# Linux Mint VS Fedora Linux VS Windows XP (Which one do I get?)



## MrMcTiller (Apr 10, 2018)

As the title says. I am thinking about getting either Mint Linux (Cinnamon), Fedora Linux, or Windows XP Service pack 3. Which one do I get? I like Linux and I want to play on Steam and Minecraft. (Because I R NOOB). XD


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## Medveitsi (Apr 10, 2018)

why windows xp?


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## tech3475 (Apr 10, 2018)

Definitely not Windows XP because it's no longer supported.

I'd try Linux Mint myself but mainly due to familiarity over Fedora and the preferred UI, but it's not perfect and I've had to use CentOS as an alternative in the past.


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## Medveitsi (Apr 10, 2018)

i would install linux mint


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## Ryccardo (Apr 10, 2018)

Why not all 3?


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## vpd (Apr 11, 2018)

A second vote for Linux Mint from me.

Why would you install a dead, insecure  OS like XP?
Get Win 8.1 or Win 10 if you want/need windows and dual boot with Linux Mint.


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## ScarletDreamz (Apr 11, 2018)

Medveitsi said:


> why windows xp?


To be honest, what kind of Support do you need/want with Windows XP?

If you are not a Linux fan, goes with windows, easy as that, Linux Mint its pretty, but always had trouble with the low speed on the wifi drivers.


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## Joom (Apr 11, 2018)

ScarletDreamz said:


> To be honest, what kind of Support do you need/want with Windows XP?
> 
> If you are not a Linux fan, goes with windows, easy as that, Linux Mint its pretty, but always had trouble with the low speed on the wifi drivers.


Windows XP no longer receives security patches, and is wide open to 0days. Recommending that anyone use it outside of a virtual machine is idiotic. This has nothing to do with being a fan of something as this doesn't pertain to a hobby. I abhor Linux for its haphazard kernel, but it's definitely a better quality of life compared to XP. OP can't run newer iterations of Windows due to hardware limitations, so it's either buy a new computer, leave themselves open to constant attack (it's quite easy to scan the internet for XP machines with nmap), or learn basic Linux.


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## Ricken (Apr 11, 2018)

I personally like Fedora more, but that's just me.  Most people like Mint more, so I'd suggest that to you over Fedora (And Windows but others have made that clear it's a big 'no' already)


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## ov3rkill (Apr 11, 2018)

Linux Mint


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## oofio (Apr 11, 2018)

not much of a linux guy, but get linux mint


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## Mikemk (Apr 11, 2018)

Mint


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 11, 2018)

Ryccardo said:


> Why not all 3?


I have an 8GB USB as my Harddrive...


ScarletDreamz said:


> To be honest, what kind of Support do you need/want with Windows XP?
> If you are not a Linux fan, goes with windows, easy as that, Linux Mint its pretty, but always had trouble with the low speed on the wifi drivers.


My friend suggests XP over Linux for some reason. IDK I don't want to use XP


ov3rkill said:


> Linux Mint


It is decided. I will use Linux Mint. Now... I have a problem that bothers me...

I booted into the Live version VIA USB, but some of the font in the menu is really messed up. For example, some of the letters like "c" show up as messed up dotted lines in the shape of a "c". I have no other way of explaining. It happens to a lot of the letters in the menu. I opened the terminal and typed every letter, but it was perfectly fine.


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## Mikemk (Apr 11, 2018)

Probably because it's using an incompatible driver, after installing, you may need to install official drivers.

Or maybe the download is corrupt.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 11, 2018)

Mikemk said:


> Probably because it's using an incompatible driver, after installing, you may need to install official drivers.
> 
> Or maybe the download is corrupt.


It did it on normal Ubuntu as well. So, maybe I need official drivers. How do I install those?


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## Joom (Apr 11, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> It did it on normal Ubuntu as well. So, maybe I need official drivers. How do I install those?


Nvidia or AMD?


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 11, 2018)

Joom said:


> Nvidia or AMD?


How do I check?


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## Joom (Apr 11, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> How do I check?


You don't know what GPU you have? It's quite possible that you just have on board Intel graphics, and if that's the case, there is no official driver. You'll just have to tweak Ubuntu's font renderer, or use something besides Ubuntu (Mint is Ubuntu). I recommend BunsenLabs, but that's just me.

Edit: I forgot to mention that you can find your graphics card by running this in a terminal. 
_dmesg | grep graphics_


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## Mikemk (Apr 11, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> It did it on normal Ubuntu as well. So, maybe I need official drivers. How do I install those?


There's a window that pops up first boot after installing with a link to the driver manager.

If you're using the live iso, you need to actually install it.  The desktop past part of the ISO is just for trialling Linux Mint / troubleshooting broken systems.



Joom said:


> You don't know what GPU you have? It's quite possible that you just have on board Intel graphics, and if that's the case, there is no official driver. You'll just have to tweak Ubuntu's font renderer, or use something besides Ubuntu (Mint is Ubuntu). I recommend BunsenLabs, but that's just me.


Not necessary to know, the driver manager auto detects


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## freestile (Apr 11, 2018)

I use all three. Until recently My Windows XP machine PSU just went out the other day. It was 13 years old so go figure. No online usuage except
just to update some updates to get some usb stuff working at the time of purchase 2005-2007 era ish. Used it purely  for music purposes offline for the most party. I would get online every few months just to do updates. I have Fedora on an Old HP Pavillion Athlon XP 3500+ Tower that Dual Boots Fedora and Windows 7, and I have a old 2007-8 Duo Core Sony Vaio with Windows 7 and Mint.Just wondering why the jump from Mint (Deb) based to Fedora (RPM) based??. I'm thinking you just want to try things out.There's a little bit of a difference there in terminal commands sometimes,but other then that they do the same thing.Stay away from XP.Get Windows 8. 1 or 10 instead.Not sure if there was a specific need for XP.I wanna fix my XP machine PSU,but at the same time I might just start using the Windows 7 tower offline and just connect fro updates every once in a while.I use Ubuntu too and I really like it,although I notice mint runs better on the lower end machines then Ubuntu.Unless of course if I really tweak Ubuntu to be kind of Minimal it runs okay. Actually haven't played on mint for a little while, but I'm on my Ubuntu everyday.Hope you find something that works out.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 11, 2018)

Joom said:


> You don't know what GPU you have? It's quite possible that you just have on board Intel graphics, and if that's the case, there is no official driver. You'll just have to tweak Ubuntu's font renderer, or use something besides Ubuntu (Mint is Ubuntu). I recommend BunsenLabs, but that's just me.


So... um... yeah I have the onboard Intel graphics. I am a noob to this stuff. 


Mikemk said:


> There's a window that pops up first boot after installing with a link to the driver manager.
> 
> If you're using the live iso, you need to actually install it.  The desktop past part of the ISO is just for trialling Linux Mint / troubleshooting broken systems.
> 
> ...


All I want to do is use the Live boot to install to a USB. When I have it installed, will it fix the problem? Or, do I need a different driver? I just need some more explaining about what would be causing the issues.


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## XDel (Apr 11, 2018)

While I love Mint, Crunchbang Plus Plus has stolen my heart.


