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Any fellow Linux users on here?

Shevek said:
On Mint 17, the 64 bit version just closed the whole file viewer opened one way, and went back to selecting a drive and nothing else when opened the other way. Maybe I just don't know what command I'm looking for, but I sure don't see anything about "bootable." On Win 10, it just offers to look for something in the MS store that might open it. Does "appimage" mean it is still compressed?
It is taking a long time for my gumption tank to re-fill on this job.
Click to expand...
OK, looks like it's time to just forget the appimage file. The next thing to try is the Etcher exe (executable file) on Windows 10. Try the link Judge posted above, click "Download (EXE)" if not, here is the direct download link:

https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/releases/download/v1.18.4/balenaEtcher-Portable-1.18.4.exe
 
Judge said:
If you're looking for Balena-Etcher for Windows, don't bother with Microsoft's "store". Assuming of course you have another computer or drive running the Windows OS. While you make the bootable .iso drive in Windows using Balena-Etcher, you don't use Windows to actually install a Linux distro.

Download the executable from here: Download balenaEtcher - MajorGeeks

https://www.balena.io/etcher
Too bad you don't have a more current version of Mint. It's "USB Image Writer" is much easier IMO than using Balena Etcher to make a bootable .iso flash drive. Built into the OS by default.
Click to expand...
Well, gosh, I do have "USB Image Writer" and it looks almost too easy, but it is arguing with me about my passsword, and worried about the data on an emptied-out SD card on a card reader.
Thanks for your patience.
 
Shevek said:
Well, gosh, I do have "USB Image Writer" and it looks almost too easy, but it is arguing with me about my passsword, and worried about the data on an emptied-out SD card on a card reader.
Thanks for your patience.
Click to expand...
That's a start. I found this applet so much easier and less finicky to use than Balena-Etcher. Not sure about the password issue though. I haven't experienced it myself.

Are you intending to use an SD card as a bootable .iso drive? Might be preferable to use only a USB stick. SD cards operate a bit spooky even on my Linux Mint 21.1. Ok for transfering .jpg images from my camera, but that's about it.

Though you may have to run your SD card through the "Disks" program to "repair" it. That might clear any errors or weird problems associated with that drive.
 
Judge said:
That's a start. I found this applet so much easier and less finicky to use than Balena-Etcher. Not sure about the password issue though. I haven't experienced it myself.

Are you intending to use an SD card as a bootable .iso drive? Might be preferable to use only a USB stick. SD cards operate a bit spooky even on my Linux Mint 21.1. Ok for transfering .jpg images from my camera, but that's about it.

Though you may have to run your SD card through the "Disks" program to "repair" it. That might clear any errors or weird problems associated with that drive.
Click to expand...
I got the password sorted, and writing is under way. If there are problems, I can clear out a USB stick, but the one I used for Mint has been useless for anything else since.
Do I just hook up the peripherals to my barebone unit, power it up, and plug in the USB? TIA.
 
Shevek said:
I got the password sorted, and writing is under way. If there are problems, I can clear out a USB stick, but the one I used for Mint has been useless for anything else since.
Do I just hook up the peripherals to my barebone unit, power it up, and plug in the USB? TIA.
Click to expand...
How your BIOS initiates the bootable USB .iso file depends. Some automatically default to it when booting up with the USB stick already in the port, while others like mine are real finicky. Where I manually click on the bootable USB drive within the BIOS.

Hopefully yours will work by simply having it in a USB port while booting the computer.

What Linux Distro are you intending to install?
 
Judge said:
How your BIOS initiates the bootable USB .iso file depends. Some automatically default to it when booting up with the USB stick already in the port, while others like mine are real finicky. Where I manually click on the bootable USB drive within the BIOS.

Hopefully yours will work by simply having it in a USB port while booting the computer.

