon /dev/S3V0/swap

Mount the boot/ESP volume

# mkdir /mnt/boot
# mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/boot

Install the base system.

# pacstrap /mnt base base-devel

Generate the fstab.

# genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab

This is mostly straight from the Arch Wiki Installation Guide

Chroot to the new arch install

# arch-chroot /mnt

Set the timezone and hwclock

# ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/Los_Angeles /etc/localtime
# hwclock --systohc

Setup Locales, uncomment any needed in /etc/locale.gen and generate them

# locale-gen
# echo 'LANG=en_US.UTF-8' > /etc/locale.conf

Set a hostname

# echo marchbook >> /etc/hostname

Install Intel Microcode Updates, this will install an initrd image that we add to our boot loader config.

# pacman -S intel-ucode

Next setup systemd-boot

# bootctl --path=/boot install

Get the encrypted volume UUID for use in the systemd-boot config.

# blkid /dev/nvme0n1p2

Add a menu entry for Arch and configure the loader :

# vim /boot/loader/loader.conf

timeout 0
default arch
entries 0

# vim /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf

From now on we will use systemd initramfs for faster startup time.

title    Arch Linux
linux /vmlinuz-linux
initrd    /initramfs-linux.img
options rd.luks.name=<your partition UUID>:lvm resume=/dev/mapper/S3V0-swap root=/dev/mapper/S3V0-root initrd=/intel-ucode.img ro quiet i915.fastboot=1

Since we are using systemd-based initramfs, we need add the keyboard and sd-encrypt hooks. If you use a non-US console keymap or a non-default console font, additionally add the sd-vconsole hooks to /etc/mkinitcpio.conf:

HOOKS=(systemd autodetect modconf kms keyboard sd-vconsole block sd-encrypt filesystems)

Then setup KMS :

Kernel Mode Setting (KMS) is a method for setting display resolution and depth in the kernel space rather than user space. Arch Linux Wiki

MODULES=(... i915 ...)

Regenerate initramfs

# mkinitcpio -p linux

Set the root password

# passwd

Reboot

# exit
# reboot

Get wifi back online after first boot.

# iwctl
[iwd]# station wlan0 scan
[iwd]# station wlan0 get-networks
[iwd]# station wlan0 connect SSID

# useradd -G wheel -m hugo
# passwd hugo

Then log out and switch to that user.

Enable TLP for powersaving

# pacman -S tlp tlp-rdw
# systemctl enable tlp.service
# systemctl enable tlp-sleep.service
# systemctl mask systemd-rfkill.service
# systemctl mask systemd-rfkill.socket

Install ethtool, lsb-release and smartmontools following the suggestion of tlp-stat # pacman -S ethtool lsb-release smartmontools

This configuration is fitted to me, update it according to your needs

Install X11, bspwm, and a few other nice things

# pacman -S bspwm sxhkd nvidia xorg-server xorg-font-util xorg-fonts-75dpi xorg-fonts-100dpi xorg-mkfontdir xorg-mkfontscale xorg-xdpyinfo xorg-xrandr xorg-xset bumblebee bbswitch termite firefox mesa xf86-video-intel xbindkeys xorg-xmodmap xorg-xrdb

Enable Bumblebee with bbswitch for Nvidia / Intel switching

# systemctl enable bumblebeed.service
# gpasswd -a $USER bumblebee

Few apps I need :

# pacman -S zsh vim git compton xorg-xinit python-pip python2 light openssh pass polybar rofi randr xorg-xsetroot feh noto-fonts-cjk arc-gtk-theme thunar lxappearance vlc gvfs thunar-archive-plugin thunar-volman tumbler raw-thumbnailer gvfs-mtp gpicview xorg-xkill exa bat xss-lock xautolock autocutsel dunst ncdu chromium unzip zip p7zip pacman-contrib tldr xdg-user-dirs scrot xclip blueman

Install my dotfiles setup github.com/hg8/dotfiles

Install trizen to build packages from Arch AUR

$ git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/paru.git
$ cd paru
$ makepkg -si

Edit your ~/.profile (~/.zprofile for zsh users) with:

$ cat .zprofile
if [[ ! $DISPLAY && $XDG_VTNR -eq 1 ]]; then
  exec startx
fi

Sort the pacman mirrors by speed Arch Wiki Sorting Mirrors

Set a readable console font:

# pacman -S terminus-font

Create /etc/vconsole.conf with contents:

FONT=ter-132n

Setup basic user directories (Documents, Pictures, etc...)

$ sudo pacman -S xdg-user-dirs
xdg-user-dirs-update

Info from: Linux with a Macbook Touchpad Feel, Pt 2

I'm using Synamptics based on the recommendations from the above link.

Here is how I configured it.

# pacman -S xf86-input-synaptics

Then I created /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/30-synaptics.conf with these contents:

Section "InputClass"
        Identifier "touchpad catchall"
        Driver "synaptics"
        MatchIsTouchpad "on"
        # Enabling tap-to-click is a perilous choice that begets needing to set up palm detection/ignoring. Since I am fine clicking my touchpad, I sidestep the issue by disabling tapping.
        Option "TapButton1" "0"
        Option "TapButton2" "0"
        Option "TapButton3" "0"
    # Using negative values for ScrollDelta implements natural scroll, a la Macbook default.
        Option "VertScrollDelta" "-80"
    Option "HorizScrollDelta" "-80"
        # https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Touchpad_Synaptics has a very buried note about this option
    # tl;dr this defines right button to be rightmost 7% and bottommost 5%
    Option "SoftButtonAreas" "93% 0 95% 0 0 0 0 0"
        MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
EndSection

Suspend on low battery to /etc/udev/rules.d/99-lowbat.rules

$ cat /etc/udev/rules.d/99-lowbat.rules
# Suspend the system when battery level drops to 5% or lower
SUBSYSTEM=="power_supply", ATTR{status}=="Discharging", ATTR{capacity}=="[0-5]", RUN+="/usr/bin/systemctl suspend"

Setup time sync Arch Wiki Systemd-timesyncd Edit /etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf uncomment these lines:

NTP=0.arch.pool.ntp.org 1.arch.pool.ntp.org 2.arch.pool.ntp.org 3.arch.pool.ntp.org
FallbackNTP=0.pool.ntp.org 1.pool.ntp.org 0.us.pool.ntp.org

Then start it:

# timedatectl set-ntp true

To fix Huawei Matebook X Pro Speakers on Linux follow this guide

Instructions generally came from Arch Wiki Xbindkeys

To set the backlight we need light

# pacman -S light

We'll need xbindkeys

# pacman -S xbindkeys
$ xbindkeys -d > ~/.xbindkeysrc

Here is an example on how to use it :

XF86AudioRaiseVolume
    pactl set-sink-volume @DEFAULT_SINK@ -1000
XF86AudioLowerVolume
    pactl set-sink-volume @DEFAULT_SINK@ -1000
XF86AudioMute
    pactl set-sink-mute @DEFAULT_SINK@ toggle

XF86MonBrightnessUp
    light -A 10

XF86MonBrightnessDown
    light -U 10

You can also use my script brightness and volume to show notifications on volume and brightness change using dunst.

Huawei provides downloadable BIOS updates packaged for Windows. With some effort, these can be installed from Linux. The following method is available. Note that it would maybe be safer (no messing up with UEFI boot record) to use a Win2Go USB key to update BIOS. Will report after my personal tries.

(based on @kelp work for the 2018 version)