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## Mikemk (Apr 11, 2018)

Just do the install, then if still needed you can add divers.  Remember, you can't install to the same drive as the live image.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 11, 2018)

XDel said:


> While I love Mint, Crunchbang Plus Plus has stolen my heart.


Wow... looks cool... I just need to get a 10 TB harddrive and install ALL OF THE OSs

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



Mikemk said:


> Just do the install, then if still needed you can add divers.  Remember, you can't install to the same drive as the live image.


My friend is lending me a USB that I can live boot from so that I can install to my USB.


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## Joom (Apr 11, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> So... um... yeah I have the onboard Intel graphics. I am a noob to this stuff.


https://howtogeek.com/242045/how-to...-amd-or-intel-graphics-drivers-on-ubuntu/amp/


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 11, 2018)

Joom said:


> https://howtogeek.com/242045/how-to...-amd-or-intel-graphics-drivers-on-ubuntu/amp/



Thank you!!!!!!!


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 12, 2018)

Well, it turns out that I may have been wrong. I though since the computer is an older computer that it would have crappy Intel graphics. But, according to the BIOS, it has: 

Video Controller = ATI Radeon Xpress 1250
Video BIOS Version = 010.019.001.089.007.097
Video Memory = 256 MB
Panel Type = 12.1" Wide XGA
Native Resolution = 1280 by 800


Here is what Linux Mint says about my graphics card: 


Is this any better? Also, now that you know which graphics I have, which drivers do I need?


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## The Catboy (Apr 12, 2018)

I personally love Fedora, but if you've never used Linux before then I suggest using Linux Mint as a starter. 
Although my personal suggestion will always be Solus Linux because it's amazing.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 12, 2018)

Lilith Valentine said:


> I personally love Fedora, but if you've never used Linux before then I suggest using Linux Mint as a starter.
> Although my personal suggestion will always be Solus Linux because it's amazing.


I have already decided on Mint, but that you anyway Lilith.


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## The Catboy (Apr 12, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> I have already decided on Mint, but that you anyway Lilith.


Fair enough!  I would like to mention that I am a seasoned Linux user (dedicated for 12 years now and haven't used Windows since,) So I can often help out if needed.


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## hobbledehoy899 (Apr 12, 2018)

Despite being just about the most noob-friendly Linux distro out there, I would _not_ recommend Linux Mint under _any_ circumstance due to its poor security practices.
Fedora is merely a testbed for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (which by principal is _not_ a consumer grade/desktop operating system and thus wouldn't be good for gaming), essentially Red Hat's equivalent to the Windows Insider Program.
The core of Windows XP is not modern in any stretch (it's the last version of Windows to use the NT 5 kernel) and as such not many pieces of modern software (including games) _won't_ run on it.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 12, 2018)

Lilith Valentine said:


> Fair enough!  I would like to mention that I am a seasoned Linux user (dedicated for 12 years now and haven't used Windows since,) So I can often help out if needed.


Well, maybe I will try Solus. What are the main differences between Solus and Mint?


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## The Catboy (Apr 12, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> Well, maybe I will try Solus. What are the main differences between Solus and Mint?


Solus is a much smaller and independent distro that aims for a cleaner and more streamline approach to software managing and desktop use. So it has less software in the repos, but makes up for it by having the most popular and need to have software. Solus also uses their own in-house DE called "Budgie," that just runs and looks amazing (so does Cinnamon, but I prefer Budgie more)
The best main difference is more so the dev and community interaction. The devs are always taking advice from the community and always looking to improve through the community. I've actually suggested several pieces of software that have made it to the repos after I asked about them. It's something you don't find with most distros and it makes Solus a very welcoming destro for those who want that kind interaction with the devs.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 12, 2018)

Lilith Valentine said:


> Solus is a much smaller and independent distro that aims for a cleaner and more streamline approach to software managing and desktop use. So it has less software in the repos, but makes up for it by having the most popular and need to have software. Solus also uses their own in-house DE called "Budgie," that just runs and looks amazing (so does Cinnamon, but I prefer Budgie more)
> The best main difference is more so the dev and community interaction. The devs are always taking advice from the community and always looking to improve through the community. I've actually suggested several pieces of software that have made it to the repos after I asked about them. It's something you don't find with most distros and it makes Solus a very welcoming destro for those who want that kind interaction with the devs.


So, I guess what I mainly want is a Distro that is easy to use. I would like to play Steam games. I need to be able to have the proper drivers for my Graphics card. I also like to use apt.

EDIT: More about the graphics card in above posts.


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## The Catboy (Apr 12, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> So, I guess what I mainly want is a Distro that is easy to use. I would like to play Steam games. I need to be able to have the proper drivers for my Graphics card. I also like to use apt.


Solus does not use apt, it uses "eopkg," but it does have Steam and actually has really good driver support. Although looking through the thread a bit, it might not work on that computer. Solus is 64-Bit only and does have some issues with older 64-Bit hardware (from my experience.) They also do provide a MATE version that is better for older hardware and worked just fine on my old laptop.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 12, 2018)

Lilith Valentine said:


> Solus does not use apt, it uses "eopkg," but it does have Steam and actually has really good driver support. Although looking through the thread a bit, it might not work on that computer. Solus is 64-Bit only and does have some issues with older 64-Bit hardware (from my experience.) They also do provide a MATE version that is better for older hardware and worked just fine on my old laptop.


So, say that I install Solus... what would I need to type into the terminal to get the proper drivers for ATI Radeon Xpress 1250?


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## The Catboy (Apr 12, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> So, say that I install Solus... what would I need to type into the terminal to get the proper drivers for ATI Radeon Xpress 1250?


Nope, they have a software driver manager that handles it all for you*. Having used Solus for about 2 years now, I've rarely had to install software through the terminal. In fact I rarely ever open the terminal outside of compiling some software.
*This of course implying it installs and works properly, but Linux is free, so the only thing you will be wasting is your time and effort.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 12, 2018)

Lilith Valentine said:


> Nope, they have a software driver manager that handles it all for you. Having used Solus for about 2 years now, I've rarely had to install software through the terminal. In fact I rarely ever open the terminal outside of compiling some software.


Oh, nice. So, what package do I need to install?


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## The Catboy (Apr 12, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> Oh, nice. So, what package do I need to install?


The driver manager is already pre-installed on the distro itself. You just need to search for it in the menu and run it, from there and it will search for the drivers for your hardware.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 12, 2018)

Lilith Valentine said:


> The driver manager is already pre-installed on the distro itself. You just need to search for it in the menu and run it, from there it will search for the drivers for your hardware.


OK, I get it. But, I would need to be here at school... because I don't have internet at my house. Good thing it is a laptop.

EDIT: Creating bootable USB now.


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## The Catboy (Apr 12, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> OK, I get it. But, I would need to be here at school... because I don't have internet at my house. Good thing it is a laptop.
> 
> EDIT: Creating bootable USB now.