What Linux Distro are you intending to install?
Click to expand...
It looked like nothing was happening, - pushed F11 as instructed on the screen, and several other buttons, and didn't even get the "waking up" beep, but after a minute or so, things started moving, and an install seems to be going on. Apparently my choices in memory have been compatible. Thanks for the encouragement and clues.
I'm installing MX Linux 21.3, updated Feb. 15
 
To anybody who records music in Linux: I've been having issues working with it, and could use some help. I fiddled around with JACK and this Presonus Audio Box trying to configure it so I could record something in Ardour. I finally got it to work, started recording a drum pattern with my MIDI keyboard and a track with my bass, but then I wanted to make another drum pattern. As soon as I duplicated the MIDI track, suddenly I can't get it to work. I tried messing around JACK, seeing if there was some connection issue, and now I get no sound at all in Ardour even in playback. I'll post some screenshots showing the issue I have plus the connections I've made. Maybe someone can lead me in the right direction, as I posted this same inquiry on another forum dedicated to Linux musicians but didn't get a response.

ardourissue.png
ardourissue2.png
ardourissue3.png
ardourissue4.png
 
Outdated said:
I'm looking forward to reading about your impressions and experiences as a new user. It will bring back memories of when I first started playing around with it.
Click to expand...
My first impressions of Linux are from eight or nine years ago. My iMac had died, and I'd been trying to use Windows again on a too-old laptop for a month before determining that it needed a system disk - nothing on-line would do. So, I had a three-day wait, and decided to try Linux. I never did use that disk. Mint 17 did everything I needed, and tweaking it was no worse than DOS - even a bit nostalgic. Getting my pictures off the Mac was very tedious, and I never did tackle the Mail files. Thunderbird claims to be able to import them, but it still confuses me, changing fonts unpredictably. I only recently learned that my Thunderbird backups were useless and made a good one, but the method for saving the adress book, etc, seems incredibly arcane. I'll let you know how moving to the new Linux system goes.

So far, I'm still wondering if my hardware is good - it is my first barebone system. I first tried the preferred "torrent" download, and got a tiny file. Downloading the actual program took about 12 hours, but normal browsing continued. Installing MX Linux took days of trying installation programs before finding a simple three-click utility right on Mint. I might have spotted it sooner if I'd understood the jargon better. I'd have certainly paid for a pre-loaded thumb drive. The install seems to have run well, but going through the introduction, I have not been able to get most of the instructions to work. Supposedly, I can get a constant reading on my CPU temperature, but can't find the menu. My Dvorak keyboard has gone missing. "Waking up" yesterday was very strange and tedious. As usual, there is never a glossary to give some synonyms for "pinning."
 
@tkcartoonist

I don't think I can answer such a question pertinent to software I don't use. Though I can't help but wonder if any of that has to do with the possibility of your software inadvertently "retasking" your audio output jack. But if that were the case, it would kill all sounds outputing to your speakers and not just to one application.

I just know that whenever I installed Linux Mint on this computer, it would kill the audio output so I couldn't hear anything regardless of whatever program could output sound. That I had to "retask" my audio jack and did so using Alsa-Tools GUI".

The two blue-green box and checkmarks are what I had to change and save for my sound to suddenly work. (Though it's only pertinent to protocols using Alsa and Pulse Audio Volume Control.) Which I'm guessing your system probably doesn't use.

But for anyone attempting to install Linux Mint on a relatively older computer, this may matter very much.


Jack retask.jpg
 
Shevek said:
So far, I'm still wondering if my hardware is good - it is my first barebone system. I first tried the preferred "torrent" download, and got a tiny file. Downloading the actual program took about 12 hours, but normal browsing continued. Installing MX Linux took days of trying installation programs before finding a simple three-click utility right on Mint. I might have spotted it sooner if I'd understood the jargon better. I'd have certainly paid for a pre-loaded thumb drive. The install seems to have run well, but going through the introduction, I have not been able to get most of the instructions to work. Supposedly, I can get a constant reading on my CPU temperature, but can't find the menu. My Dvorak keyboard has gone missing. "Waking up" yesterday was very strange and tedious. As usual, there is never a glossary to give some synonyms for "pinning."
Click to expand...

