Any fellow Linux users on here?

[Outdated]

Lesson to be learned: Don't transfer so many main components from one mother board to another unless you have to.

That used to work great back in the 90s but we live in a very different world now.

I always buy matched sets of MoBo CPU and Ram. If one component dies I buy another matched set. You can swap peripheral cards around until the cows come home and never have an issue but the core components must be able to communicate with each other effectively.

 

[Judge]

I always buy matched sets of MoBo CPU and Ram. If one component dies I buy another matched set. You can swap peripheral cards around until the cows come home and never have an issue but the core components must be able to communicate with each other effectively.

Perhaps I should clarify. I moved components of one computer and transplanted them into a different case that had a brand new, never used motherboard. Not a case of mixing RAM, hard drives, CPU or chipset per se. It primarily just a slightly different format (mATX) but a brand new B760 motherboard, with a newer BIOS. In essence there was nothing to "match" per se.

In retrospect apart from installing the OS from scratch, I should have renamed the OS. Otherwise for all I know Mint identified it precisely as my other motherboard when it prompted me to install new updates. Had I simply chosen to reinstall the OS even on the same SSD on the newer motherboard from scratch with a different name, I'm certain it would have been fine.

The only thing is, as this involves DDR4 memory and a preference for 12th gen Intel CPUs, I don't think I can sit on this very long, as such components could get hard to find new. In the meantime I found the idle and moderate usage temperatures not to be any different from my small mATX PC, to my "Sleeper" PC. Same CPUs, but very different CPU coolers. -Interesting.

Truth is, I'd like to have at least one computer in a case with components relatively comparable to the present- not the distant past. Though I do have an odd affinity for that little case...lol. But I'd like one with a minimum of two (140mm) frontal fans and one (120mm) exhaust fan.

 

[Judge]

One big advantage with Linux Mint has always been it's "update manager" program. Which is designed to be quite informative about whatever it is to be downloaded at your approval. Not only the update's title, but a short explanation of what it may be about. I really like that.

With Pop!OS22.04, you just get an "update" button to click or not to click. No comparable details about what it is that is actually being uploaded other than very brief descriptions one may or may not even recognize.

Ironically while Pop!OS can keep users in the dark about what is updated, I must say overall it has been less problematic than Mint, particularly when it comes to Nvidia issues. Go figure. But the next version of Pop!OS Cosmic is looking quite promising. Maybe this will include a more informative update process as well. We shall see...

 

[Outdated]

I like Synaptic for doing updates, it tells you exactly what it's doing all the way through.

 

[Judge]

It's looking like my occasional freezes in Linux Mint 22.0/22.1 were much more likely to be a memory matter rather than one centered around Nvidia drivers or Linux Mint itself.

Sadly the first time around when I used Memtest86+ to test my memory, I didn't hang around for all ten of the total tests it does. Had I let the program run its course, it would have shown me that I had a memory failure on test #6.

At that point, the real question was whether or not I needed to replace one or both memory sticks. So the first and most logical thing was to remove both sticks and reseat them in their A2 and B2 banks (slots).

Rebooting the system, I then defaulted to using my Mint ISO flash drive, which conveniently has Memtest86+ in the boot menu. In running the program a second time after reseating my memory sticks, voila! - All ten tests passed. For the first time with months of troubleshooting, I finally had something conclusive about what was happening all this time. It does seem to run a bit faster, and without problems whether booting or shutting down, and no freezes since then. Stay tuned....

Yet it seemed too simple! But then had I researched the issue in much greater detail, I would have been able to understand how this simple solution was likely the most plausible one:

Reboot Your System: Why Reseating RAM is Crucial for Optimal Performance - SoftHandTech

So now in as much as I routinely clean the guts of my computer (mostly to get rid of any dust), I will also be taking out my memory sticks and gently re-inserting them, making sure they are clean and sitting solidly inside both channels A2 and B2 to optimize my dual-layer memory.