I am not sure what that has to do with this, but ok! Hopefully everything works for you, if not, well at least you tried. The fun part about Linux is that it's free and you can always try something else. Personally I use Distrowatch as my source to seeing what distros are out there and finding a good one to test out. So if one fails, then I just go back to the list and see what looks interesting


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 12, 2018)

Lilith Valentine said:


> I am not sure what that has to do with this, but ok! Hopefully everything works for you, if not, well at least you tried. The fun part about Linux is that it's free and you can always try something else. Personally I use Distrowatch as my source to seeing what distros are out there and finding a good one to test out. So if one fails, then I just go back to the list and see what looks interesting


Wouldn't I need internet to get the drivers? Or do they all come included with Solus? Also, can I use .deb packages with Solus?


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## The Catboy (Apr 12, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> Wouldn't I need internet to get the drivers? Or do they all come included with Solus? Also, can I use .deb packages with Solus?


Ohh, sorry I have been up all night and my mind is a bit fuzzy, you do need the internet for the drivers. Solus technically doesn't use .deb files as it's not a Debian-based distro. There is a method decompile deb files and recompile them for Solus, but I won't recommend it because it will most likely not work properly.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 12, 2018)

Lilith Valentine said:


> Ohh, sorry I have been up all night and my mind is a bit fuzzy, you do need the internet for the drivers. Solus technically doesn't use .deb files as it's not a Debian-based distro. There is a method decompile deb files and recompile them for Solus, but I won't recommend it because it will most likely not work properly.


Oh... I guess that is OK. All I need is python 3.5.2+ so that should be good.


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## The Catboy (Apr 12, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> Oh... I guess that is OK. All I need is python 3.5.2+ so that should be good.


Solus should have the latest python, so you should be good.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 12, 2018)

Oh wow! I live booted into Solus and I have no Graphical errors. I think I will use Solus after all. Now it is time to install and test Steam games. I like to play Gmod, but I only have 4GB of RAM. I will try to make it work. Thank you Lilith!!


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## tpax (Apr 12, 2018)

One can't go wrong with Linux XP.


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## matpower (Apr 12, 2018)

Joom said:


> https://howtogeek.com/242045/how-to...-amd-or-intel-graphics-drivers-on-ubuntu/amp/


Don't follow this please, it is as old as time.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 12, 2018)

matpower said:


> Don't follow this please, it is as old as time.


I am not having graphical issues with Solus. So, I don't think I need to follow that.


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## matpower (Apr 12, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> I am not having graphical issues with Solus. So, I don't think I need to follow that.


Solus will have the latest drivers OOTB anyway since it is a rolling release. 
But for future reference:
Intel and AMD:
Use the built-in open source drivers powered by Mesa. If you are using a LTS distro and want newer drivers, search for a 3rd party repo that updates it. (Padoka's PPA for Ubuntu-based, Debian backports for Debian, no idea if CentOS has one).
Stay away from the old fglrx on AMD, AMDGPU-PRO isn't worth it unless you need OpenCL, and that requires a LTS distro like Ubuntu or RedHat.
NVIDIA:
Use the proprietary driver (nvidia) instead of the open-source one (nouveau), it should be in your distro's repos (You'll need to enable non-free repos on Debian or RPMFusion/negativo on Fedora). NVIDIA has an official PPA for Ubuntu if you need something newer.

*Never ever install a driver outside your package manager unless you know what you're doing. *It'll make upgrading a hassle and it *WILL *break when you upgrade the kernel.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 12, 2018)

matpower said:


> Solus will have the latest drivers OOTB anyway since it is a rolling release.
> But for future reference:
> Intel and AMD:
> Use the built-in open source drivers powered by Mesa. If you are using a LTS distro and want newer drivers, search for a 3rd party repo that updates it. (Padoka's PPA for Ubuntu-based, Debian backports for Debian, no idea if CentOS has one).
> ...


OK, thanks for the info. Anyway, how bad is my graphics card?

Video Controller = ATI Radeon Xpress 1250
Video BIOS Version = 010.019.001.089.007.097
Video Memory = 256 MB
Panel Type = 12.1" Wide XGA
Native Resolution = 1280 by 800


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## matpower (Apr 12, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> OK, thanks for the info. Anyway, how bad is my graphics card?
> 
> Video Controller = ATI Radeon Xpress 1250
> Video BIOS Version = 010.019.001.089.007.097
> ...


Wew, that's oooooold, apparently a watered down version of the ATI Radeon X300, supports DirectX9 and OpenGL 1.6 from a quick Google research.
Could you run 
	
	



```
lspci -k | grep -EA3 'VGA|3D|Display'; glxinfo | grep -i OpenGL
```
 and show me the output? I am curious about what driver it is loading.
Here's mine, if you are curious:


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 12, 2018)

matpower said:


> Wew, that's oooooold, apparently a watered down version of the ATI Radeon X300, supports DirectX9 and OpenGL 1.6 from a quick Google research.
> Could you run
> 
> 
> ...


I will do it when I can.


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## Joom (Apr 12, 2018)

matpower said:


> Don't follow this please, it is as old as time.


>2016
Well ok.

Regardless, OP got it. Also, he's probably using the legacy open source ATI driver.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 12, 2018)

matpower said:


> Wew, that's oooooold, apparently a watered down version of the ATI Radeon X300, supports DirectX9 and OpenGL 1.6 from a quick Google research.
> Could you run
> 
> 
> ...


Here you go:


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## Joom (Apr 12, 2018)

Yep, it's using the open source driver.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 12, 2018)

Joom said:


> Yep, it's using the open source driver.


Is that good? Or should I use something else?


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## Joom (Apr 12, 2018)

It'll suffice for you.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 12, 2018)

Joom said:


> It'll suffice for you.


OK, now that I am using Solus, it doesn't have the graphical errors. So, do you think Gmod will run?


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## Joom (Apr 12, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> OK, now that I am using Solus, it doesn't have the graphical errors. So, do you think Gmod will run?


Not without the proprietary driver. I mean, it might  but I doubt it.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 12, 2018)

Joom said:


> Not without the proprietary driver. I mean, it might  but I doubt it.


So, how do I install that?


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## TVL (Apr 12, 2018)

What a mess. OpenSuse Leap uses proprietary drivers on install if you chose to (maybe even automatically, I can't remember or bother to google it). Linux gives me Tourette's when you get problems like these, if you have hardware that is well supported it's smooth sailing whatever you chose, but if you don't; welcome to hell. Maybe you feel it's too much trouble downloading a new distro and installing that though... But I think it will be the easiest way to solve you problem.


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## matpower (Apr 13, 2018)

Joom said:


> >2016
> Well ok.
> 
> Regardless, OP got it. Also, he's probably using the legacy open source ATI driver.


Yes, 2016 is as old as time in Linux's landscape (and tech in general). A lot has changed and it seems like you are completely out of the loop, no offense.



Joom said:


> Not without the proprietary driver. I mean, it might  but I doubt it.


His hardware is so old that the only proprietary driver for that is the now-dead fglrx, he would need to downgrade X and manually get the drivers, it is not worth it for a number of reasons, not even Debian supports that setup anymore. Please stop recommending proprietary GPU drivers for anything that's not NVIDIA, specially for a newbie.



MrMcTiller said:


> OK, now that I am using Solus, it doesn't have the graphical errors. So, do you think Gmod will run?


Gmod should run, you have the required OpenGL version (2.1), don't expect great performance though.
Here's the feature matrix for your GPU, check the R300 column.



