New to Linux - Need Guidance



Just a note on BBs Post at #3, for purposes of accuracy, both for the OP (Original Poster) and The Viewers.

Linux doesn't use NTFS or FAT, it uses GPT.

It uses Ext4 - although Ext2 and Ext3 are still supported. GPT is a format of Partition Table more efficient than the 35 year+ old MBR developed under MS-DOS. It allows the use of more than 4 Primary Partitions, amongst other features.

(Wizard appears in a puff of smoke)

Welcome to linux.org @olds442 :)

I think our mods might need to lobby Rob for an off OT (Off Topic) Forum.:D

A thought that has not escaped my Radar, BB -

BUT
(Wizards but is never far behind him)...

There is already Member Introductions - and if @olds442 avails himself of that, and says "Hi" he may meet a few more of The Gang, and you can talk about whatever you like, and leave Support for Support rather than (very nice) cars? :D

A classic example was when @finrodfelagund_ aka Marco from Croatia joined, see this and have a laugh, went on for 3 pages and two weeks!

https://www.linux.org/threads/hello-from-croatia.15208/

Enjoy your Linux, all

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz
 
Thanks for all that. I will keep further car talk somewhere else...have blabbed enough about it here. Just need to try to get this running. I have seen where in order to verify the iso file, I need a particular program. I will look for that, and see if I can get this going.
 
Ok, went through the steps. I decided to use unetbootin, because I thought Yumi wouldn't work. I was expecting to install the program first, then burn the ISO. Instead, unetbootin not only installed, but burned the image to the usb drive. I did not set persistent storage, because it said that was for unbuntu.
Anyway, I went through the reboot, went to the bios, set the drive to boot first, and it worked! It asked me to verify, so I did, successfully. I got it to boot into Mint, then rebooted and tried going throught the boot menu, F8. A screen came up that gave a list with Unetbootin at the top. It was going to boot, then froze. I reset the computer, went back to windows, then tried F8 again, using the selection that did not have UEFI. It froze then, so I tried again. This time, I used the UEFI selection, and it hung up and said I had a corrupt file. I ran wizards program he suggested, and it worked great! Verified the checksum as good.
I went back to the bios, set it to boot first, and it worked. I was able to get back into the browser. The OS looks pretty cool! I can see my files and programs. Pretty neat! Nice interface.

Why would I have trouble booting from F8, but not from the BIOS screen? Also, how can I set the USB at this point for persistent storage?
 
Yer bugger, you had me on tenterhooks thinking it was doom and gloom, but ultimately it worked OK :)

Why would I have trouble booting from F8, but not from the BIOS screen?

How long is a piece of string? Could be a number of reasons, I would have to know more about your Setup Utility (aka BIOS), but we can check that later.

If you have an option to set your Boot order so that the rig boots off USB first, try that, and then it should fire up any time you boot or reboot.

how can I set the USB at this point for persistent storage?

Likely can't do so easily at this point, Unetbootin has probably allocated the available space to the burned iso, even though it only uses a couple of Gigs.

If you want to, you can reformat the stick to FAT32 again, use Unetbootin and choose Persistence. Linux Mint and a number of other Debian-based Distros sprang from Ubuntu, so it should work.

Size of the Persistence file you can employ will be limited to 4GB (4096MB), that's a limitation of FAT32 by MS-DOS Microsoft, not Linux.

Using the Live environment is a good opportunity to see if you can get access to Printers, WiFi works OK, Audio and Graphics are good, &c.

Cheers and keep us posted.

Wizard
 
Ok, had some success. Tried several different ways to boot, through the bios screen, then using F8, and trying several different ways. All worked. Checked my connection, which is working. Audio seems to be working. Not sure about the graphics yet. I tried the device updater, and at first it said that it failed, something about the AMD display driver, but when I ran it again, it said no proprietary software installed. I ran the software updater, and didn't see any issues. I'm still trying to see where the hardware shows up, like my joystick, throttle and pedals.
So far, so good. It's still too early to make any judgements yet, but I like what I see so far. One thing I would like to figure out is this:

For some reason, when I went back to Windows, my time was set 5 hours ahead, as in London time. I went into Mint, found the time settings, and reset the time to the correct setting. I thought I had it locked in, but for some reason, the Windows time was set ahead again. How can I fix this? It's actually kinda funny..

One more thing...is running this from the USB considered the Live environment?

Thanks again for your help!
 
"".is running this from the USB considered the Live environment?""

Yes, it is. That means it is running from the ram on your pc. It has not been installed to your hard drive .

In live mode it will be slower than if it was installed. SO expect a uptick in performance when/if you actually install it.

There is an icon on the desktop named " INSTALL Linux Mint)...DONT play with that until some immensely knowledgeable character comes along and warns you/instructs you just how to go about doing that in order to achieve a dual boot.
 
