Installation

Prerequisites

Linux kernel with hidraw support (standard on all mainstream distributions)
2025 ASUS ROG Flow Z13 (USB IDs 0b05:18c6 and 0b05:1a30)

InputPlumber conflict (Bazzite, ChimeraOS, Nobara)

On gaming distributions that ship InputPlumber, the z13ctl-plus daemon's button watcher will fail to open the Armoury Crate button device. InputPlumber ships a built-in profile for the ROG Flow Z13 that grabs the device exclusively. See InputPlumber compatibility for the override instructions.

Optional: ryzen_smu kernel module (for undervolting)

CPU undervolting via AMD Curve Optimizer requires the ryzen_smu kernel module. Without it, all other features work normally — undervolt commands will return a helpful error explaining how to install the module.

Strix Halo requires the amkillam fork

The original leogx9r/ryzen_smu does not support Strix Halo (the SoC in the 2025 Z13). You must use the amkillam/ryzen_smu fork. The z13ctl-plus daemon detects the wrong fork at startup and reports undervolt as unavailable.

Distribution	Package	Source
Arch / CachyOS	`ryzen_smu-dkms-git`	AUR (amkillam fork)
Other distros	build from source	github.com/amkillam/ryzen_smu

# Arch / CachyOS
yay -S ryzen_smu-dkms-git

# Other distros (build from amkillam fork)
git clone https://github.com/amkillam/ryzen_smu.git
cd ryzen_smu
make
sudo make install

NPU telemetry on CachyOS

CachyOS kernels that provide amdxdna natively should use that in-tree module. It supports NPU power and column-utilization sensors, while older amdxdna-dkms builds may allow inference but return EOPNOTSUPP for the sensor query. In that case z13ctl-plus reports ACTIVE without inventing watt or utilization values.

Check which module is selected and validate the runtime:

modinfo -n amdxdna
flm validate

The optimal setup reports a module below kernel/drivers/accel/amdxdna/. A path below updates/dkms/ means DKMS is overriding the kernel module. Before changing it, confirm the kernel package actually includes a native module:

pacman -Qo "/usr/lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/accel/amdxdna/amdxdna.ko.zst"

If that file is owned by the installed kernel, test it reversibly:

sudo dkms remove amdxdna/7.0 -k "$(uname -r)"
sudo depmod -a "$(uname -r)"
reboot

After reboot, run modinfo -n amdxdna and flm validate again. Restore the DKMS override if the native driver causes a regression:

sudo dkms install amdxdna/7.0 -k "$(uname -r)"
reboot

Do not remove DKMS on an older kernel that lacks a native amdxdna module. z13ctl-plus supports both configurations: sensor-capable drivers report watts and utilization, while sensorless drivers report activity only.

Install

z13ctl-plus installs only the z13ctl-plus command. It does not install a z13ctl alias. Its packages do not provide, conflict with, or replace the upstream package, so both projects can be installed at the same time.

Release binaryArch Linux (AUR)Debian / UbuntuFedora / RHELFrom source

Download the latest linux_amd64 archive from the Releases page, then extract and install:

tar xzf z13ctl-plus_*_linux_amd64.tar.gz
sudo install -Dm755 z13ctl-plus /usr/local/bin/z13ctl-plus

One-time permissions setup (requires root):

sudo z13ctl-plus setup

Then log out and back in (or run newgrp users) for the group membership to take effect in your current session.

Install the systemd user service (socket activation):

install -Dm644 contrib/systemd/user/z13ctl-plus.socket \
    ~/.config/systemd/user/z13ctl-plus.socket
install -Dm644 contrib/systemd/user/z13ctl-plus.service \
    ~/.config/systemd/user/z13ctl-plus.service
systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable --now z13ctl-plus.socket z13ctl-plus.service

Install the z13ctl-plus-bin package with your preferred AUR helper:

yay -S z13ctl-plus-bin

The package installs the binary, udev rules, systemd units, and the battery permissions service. It leaves the z13ctl-plus user daemon disabled so the package can coexist with upstream. After installing, add your user to the users group if not already a member:

sudo usermod -aG users $USER

Then log out and back in for the group membership to take effect.