TVL said:


> What a mess. OpenSuse Leap uses proprietary drivers on install if you chose to (maybe even automatically, I can't remember or bother to google it). Linux gives me Tourette's when you get problems like these, if you have hardware that is well supported it's smooth sailing whatever you chose, but if you don't; welcome to hell. Maybe you feel it's too much trouble downloading a new distro and installing that though... But I think it will be the easiest way to solve you problem.


His hardware is supported and he's using the most recent software available. There's no reason to distrohop in this scenario and again, it is bad advice for a newbie, one should focus in solving the issue instead of recommending their favorite distro, otherwise I would be shilling for Fedora or Debian because they are my favorite distros.


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## Yepi69 (Apr 13, 2018)

Windows 10 + Linux Mint, a perfect dual booting system made in heaven.


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## raphamotta (Apr 13, 2018)

I'm enjoying Deepin Linux


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## Joom (Apr 13, 2018)

@matpower, I never recommended them. I even said that the open source drivers should suffice for his needs. However, I don't see him having a good time with Gmod while using them.


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## matpower (Apr 13, 2018)

Joom said:


> @matpower, I never recommended them. I even said that the open source drivers should suffice for his needs. However, I don't see him having a good time with Gmod while using them.


It sounds like a recommendation or at least, endorsement. You had already linked an old article that recommended proprietary AMD drivers and then you mentioned them again, when a quick search on ArchWiki or some Linux Gaming community would show that fglrx has been discontinued since 2014/2015 and how AMD has been heavily investing in open source drivers. As matter of fact, even their newest AMDGPU-PRO for GCN1+ is strictly recommended for workstations, not for gaming.
Sure, his hardware is old and *might* run a bit better with fglrx, but 1) it is not worth the hassle 2) fglrx was shit and it gave AMD bad rep until they cleaned up their act 3) in my experience with a r600, the performance difference was nonexistent, and that was circa 2016, it should be even better now.


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## Captain_N (Apr 13, 2018)

Use windows 7 as the host OS, then install vmware and use all 3 OS on the same pc. Thats profit


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## RedBlueGreen (Apr 13, 2018)

Might I ask why you're only considering these OS's? Is it old hardware? If so I wouldn't expect Minecraft to run well or do any real gaming except emulation, and I'll be surprised if Solus runs well. Knowing PC specs would help us recommend stuff.

Linux is great for a lot of things, but gaming isn't one of them.


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## Joom (Apr 13, 2018)

matpower said:


> It sounds like a recommendation or at least, endorsement. You had already linked an old article that recommended proprietary AMD drivers and then you mentioned them again, when a quick search on ArchWiki or some Linux Gaming community would show that fglrx has been discontinued since 2014/2015 and how AMD has been heavily investing in open source drivers. As matter of fact, even their newest AMDGPU-PRO for GCN1+ is strictly recommended for workstations, not for gaming.
> Sure, his hardware is old and *might* run a bit better with fglrx, but 1) it is not worth the hassle 2) fglrx was shit and it gave AMD bad rep until they cleaned up their act 3) in my experience with a r600, the performance difference was nonexistent, and that was circa 2016, it should be even better now.


I linked it for the Intel section because OP had no idea what he had, and I assumed that he possibly just had Intel on board graphics because of this. I'm more than well aware of what shit fglrx was. It's one of the major reasons why I dumped Linux (coincidentally) in 2016 for macOS.


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## TVL (Apr 13, 2018)

matpower said:


> His hardware is supported and he's using the most recent software available. There's no reason to distrohop in this scenario and again, it is bad advice for a newbie, one should focus in solving the issue instead of recommending their favorite distro, otherwise I would be shilling for Fedora or Debian because they are my favorite distros.



It would solve the issue though and everything would have worked right from the getgo. But I guess it's very easy to update and fix in Mint, and maybe by now it's solved by the OP? I don't care what distro he is using, I can't even imagine how a person who does thinks.


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## matpower (Apr 13, 2018)

TVL said:


> It would solve the issue though and everything would have worked right from the getgo. But I guess it's very easy to update and fix in Mint, and maybe by now it's solved by the OP? I don't care what distro he is using, I can't even imagine how a person who does thinks.


He is running Solus apparently. And like I said, any distro with proprietary AMD drivers for his hardware is as dead as it can get. Unless it is NVIDIA, use the open source ones + Mesa.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 13, 2018)

All I want to know is if Gmod will run. I don't care if it runs slow, I can always lower the graphics settings. I find that Solus has most of the things I want. And, I just want to know which drivers I should have VS which drivers I have now IF THERE ARE OTHER DRIVERS. If not, then I will leave it alone.


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## The Catboy (Apr 13, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> All I want to know is if Gmod will run. I don't care if it runs slow, I can always lower the graphics settings. I find that Solus has most of the things I want. And, I just want to know which drivers I should have VS which drivers I have now IF THERE ARE OTHER DRIVERS. If not, then I will leave it alone.


Does steam install and does it play older games like Half-Life? My old laptop can play older games, but the video card doesn't support the OpenGL required to play Half-Life 2 and all games running on that engine. For me it spits up an error about the video card not being supported and there's really not much I can do.
If it shows an error about openGL, then there's really not much we can do to help. There are workarounds, but the often result in graphical glitches that render the game(s) unplayable. This is also not an issue that can be fixed through software, just hardware upgrades.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 13, 2018)

Lilith Valentine said:


> Does steam install and does it play older games like Half-Life? My old laptop can play older games, but the video card doesn't support the OpenGL required to play Half-Life 2 and all games running on that engine. For me it spits up an error about the video card not being supported and there's really not much I can do.
> If it shows an error about openGL, then there's really not much we can do to help. There are workarounds, but the often result in graphical glitches that render the game(s) unplayable. This is also not an issue that can be fixed through software, just hardware upgrade.


I have a Half-Life CD, and when I was using XenialPup 7.5, I used Wine to run the game. It ran fine, but for some reason when I tried to start a new game... it said that I didn't have the CD inserted.


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## The Catboy (Apr 13, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> I have a Half-Life CD, and when I was using XenialPup 7.5, I used Wine to run the game. It ran fine, but for some reason when I tried to start a new game... it said that I didn't have the CD inserted.


I won't suggest using the CD and installing/running it through Steam. The CD version should be using Direct X (unless the released an updated version) the steam version for Linux will be using openGL.
I could be wrong though, I just know my old CD copy of Half-Life ran through Direct X


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 13, 2018)

Lilith Valentine said:


> Does steam install and does it play older games like Half-Life? My old laptop can play older games, but the video card doesn't support the OpenGL required to play Half-Life 2 and all games running on that engine. For me it spits up an error about the video card not being supported and there's really not much I can do.
> If it shows an error about openGL, then there's really not much we can do to help. There are workarounds, but the often result in graphical glitches that render the game(s) unplayable. This is also not an issue that can be fixed through software, just hardware upgrades.


And, I haven't tried to install Steam yet, because I am still using a Live Boot USB. My friend is going to let me borrow a USB so that I can use his USB as the Live and install to my USB.


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## The Catboy (Apr 13, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> And, I haven't tried to install Steam yet, because I am still using a Live Boot USB. My friend is going to let me borrow a USB so that I can use his USB as the Live and install to my USB.