My biggest uptake: I realize now that even buying top grade memory is no guarantee it may fail at some point, without a need to replace it. I just had no idea how fundamental an issue this really is.

 

[Outdated]

I'm glad you found an answer, but I think I said that last time you'd "found the answer" too.

When I was living in the bush I looked after a lot of people's computers and they all always started playing up at the end of every wet season. It's usually just ram, but I'd pull all of their peripheral cards out and wipe the edge connectors on my grubby beer stained singlet to remove dust before putting them back in again. It was the same problem every year.

 

[Judge]

I'm glad you found an answer, but I think I said that last time you'd "found the answer" too.

When I was living in the bush I looked after a lot of people's computers and they all always started playing up at the end of every wet season. It's usually just ram, but I'd pull all of their peripheral cards out and wipe the edge connectors on my grubby beer stained singlet to remove dust before putting them back in again. It was the same problem every year.

And I live in a physical environment that reflects such exposure to my computer. Better known as the desert. Endless dust that intrudes into my home regardless of keeping doors and windows closed as much as possible.

Makes sense to not only properly reseat the memory sticks, but examine their "teeth" and make sure they are clear of any debris.

Personal computers really do require more routine maintenance than most people are probably aware of.

 

[Judge]

Yay! Found a Cinnamon extension for Linux Mint that allows more customized shadows on windows.

Me and my OCD can't stand sloppy shadows behind windows. This little extension even allows me to eliminate them entirely for a much cleaner appearance. I live for this stuff. I know, I need to get a life!

 

[Angular Chap]

We already know this, but they ran the numbers and did the maths. Games really do perform better on Linux, even when going through an extra layer such as Wine or Proton.

Games run faster on SteamOS than Windows 11, Ars testing finds

 

[Princess Viola]

linux is so good y'all the kernel update linux mint gave me last night makes it so my keyboard stops working as soon as i log-in unless i log out and then log back in

anyways at least the kernel update now means i have this again

i mean i can't change it but why would i want to change perfection

 

[Judge]

linux is so good y'all the kernel update linux mint gave me last night makes it so my keyboard stops working as soon as i log-in unless i log out and then log back in

anyways at least the kernel update now means i have this again
View attachment 143884

i mean i can't change it but why would i want to change perfection

Actually you can change it. Occasionally newest kernel updates can wreak havoc on some systems. - "Been there, done that, got the t-shirt".

Though you should only roll them back until you can wait it out for the next kernel update. (It's potentially risky from a security perspective to indefinitely roll back a kernel update.)

1) You can access the update manager and select "view" and then "linux kernels" to either update a kernel or roll it back to earlier versions.

2) If you're running Timeshift, simply select an earlier "snapshot" and then click "restore".

 

[Princess Viola]

Actually you can change it. Occasionally newest kernel updates can wreak havoc on some systems. - "Been there, done that, got the t-shirt".

Though you should only roll them back until you can wait it out for the next kernel update. (It's potentially risky from a security perspective to indefinitely roll back a kernel update.)

1) You can access the update manager and select "view" and then "linux kernels" to either update a kernel or roll it back to earlier versions.

2) If you're running Timeshift, simply select an earlier "snapshot" and then click "restore".

i was not talking about changing the kernel i was talking about my keyboard backlight.

acer uses proprietary windows-only software to manage and customise the keyboard backlight colors that, last i tried, doesn't run in wine and openRGB doesn't work for it either so i can't change my keyboard backlight but i don t want to do that anyway

 

[Judge]

i was not talking about changing the kernel i was talking about my keyboard backlight.

linux is so good y'all the kernel update linux mint gave me last night makes it so my keyboard stops working as soon as i log-in unless i log out and then log back in

anyways at least the kernel update now means i have this again
View attachment 143884

If the kernel update was the proximate cause of this change involving your keyboard backlighting, wouldn't it be logical as a potential (temporary) solution to roll the kernel back ? You also have a third option. To simply reboot the system to get the GRUB menu (shift key) , and reboot temporarily with an earlier kernel installed. Just to test your system to see if the keyboard lighting is restored to your satisfaction.