Alternatively, download the .pkg.tar.zst package directly from the Releases page and install with pacman:

sudo pacman -U z13ctl-plus_*.pkg.tar.zst

Download the .deb package from the Releases page, then install:

sudo apt install ./z13ctl-plus_*.deb

The package installs the binary, udev rules, systemd units, and the battery permissions service. It leaves the z13ctl-plus user daemon disabled so the package can coexist with upstream. After installing, add your user to the users group if not already a member:

sudo usermod -aG users $USER

Then log out and back in for the group membership to take effect.

Download the .rpm package from the Releases page, then install:

sudo dnf install ./z13ctl-plus_*.rpm

The package installs the binary, udev rules, systemd units, and the battery permissions service. It leaves the z13ctl-plus user daemon disabled so the package can coexist with upstream. After installing, add your user to the users group if not already a member:

sudo usermod -aG users $USER

Then log out and back in for the group membership to take effect.

Requires Go 1.25 or later.

git clone https://github.com/aic0d3r/z13ctl-plus
cd z13ctl-plus
make build
sudo make install
sudo z13ctl-plus setup

make build creates ./z13ctl-plus, and make install installs it as /usr/local/bin/z13ctl-plus; the separate setup command installs its udev rules and permissions service.

Install the systemd user service:

make install-service

Co-installation and daemon choice

Package installation leaves the z13ctl-plus user daemon disabled. Before enabling it, stop and disable any other Z13 hardware daemon you chose to replace. Run only one project's hardware daemon at a time.

The z13ctl-plus CLI checks only the Plus socket. If that socket is unavailable, hardware commands fall back to direct HID/sysfs access. Do not leave the upstream daemon running while using z13ctl-plus direct-fallback commands; the two processes can otherwise issue competing hardware writes.

To select the Plus daemon after installation:

systemctl --user enable --now z13ctl-plus.socket z13ctl-plus.service

Migrate from v1 to v2

v1 of this fork used the upstream z13ctl command and runtime paths. Those paths are provenance-ambiguous: they may belong to upstream, the old fork, or a mix of both. Only disable or remove a legacy path when you know it came from the fork.

Before starting the v2 daemon, switch services and copy state explicitly:

Install v2 and run sudo z13ctl-plus setup.
If you know the active z13ctl.socket and z13ctl.service came from v1 of this fork, stop and disable them:
```
systemctl --user disable --now z13ctl.socket z13ctl.service
```

Preview and perform the state copy:

z13ctl-plus --dry-run migrate-state
z13ctl-plus migrate-state

Enable the v2 units:

systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable --now z13ctl-plus.socket z13ctl-plus.service

migrate-state validates and copies $XDG_STATE_HOME/z13ctl/state.json to $XDG_STATE_HOME/z13ctl-plus/state.json only when the Plus state file is absent. With the normal XDG defaults, the source is ~/.local/state/z13ctl/state.json and the destination is ~/.local/state/z13ctl-plus/state.json. It refuses invalid or missing source state and refuses to overwrite existing Plus state. It does not start, stop, enable, or disable services, and it does not remove the source state or any old artifact.

Optional legacy cleanup

After v2 state and service behavior are verified, you may remove known v1-fork artifacts manually. Potential legacy paths are /usr/local/bin/z13ctl, ~/.config/systemd/user/z13ctl.socket, ~/.config/systemd/user/z13ctl.service, /etc/systemd/system/z13ctl-perms.service, /etc/udev/rules.d/99-z13ctl.rules, and $XDG_STATE_HOME/z13ctl/. Do not remove any of them when provenance is unknown or when you still use upstream. Prefer the old package's uninstall process for package-owned files.

Verify the installation

z13ctl-plus list

This should print the discovered hidraw devices and confirm Aura support. If it prints nothing, see Troubleshooting below.