Alright, once you have everything installed test Half-Life through Steam, then test out any game running the Half-Life 2 Engine. This should give some better results to determine if it's just a driver issue or a hardware issue.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 13, 2018)

Lilith Valentine said:


> I won't suggest using the CD and installing/running it through Steam. The CD version should be using Direct X (unless the released an updated version) the steam version for Linux will be using openGL.
> I could be wrong though, I just know my old CD copy of Half-Life ran through Direct X


So, I don't have money and I actually want to play Half-Life. Is there a way for me to get it for free because I have a CD of it?


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## The Catboy (Apr 13, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> So, I don't have money and I actually want to play Half-Life. Is there a way for me to get it for free because I have a CD of it?


I actually don't know because I bought mine (along with every other Half-Life game, mod, etc.) for like 20$ during one of the Summer sales. I didn't have key for my CD copy because it was pirated copy I got from my brother and it came with a keygen on the disk itself.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 13, 2018)

Lilith Valentine said:


> I actually don't know because I bought mine (along with every other Half-Life game, mod, etc.) for like 20$ during one of the Summer sales. I didn't have key for my CD copy because it was pirated copy I got from my brother and it came with a keygen on the disk itself.


Oh wow. Crazy. So, I guess I could try with another game. I have:

American Truck Sim
Emily is Away Too
Defend The Highlands
GMod
Undertale
Bad Rats (How do I get rid of this? XD)
Plague Inc. Evolved


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## The Catboy (Apr 13, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> Oh wow. Crazy. So, I guess I could try with another game. I have:
> 
> American Truck Sim
> Emily is Away Too
> ...


You can really just use any game, just looking to see if they crash and why. Running steam through the terminal should also show everything in the terminal when it crashes.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 13, 2018)

Lilith Valentine said:


> You can really just use any game, just looking to see if they crash and why. Running steam through the terminal should also show everything in the terminal when it crashes.


Oh.. I didn't know that. Does it do that with everything that is running from the Terminal?


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## hobbledehoy899 (Apr 13, 2018)

Holy shit, this thread is really showing me just why I stopped using Linux-based operating systems in the first place. I was thinking of using my other laptop that has Arch Linux installed again but just the advice given with complete ernest in this thread has convinced me not to.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 13, 2018)

hobbledehoy899 said:


> Holy shit, this thread is really showing me just why I stopped using Linux-based operating systems in the first place. I was thinking of using my other laptop that has Arch Linux installed again but just the advice given with complete ernest in this thread has convinced me not to.


You're Welcome! I am always happy to help!


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## Joom (Apr 13, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> Oh.. I didn't know that. Does it do that with everything that is running from the Terminal?


Mostly. Some programs aren't verbose and won't display anything at all.


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## matpower (Apr 13, 2018)

hobbledehoy899 said:


> Holy shit, this thread is really showing me just why I stopped using Linux-based operating systems in the first place. I was thinking of using my other laptop that has Arch Linux installed again but just the advice given with complete ernest in this thread has convinced me not to.


That was unnecessary and seriously, there is no reason this thread could make someone stay away from Linux besides people giving bad advice.
But well, just use whatever fits the bill, I run Fedora and have NetBSD for shits and giggles installed, so more power to you.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 13, 2018)

matpower said:


> That was unnecessary and seriously, there is no reason this thread could make someone stay away from Linux besides people giving bad advice.
> But well, just use whatever fits the bill, I run Fedora and have NetBSD for shits and giggles installed, so more power to you.


OOF


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## hobbledehoy899 (Apr 13, 2018)

matpower said:


> That was unnecessary and seriously, there is no reason this thread could make someone stay away from Linux besides people giving bad advice.


It's not that the advice is bad (most of it is actually pretty good), it's that the advice has to be given at all (when was the last time you were instructed to open Steam through the command prompt on Windows?).


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## Plstic (Apr 13, 2018)

I dunno, I have zero issues with Linux. I run parabola on my x200 and it runs great.


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## hobbledehoy899 (Apr 13, 2018)

Plstic said:


> I dunno, I have zero issues with Linux. I run parabola on my x200 and it runs great.


Do you have the your-freedom package installed?


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## Plstic (Apr 13, 2018)

hobbledehoy899 said:


> Do you have the your-freedom package installed?


If you're asking about libreboot yes. And there are zero nonfree packages tho some of libretto stuff conflicts but.I think that's because they havent been added yet


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## hobbledehoy899 (Apr 13, 2018)

Plstic said:


> If you're asking about libreboot yes.


No, I mean the literal your-freedom package.


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## Plstic (Apr 13, 2018)

hobbledehoy899 said:


> No, I mean the literal your-freedom package.


Shit im retarded ye I have that installed.


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## matpower (Apr 13, 2018)

hobbledehoy899 said:


> It's not that the advice is bad (most of it is actually pretty good), it's that the advice has to be given at all (when was the last time you were instructed to open Steam through the command prompt on Windows?).


If you never used Windows, you would need advice to operate it. You could pop a grandma or a kid and give them something like KDE, MATE or Xfce and they can use it fine. Linux is as user friendly as it gets IMO and the only reason people ask for advice is due to unfamiliarity. The only time I had to bother running Steam from command line was when I used a meme distro like Arch and some package wad missing.


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## The Catboy (Apr 13, 2018)

matpower said:


> If you never used Windows, you would need advice to operate it. You could pop a grandma or a kid and give them something like KDE, MATE or Xfce and they can use it fine. Linux is as user friendly as it gets IMO and the only reason people ask for advice is due to unfamiliarity. The only time I had to bother running Steam from command line was when I used a meme distro like Arch and some package wad missing.


Actually my advise to run it from the terminal isn't bad advice at all. If we are looking to troubleshoot an answer, then running it through the terminal will show everything that happened in real time. Running steam (or really a lot of other programs) through terminal has actually helped me worked through countless issues


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## Pacheko17 (Apr 13, 2018)

If those are the only choices, definitely Linux Mint.
XP makes no sense, if you're gonna use Wangblows, then go at least with 10 LTSB or 8.1. 

Fedora is good, but if you're gonna use Gnome which is the fedora default I think, you'll have a bad time most likely (assuming you have older hardware).
And Mint (Ubuntu) has more desktop user support than Fedora.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



hobbledehoy899 said:


> Holy shit, this thread is really showing me just why I stopped using Linux-based operating systems in the first place. I was thinking of using my other laptop that has Arch Linux installed again but just the advice given with complete ernest in this thread has convinced me not to.


Bad advice does not equal a bad operating system.


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## hobbledehoy899 (Apr 14, 2018)

Pacheko17 said:


> Bad advice does not equal a bad operating system.


Like I said before, it's not that the advice is bad, it's that the advice has to be given at all.


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## Pacheko17 (Apr 14, 2018)

hobbledehoy899 said:


> Like I said before, it's not that the advice is bad, it's that the advice has to be given at all.


It usually doesn't have to.
I've been using Linux for over 2 years and the only times I've needed to actually do anything on the terminal when starting off was to get some stuff fixed in Arch.
Sometimes some things can go wrong, and having a terminal to fix it and a huge community of people willing to help is still better than having a closed source OS where something doesn't work, you're just screwed.
Now I absolutely love the terminal and am 100% familiar with how Linux works, never had any more problems with any distro. 

