Linux, GNU/Linux, free software...

The original post: /r/linux by /u/This-Big6607 on 2024-12-27 12:57:28.

I'll tell you the result of BIOS update story. The thing is that I have a laptop around here, a Lenovo x250 that I wanted to use for some tests. The laptop has a 3G/LTE Sierra EM7345 module and I wanted to use it as a modem (WWAN). I already had a Debian installed with various files and stuff, packages installed, etc. When I go to use the WWAN connection it does not work, the interface disappears and it is not possible to connect.

Looking at the dmesg I see some kernel errors related to “Your BIOS is broken; bad RMRR”, looking around they say that the problem is that the BIOS is outdated. Solution, update the BIOS. I go to the Lenovo site, download the bootable BIOS update CD. I put it in a USB, it doesn't boot. I look on the Internet, it doesn't boot. Solution, use a Windows installation CD, go into repair mode, launch CMD and run the BIOS updater that you can download from Lenovo, just the updater. Let's go to it. I go to the Microsoft site, download the CD, put it on a USB, copy the updater, boot Windows 10. All as expected, I have my CMD, run the installer “It is not possible to run this software with this version of Windows”. Wow, it will be that it is very modern, because the installer works with Windows 7 (32 and 64 bits) Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, but it is from 2021, and Windows 10 is from 2024. It will be that.

I have some Windows 7-Upgrade CDs that I bought when it came out, I'm going to use them. I take the CDs out, pull out the USB CD drive, dust it off, boot Windows 7 and it doesn't work, because there is no system to update and I therefore don't have a CMD to run the BIOS updater. I look for a Windows 7 Installation CD, not upgrade, the x32 CD does not work, it says that it is not possible to repair the currently installed windows and I have no CMD. The x64 does not go, idem.

Of course, it is because in the UEFI menu appears an entry of a Windows 10 that there was at some point!!! I boot the Linux, edit the UEFI menu, remove the Windows. I boot again with the Windows 7 CDs. No go. It was not that. I try with a Windows RE, it doesn't work.

I warm up, but I'm not going to open the computer to change the disk to update a BIOS!

I boot the Linux, pull the files on a USB and tired, I install Windows 10. I boot Windows 10, run the BIOS updater, everything perfect, BIOS in the latest version. Great!

I create a bootable Linux pendrive, after downloading the image, etc. I boot the Debian installer, put in the Debian, install the packages, and the kernel still shows the errors and the WWAN modem doesn't go. I enter the BIOS, try to activate an option related to compatibility with operating systems, when I go to save, it gives a space error and does not work. Search on the Internet, the solution, Load BIOS defaults. Great, I reset the values and that's it! Linux does not boot, the UEFI menu information has been erased. It's time to boot in rescue mode, mount the partitions (encrypted, logical volumes, etc.) and reinstall GRUB.

Done, I boot Linux, the modem still does not work. I search the Internet. I find on a kernel bug page something similar to mine, you have to update the Sierra EM7345 modem firmware with Lenovo software... running on Windows 10! #!%$!!@@!

I shut down the PC, open the computer, take out the hard drive, put in a hard drive I have around the house, install Windows 10, install the Lenovo software to update all the drivers, the list is quite large. I reboot, re-test that everything is on the latest version. I put back the hard drive I had before, reboot, test the modem.... finally it works.

The original post: /r/linux by /u/sash-au on 2024-12-27 12:45:39.

This is a follow up to my previous post about LQDE and I would just like to let you know that I am here and working on the project and I am trying hard to make a release by 31/12/2024 and that I have chosen to use "Lighticity" (as in Felicity) as a project name for the time being - subject to change. I have done an extensive search on the Global Brand Database (WIPO) and just about everything that I entered was taken and this name was free / unused. Also, I have uploaded more screenshots for you to see. The first one shows a different panel configuration (dock style with auto size) along the awesome search capabilities of the file manager. The second one shows a different panel theme and the built-in clipboard manager (read the description in it) and the third shows one part of the dashboard.

https://imgur.com/a/U7ssH91

A full video demo and screenshots will be released soon.