GUI Frontend

Highly recommended for most users. Install Z13GUI+ alongside z13ctl-plus — a touch-friendly GTK4 overlay that communicates with z13ctl-plus through its daemon. It provides graphical controls for power automation, CPU policy, expanded telemetry, refresh rate, and tuning. Display posture/rotation and scripting remain CLI/API workflows. See the Z13GUI+ README for installation instructions.

Requires the daemon

Z13GUI+ talks to z13ctl-plus over its Plus daemon socket, so make sure the systemd user service is enabled after choosing z13ctl-plus as the only hardware daemon. Packages install the units but leave them disabled.

Next steps

You're installed and ready to go. Head to the Quick Start guide to set your first lighting effect, fan curve, and performance profile.

What `setup` does

sudo z13ctl-plus setup performs four steps:

Writes /etc/udev/rules.d/99-z13ctl-plus.rules — grants the users group MODE=0660 / GROUP=users on the ASUS HID and input device nodes; uses RUN+=chgrp/chmod to set permissions on the platform-profile attribute, hwmon fan curve attributes (asus_custom_fan_curve + asus pwm_enable), and asus-nb-wmi PPT power limit attributes when the drivers load.
Reloads udev and applies permissions immediately to all currently present files — including ryzen_smu sysfs files for undervolting (if the module is loaded).
Writes /etc/systemd/system/z13ctl-plus-perms.service and enables it — a Type=oneshot service that runs chgrp + chmod g+w on BAT*/charge_control_end_threshold and ryzen_smu_drv sysfs files at boot.
Starts the service immediately so battery limit and undervolt are accessible right away.

Why a separate oneshot service for battery and ryzen_smu?

The charge_control_end_threshold sysfs attribute is added by the asus_nb_wmi kernel driver late in its probe() sequence — after all observable udev child-device events have already fired. The ryzen_smu files are kobjects under /sys/kernel/, not udev-managed devices. There is no udev hook that can reliably target either. The z13ctl-plus-perms.service unit is a self-contained workaround that runs at sysinit.target. It has no dependency on the z13ctl-plus binary and can be inspected at any time:

systemctl cat z13ctl-plus-perms.service

Use --dry-run to preview all changes without root or any side effects:

z13ctl-plus --dry-run setup

Uninstall

Remove the user service first:

systemctl --user disable --now z13ctl-plus.socket z13ctl-plus.service
rm -f ~/.config/systemd/user/z13ctl-plus.socket \
      ~/.config/systemd/user/z13ctl-plus.service
systemctl --user daemon-reload

Then remove the binary and system files:

sudo rm /usr/local/bin/z13ctl-plus
sudo rm /etc/udev/rules.d/99-z13ctl-plus.rules
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo systemctl disable --now z13ctl-plus-perms.service
sudo rm /etc/systemd/system/z13ctl-plus-perms.service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Troubleshooting

z13ctl-plus list prints nothing

The device was not found. Check that the kernel loaded the hid and hidraw modules:

lsmod | grep hid
ls /dev/hidraw*

If /dev/hidraw* devices exist but none match the ASUS USB IDs, the device is present but not recognized. This tool targets the 2025 ROG Flow Z13 specifically (USB IDs 0b05:18c6 and 0b05:1a30).

Permission denied

Run sudo z13ctl-plus setup and log out/in to apply the group membership. Verify with:

ls -la /dev/hidraw*
groups

Daemon logs "button watcher stopped; retrying … permission denied"

Another process may be holding an exclusive grab on the Armoury Crate button device. On gaming distributions, InputPlumber is a common cause. See InputPlumber compatibility for the fix.

Daemon not starting

systemctl --user status z13ctl-plus.socket z13ctl-plus.service
journalctl --user -u z13ctl-plus.service -n 50

Installation

Prerequisites

Optional: ryzen_smu kernel module (for undervolting)

NPU telemetry on CachyOS

Install

Co-installation and daemon choice

Migrate from v1 to v2

Optional legacy cleanup

Verify the installation

GUI Frontend

Next steps

What setup does

Uninstall

Troubleshooting

What `setup` does