People are too used to Windows, that's why they don't want to bother learning something superior just because it's different.


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## Pacheko17 (Apr 14, 2018)

hobbledehoy899 said:


> Like I said before, it's not that the advice is bad, it's that the advice has to be given at all.


It usually doesn't have to.
I've been using Linux for over 2 years and the only times I've needed to actually do anything on the terminal when starting off was to get some stuff fixed in Arch.
Sometimes some things can go wrong, and having a terminal to fix it and a huge community of people willing to help is still better than having a closed source OS where something doesn't work, you're just screwed.
Now I absolutely love the terminal and am 100% familiar with how Linux works, never had any more problems with any distro. 

People are too used to Windows, that's why they don't want to bother learning something superior just because it's different.


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## matpower (Apr 14, 2018)

Lilith Valentine said:


> Actually my advise to run it from the terminal isn't bad advice at all. If we are looking to troubleshoot an answer, then running it through the terminal will show everything that happened in real time. Running steam (or really a lot of other programs) through terminal has actually helped me worked through countless issues


I agree, the shell is the thing I miss the most when I run Windows, although it is getting there with PowerShell. Plus it is universal between distros too. I even mentioned that I had to run Steam from the shell to troubleshoot it on Arch.
I am mostly arguing against this:


hobbledehoy899 said:


> Like I said before, it's not that the advice is bad, it's that the advice has to be given at all.


It is like someone never had to ask for advice when he started using Windows/a computer. When you are starting out, you are going to suffer a bit. I, for one, have some small issues using macOS due to unfamiliarity, but give me some time and I could use it well. The same thing happened when I started using Linux circa 2012, Different paradigms will make you think a bit whenever doing stuff.


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## hobbledehoy899 (Apr 14, 2018)

matpower said:


> It is like someone never had to ask for advice when he started using Windows/a computer.


That advice is practical, the advice here about something as fundamental as display servers, window managers, and graphics drivers isn't because the situation itself isn't.


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## matpower (Apr 14, 2018)

hobbledehoy899 said:


> That advice is practical, the advice here about something as fundamental as display servers, window managers, and graphics drivers isn't because the situation itself isn't.


I am not seeing advice about display servers (nobody mentioned X11 vs Wayland) and Window Managers (He's using whatever Budgie uses to manage windows), those are matter of taste, so people will recommend what they like, but the casual user is probably using X11 and whatever DE Ubuntu or Mint is using (GNOME and Cinnamon) unless they are searching for a lightweight distro, then they would be using Lubuntu since that's the to-go choice for a newbie. Furthermore, the graphics driver thing is plug and play for everything besides NVIDIA, and most user friendly distros (Ubuntu, Mint, Solus, Manjaro, etc) have a small tool that installs it for you. Only people who apparently don't use Linux don't know how that works nowadays.

Call me a nitpicker, but this is being needlessly complex. Pick a distro like Ubuntu and it is pretty much the same as going from Windows to macOS and vice-versa except in edge cases.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 14, 2018)

Why is it that, I try to run the Kerbal Space Program launcher on Solus and it says there is no program to run executable applications? It works on Puppy Linux.


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## Procyon (Apr 14, 2018)

Linux From Scratch


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## RedBlueGreen (Apr 15, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> Why is it that, I try to run the Kerbal Space Program launcher on Solus and it says there is no program to run executable applications? It works on Puppy Linux.


Did Puppy Linux have WINE built in? Because you're not going to be running Windows .exe files without WINE or some other compatibility layer.

I'd recommend Ubuntu MATE or Lubuntu (or maybe Xubuntu, or any other lightweight Debian flavour) for you honestly because I have no idea what specs you have but from context it sounds like you're on an old device and Solus w/ Budgie is recommended to have at least 2 GB of RAM to run. Ubuntu has a really big community too so you'll more easily get support and answers for your issues.

I do like Solus' idea of making one big unified system, however I wouldn't use it until the AppImage package becomes a standard, or unless they introduce some sort of Debian compatibility (which I'm sure is possible by installing a bunch of other stuff, I just don't want the hassle of doing that myself).


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## matpower (Apr 15, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> Why is it that, I try to run the Kerbal Space Program launcher on Solus and it says there is no program to run executable applications? It works on Puppy Linux.


I am going to guess that you aren't using the native version since you are a dirty pirate lol. Install Wine or download the Linux version from Steam or The Bay Where Pirates Go or whatever place you use for that.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 15, 2018)

matpower said:


> I am going to guess that you aren't using the native version since you are a dirty pirate lol. Install Wine or download the Linux version from Steam or The Bay Where Pirates Go or whatever place you use for that.


Ahrrr! Um.. anyway, I am using the Linux version.


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## matpower (Apr 15, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> Ahrrr! Um.. anyway, I am using the Linux version.


Check if it has an executable flag, In doubt, chmod +x it.


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## Knucklesfan (Apr 15, 2018)

I really don't see what the hype around Mint is. Personally, I would use Ubuntu Mate. It's really the best choice, because of it's versatility, you can really make it work and feel like anything. You want it to look like Mac os? It can do that. You want a windows style? It can do that too. Mate is by far the best choice in my opinion


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 15, 2018)

matpower said:


> Check if it has an executable flag, In doubt, chmod +x it.


For some reason, when I check the executable flag, it unchecks right away.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 16, 2018)

Damn. I just realized that Solus requires 10GB of storage...  I have 8GB.


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## RedBlueGreen (Apr 16, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> Damn. I just realized that Solus requires 10GB of storage...  I have 8GB.


Try Lubuntu then. Though you may have to install some drivers yourself. The last time I installed Lubuntu 16.04 LTS it was missing Pulse audio.

Edit: fixed typos. My phone keyboard hates Xenforo and always screws up my dictionary suggestions.


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## Joom (Apr 17, 2018)

RedBlueGreen said:


> Try Lubuntu then. Though you may have to install some drivers yourself. The last time I installed Lubuntu 16.04 LTS it was missing Pulse audio.
> 
> Edit: fixed typos. My phone keyboard hates Xenforo and always screws up my dictionary suggestions.


That's because Pulse is garbage and nobody likes it, yet it's the easiest thing to install. Try to do anything with high latency and you'll see what I mean.

OP, install BunsenLabs. It's what Crunchbang used to be, which is a minimal, user-friendly Debian derivative. You don't need these distributions that come jam packed with useless bells and whistles.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 17, 2018)

Joom said:


> That's because Pulse is garbage and nobody likes it, yet it's the easiest thing to install. Try to do anything with high latency and you'll see what I mean.
> 
> OP, install BunsenLabs. It's what Crunchbang used to be, which is a minimal, user-friendly Debian derivative. You don't need these distributions that come jam packed with useless bells and whistles.


According to the install page, it still needs 10GB of storage.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 17, 2018)

Is it possible to make a custom BIOS that allows booting from an SD?


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 17, 2018)

EH..... @Joom , nevermind. I am installing Ubuntu MATE 16.04.4 LTS. I will try to use Steam on it. I know I need to do a lot of things to get it working... Do I?