Not everything will be ready when it gets released but I will try to get done as much as possible by 31/12/2024. Again this is developed with Qt and C++ and code will be GPL.

Another thing, Custom Actions support working with multiple file selections, both on the Desktop and the File Manager. I thought I'd mention this.

Original post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1hciopf/announcing_xlde_lqde_qt_based_and_extensible/

The original post: /r/linux by /u/lsdood on 2024-12-27 12:37:55.

I've finally decided to bite the bullet & build an LFS system over the holidays. I'd like to create a BTRFS filesystem, though understand the LFS book does not go over BTRFS as a default FS.

I was able to find info surrounding installation, though am uncertain I'm understanding correctly.

Seeing as the installation of packages (in this case specifically btrfs-progs) comes after the partitioning of the FS, can I still create the FS via chroot as BTRFS so long as the host system supports it? Or would I need to create an initial ext4 system up until around that point & then re-partition everything once I've gotten btrfs-progs up n running w/o host?

thanks for any help & advice 😁

The original post: /r/linux by /u/oodoodoo on 2024-12-27 12:05:04.

For the past few months, i was thinking about switching to Linux. At first i was sceptical, i wasnt sure if i could do the same stuff i used to do on Windows, i wasnt sure if i could play the games i played on Windows. Then the Steam Deck arrived and it opened my eyes. I quickly chose a Distro that looked nice to me, and had a decent amount of users. The switch was painless and i had absolutely no problems, thanks to THIS sub! All the people here have been super nice and helpful, even when tackled with super beginner noob questions.

Thats it! Thank you!

The original post: /r/linux by /u/devvyyxyz on 2024-12-27 05:13:38.

Personally I'm not a fan of resetting up each time I move to a new build, I just simply transfer the hard drive and some other bits over after I've made all the necessary checks, but what do you guys do? A entirely new instance? A partial transfer? Or simply move over some old hardware.

Also what's some tips or moving between that you would recommend for others

The original post: /r/linux by /u/jsonathan on 2024-12-27 04:36:21.

For example, Ghostty just came out and I don't understand what differentiates it from other emulators. I understand that it's cross-platform and GPU-accelerated. But what I mean is –– in the real world, what is the typical developer gaining by switching to this terminal from, say, Alacritty? What's the value proposition? Are there things Ghostty can do that other terminals can't? Do those things matter? Do any of these Rust/Zig/Go "high-performance" terminal emulators actually matter for the regular-brained developer?

The original post: /r/linux by /u/NoCSForYou on 2024-12-27 01:57:36.

Ive always been confused by this. For instance I use Firefox, zotero and freecad. But it doesn't make sense to only donate to those. I use wifi, I use a terminal, I use zsh, I use ... Obviously those programs need funding too.

It shouldn't just be the front end packages that get all the funding, the end stuff needs finding too.

I can have about 1000 packages on my system and it's going to be logistically difficult to donate 1/1000 of 200$. I can donate to the front end packages but do they distribute the funding to their dev/make/runtime dependency packages?

Perhaps bash is a dependency for about half my programs. Does that mean bash should get more money than all other programs?

I don't know what to do.

The original post: /r/linux by /u/christos_71 on 2024-12-27 00:39:18.

The original post: /r/linux by /u/BinkReddit on 2024-12-26 22:23:28.

The original post: /r/linux by /u/TheTwelveYearOld on 2024-12-26 20:51:44.

The original post: /r/linux by /u/aquanoid1 on 2024-12-26 16:26:10.

Regardless of distro Linux is like two operating systems. One is a beautiful headless system filled with a rich and modular ecosystem, the other is a fragmented desktop mess. Wayland/X11, Pulseaudio/Pipewire, Qt/GDK, etc.