Nope, not gonna touch that. So, since this is only running from a USB drive, there will be a lot of programs, like games, that won't run properly until installed, right?
 
Yup...or of they did they would be dirt slow...afaik

Chris (wizard) will have more info for you
 
.is running this from the USB considered the Live environment?

Yep. You'll only get a broad indication of content and performance, from Live. Even Live with Persistence - will allow you to install some updates, but not kernel releases, and kernel releases can include security improvements, and more support for hardware, both old and new.

Fastest obviously is on a USB 3 stick to 3 port, then USB 2 to 2, slowest is DVD. XD cards and the like can be used but I have no idea on their capabilities.

A full install onto an HDD will see noticeable improvements. Faster still on an SSD.

Haha, just noticed Brian sniffing around, that's his dog Belle ... she's the good looking one. :) Brian is Aussie too.

I'll continue.

For some reason, when I went back to Windows, my time was set 5 hours ahead, as in London time. I went into Mint, found the time settings, and reset the time to the correct setting. I thought I had it locked in, but for some reason, the Windows time was set ahead again. How can I fix this? It's actually kinda funny..

It's Linux's way of trying to drag Windows into the future

b-Zo-Rud6-Imgur.gif


Seriously, though, that can make a difference if you want the date-timestamps on files there to be accurate.

I had not heard of it happening with Live, only a full install. Brian may know more, what say you, Friend?

I had not used Windows for 4 years after going totally Linux in 2014 (blew away Win 7). Other than getting a laptop for Elaine 3 years ago, hating Windows 8's look and feel and turning that Toshiba Satellite in to a Linux beast with 50 Distros on it.

It was only that Stan (@atanere ) said to me, when we got a pair of Dell Inspirons in July words to the effect of "Hey Wiz, can you keep Windows (10) on it and help with Windows questions", that I still have it.

The time changed once, I reset it as you have, hasn't changed since and I use Live sticks all the time.

there will be a lot of programs, like games, that won't run properly until installed, right?

Correctimundo.

DONT play with that until some immensely knowledgeable character comes along and warns you/instructs you just how to go about doing that in order to achieve a dual boot.

I'm betting he is talking about ... moi

Wiz
 
Ok, I have logged into the forum using Mint. Had a bit of a system hang awhile ago...tried starting the os using the UEFI San Disk line, instead of just the line for the drive. For whatever reason, it gave me some problems getting Windows to start. Had to run a startup repair. Fixed now (was getting a little worried).

I think I know why the time won't stay the same. I need to go back into the usb drive and redo the ISO image, and set up persistent storage. I think that allocating some additional memory may help. Can I just run the program again, and let it rewrite the files? I think I will use Yumi this time, as it has a slide bar to set the memory allocation.

BTW, one thing I did notice is that in Mint, my keyboard, which can be turned on to light up the keys (Scroll lock), does not light up like it does in windows. Not sure how to fix that.
 
No don't touch ... naughty :):)

Back in a mo' with an answer

Wiz
 
I think I know why the time won't stay the same

Ba-bumm (wrong answer on Family Feud) - have a read of this link

https://www.howtogeek.com/323390/ho...ux-showing-different-times-when-dual-booting/

That was from a Google search under

linux install windows system time wrong

You'll get good at searching if you weren't before :), it's all about the keywords.

UTC is Universal Time Coordinated - in my youth we called that Greenwich Mean Time.

HowToGeek have a lot of neat articles on Linux, including Persistence.

BTW I visited Windows earlier today (much gnashing of teeth) and found again the time had reset. So I'll follow the "destructions" above as well. :D

Your BTW - we are talking about a keyboard "backlight" remind me which Mintie you are using eg 19 MATE, Cinnamon or Xfce, there are usually settings that can be enabled/disabled.

Wiz (kidding about the scolding, wanted to get your attention, while I typed)
 
Ok, thanks for the great tips! I'll look into this more tomorrow. Thanks again for the help!
 
You've earned your sleep :). When you are next here - I followed that HTG article, used the option for resetting through Windows, and it has survived a reboot and shutdown/cold start.

Later

Wiz
 
Well, I tried what the article said. I had to play around with the terminal to figure out how to get it to work. Finally, using sudo, I got the right command in, and it changed the time. I did the check it suggested, and it was set right. I had some problems with lock ups when I rebooted, however. Couldn't get the drive to run, so I did a reinstall of the ISO file. Got it to run, but the mouse didn't work. I've reformatted the drive, and am redownloading the ISO file now. Drive might have been corrupted.
I'll try the fix for the keyboard backlight next. At least now I know how to put the commands in the terminal. Might get this all figured out one of these days.
 

Staff online


Top