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## Joom (Apr 17, 2018)

You shouldn't have to. Last I checked, the Ubuntu package for Steam sets everything up for you.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 17, 2018)

Joom said:


> You shouldn't have to. Last I checked, the Ubuntu package for Steam sets everything up for you.


OK, I have 52MB left on my USB (After installing Ubuntu) Can I install Steam onto my 16GB SD? of does it have to be in the Ubuntu fies?


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## Joom (Apr 17, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> OK, I have 52MB left on my USB (After installing Ubuntu) Can I install Steam onto my 16GB SD? of does it have to be in the Ubuntu fies?


You can, but you're looking at something complicated. Your SD can be treated as your /bin and /usr/bin partition by using it for their mount point, which would shave off a lot from your USB, but you're going to have to modify /etc/fstab accordingly.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/fstab

Your entry would look something like this:

```
/dev/sdb1 /usr/bin vfat* rw,relatime,data=ordered 0 1
```
*vfat only if using FAT32

You'll also need to migrate the entirety of these directories to your SD since you didn't do this during the installation of the OS.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 17, 2018)

Joom said:


> You can, but you're looking at something complicated. Your SD can be treated as your /bin and /usr/bin partition by using it for their mount point, which would shave off a lot from your USB, but you're going to have to modify /etc/fstab accordingly.
> https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/fstab
> 
> Your entry would look something like this:
> ...


I am lost... could you explain a little more... possibly step by step? (Sorry, I don't want to fuck anything up)


----------



## Joom (Apr 17, 2018)

First, you'll need to find the device ID of your SD. You can find it by issuing _fdisk -l_ in a terminal. Then you need to create the directory _/usr/bin _on it, and migrate the contents of that directory on your USB to it. The link I provided includes further instructions on how to properly modify your fstab.

```
sudo -s
fdisk -l
mount -t vfat /dev/sd*1 /mnt
mkdir -p /mnt/usr/bin
cp -R /usr/bin/* /mnt/usr/bin
nano /etc/fstab
```
You'll have to edit your fstab accordingly, hence the last command. Use my link and example from above. If Ubuntu has already mounted the SD, just unmount it with the file manager, or issue _sudo unmount /dev/sd*_. * being your drive letter.


----------



## MrMcTiller (Apr 17, 2018)

Joom said:


> First, you'll need to find the device ID of your SD. You can find it by issuing _fdisk -l_ in a terminal. Then you need to create the directory _/usr/bin _on it, and migrate the contents of that directory on your USB to it. The link I provided includes further instructions on how to properly modify your fstab.
> 
> ```
> sudo -s
> ...


Wait, I think that SD shows up as mmcblk0p1 . Do I need to replace "sd*1" with "mmcblk0p1"?


----------



## Joom (Apr 17, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> Wait, I think that SD shows up as mmcblk0p1 . Do I need to replace "sd*1" with "mmcblk0p1"?


You can. You can also use the device's UUID. I just prefer to use the direct path for simplicity. My advice is to use what fdisk lists.


----------



## MrMcTiller (Apr 17, 2018)

Joom said:


> You can. You can also use the device's UUID. I just prefer to use the direct path for simplicity. My advice is to use what fdisk lists.


OK, I will try to do this. I am still a very inexperienced user on Linux. I am just really confused about the fstab thing.


----------



## Joom (Apr 17, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> OK, I will try to do this. I am still a very inexperienced user on Linux. I am just really confused about the fstab thing.


I know it's confusing at first, but read over the Wiki. Even though it's from Arch, their Wiki is the unofficial Bible for Linux. Practically everything I know about the use of Linux came from there.

The fstab file is just a configuration file that tells the OS how and where to mount things. This is one of the major benefits Linux (and UNIX in general) has over Windows. You could even use a Dropbox drive for your mounts with this if you wanted. Your entire OS could be cloud based if you set up everything right. The fstab file just tells the OS "hey stupid, put this drive that contains this here so the rest of you see it". Once you get it down, it's super easy. I used to use an external NTFS drive as my /home so that I could use it between both Linux and Windows without issue.


----------



## MrMcTiller (Apr 17, 2018)

OK, sorry for being a noob... so, I tried to read through it all, but it is too confusing. Which section(s) would I need to use in this case?

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Oh and (sorry for double posting), my Chromebook says that whenever I plug my USB into it, there are 3 partitions on it. I can't add to them, so I am guessing my USB is ext4.


----------



## MrMcTiller (Apr 18, 2018)

OK, I figured it out. But, how does this solve the problem with the storage? Does steam install under /mnt/usr/bin ? Also, am I supposed to set the fstab mount point to /mnt for my sd card?


----------



## Joom (Apr 18, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> OK, I figured it out. But, how does this solve the problem with the storage? Does steam install under /mnt/usr/bin ? Also, am I supposed to set the fstab mount point to /mnt for my sd card?


No, the /mnt point is just temporary. You'll set it to /usr/bin in your fstab.


----------



## MrMcTiller (Apr 18, 2018)

OK, so after I do that, do I delete the /usr/bin on my USB?


----------



## Joom (Apr 18, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> OK, so after I do that, do I delete the /usr/bin on my USB?


Provided all of it is on your SD, yes.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 18, 2018)

Alrighty then. Oh and, thank you @Joom . I think I understand the fstab thing now. Is /usr/bin the only place that steam installs to? If not, where are the other locations.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 18, 2018)

Wait... sorry... I am having one of those days. Do I copy the contents of /usr/bin to the ROOT of the SD? Or copy the contents to /usr/bin of my SD?


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## Joom (Apr 18, 2018)

You copy the content to /usr/bin. You're basically mirroring this directory on your SD, and then removing it from your USB. The cp -R command should have already taken care of this. Also, Steam installs games to your home directory I believe, but it allows you to choose the directory you want in the download window.


----------



## MrMcTiller (Apr 18, 2018)

Joom said:


> You copy the content to /usr/bin. You're basically mirroring this directory on your SD, and then removing it from your USB. The cp -R command should have already taken care of this. Also, Steam installs games to your home directory I believe, but it allows you to choose the directory you want in the download window.


But steam itself installs to /usr/bin?

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Wait, if I set the mount point to /usr/bin... wouldn't it mount it so that it goes... /usr/bin/usr/bin?


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## Joom (Apr 18, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> But steam itself installs to /usr/bin?
> 
> --------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
> 
> Wait, if I set the mount point to /usr/bin... wouldn't it mount it so that it goes... /usr/bin/usr/bin?


No, fstab tells the OS where to look for this directory, and how to mount the partition it's on. It's mounting your SD in place of the original directory. Imagine your SD is just a virtual directory on the main drive of the OS. And yes, all user installed applications are typically installed to /usr/bin.


----------



## MrMcTiller (Apr 18, 2018)

Joom said:


> No, fstab tells the OS where to look for this directory, and how to mount the partition it's on. It's mounting your SD in place of the original directory. Imagine your SD is just a virtual directory on the main drive of the OS. And yes, all user installed applications are typically installed to /usr/bin.


Oh... I guess I just need to try it. When I did it the first time, I mounted it to /mnt. When I opened /mnt it had /usr/bin in it. So, I thought that If I mount to /usr/bin, it would have /usr/bin in it. I will figure it out.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

what are the "options" I need to use?