Why can't we have a modular and unified desktop server instead of separate display/audio servers? A user could hot swap different components, like, the display component, the audio component, the compositor component, the window manager component, the accessibility component, the global keyboard shortcuts component, the tab switcher component, the panel component, and so on.

IMO this would be better than different desktop environments.

The original post: /r/linux by /u/MohamedABBJ on 2024-12-26 14:46:56.

As the title says today on 2023 I started using Linux on my laptop, started with Ubuntu and switched to Debian 3 months ago, and I'm not thinking of going back to windows, I love this OS, and keep learning even more about it everyday.

Long live to Linux!

The original post: /r/linux by /u/xTouny on 2024-12-26 11:14:17.

Hello,

PineNote seems the only eink tablet targeting linux hackers, whom would modify and extend the eink ecosystem.

1. Question. Is there any development community around PineNote?

reMarkable is heavily hacked as in reMarkable Awesome List but the company's design of the OS is clearly against it.

1. Question. Why are people extending an OS whose values don't comply with FOSS?

Supernote is a great product, centered around empowering the user. For example, to back-up notes, you can just copy-paste .note files, similar to backing-up a markdown file! Some hobbyists attempted to extend it as in Supernote Awesome List but the community is very small.

In this thread a product manager replied for the decision of Android:

I'm a Linux fan like many Supernote users.

I started the Supernote brand three years ago. I did not hesitate to use the Linux system.

We found most commercial applications and libraries are only available for Windows /Ios/ Android platforms, but except Linux. So we applied Android for this direction.

1. Question. Do you think Supernote deserves a support from the Linux community?
2. Question. Could the Linux Foundation initiate an open standard for eink development toolkit and libraries?

I don't mind using Android as a Linux fan, but I want to enjoy the freedom of Linux.

The original post: /r/linux by /u/gabriel_3 on 2024-12-26 09:22:44.

The original post: /r/linux by /u/mcAlt009 on 2024-12-26 07:13:57.

I tend to dual boot my systems and while I understand not every use case will be supported, I just saw two separate distros fail to install using suggested settings.

I really like CachyOS on my Legion Go, so I figured it would be a great option on my new laptop. Before knowing I'd keep it, I had just used the OEM 512 GB SSD. CachyOS got the whole thing and all was well.( Use Plasma , the other desktops have weird issues).

Then after I fell in love with the device, I decided to upgrade my SSD to a 2TB( on 2280 drives this is like 90 to 100$). Reinstalled Windows and then left a full 1TB empty for CachyOS.

Tell CachyOS to use its guided share a drive partioning. It either tried to use the Windows EFI drive , or created one that was too small. The install failed.

To be honest this wasn't too surprising since it also fails when trying to dual boot on the Go.

The fix is to manually create two patterns.

One BTFS with / as the mount point, and a second FAT32 drive with /boot as the mount point and the boot flag. I gave it a full 4GB which should be more than enough.

Cool. While this is what I ultimately did, I wanted to play dumb.

I deleted the Cachy partition and started up the Open Suse Tumbleweed installer ( which I don't particularly like since it's not a live USB environment - it's a good idea to test you're wifi, etc ).

Tumbleweed basically failed with the same error. Ran out of space using the guided install with a full 1TB free.

Now to be clear, I now have a dual boot CachyOS / Windows( updating BIOS without the OEM's Windows only application is extremely hard, although I dual boot for other reasons) machine and I'm happy.

But I can't imagine this being a fun experience for non technical people. If I didn't know what I was doing I'd of given up( even worse the installer will still leave an unbootable Linux install taking up half your drive, knowing to delete this partion so Windows can reclaim it isn't exactly easy).

The original post: /r/linux by /u/Aggravating-Tip69 on 2024-12-26 04:27:29.

i wanted to ask what can i do if i used to have a micrsosoft store purchased apps\games and now i use linux, how can i get them, is there something i can do with the license or something...

i use ubuntu 20.04.1

thanks

The original post: /r/linux by /u/Allan_Walk on 2024-12-26 04:20:58.