Frankly in doing some "distro-hopping" I always had the same results. That I migrate right back to Linux Mint 20.3 and 21.1 given the ease and clarity of the installation process. One that took on the average of twenty minutes for the basic installation. The same could be said for Linux Zorin OS16 as well. The rest? Hell, most of them didn't even install the firewall by default. Had to go "hunting and pecking" in their repositories to find it. And yet still had numerous hardware issues I never could resolve. In Mint, there are a number of applets for the panel (taskbar) that indicate CPU temperature and many other things.

The bottom line being that whenever I went back to Linux Mint, everything worked fine with the exception of audio through my external speakers, which I briefly explained above regarding "retasking" of my audio jack.

In essence perhaps you should reconsider the latest version of Mint. Or even the abbreviated version of Mint known as "XFCE Edition". I run the full Cinnamon version on a ten-year old system with very few issues.

"Xfce is a lightweight desktop environment. It doesn’t support as many features as Cinnamon or MATE, but it’s extremely stable and very light on resource usage."

https://linuxmint.com/download.php
 
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Judge said:
Frankly in doing some "distro-hopping" I always have had the same result. That I migrate right back to Linux Mint 20.3 and 21.1 given the ease and clarity of the installation process. One that took on the average of twenty minutes for the basic installation. The same could be said for Linux Zorin OS16 as well. The rest? Hell, most of them didn't even install the firewall by default. Had to go "hunting and pecking" in their repositories to find it. And yet still had numerous hardware issues I never could resolve. In Mint, there are a number of applets for the panel (taskbar) that indicate CPU temperature and many other things.

The bottom line being that whenever I went back to Linux Mint, everything worked fine with the exception of audio through my external speakers, which I briefly explained above regarding "retasking" of my audio jack.

In essence perhaps you should reconsider the latest version of Mint. Or even the abbreviated version of Mint known as "XFCE Edition".

"Xfce is a lightweight desktop environment. It doesn’t support as many features as Cinnamon or MATE, but it’s extremely stable and very light on resource usage."

https://linuxmint.com/download.php
Click to expand...
I have another friend who has tried dozens of distros, and is recommending Peppermint as a first alternative.
On Mint 17, after a re-awakening, I often have to go to the oldest paused video on Firefox to get the speakers back for all the rest.
 
Shevek said:
I have another friend who has tried dozens of distros, and is recommending Peppermint as a first alternative.
On Mint 17, after a re-awakening, I often have to go to the oldest paused video on Firefox to get the speakers back for all the rest.
Click to expand...
One thing to also consider about distros is that they aren't all created equally in terms of long term support and adequate infrastructure. Many of them are "fly-by-night" operations while others are quite strong with more than adequate infrastructure. Mint backs its long term support (LTS) 21.1 version all the way to 2027.

But yes, the one main issue I had with Linux Mint, POP21, Zorin OS16, Manjaro KDE and Kubuntu were that none of them gave me sound upon installation. Seemed none of them liked my Realtek audio drivers when it came to the output jack for speakers. But I found the fix that worked for all of them.

Of course whatever hardware one has might make or break the options of moving to Linux. That much is true.

I'm thrilled over the performance I'm getting with Mint 21.1, but have no illusions that as my computer gets older, it may not be able to keep up even with Linux. So I'm contemplating building another system, just not for Windows.
 
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Shevek said:
I only recently learned that my Thunderbird backups were useless and made a good one, but the method for saving the adress book, etc, seems incredibly arcane.
Click to expand...
The simplest and easiest way to do this is to copy the hidden files to new installations. Not all hidden files, only the pertinent ones or you'll cause problems in your new system. There's 2 hidden files you'll want to copy:
.mozilla (firefox)
.thunderbird

These are found in your home folder. Hidden files have a full stop as the first character in their name. Copying these in to a new system means that all your email accounts are already set up, all your old emails are still there, all your internet bookmarks are retained as well as saved logins and passwords.

