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Linux Distro Noob thread of Linux noobs
- Thread starter Flying_Phoenix
- Start date
systemfehler
Member
I have a daily.cronjob with "fstrim" but I will benchmark the SSD just to be sure.
Edit: Speed on both HDDs is about the same 260MB/s read-speed for the SSD and 80MB/s for the mechanical HDD. Access time got even halfed on the mechanical from the last test I ran. I also tested bootchart and my system takes about 9 seconds with nothing spiking my interest in the bootchart.png. I guess I will look more into Chrome (deleting current user, etc.) maybe it is AdblockPlus (*) that reccently changed which causes the problems.
(*) NeoGaf is not blocked
Zombie James
Banned
Arch has a pretty steep learning curve but I love it's philosophy, repositories (AUR is fantastic), and it has some of the best documentation I've ever come across in a distribution. Look into Manjaro. It's based on Arch but takes a more user-friendly approach to setup. Right now I have a minimal setup on a laptop (used the NET install and slapped i3 on it) and it's been working great.
I more or less want to delve into it to learn more about linux. I want to get an Arch Xfce install set up and play around with customizing the whole environment.
I think I messed up getting everything in order for it to reboot. Problem is I just don't know what.
My man....
When happens when you try to reboot? And by reboot, do you mean, first boot after using the live CD or a reboot after that first boot?
It's just like leaning to ride a bicycle and once you learn Arch, you can't go back.
Yea, I would say fstab or GRUB are the most likely scenarios. Though, I'd say GRUB, because generating the fstab is just running a script (gen-fstab?)
well at first I was just following the guide and wrote it with an append redirect >>, then went back and used >!
I really don't know what it should look like, but it doens't really seem like their examples. I went the UUID route as opposed to labels. Not really sure the milage each offers.
I really think it must be grub though at this point. It seems grub.cfg has errors in it. All i did was generate it. Then installed the changes.
Code:
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
grub-install --target=i386-pc --recheck /dev/sdaThere is indeed a bug in grub right now: https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/37904
Either you wait for the next grub version, that is already in testing and should be released soon, or you add the line "GRUB_DISABLE_SUBMENU=y" to the file /etc/default/grub and run grub-mkconfig again.
awesome that fixed it
It slipped my mind but there was an error correlating to /etc/default/grub
now the fun can beginning exploring these greener pastures.
charlemagne
Member
Took me about three tries to not botch it when I decided to try Arch. That's what VirtualBox is for, right?
Welp, Windows 8.1 clobbered my dual-boot setup pretty good, haha. No worky no more 
I'm trying to run boot-repair from a Mint 15 live cd, but it keeps telling me to add a repository containing efi-amd64-signed to my sources.list and I dunno where that is.
A potentially bigger problem is that I made a boot-repair live cd and my BIOS doesn't recognize it. Same with a debian cd I tried. When they're in the disc drive the option to boot from disc just doesn't show up. They work fine on a different computer, but all that works on my comp are the Mint 15 and 16 discs.
Is there a good boot-repair alternative that can be run from windows?
I'm trying to run boot-repair from a Mint 15 live cd, but it keeps telling me to add a repository containing efi-amd64-signed to my sources.list and I dunno where that is.
A potentially bigger problem is that I made a boot-repair live cd and my BIOS doesn't recognize it. Same with a debian cd I tried. When they're in the disc drive the option to boot from disc just doesn't show up. They work fine on a different computer, but all that works on my comp are the Mint 15 and 16 discs.
Is there a good boot-repair alternative that can be run from windows?
I can take a guess and say thatWelp, Windows 8.1 clobbered my dual-boot setup pretty good, haha. No worky no more
I'm trying to run boot-repair from a Mint 15 live cd, but it keeps telling me to add a repository containing efi-amd64-signed to my sources.txt and I dunno where that is.
A potentially bigger problem is that I made a boot-repair live cd and my BIOS doesn't recognize it. Same with a debian cd I tried. When they're in the disc drive the option to boot from disc just doesn't show up. They work fine on a different computer, but all that works on my comp are the Mint 15 and 16 discs.
