Linux bricked my Asus Zenpad

[rezerekted]

Had my Zenpad plugged in to my PC, rebooted from Win8.1 to go to Elementary OS, keyboard was not working on Linux login, so unplugged the Zenpad and keyboard was fine again so could login.

Later in the evening I go to use the Zenpad and it would not boot, wouldn't even charge. Windows did not recognize it either.
Kept pressing different button combos on the Zenpad and it finally booted, to a black screen. Windows now sees it but only sees one small partition of 1.66mb and a setup.exe for Asus Zensuite in it.

I also tested booting to Linux again and once again keybord would not work in LInux login until I unplugged the Zenpad.

But now Zenpad won't even shut down.

&^%$ Linux broke my Zenpad!

Well, it is up and running properly now after doing a bit of cussing at it an dpressing buttons but why would Linux do that to my Zenpad and would the keyboard not function?

 

[BulletDust]

My guess would be that the Zenpad is using some form of SMC, similar to Apple devices, that doesn't play well with Linux.

Does the Zenpad run a discrete GPU as well as an iGPU? Optimus type GPU setups can be problematic under Linux.

 

[Frobozz]

Had my Zenpad plugged in to my PC, rebooted from Win8.1 to go to Elementary OS, keyboard was not working on Linux login, so unplugged the Zenpad and keyboard was fine again so could login.

Later in the evening I go to use the Zenpad and it would not boot, wouldn't even charge. Windows did not recognize it either.
Kept pressing different button combos on the Zenpad and it finally booted, to a black screen. Windows now sees it but only sees one small partition of 1.66mb and a setup.exe for Asus Zensuite in it.

I also tested booting to Linux again and once again keybord would not work in LInux login until I unplugged the Zenpad.

But now Zenpad won't even shut down.

&^%$ Linux broke my Zenpad!

Well, it is up and running properly now after doing a bit of cussing at it an dpressing buttons but why would Linux do that to my Zenpad and would the keyboard not function?

So the Zenpad is not bricked?

Let me walk through this to make sure I have the story right.

1 You have a PC that dualboots Win8.1 & Elementary.
* The Zenpad was attached to this PC.
* The PC would not respond to keyboard input.
* Disconnecing the Zenpad restored keyboard input.

2 Zenpad would not boot and would not charge while being connected to the PC. (linux only?)
* Windows wouldn't detect it.
* mashing buttons - it turned back on
*Windows only sees a small USB storage space.

3 tried booting linux and experienced the same keyboard issue.
* Zenpad won't shut down
* mashing buttons - Zenpad is now behaving as expected

---

I don't have a "this is the reason" answer.
You'll have to go into the logs to see what USB "devices" are presented to Linux when you plug it in. You can view this with dmesg
#>dmesg -wH

See if it's more than the USB mass storage device. Maybe it's trying to use the Zenpad as an input device. It may also reveal other decisions made regarding charging and other USB negotiations.


If this device is new to you, then I'd also keep in mind that something may be wrong with it. You may consider only attaching it to a Windows box for a few days and see if the experience is as expected. Also, check the website for a firmware update.

Nothing is being "bricked" in this story, so you just need to gather more information and work through the problem.

 

[BulletDust]

I totally agree with the nothing is being bricked statement by Frobozz...

..Why is it when Linux is concerned everything is being bricked even though that's literally impossible unless you're flashing some form of firmware update?

 

[rezerekted]

It wouldn't even charge connected to the charger it came with. I have had this device for some time so there was not a fault with it. For all appearances it appeared to be bricked and it was caused by booting to Linux with it plugged into the PC. I can have it connected and boot to Windows with no issues so obviously the issue is Linux related. I will go look for newer firmware later and I did do that last night but because I couldn't boot the Zenpad to see which build I have I had no idea what build my Zenpad is and you have to update the correct firmware version to the correct build you currently have.

dmesg -wH
dmesg: invalid option -- 'w'

 

[Frobozz]

It wouldn't even charge connected to the charger it came with. I have had this device for some time so there was not a fault with it. For all appearances it appeared to be bricked and it was caused by booting to Linux with it plugged into the PC. I can have it connected and boot to Windows with no issues so obviously the issue is Linux related. I will go look for newer firmware later and I did do that last night but because I couldn't boot the Zenpad to see which build I have I had no idea what build my Zenpad is and you have to update the correct firmware version to the correct build you currently have.

dmesg -wH
dmesg: invalid option -- 'w'

dmesg --help
look for the switch that keeps output open and gives you new messages (like when using tail -f on a log file)

Have you ever had the device attached to a Linux machine before? Have you ever had the device attached to >this< Linux machine before?

 

[BulletDust]

I'm totally confused.

Which machine is running Linux? The Zenpad or something else?!

 

[rezerekted]

I dual boot Linux and Win8.1. Yes, I have had it attached before and have booted to Linux with it attached before so I am thinking some update for Elementary OS caused it because it never happened before.

 

[B00nie]

I dual boot Linux and Win8.1. Yes, I have had it attached before and have booted to Linux with it attached before so I am thinking some update for Elementary OS caused it because it never happened before.

My guess would be that it detected your pad as an external input device and it put the pad into 'dumb' mode.

 

[rezerekted]

My guess would be that it detected your pad as an external input device and it put the pad into 'dumb' mode.

Sounds legit and would explain why it disabled my keyboard at the same time. Linux thought my tablet was the keyboard.

I have had keyboard issue on this PC before though. There is some option in the bios for USB and if I enable it I get the same behavior, no keyboard functioning. But I always have that option disabled.