The .mozilla file has a trick to catch you out though, it doesn't properly overwrite any existing .mozilla file so you need to delete the newer existing file before copying your old one in.

Shevek said:
I'd have certainly paid for a pre-loaded thumb drive.
Click to expand...
You can do this too, very handy for people that have poor or expensive internet services. There used to be a wonderful Canadian service called OS Disc but they shut down in 2019. I had a quick look around and found this one:

https://www.thelinuxshop.co.uk/
If you're having trouble getting hardware to run correctly then I recommend you try Fedora Linux. Most distributions only come with a "current" set of hardware drivers. This means no drivers and poor support for both older hardware and for the latest and greatest. Fedora is the only one I've come across that operates everything correctly straight out of the box.

That said, I've been using Ubuntu again for the last 6 months but I'm fed up with it again now and will shortly be going back to Fedora.

https://spins.fedoraproject.org/en/cinnamon/
 
Outdated said:
That said, I've been using Ubuntu again for the last 6 months but I'm fed up with it again now and will shortly be going back to Fedora.
Click to expand...
Seems a number of Ubuntu-based Linux distros have simply surpassed Ubuntu itself in the last couple of years.

Can't blame you, I wouldn't ever have bothered with that particular one. A "ho-hum" distro. OTOH there's a lot of buzz out there about Fedora.
 
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Judge said:
@tkcartoonist

I don't think I can answer such a question pertinent to software I don't use. Though I can't help but wonder if any of that has to do with the possibility of your software inadvertently "retasking" your audio output jack. But if that were the case, it would kill all sounds outputing to your speakers and not just to one application.

I just know that whenever I installed Linux Mint on this computer, it would kill the audio output so I couldn't hear anything regardless of whatever program could output sound. That I had to "retask" my audio jack and did so using Alsa-Tools GUI".

The two blue-green box and checkmarks are what I had to change and save for my sound to suddenly work. (Though it's only pertinent to protocols using Alsa and Pulse Audio Volume Control.) Which I'm guessing your system probably doesn't use.

But for anyone attempting to install Linux Mint on a relatively older computer, this may matter very much.


View attachment 98415
Click to expand...
Sound will work for everything except Ardour. There is no playback, nor can I record anything. However, anything else like system sounds will work. I have been screwing around trying to figure out how to get back to where I was sound wise, but nothing works. I just keep getting that feedback/port connection error in Ardour and it won't go away.

How do I get to that retasking application shown in the screenshot? I don't know if that'll solve the problem, but I'm willing to try anything. This audio stuff has been my biggest hurdle when it comes to Linux: I can figure out most of the graphics programs now, have built from source code, made some simple shell commands, and even got old DOS and Windows applications to work, but this is the part that is mystifying me and want to figure out the most since I want to actually start recording music again eventually.
 
Just for the heck of it, I exported what I had already recorded into an audio file. Even though I know what I had recorded and what plugins I used, there is no audio even in that. The exported file is nothing but silence (Audacity shows nothing but a flat line). I should mention that Ardour came with the distro I installed (Ubuntu Studio), so most if not all the dependencies should be there already, including Pulse and Alsa. I need to stress this: I had the sound working fine until I made a duplicate of the MIDI track to record a new drum part, then suddenly I couldn't play or record a note, and trying to figure out that issue while fiddling with the connections suddenly made it so no sound is possible in this program.

Sorry if I seem a little short in my replies, but I've been dealing with this off-and-on for a week and it is frustrating me. I've searched through so many different websites trying to find the answer but finding nothing, plus I posted this same question to a forum for Linux musicians on Sunday trying to figure this out, but I still have not gotten a response of any kind there and I have no idea how to solve this problem because I'm having a hard time explaining it without showing it to someone in person.
 
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