Is there a good boot-repair alternative that can be run from windows?
1) You have secure boot turned on. I think it's trying to get you to download some signed key thing so that you can boot. Did you install Windows 8 in UEFI mode? If so, then you might need to turn secure boot off?
Also, maybe when you install GRUB again, you want to use UEFI mode instead of BIOS.
You don't really need a boot repair CD. You just need something that you can chroot into your linux install, so any live CD will do.
Also, follow this when you re-install GRUB if Windows is using UEFI.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRUB#UEFI_systems_2
Nah, it's turned off. So I have no clue why it won't let me boot any other live cds besides mint 15.
Yeeeeaaah probably. I'll try that when I'm feeling more ambitious, haha.
OK, I chrooted into my linux install, and ran boot repair from there, but boot repair complains that I have no Internet connection. However I'm quite sure I do have one, since I can ping google and whatnot.
Aarglefarg
Member
There are fast linux distros and slow linux distributions. Two fast ones are Lubuntu and Xubuntu.
http://lubuntu.net/
http://xubuntu.org/
Trying to get gog games to work on linux using WINE is hit and miss, unfortunately. To try it, install WINE (with a something-buntu: sudo apt-get install wine), right-click on the .exe for what you want, pick "Open with the Wine Windows Program Loader" and it's like installing on Windows from there. There's a Configure Wine application for tweaking things like which Windows version it's trying to be if you have a problem.
Hugh Buelow
Member
Arch is way different from the other popular distributions as it doesn't get in your way and dump updated packages as fast as humanly possible. The downside is the lack of QA and the fact that it expects you to roll up your sleeves dive deep in your system. They make it very clear right at the start as it doesn't ship a proper installer: you have a bootable image with everything necessary to bootstrap a base system; do it yourself (the way you want to).
If you can't diagnose the problem and is not willing to learn how to do it, Arch will be an endless source of frustration. On the other hand, if you know your stuff and know how to find solutions, it can be a godsend.
I'm going out of a limb and saying that that was caused by something wrong with the VM video driver.
I am well aware of that and I haven't really tried to find out what was wrong. It was just pretty funny that literally the first update broke the system. Even on Manjaro, which doesn't immediately replicate the bleeding edge Arch repos.
Mh, there was no major kernel update involved and it ran with the packages installed from CD.
Hugh Buelow
Member
I'm curious, why not try Arch right away? At least, you'll have the support of the community and the wiki and that way, you'll have a real taste of it.
Well, it was one of those "45-minutes-to-kill-what-do"-moments. And as I know from Gentoo that installing per hand is going to take a little bit more time and somebody wrote something about Manjaro in this thread... There wasn't a huge amount of thinking involved admittedly
Hugh Buelow
Member
Well, it was one of those "45-minutes-to-kill-what-do"-moments. And as I know from Gentoo that installing per hand is going to take a little bit more time and somebody wrote something about Manjaro in this thread... There wasn't a huge amount of thinking involved admittedly
Heh, ok. Sorry if I came out harsh. I thought you expected a similar experience to Ubuntu, which couldn't be farther from the truth.
systemfehler
Member
Just tried out "systemd" and I have to admit it is really noticeable when it comes to speed:
I tried a few regular boots where it took 9-10 seconds and now with systemd that time is down to 6-7 seconds. Can't say much more about other features but so far I am impressed.
I tried a few regular boots where it took 9-10 seconds and now with systemd that time is down to 6-7 seconds. Can't say much more about other features but so far I am impressed.
if you use systemd-analyze you can find what is bottleneck ing boot and maybe get it faster.
mine at one point got to like 3s.
