[GUIDE] How to install Arch-Based Linux (EndeavourOS) on OMEN by HP Laptop 15-dh1xxx

[dag7_]

DISCLAIMER:

* I'm not responsible for bricked devices, dead SD cards, thermonuclear war, or you getting fired by your boss because you installed Linux
* YOU are choosing to make these modifications, and if you point the finger at me for messing up your device, I will laugh at you.
* Your warranty will be void if you tamper with any part of your device / software.

Hello everybody, I am known on the internet as dag7 or dag7dev (on Github).
I would like to share with community my solution on how to install a popular Arch-based Linux version, since everything else I tried didn't work.

NOTE: this guide has been tested on HP Omen 15-dh1xxx. It may works on other models having the same issues, because a lot of problems are common among HP computers.

NOTE2: as of October 2020, talking about arch, Linux kernel 5.9 doesn't still support Nvidia drivers. Choose a distro which doesn't have Linux kernel on 5.9

So, first of all, you need to prepare a USB stick with an operating system. I will choose EndeavourOS because I used to have it on my old laptop; also, it properly boots on my machine, but feel free to choose whetever distro you want.

If you have Windows *and you probably will* you should download a free program called Rufus, that makes any USB Drive available.

Next, you should download the ISO of the Operating System. This guide is focused on EndeavourOS.

Flash your USB using Rufus with the previously downloaded ISO in DD Mode (!!); reboot the system and repeatedly press "ESC" during startup to access BIOS configuration.

Now, you should do two things:

1 - Disable Secure Boot

2 - Change the boot order (this thing is not mandatory, as you could manually choose to boot by USB)

Exit BIOS saving modified settings, and reboot; this time you need to load the USB.

Choose to boot EndeavourOS WITHOUT (and make sure is the option WITHOUT) nonfree drivers, generally it is clear, so you are not going to see "without nonfree".

Install EndeavourOS in the way you prefer (create partition, replace disk and so on).

NOTE: I am not going to explain what are the options for installing the OS, you should know them and if you don't try to read https://itsfoss.com/guide-install-linux-mint-16-dual-boot-windows/

Google is your friend!

Reboot.

You are going to have Grub2 Bootloader. Select the first option and boot into EndeavourOS.

Now you will face two problems: resolution of the screen is messed up; speakers and microphone doesn't work.

Resolution of the screen

To solve this issue: pacman -S nvidia

Reboot.

Speakers and microphone

This time you need to do a couple of things:

1 - Install sof by typing in Terminal:

sudo pacman -S sof-firmware

2 - in the terminal

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

and paste this:

blacklist snd_soc_skl
blacklist snd_hda_intel

Reboot.

Now your pc should dual boot and it is fully working with EndeavourOS. Happy developing! 🙂

If this guide has been useful to you, contact me even to say thanks!