Razer Blade 15 (2021) on Arch Linux

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Hardware

• Full device name: Blade 15 Base Model (Early 2021) - RZ09-0369 (6.04)
• CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10750H (12) @ 5.00 GHz
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU
• RAM: 16GB DDR4
• Storage: 512GB NVMe SSD
• Screen: 15.6” 1920x1080 144Hz

BIOS

The known working BIOS version is 1.0.

To start make sure you have set the following BIOS settings:

Advanced

CPU Configuration

• Software Guard Extensions (SGX): Disabled
• Intel (VMX) Virtualization Technology: Enabled
• Hyper-Threading: Enabled

Power & Performance

CPU - Power Management Control

• Intel(R) SpeedStep(tm): Enabled
• Turbo Mode: Enabled

Thunderbolt Configuration

• Discrete Thunderbolt(TM) Configuration: Enabled
• Security Level: No Security

Trusted Computing

In order for windows 11 to still work and boot keep TPM enabled.

• Security Device Support: Enabled

USB Configuration

• Legacy USB Support: Enabled

Network Stack Configuration

• Network Stack: Disabled

NVMe Configuration

No settings to change or ensure are set.

Chipset

• GPU Mode: NVIDIA(R) Optimus(TM) Graphics
• Enable USB Charge Function: Enabled

SATA And RST Configuration

• SATA Controller(s): Enabled
• SATA Mode Selection: AHCI

Security

Secure Boot

• Secure Boot: Disabled

Boot

• Bootup NumLock State: Off

CSM Configuration

• CSM Support: Enabled
• Boot option filter: UEFI and Legacy
• Network: Do not launch
• Storage: UEFI
• Other PCI devices: UEFI

Installation

The current known working installation method is to use archboot x86_64.

Pre-installation

Use Balena Etcher to write the ISO to a USB stick and plug it in to the left USB port (Known to work). On boot keep pressing F12 and select the USB stick.

Installation

Go trough the installation process as normal but use EFISTUB as the bootloader. When prompted to install optinal packages install linux-firmware and linux-headers it is important to click yes.

Post-installation

After instalation you should be greeted with a terminal. You should automatically be connected to the internet from the configuration you did during the installation.

Installing a desktop environment

KDE Plasma is known to work well with the hardware.

Update the system:

pacman -Syu

Install the necessary packages:

pacman -S xorg sddm
pacman -S plasma kde-applications

Enabling the display manager

In order for the login page to show up on boot you need to enable the display manager.

sudo systemctl enable sddm
systemctl enable sddm

Enabling the network manager

In order to change networks and connect to the internet you need to enable the network manager.

systemctl enable NetworkManager

Configuring SDDM

If you use SDDM as it is right now you will have a the default theme.

To use the breeze theme you need to edit the configuration file.

nano /usr/lib/sddm/sddm.conf.d/default.conf

And set the theme to breeze.

[Theme]
Current=breeze

Reboot

After you have done all the steps above you can reboot the system.

systemctl reboot

Sudo configuration

If you plan to use multiple users you should configure sudo.

Switch to a TTY by pressing Ctrl + Alt + F2 and login with your root account.

Installing sudo

pacman -S sudo

Configuring sudo

nano /etc/sudoers

Add the following line to the file:

USER ALL=(ALL) ALL

Replace USER with your username.

Reboot

After you have done all the steps above you can reboot the system.

systemctl reboot

Troubleshooting

Network issues

Sometimes the network can be a bit flaky. If you have issues connecting to the internet try the following:

sudo pacman -S wireless_tools
sudo pacman -S wpa_supplicant
sudo pacman -S netctl dialog dhcpcd dhclient

Network issues after standby

After being on standby the laptop can sometimes have issues connecting to the internet on Wi-Fi. This is becuse the iwlwifi module crashes and enters a loop of starting and crashing. To fix this simply reload the kernel module.

sudo modprobe -r iwlmvm iwlwifi
sudo modprobe iwlmvm iwlwifi

Hanging on shutdown

Sometimes the system can get stuck on shutdown with this message:

[   ***] A stop job is running for User Manager for UID 1000

To fix this you need to disable baloo.

balooctl6 disable

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is known to work if you have the necessary packages installed and the service is running.

sudo pacman -S bluez bluez-utils
sudo pacman -S bluetoothctl
sudo systemctl enable bluetooth
sudo systemctl start bluetooth

Keyboard RGB Control

OpenRazer is known to work with the keyboard backlight. But I have not attempted to install it.

GPU drivers

The intergrated GPU is known to work out of the box. The NVIDIA GPU needs the proprietary drivers to work. I have not attempted to install them.

Works out the box

• Keyboard
• Touchpad
  • Multi-touch
• Sound
  • AUX
  • Speakers
• Webcam
• Microphone
• Display
  • 144Hz
  • Brightness control
• Thunderbolt
• WiFi
• HDMI
• Ethernet