systemfehler
Member
Thanks. I tried with systemd-analyze critical-chain and it seems:
graphical.target @2.848s
└─multi-user.target @2.848s
└─acpi-fakekey.service @1.408s +1.439s
└─basic.target @1.386s
└─sockets.target @1.386s
└─dbus.socket @1.386s
└─sysinit.target @1.384s
└─console-setup.service @1.209s +175ms
└─kbd.service @1.185s +23ms
└─remote-fs.target @1.184s
└─local-fs.target @1.181s
└─var-lib-nfs-rpc_pipefs.mount @1.326s
└─local-fs-pre.target @453ms
└─systemd-remount-fs.service @439ms +13ms
└─keyboard-setup.service @229ms +208ms
└─systemd-udevd.service @222ms +5ms
└─systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service @188ms +33ms
└─systemd-journald.socket @181ms
└─-.mount @179ms
those acpi commands take quite a while. Not sure how to fix that
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Download from http://font.ubuntu.com, extract to $HOME/.fonts/ should do it.
threetri333
Banned
Anyone know of a good resource for Elementary OS? I'm quite new and I'm interested in learning.
I just installed Elementary OS, but I can only boot to Windows 7. Help?
I just installed Elementary OS, but I can only boot to Windows 7. Help?
This worked. Brilliant! Thanks.
Hey guys can someone help me get Ubuntu bootable off a usb stick for my Mac? I've followed every guide I can find down to a T and still doesn't work. I don't even know where to begin explaining. I have refit, a usb drive with the 12.04 live cd image DDed into it, and shit just doesn't work. Even tried partitioning a separate install space on my hard drive and still no go
I don't think you can simply use DD to get Ubuntu working on a usb stick. Unless they changed it but you used to need a special application that would make distros bootable on a usb stick for you. dd works with some distros, like Arch Linux, but they need to be designed that way for it to work. I'm not sure about any such applications for mac but I'm sure you can find something on google.
Edit: this seems to be a good one
http://sevenbits.github.io/Mac-Linux-USB-Loader/
----
Sounds like you didn't install a bootloader when you installed linux. Or maybe you installed Windows after installing linux? That will overwrite the grub bootloader with microsoft's own and it doesn't boot linux. Or do you get a menu on bootup giving you a choice between OSs?
Q
qizah
Unconfirmed Member
What's a pretty light weight Linux Distro that I can use that has a pretty good GUI, well polished? I've been using Ubuntu on my laptop (Lenovo ThinkPad x120e) for quite some time now but I've avoided upgrading to 13.10 -- I'm on 13.04 still.
I was wondering if I should try out Mint...? I want something that gets updates relatively quickly and has a fairly large community backing so if I ever need to troubleshoot, I'm not pulling my hair looking for answers online. Thanks!
I was wondering if I should try out Mint...? I want something that gets updates relatively quickly and has a fairly large community backing so if I ever need to troubleshoot, I'm not pulling my hair looking for answers online. Thanks!
systemfehler
Member
Mint is just Ubuntu in disguise or if you install the Debian flavour a crippled Debian that gets less updates than Debian stable.
Big community = Debian
Fast updates = Debian unstable
May cause "some" work. In the last 6 months I had 1 serious issue with Debian unstable because I updated without properly checking. Try http://forum.siduction.org/ it is based on Debian unstable and has a live CD that comes in a few different flavours (KDE, LXDE, etc.) - the installer is a bit rough I admit but the community really tries to help out. There is even a link to their IRC chatroom if you encounter any problems.
I finally got the live cd to boot by taking out my hard drive, connecting it to windows, and using the Windows usb installer to install it onto my partition
I have now installed it onto that partition, but when I load it all I get is this GRUB screen and it tells me to pick an OS. The only options I have are 2 memory tests and 32/64 bit osx....
Ok I installed it again but this time I put the bootloader on sda1 (the efi partition on my external) instead of just sda. Now I get missing operating system error when I try to boot from either the new install or the Live CD partition I was installing from. Why is this so hard?!
Because Mac uses a special brand of EFI to make life harder on everyone. Fedora is the one that best supports it as far as I know, thanks to the work of a former Red Hat employee.
I'm not too well versed in all this stuff so forgive me with this question. I'm installing it on a 2nd internal drive that has a Mac partition I use just for data, and other partitions. Obviously I don't need to boot from that Mac partition. Is there something else I'm missing? Can I remove the Mac efi stuff and just use Linux?
