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Acer Aspire 1 A114-61 (acer-aspire1)

From postmarketOS Wiki
Warning WARNING: The bootloader chain of the device is located in the same eMMC as the OS, damaging internal partition layout may make the laptop into an unrecoverable brick. See more details below.
Acer Aspire 1
Aspire 1 running GNOME
Aspire 1 running GNOME
Manufacturer Acer
Name Aspire 1
Codename acer-aspire1
Released 2021
Type laptop
Hardware
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c (SC7180)
CPU 2x Kryo 468 Gold
6x Kryo 468 Silver
GPU Adreno 618
Display 1920x1080 IPS
Storage 64 GB
Memory 4 GB
Architecture aarch64
Software
Original software
The software and version the device was shipped with.
Windows 10
Extended version
The most recent supported version from the manufacturer.
Windows
postmarketOS
Category testing
Mainline
Instead of a Linux kernel fork, it is possible to run (Close to) Mainline.
yes
pmOS kernel
The kernel version that runs on the device's port.
mainline
Unixbench score
Unixbench Whetstone/Dhrystone score. See Unixbench.
5668.0
Device package device-acer-aspire1
Kernel package linux-postmarketos-qcom-sc7180
Features
Internal storage
eMMC, SD cards, UFS, ...
Works
Battery
Charging and battery level reporting works
Works
Screen
Display works. Ideally with sleep mode and brightness control.
Works
Keyboard
Build in physical keyboard
Works
Touchpad
Build in Touchpad
Works
Multimedia
3D Acceleration
Works
Audio
Audio playback, microphone, headset and buttons.
Partial
Camera
Works
Connectivity
WiFi
Works
Bluetooth
Works
Miscellaneous
FDE
Full disk encryption and unlocking with unl0kr.
Works
USB-A
Full-sized USB-A port works (Usually applicable to SBCs and laptops).
Works
HDMI/DP
Video and audio output with HDMI or Display Port works.
Works
Sensors
Hall Effect
Also known as flip cover sensor
Partial

Acer Aspire 1 is a low-end Windows on ARM laptop, based on Snapdragon 7c Gen1, a platform that has great mainline Linux support due to some Chromebooks sharing the same platform.

Variant differences

While the most common version of the device seems to be the "WiFi" variant, an "LTE" version with 8GB ram seem to also exist.

Contributors

  • travmurav

Users owning this device

  • TravMurav (Notes: wifi, A114-61-S45P, daily use)


Installation

Disabling UEFI Secure-Boot

This device uses the standard UEFI secure-boot. The initial configuration seem to contain the keys for some Linux distributors (i.e. Canonical or Debian) but for now it's probably easiest to just disable it.

Note that the following actions may cause Windows to fail decryption if the Bitlocker was enabled.

  1. Power on the device and press F2 to enter UEFI setup.
  2. Go to the Security tab and set the maintenance password. Write it down.
  3. Go to the Boot tab and disable the Secure Boot. This option is only available if the password is set.
  4. Go back to the Security tab and remove the password by changing it to the empty string.

Installing pmOS on an external storage

You should be able to perform sdcard installation with some usb-stick as the target. Note that the laptop has no SD slot.

Highly consider making a backup of the internal storage, it seems like the recovery media is not available for this laptop.

Installing pmOS on the internal eMMC

Warning WARNING: The bootloader chain of the device is located in the same eMMC as the OS, damaging internal partition layout may make the laptop into an unrecoverable brick.

See Windows on ARM devices page for generic suggestions.

Known Issues

Work-In-Progress Issues

Kernel package in pmOS follows upstream Linux and only contains the changes that were accepted there.

Here are some differences between pmOS and WIP branch:

Feature pmOS WIP Notes
Hall Effect/Lid sensor Partial Partial The sensor is reported, but can't be used for wakeup yet.
Audio Partial Partial Internal mic is not implemented yet.

Other issues

  • The keyboard FN switch in the firmware settings is not effective. By default the media keys will be on top (press Fn to input F1, F2...) and Fn behavior can be swapped via sysfs.
  • Using DisplayPort/HDMI audio requires restarting PulseAudio (run pulseaudio -k after the cable is plugged for the sound output to be detected.
  • There may be issues with using PipeWire.

See also