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  • I tried last week. Bunch of stuff in my system didn't work out of the gate, trying to use fixes that were meant for slightly different hardware/distro combos broke it further. Ultimately it became trying to start over or going back to the default Windows install.

    So anyway, I'm using Windows on that machine now. How's your week been?

    • At least you tried! And annoying that you stumbled upon hw issues.

      If you ever want to try again what about getting hold of an old drive, or try dual boot, then you can swap back to windows easily and there's less pressure for Linux to work out of the box.

      As you say the guides you used didn't match, try and research more about what is the correct distro for you, and maybe start with one that looks like a sure bet.

      • Guys, seriously, I know how to do this. I've installed Linux on random PCs for decades. It's not my first rodeo.

        Once you turn the century it starts to get annoying when people's default stance to legit compatibility issues becomes to affect condescending patience at you. I knew how to set up a dual boot (I chose not to, instead directly booting from an external drive, which works just fine and allows you to revert by just yanking it out), I knew how to find support (the guides don't match because the laptop family I was using needs specific libraries and kernel modifications and my model is relatively rare so the tutorials aren't meant for it specifically).

        I swear, the Linux community, such as it is, thinks that everybody backing off is some technically illiterate rando and mostly scared of UX differences and typing terminal commands. That's really not the case. All available Linux DEs are extremely easy to parse for both Windows and MacOs users, being able to copy/paste text to take semi-complex actions instead of digging through the visual interface saves some time and the total normies that could use this type of feedback aren't trying to do this in the first place. It's fine.

        I'll try again next time I have a disposable computer that has some specific plug-and-play distro ready to go. Maybe. If I feel like it. And if I need tech help with it, I'll gladly ask. For now, though, this particular machine is back to Windows because the troubleshooting is more of a hassle than the transition is an improvement. That's the beginning and the end of this conversation, really.

    • You still have Windows? Well there's your problem, you're supposed to format the entire drive when installing Linux..

      • Oh, that was absolutely not my problem. The "crashing whenever it was put to sleep" part was my problem. The distro I tried was pretty good about wiping and repartitioning the drive I gave it without messing with anything else, actually. Gotta give it to Linux devs, at least at this point they fully acknowledge that "just checking this out to see if I like it" is a major use case.

    • What distro did you use? and what gpu?

      • Nope, we're not doing this.

        I used distro "ShouldWork" and GPU "ShouldBeSupported". And given that it didn't work and wasn't supported, I didn't keep troubleshooting it, because I already have a OS install that works and requires no troubleshooting.

        I would love a one click install for each of my specific devices that is reliable out of the box, but that's not the world we live in, so in this timeline that computer is back to Windows now.

    • Windows runs my laptop harder, uses more battery and the fans are spinning a lot of times whist it runs almost silent in Linux. I've settled on EndeavourOS which has given me a headache-free experience for my hardware (lenovo yoga pro 7 7840hs). Only keep widows for BIOS updates otherwise I'd have nuked that hodge podge of software melange.

      If you're really set on windows you could try tiny11 to remove most of the bloat.

      • the fans are spinning a lot of times whist it runs almost silent in Linux

        In my experience that is because Linux (or whatever part of it that’s responsible) will only start cooling if it absolutely has to. Otherwise it’s happy to cook my laptop at 92°C.

        I’ve just finished reinstalling mint after applying a fix that was supposed to let me control the fans fucked up xOrg beyond repair. Multi-monitor setup is broken. On Ubuntu I couldn’t even get the Wifi to work. Manjaro refused to update packages because after installing a usual 300+ package update surge, suddenly everything was in conflict with each other. On all distros I needed to edit a config file so external speakers wouldn’t hum at full volume when no sound was playing.

        Even with the supposedly ‘easy’ distros, Linux still isn’t an everyman’s operating system.

      • Yeah, no, not doing that either.

        I mean, yeah, Linux ran leaner and felt a bit snappier in the OS and in like-for-like loads on Firefox, but the difference is a few dB, I can certainly live with it.

        I'm not "set" on anything here, if I hadn't had issues with compatibility I would have stuck with Linux on it. I really, really don't mind either for most tasks.

  • As it should be. Beat it into them until they understand how superior it is to every other kernel!

  • I had the most horrible experience trying to install it on an SSD, I'll ramble about it in some sub-lemmy to vent out 😭

91 comments