Young Magus
Junior Member
What are the pros and cons of Mint and Debien? Which one would you recommend?
I'm not sure but I believe you can delete everything on the second hard drive. Don't delete the EFI partition on the first drive, that's required for the system.
If you manage to get a USB stick with Fedora booting then it should "just work", you simply select the hard drive you want it to use and it will prepare everything there. Make sure the stick is created with the official Fedora tool, so it gets its bootloader from that. If that doesn't boot it's because your system has a 32-bit EFI, in which case things are a little more complicated.
Debian is a solid distribution, It's not the prettiest or most user friendly of the bunch but it's rock solid and you can do anything you want with it. It's what I'm running for my parents computer, since it requires very little maintenance.
Mint is like a fan-mod that adds stuff on top of it. I'm not a fan of Mint at all after seeing some very ugly hacks they add on top of the system.
I'm not sure but I believe you can delete everything on the second hard drive. Don't delete the EFI partition on the first drive, that's required for the system.
If you manage to get a USB stick with Fedora booting then it should "just work", you simply select the hard drive you want it to use and it will prepare everything there. Make sure the stick is created with the official Fedora tool, so it gets its bootloader from that. If that doesn't boot it's because your system has a 32-bit EFI, in which case things are a little more complicated.
I will have to look into that tomorrow. I gave up and am just going to get myself an external DVD drive to make this a little easier. I think my problem is that my Mac uses an EFI partition system, but the installation that I was running kept installing via BIOS method.
I don't know if the ISO is the reason or if it was my settings. I'm trying to piece it all together. It was definitely installing via BIOS because it was asking me to create a 1mb+ partition for the bootloader. It shouldn't do that if it was EFI right? It might be because I was using the Mac specific install ISO. Going to try with others later
edit: I see Fedora is a different operating system. I need Ubuntu specifically because I'm learning programming and the teacher uses Ubuntu
Young Magus
Junior Member
Interesting, what type of desktops does Debian offer and is there anything I should know before I go ahead and download the distro?
Could installing Ubuntu as a virtual machine inside OSX suffice if you're trying to install it for some classes, or are you interested in actually using Linux on its own? Also Fedora is somewhat different, but if it's not specifically Ubuntu you will be programming stuff for it has the exact same development tools available for download, although you might need to use google to find instructions on what to install.I will have to look into that tomorrow. I gave up and am just going to get myself an external DVD drive to make this a little easier. I think my problem is that my Mac uses an EFI partition system, but the installation that I was running kept installing via BIOS method.
I don't know if the ISO is the reason or if it was my settings. I'm trying to piece it all together. It was definitely installing via BIOS because it was asking me to create a 1mb+ partition for the bootloader. It shouldn't do that if it was EFI right? It might be because I was using the Mac specific install ISO. Going to try with others later
edit: I see Fedora is a different operating system. I need Ubuntu specifically because I'm learning programming and the teacher uses Ubuntu
I will have to look into that tomorrow. I gave up and am just going to get myself an external DVD drive to make this a little easier. I think my problem is that my Mac uses an EFI partition system, but the installation that I was running kept installing via BIOS method.
I don't know if the ISO is the reason or if it was my settings. I'm trying to piece it all together. It was definitely installing via BIOS because it was asking me to create a 1mb+ partition for the bootloader. It shouldn't do that if it was EFI right? It might be because I was using the Mac specific install ISO. Going to try with others later
edit: I see Fedora is a different operating system. I need Ubuntu specifically because I'm learning programming and the teacher uses Ubuntu
Mac uses EFI but it emulates BIOS as well, that's how they used to achieve compatibility with Windows.
I think your best bet is finding out the specific model of your Mac and help.ubuntu.com should have full instructions. I wouldn't get an external DVD drive as I hear some Mac's can't boot from those either.
peakish's suggestion is great, if you just want to learn some stuff using a VM is much easier.
It offers pretty much everything, with Gnome being the default.