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 18, 2018)

It isn't working. I might have done something wrong. IDK.


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## Joom (Apr 18, 2018)

Actually, I'm an idiot. Forgive me. You were right, you do put its contents on the root. It's been a while since I've done this. As far as the options go, use the ones from my example.


----------



## MrMcTiller (Apr 19, 2018)

Joom said:


> Actually, I'm an idiot. Forgive me. You were right, you do put its contents on the root. It's been a while since I've done this. As far as the options go, use the ones from my example.


Well... it is kind of working. I used trial and error, but then I found that the "disks" program allows you to set the mount options. I set my SD's mount options to mount at /usr/bin and it seems to work. It mounts when I log in, but some things are broken. (e.g. Terminal). If I check the "mount at startup" option and restart, it tries to boot, but it can't. I am not sure what I am doing wrong. Could you try using an SD as your /usr/bin?


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## Joom (Apr 19, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> Well... it is kind of working. I used trial and error, but then I found that the "disks" program allows you to set the mount options. I set my SD's mount options to mount at /usr/bin and it seems to work. It mounts when I log in, but some things are broken. (e.g. Terminal). If I check the "mount at startup" option and restart, it tries to boot, but it can't. I am not sure what I am doing wrong. Could you try using an SD as your /usr/bin?


Unfortunately I don't run Linux, nor do I have an available SD. You absolutely made sure all of the content from /usr/bin was copied to your SD, right? How did you copy it there?


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 19, 2018)

Joom said:


> Unfortunately I don't run Linux, nor do I have an available SD. You absolutely made sure all of the content from /usr/bin was copied to your SD, right? How did you copy it there?


I used:

cp -R /usr/bin/* /mnt

(After mounting to /mnt)


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## Joom (Apr 19, 2018)

Alright. This sounds like a permissions issue. The tool you used is quite possibly mounting the drive using your user's umask. Provided it directly modifies the fstab, you can open it with a text editor and see what options it set.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 19, 2018)

Joom said:


> Alright. This sounds like a permissions issue. The tool you used is quite possibly mounting the drive using your user's umask. Provided it directly modifies the fstab, you can open it with a text editor and see what options it set.


the "disks" program modifies the fstab. It asked for my password to edit fstab. I looked at fstab afterwards and it had the SD card on it mounting at /usr/bin


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## Joom (Apr 19, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> the "disks" program modifies the fstab. It asked for my password to edit fstab. I looked at fstab afterwards and it had the SD card on it mounting at /usr/bin


What are the options it set in the fstab?


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 19, 2018)

Joom said:


> What are the options it set in the fstab?


Here is the whole fstab:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
# / was on /dev/sdb1 during installation
UUID=05603c3f-3147-46c9-92e1-5088b6b1c341 /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# swap was on /dev/sdb5 during installation
UUID=5f7711ec-d363-4416-b356-d2c5736db172 none            swap    sw              0       0
#microSD
UUID=14A520FD16D5492F /usr/bin ntfs nosuid,nodev,nofail,x-gvfs-show,noauto 0 0


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## Joom (Apr 19, 2018)

Manually change the options after "ntfs" to the ones from the first line and see if that helps.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 19, 2018)

Leave the "0"s after the options alone?


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## Joom (Apr 19, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> Leave the "0"s after the options alone?


Change the second one to a 1.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 19, 2018)

Joom said:


> Change the second one to a 1.


What does that do?

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Also, I managed to get my free microSD reader to work. I will see if I can boot from the SD using it.


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## Joom (Apr 19, 2018)

MrMcTiller said:


> What does that do?
> 
> --------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
> 
> Also, I managed to get my free microSD reader to work. I will see if I can boot from the SD using it.


That number determines the order of filesystem checks to be performed upon boot. 0 is disabled, 1 is for the first partition to be checked, which should be your root partition, and 2 is for everything after the main partition. In this case, it doesn't really matter if it's a 1 or 2.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 19, 2018)

Joom said:


> That number determines the order of filesystem checks to be performed upon boot. 0 is disabled, 1 is for the first partition to be checked, which should be your root partition, and 2 is for everything after the main partition. In this case, it doesn't really matter if it's a 1 or 2.


I will try both just in case. Or, I might install to my SD. (If it is bootable using my USB reader)


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 20, 2018)

WOW! It works! Now, the SD mounts at startup. I just have a few issues. First of all, it gives me a popup saying that something with the Bluetooth isn't working. (I don't have a Bluetooth card.)


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 23, 2018)

@Joom , I finally figured it out. I reinstalled Ubuntu MATE and I put the swap partition on a different USB drive. Now I have an extra 2.6GB on my normal USB drive. I installed Steam and now I get this error. How do I fix it? 




--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Removed unworking solution... still need help.


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## Joom (Apr 23, 2018)

You don't seem to have the proper video drivers installed.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 23, 2018)

Joom said:


> You don't seem to have the proper video drivers installed.


How do I fix it?


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## Joom (Apr 23, 2018)

sudo apt-get install fglrx xvba-va-driver libva-glx1 libva-egl1 vainfo


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 23, 2018)

And this will install what exactly?

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Package "fglrx" has no installation candidate.


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## matpower (Apr 23, 2018)

Joom said:


> sudo apt-get install fglrx xvba-va-driver libva-glx1 libva-egl1 vainfo


There's no fglrx anymore, sigh, it seems I have to keep pointing that out.



MrMcTiller said:


> And this will install what exactly?
> 
> --------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
> 
> Package "fglrx" has no installation candidate.


sudo apt-get install libgl1-mesa-dri libgl1-mesa-dri:i386

And if that doesn't work:
find $HOME/.steam/root/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/*/usr/lib/ \( -name "libstdc++.so.6" -o -name "libgpg-error.so.0"  -o -name "libxcb.so.1" -o -name "libgcc_s.so.1" \) -exec mv "{}" "{}.bak" \; -print

As seen here.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 23, 2018)

I already have the latest version apparently.


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## Joom (Apr 23, 2018)

matpower said:


> There's no fglrx anymore, sigh, it seems I have to keep pointing that out.


Blame Ubuntu for not having proper documentation.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 23, 2018)

Joom said:


> Blame Ubuntu for not having proper documentation.


I still can't figure it out. DO I need to install some other drivers? I can't seem to find libstdc++.so.6...


EDIT: I have libstdc++.so.6.20

EDIT:EDIT: OOPS, I have libstdc++.so.6.0.21 not that one above.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 23, 2018)

I FIXED IT!!!!! I HAD TO REINSTALL STEAM! YAY!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU ALL FOR THE HELP!!! ESPECIALLY @Joom , @Lilith Valentine , @matpower !

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Also, I have decided on keeping Ubuntu MATE. I like the look and feel of it.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 23, 2018)

@Joom , DAMN IT! I INSTALLED UNDERTALE AND WHEN I CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON, IT TRIES TO OPEN, BUT CLOSES RIGHT AWAY!

This is the same problem I had when I was using normal Ubuntu.


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## MrMcTiller (Apr 26, 2018)

@Joom , Minecraft works just fine... Doki Doki Literature Club works just fine, BUT STEAM GAMES DON'T WORK! I AM UNINSTALLING STEAM!


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