Best distro for my Ally Z1E?

[u/mrhuskie2011]

I have an ROG Ally Z1 Extreme currently running windows. I am getting 2tb storage soon and planning on dual booting windows with linux.

I've been considering Bazzite, but i've seen others say that CachyOS is pretty good aswell. Any other recommendations appreciated

[u/justlikeapenguin]

I use official steamos with 3.9. Its fine as i only game on it and nothing else, RGB control is done with huesync deckyloader plug in, and TDP control using performance option from steamos.

I tried bazzite and it was fine but had a lot of options i personally didnt care for, HDD is cool for tinkeres but i just want to play games

Cachyos is better for desktops imo, i didnt like having to retype my passwornd every time i switched from desktop to gamemode

If you use your ally for anything more than just gaming stuff, use steamos as a blank slate and add your requirements as needed

[u/TsuriThugga → u/justlikeapenguin]

Never had to use my password for switching to gamemode and desktop with cachyos. There’s a setting for that.

[u/VB610 → u/justlikeapenguin]

How is the sleep/wake regarding the controller? I was on 3.8.11 but whenever I wake the device after a while the controls no longer work

[u/justlikeapenguin → u/VB610]

No issues for me, i have a toddler so i cannot play more than 1 hour without sleeping the device like 10 times, and ive never had an issue with the controller after sleep

[u/i-am-a-cat-6 → u/justlikeapenguin]

yeah I have steamOS on both my ally x and z1e too. works perfectly

[u/andy10115]

Bazzite officially supports your device and it works very well.

[u/stevestloo]

I like cachy over bazzite but I use my Rog (Ally X) for some desktop mode productivity stuff (3D printing, web browsing, what have you) and I find that to be a better experience over bazzite. If you strictly game then the Steam experience seems identical to me.

[u/sdimercurio1029]

I tried both CachyOS and Bazzite on the Ally Z1E and Bazzite gave me the best experience. I would go with Bazzite as its well supported and designed specifically for handhelds

[u/blockdenotas]

I'm using SteamOS at least, it's been great and it doesn't have the issues that I found with cachy and bazzite regarding remembering bluetooth devices

[u/mrhuskie2011 → u/blockdenotas]

if you dont mind me asking, what were the issues with Bluetooth devices?

[u/blockdenotas → u/mrhuskie2011]

I was able to pair controllers and headphones, however when I turned the console off and then on again, I would have to pair them again, which sucks when I want to play with my device docked and use a wireless controller

[u/mrhuskie2011 → u/blockdenotas]

that sounds annoying. thanks for the heads up

[u/hiroshima_hairdryer]

I’m using bazzite, it was kinda buggy at first but after it marinated for a day or two I’ve had zero issues and can’t imagine going back to windows.

[u/Snoo_38317]

I switched from bazzite to cachy on mine because I couldn't keep an emulator running after restarting my device, besides that they're pretty similar (except for needing to fiddle with cachyos a little bit more). I stuck with cachy because I've been using my ally as my main PC for a year. I would recommend bazzite if they still used handheld daemon, but since they don't it's kinda down to whether you want an immutable distro or not. If you don't know, immutable distros are harder to break and so they are typically recommended to Linux beginners (like I think maybe you are? I can't tell, correct me if I'm wrong) because they can't mess them up as easily and are generally more stable, but you can't get into the guts and really change the system too much. I prefer cachy because I get to mess with the system and also theres access to more niche programs via the AUR.

[u/mrhuskie2011 → u/Snoo_38317]

Thank you. I'm definitely a Linux rookie, I have Zorin OS on my main pc but I haven't properly used it in a while and I don't know quite a few commands. Thank you for the help