Alienware 15 R2 Installation and Setup
I just successfully got Kali 2016 installed and configured on my Alienware 15 R2. What a messy adventure this was! I would like to take a moment to post what I did up to this point, then at the end ask the community for suggestions on where to go from here.
Firstly, if you are reading this because you are attempting the same here is a word of caution. Brew a pot of coffee, put on some soothing music, and be prepared for pitfalls. The first issue I ran into was NO network connectivity via Wi-Fi or ethernet due to Killer Wireless/Atheros firmware. But do not fret, we will get to that!
Boot your installation media and follow the typical installation process. Do not use a network mirror, skip the prompt for loading firmware and select 'no wireless adapter' and continue. It will install whichever version you downloaded and created the installation media with, but with no updates.
When your system boots up after install, plug your machine into the router via an ethernet cord. Now, open up the terminal and type the following commands:
Code:
modprobe alx
echo 1969 e0a1 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/alx/new_id
Give it a second to connect and you now have internet! Wait, but what about Wi-Fi you ask? Let's tackle that monster now.
Since we did not use a network mirror we do not have the Kali repositories. Let's change that!
Open terminal and enter the following:
Code:
leafpad /etc/apt/sources.list
Delete what is currently in there, as those repositories are only for installation. Now copy the official Kali Rolling repositories from the official site, or by copying and pasting the following:
Code:
deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main contrib non-free
# For source package access, uncomment the following line
# deb-src http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main contrib non-free
Save the file.
Now we need to update for everything to take affect. Run the following:
Code:
apt-get update
apt-get dist-upgrade
apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r`
'apt-get dist-upgrade' will take a while to run. Let it do it's thing. When it's finished you may notice that the text in your windows is displayed as boxes. We will fix that after you install the headers. Oh, you did that already? Well, type the following code to fix the text that is now displayed as boxes:
Code:
apt-get install --reinstall-fonts-cantarell
Now reboot and all should be right in the world! You can unplug the ethernet and connect to Wi-Fi, your fonts should be repaired, and now the only thing left to do is install additional programs and configure your new OS the way you want it. I hope that you find this tutorial useful! Happy pen-testing!