Or are you just venting over Linux that presently comprises only five percent of the market and doesn't necessarily work with proprietary hardware made for Windows? An issue most any Linux user must face at some point. Particularly if they have Nvidia cards where driver issues can be pervasive.

Point taken though. If you migrate to Linux, leave your known proprietary Windows hardware at the door. Kernel updates in Linux can occasionally be problematic, though in time they can also be the solution. I'm reminded of these shutdown messages I occasionally see. Considered "kernel bugs". Irritating to see yet innocuous, but they eventually go away with the right kernel update.

 

[Princess Viola]

i don't want the backlight to be changed????

i was saying that if i wanted to change it i can't but i don't want to change it?????

 

[Judge]

i was saying that if i wanted to change it i can't but i don't want to change it?????

I'm just saying that if the kernel update (in fact) changed something involving the functionality of your keyboard in a way you don't like, why not roll the kernel back just to see if it returns to however you wanted it to work before whatever transpired happened "last night". Whether this is a bug on their end or deliberate programming I don't know. However this year I've noticed a lot of minor kernel bugs/glitches that get a certain amount of discussion online.

Not as any permanent fix per se, but at least to determine the source of the change was in fact a kernel update. And perhaps to investigate online if developers are working on it.

I did hear that a number of recent kernel updates this week involved some dire security issues with AMD processors. Not sure what implications they might have on existing hardware for those users with that processor. I know sometimes such updates can cause unrelated "collateral damage" as well, particularly when they are issued in a hurry.

 

[MildredHubble]

I really want to love Linux but its just too gosh darned flaky. I set up an Immich server and it ran great for 2-3 months but now its crashed and isn't even booting. Its always been the problem with Linux from as far back as 25 years ago when I started trying it out. Unless you want to faff around constantly fixing it, it will always fail badly one day, probably soon. If fixing and maintaining it is your kind of thing I'm sure its great, but if you just want to use it like you would MacOS and leave it chugging along while you do other things, it just isn't ready for that.

I set up things that were in constant use for years on MacOS or OSX and never needed more than the occasional reboot. I know everyone will say that the problem is the squishy bit behind the keyboard that's the problem, but I dont agree. The real test of a proper OS is if anyone can be up and running reliably and it does the thing it claims to do "out of the box" without the need to dedicate a significant portion of your life to it.

I've even seen a few videos over the last year of big Linux fans on YouTube admitting that even the most well maintained install of any flavour of Linux will lunch itself eventually and "something something, blah, blah, this won't be the year of Linux...until it is at parity with MacOS and Windows for reliability." Its still better than ChromeOS though!

So I will be installing probably Lubuntu on my Chromebook soon, its not a mission critical machine and I'm not using it much after initially really liking it. I'm just sick of google locking me out of my local files because I can't remember my OLD password if I haven't used it for a while.

I'm happy for people that are getting use out of Linux but for me its gone back to being something that I try out once every few years, get impressed with for a bit, ultimately conclude it's not there yet still and then put away again.

MacOS almost always delivers for me and with Brew I can get just about anything I need running on a Mac. My plan had been to migrate to Linux when I can no longer shoehorn the latest MacOS onto my computers and since the next version of MacOS will be the last to run on Intel I expected that to be in about 5 years. I was going to persuade my dad to do the same, but there's no way he wouldn't have massive issues just trying to write to a file system without having to jump through hoops with permissions and ownerships. The constant deprecation of guides and methods of getting stuff done would drive him crazy.

Its frustrating to me that there never seems to be any real progress towards addressing these issues.

 

[Jumpinbare]

I think the problem happens when they try to make it look/act like windows. Command line linux systems are out there that have run for years without intervention. I used to run Arch Linux on a Raspberry Pi that always just worked. The distributions I keep hearing trouble with are running GUIs.

 

[Outdated]

I really want to love Linux but its just too gosh darned flaky. I set up an Immich server....

