ChimeraOS on an Aya Neo Air

12 Aug 2024 by cthos
821 words

This is a follow-up post to  Putting Bluefin on a Surface Go 

In my quest to put Linux on absolutely everything that used to run Windows that I can, I’ve already moved my Framework 13 over to Bazzite, my Surface Go to Aurora, and now the Aya Neo Air over to ChimeraOS. Things are going well-ish.

So, for the Air, there are a couple of options - I could have tried to put Bazzite on it but so far no one on the forums has tried it on the original Air model so I was a bit wary of that whole situation. On the other hand putting ChimeraOS on the original Air is a well-trod path and almost everything works out of the box according to the hardware compatibility page.

Interestingly that page marks “eGPU” support as “?” - it shouldn’t even be listed as the Air doesn’t have a USB-4 port or oculink or anything so outside of a case hack you’re not running an eGPU on it.

Likewise, there are several Youtube videos out there documenting the process and some of the pitfalls. I followed this one:

Setting the Air up to install ChimeraOS was actually pretty easy, once I got past actually getting it to boot from a USB stick. There are a couple of guides that state you can get into the boot menu via various tricks with the power + volume rocker, or via the normal keyboard shortcuts. The only thing that actually worked for me was hitting the delete key to get into the bios and manually changing the boot order.

As a result, I had to reboot like 6 times. The vibration motors buzzed the entire time. It was… not quite maddening, but it was starting to get on my nerves throughout the process. Buzz. Buzz. Buzzzzzzzz…..

But, past that, Chimera’s installer is just a couple of options and it will process the whole thing. At the time of this writing, it is not possible to dual boot ChimeraOS and Windows (but this is possible on Bazzite), so it’ll completely overwrite your Windows partition. I did make a backup of my product key before doing the wipe but it’s unlikely I’ll return to Windows on it.

Once the installation was complete, it booted straight into the SteamOS interface without any issue. Login was seamless and within a couple of minutes I was installing games and ready to go.

One issue that you’ll want to be aware of is that TDP control (at the moment) doesn’t work via the standard Steam controls, but it does work fine from a Decky plugin and a few other methods (I used SimpleDeckyTDP and it works great).

Overall, performance is basically identical to what I was getting on Windows without the hassle of Windows causing problems every time I boot. The whole system caps out at a 15W TDP, so you’re not going to get great performance on AAA Games - but here’s a sample of games I’ve tried on it at the full 15W:

• Dead by Daylight - 720p - FSR on, 40+ FPS stable
• Skyrim - 1080p - Medium Graphics preset, 60 FPS stable in Dungeons, 45 in the overworld
• Neon White - 1080p - High Graphics, 60 FPS stable
• FFXIV - 720p - Laptop (Standard), 40+ FPS, mostly stable unless you’re in Limsa or Tuliyollal.
• Shin Megami Tensei III HD Remaster - 1080p - Standard Graphics, 30 FPS stable (SMT3 is locked to 30 FPS on this port)
• Monster Hunter Rise - 1080p - Low Graphics, 60 FPS Stable
• Resident Evil 2 (2019) - 720p - FSR 1.0 Quality

Which is to say, I don’t notice any difference between Chimera and Windows.

Here’s a visual representation of some of those:

I’ve only had a couple of problems with ChimeraOS since I installed it, the biggest of which is that sometimes it refuses to awake from sleep and I have to hold the power button down for an egregiously long time to get it to boot.

It’s happened twice where I was concerned that the console had given up the ghost. Fortunately, it hadn’t, but it’s been enough to trick me both times into a mini-heart-attack.

The other issue is you can’t really control the LEDs under the sticks (I think there is a way to do it while the console is on, but I’ve not futzed with it too much yet).

It’s been a fine experience, and I’m enjoying it. Way more than I was enjoying Windows on it. Would I do it again? Yes. Would I buy the Air in 2024 just to put ChimeraOS on it? No. Absolutely not. The battery life is terrible and there are better options.

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