Failures during live session trial-ASUS convertible laptop

Installing Zorin OS
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Hello all, I had just spent weeks testing Zorin 18 Core on an aging desktop with a GTX1060 and having excellent results. I installed Zorin on an NVMe drive in and external casing and was impressed with how it ran and results from some benchmarks. I figured I would test on my ASUS Q302LAB 2-in-1 laptop and ran into all sorts of issues - screen black and screen rotated (based on mouse cursor behavior). I was able to get it to work by using safe graphics and rotating the screen in console but am hesitant to commit unless I can work out the graphics issues. All other distros tested worked out of the box, except Ubuntu, which was rotated, but driver loaded as it was visible. The laptop is circa 2014 with a core i5 and intel graphics (gen 5) and was originally shipped with Windows 8. Likely an accelerometer or hinge signal problem with this older laptop/tablet. Any way to run the live session for testing without excessive pain or doing a full install?

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Hi and welcome.

Using Ubuntu 24.04 in my search criteria (Zorin 18 is a fork of Ubuntu 24.04) usingBrave A.I. search engine via Mojeek gives:

" ASUS Q302LAB 2-in-1 Laptop Live Mode Issues
The ASUS Q302LAB 2-in-1 laptop, released circa 2014 with Intel HD Graphics 5000 (Gen 5), commonly experiences display issues in Ubuntu live sessions, including black screens, screen rotation, or graphical glitches . These are often linked to accelerometer or hinge sensor interference in convertible tablet mode.

  • Use Safe Graphics Mode : During boot, select "Safe Graphics" from the GRUB menu (press e to edit the boot line) to force a lower-resolution, stable display. This allows access to the desktop for troubleshooting.
  • Fix Screen Rotation : If the screen appears rotated, use xrandr in the terminal to correct orientation:
xrandr -o normal

Run this command after logging in via safe graphics.

  • Disable Unnecessary Hardware : Some users report success by disabling the internal Wi-Fi adapter (if not needed) or removing external USB devices during boot, as these can interfere with the boot process.
  • Kernel Parameters : Add nomodeset or video=1024x768 to the boot line (after quiet splash ) to bypass problematic graphics drivers during boot.
  • BIOS Settings : Ensure UEFI mode is enabled and CSM (Compatibility Support Module) is disabled . Also, check that Secure Boot is set to "Disabled" to avoid driver conflicts.
  • Alternative Live Media : If issues persist, try creating the live USB using Balena Etcher instead of other tools, as some users report better compatibility.

These steps are proven effective for similar older ASUS convertible laptops. Once the live session runs stably, you can proceed with installation or testing.

AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts."

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Welcome to the Forum!

  • Are Secure Boot and Fast Boot in BIOS disabled?
  • Is Fast Start-Up in Windows disabled?
  • Is Your BIOS in UEFI or Legacy Mode?
  • What Tool did You choose the create the Bootstick?
  • Did You checked the Checksum of the ISO?
  • Does Your System run in Wayland or X11? You can check that with the Command echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE and when it shows Wayland, You could try it with switching to X11/Xorg. To do that, go to the Login Screen. click on Your Profile so that the Password Field appears. When it is appeared, You should see a Gear Icon in the bottom right Corner. Click on it and choose the Option ''Zorin Desktop on Xorg'' and then log in.
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Hi PDL, yes to all your bullets except the last. I use ventoy as my boot media and was able to get all other distros to run on the ASUS, except Ubuntu which loaded sideways. I loaded Zorin live session on an HP Pavillion convertible the next day and it ran flawlessly, but without rotation and few virtual keyboard quirks. My ASUS has a Core i5-5200u, and Intel HD 5500 (Broadwell) graphics. Can't tell if its running x11 or Wayland because I can only load in safe graphics mode. I was working a bit with an AI assistant and after more testing I was able to narrow down the issue. It turns out the problem isn’t the GPU or the USB media, but the ASUS convertible’s sensor hardware. The accelerometer reports the screen as rotated during early boot, and GNOME’s compositor in Zorin/Ubuntu doesn’t handle that well. The result is the sideways display and the black‑screen‑with‑cursor freeze in the Zorin live session.

KDE‑based distros (Kubuntu, Feren, etc.) work fine on this machine because they don’t rely on the same sensor service during startup. So, it’s just an unfortunate combination of this ASUS model + GNOME’s rotation handling. The failure occurs before GRUB loads so it will reoccur every boot (I think). It's just a hardware/DE mismatch. I will probably use Zorin on the HP, have Kubuntu on an old desktop, and may load Mint or Feren on the ASUS so I can be challenged on a daily basis between various distros. Maybe the next update Zorin will fix this, but I doubt it since this PC was new in 2015.

Thanks again for taking the time to help.

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Should have read more carefully. You made the right choice with Ventoy. I should have deleted the reference to Balena Etcher - half awake as 10 year old dog had his first old age mishap at 5 a.m. this morning so I was busy with the laundry!

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No sweat - at least you replied and offered to help. I was shocked that I couldn't get Zorin to work on this laptop. Like I said, it worked flawlessly with the HP Pavillion, and even on a legacy BIOS Dell XPS-8300 with a GTX1060 - FROM AN EXTERNAL NVMe IN A CASE VIA USB 2.0! I figured Zorin was bullet proof after that and was going to make it my universal distro.

1 Like
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Could I suggest a Try? You wrote that Plasma would work. You could install the Plasma DE on Zorin and use it there. I would be curious if it them would work ... but if You don't want test it, it's totally fine.

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Not sure how I could do that since I can’t reach a point where I can see the screen in a live session without using safe graphics. And I’m quite limited in what i can do without a full install. I’ve tried Anduin, Cachy, Fedora, Feren, Kubuntu, Ubuntu, mint cinnamon, Manjaro gnome and KDE, pop, and zorin. Zorin is only distro that wouldn’t load, Ubuntu loaded but sideways. Must have something to do with ASUS configuration. AI said this:
• The ASUS convertible has a sensor hub that reports the screen as rotated at boot.
• GNOME tries to rotate the display before the compositor is fully initialized.
• Zorin’s custom GNOME extensions make the compositor more fragile.
• Result:
Black screen + sideways pointer + GNOME shell freeze

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Did you try it with Zorin lite?

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