It's understandable that you're going to have issues if you only ever try obscure side forks of the main system. Stick to mainstream distributions and you'll find the same easy and reliable use of systems that others in here write about.

The real Apache server is still there and still used by major servers all over the world. Due to a court dispute over naming rights they had to change the name but it's still the same old Apache. The server is now named HTTP Daemon and it's listed in the repositories simply as httpd.

So I will be installing probably Lubuntu on my Chromebook....

Next disaster waiting to happen. Ubuntu is mainstream and reliable, the LXQT desktop environment is seriously not.

Try a reliable and practical desktop environment like Cinnamon.

Ubuntu Cinnamon | Ubuntu, traditionally modern

 

[MildredHubble]

I think the problem happens when they try to make it look/act like windows. Command line linux systems are out there that have run for years without intervention. I used to run Arch Linux on a Raspberry Pi that always just worked. The distributions I keep hearing trouble with are running GUIs.

I think that's part of the problem too. Unfortunately if you really want to get stuff done in an OS it gets quickly very tedious to have to type things. Sure I could create a nice looking text document with lots of nice fonts in notepad or text edit and add all the markups myself. In fact I used to have to do that to fix my corrupted A Level coursework at school when it became mandatory to type it and I didn't have access to anything but the most Neolithic computers.

I tend to have more success with Raspberry Pis when they are running without a GUI. But unfortunately despite them being often sold as "Built your own Linux based appliances" they rarely run reliably. The only Pi I have running 24/7 is my PiHole DNS sink hole. That managed about 2 years or uptime before it corrupted its filesystem and it was less hassle just to start from scratch.

Pretty much anything else Pi bound has just been frustrating other than the Pi Pico which seem better suited for my sorts of projects anyway.

I have a lot of Raspberry Pi 1,2,3,4,0,0w that were too flaky, they hardware itself with maybe two thirds of them have issues. They all got bought for projects but they were just vastly inferior compared to off the shelf options and I got tired of the "is it the software or the hardware" merry go round only to find intransigent problems were cured with a new raspberry pi. Just running Kodi was a huge issue as the hardware just wasn't anywhere near powerful enough. They were solutions looking for a problem. They might have been great for the classroom where they are basically treated as disposable.

Some manufacturers apparently use them, but I can absolutely guarantee they are getting the very finest ICs/hardware. The hobby markets get the "lucky dip" stuff. Plus I find the Pi forums pretty toxic when I've looked through them accusing newbies and hobbiests who are at their wits end trying to build some project and they get criticized for expecting to work exactly how the Raspberry Pi foundation told them it would.

I think that hopefully Valve will start to set the Linux distros on the right track with SteamOS and encourage them to build towards something that really can be used by mere mortals looking to find something better than Windows.

There's a lot of promise in the Linux world (including Raspberry Pis etc) that always hits wide of the mark. I don't mind bashing keys in terminal but when I need to do that constantly I and still the OS ends in shambles, I just think "nah I will give it a miss for a while.".

Fortunately I can probably run my immach server inside docker in MacOS, though its not really the tried and tested route and it would mean that I still have a IBM Think Center just sitting around doing nothing again

 

[MildredHubble]

Try a reliable and practical desktop environment like Cinnamon.

Cool! I will give them a try! The problem is that with my Chromebook Lubuntu was the only one that was happy with the soundcard on my particular Chromebook according to a guide I read.

Last time I messed around trying to address various Audio inputs and outputs in Linux with an old crystal audio soundcard I almost threw my laptop across the street!

The best I could do was to have choppy audio with massive CPU overhead and have "full duplex" audio or lovely 96Khz playback with no inputs and event then, only through the flipping silly blue audio output which meant that I had to have a Jack plugged in the back of my laptop that got in the way. To be fair, it was a janky Packard Bell "desktop wedged into a laptop form factor" machine. The soundcard actually plugged in on a daughter board, it was a very weird laptop!