Me and my sister were visiting our parents for Christmas, and my dad has been complaining about his laptop being slow all year, so I decided to buy a SATA SSD to install Fedora 41 XFCE for him. I used my laptop to install and setup everything, when I was done, we went to our parents home and I helped him switch the HD for the SSD, he was so happy with the results that he said he was proud of me all day, telling all his friends about it.

Just wanted to share this Christmas story with you guys.

In case anyone is curious, he has a Samsung NP275E4E, this laptop is famous for not letting users enter BIOS, so if you have one and want to install linux, I recommend using another PC to setup everything.

The original post: /r/linux by /u/Worried-Attention-43 on 2024-12-26 01:38:33.

Serious question, does it make sense and if which certification would be a good start? I have been thinking about this for quite some time and wonder if getting certified is actually a thing? I am looking at CompTIA Linux+ and LPIC right now. Thank you and Happy Holidays season.

The original post: /r/linux by /u/otto_delmar on 2024-12-25 22:47:38.

I see so many posts of users having their Linux installations borked by kernel updates. That's the context of the question. I'm guessing that very new hardware can benefit from such updates. But how about anything that's 3+ years old? Wouldn't it be better just to never update the kernel if the setup is working perfectly fine?

EDIT: Guys, this isn't meant as a provocation. I really don't fully understand this. That's why I'm asking.

The original post: /r/linux by /u/IntuitiveMotherhood on 2024-12-25 21:58:58.

My husband does this. He says he wants something, adds it to a list somewhere, and eventually forgets why he wanted it.

Well, I got him one of his listed items for Christmas. It was this thing:

• AiTrip EEPROM BIOS USB Programmer CH341A + SOIC8 Clip + 1.8V Adapter + SOIC8 Adapter for 24 25 Series Flash

I casually brought up a BIOS USB programmer, and he said he’s not sure what he’d use such a thing for.

He’s into programming, data engineering, and Linux. He has several old computers laying around as a sort of “homelab” thing. Any idea what he might have wanted that for? I worry he’s going to open his present and have no memory of why he originally wanted this thing. It would be nice if I could give him cool ideas in that moment—but I literally have no idea.

Can anyone help? What stuff does a BIOS USB programmer usually gets techy guys excited about?

The original post: /r/linux by /u/gulond on 2024-12-25 20:38:38.

I recently migrated to Linux on my A485 Thinkpad with a 2500u Ryzen and have been trying to improve its battery life.

Initially I tried using TLP, which many people online seem to be recommending. It seems like a great tool with great configuration options, but looking around the config I noticed most of the tweakable values seemed to be specifically for Intel chips.

I still figured I'd give it a shot and checked out some stats by monitoring powertop.

Using TLP powerstat reported a discharge rate between 6-7 watts when idle (Linux Mint, Cinnamon). Making recommended tweaks (mostly just setting stuff on Battery mode to powersave or equivalent) I couldn't really make a difference on the reported discharge rate.

I then switched over to auto-cpufreq and by default the idle discharge rate went as low as 5.7 watts, so it seems to me that auto-cpufreq is able to scale the cpu's state a bit better.

Of course I realize that these stats are not measured too accurately and I don't want to seem that I'm making a statement on which of these tools is better, I was simply wondering if anyone had noticed something simliar or had more knowledge regarding these tools and their compatibility with AMD cpus.

Overall, with these tools battery life on Linux seems to be at least 0,5h better than on win10!

The original post: /r/linux by /u/Alexander_Selkirk on 2024-12-25 17:37:13.

The original post: /r/linux by /u/CleanIssue3118 on 2024-12-25 14:22:42.

The original post: /r/linux by /u/NayamAmarshe on 2024-12-25 13:54:00.

The original post: /r/linux by /u/ExaHamza on 2024-12-25 08:26:34.

Manual installations, through the CLI, are better, giving more control building a system tailored to you needs and hardware, more customization, more minimalist and less problematic than GUI. The only obstacle is learning how to do them on each of the Linux-based systems.