Trying to leave Windows for Linux - bit disappointed. Does it get better?

[Whiffle]

Having used Windows ever since '95, I decided that the recent privacy invasion, crashes and updates was getting too much.

I decided that I would see what Linux was like and, having does loads of research about, got a bit excited that I could just leave Windows behind for something miles better.

Unfortunately, things have not gone as well as I had hoped.

I installed Mint on my Desktop - I have to unplug and plug in the wifi dongle each time the computer resumes from sleep.

I installed Mint on my Laptop - I have random bouts of a frozen black screen and the wifi keeps dropping.

I installed TVHeadend on Openmediavault as a headless server replacement for Windows 10, running NPVR - getting my Schedules Direct account to work on Linux took me literally three weeks of asking on various forums, I had problems with recording to the recording folder and I have still yet to find a way to have the server suspend to RAM, wake up to make a recording, and go back to sleep.

Now, I am pretty good with PCs, I am patient and I was more than aware that Linux has a considerable learning curve.

I am by no means just going to give up, but it would be good to hear from anyone who has been through this and to tell me that things will get better.

Before I got into this, I read that Linux is for people with endless time on their hands - I thought this was a bit of a joke at the time but it seems that I have spent months trying to get things working, rather than enjoying the technology.

Would be great to hear from anyone with their Linux experiences.

 

[Habakkuk]

My problems are mostly trying to get a two-year-old AMD graphics card to work now they've dropped support for it.

It works fine under Windows, so I have to dual-boot to play games/use anything the requires OpenGL support.

I still don't know if upgrading the card would solve these issues, or if I have to wait for driver support.

 

[Ben Cole]

I run Ubuntu side by side with Windows. Mainly just for the bits and bobs it can do better than windows and have a change of OS now and then just because I like the aesthetics.

I've found that as long as you have common hardware (I use it on Lenovo Thinkpads) it is staggeringly good for an open source platform which costs me nothing.

 

[pete910]

My problems are mostly trying to get a two-year-old AMD graphics card to work now they've dropped support for it.

May I ask what AMD card it is. The thing is All of AMD's cards work out of the box as they use the oss driver by default so the "dropped support" is not really possible . Or are you using the prop driver (Seriously why would you!)

@Whiffle

May I suggest trying Antergos via a live CD/USB

Not used *buntu based due to the fact I don't get on with them.
Regards "people with endless time on their hands" No, something is a miss if you are having to spend a lot of time sorting problems. 99/100 times It should be install, 1 reboot , Done! unless you are using some really weird setup.

Might be an Idea to to list HW specs

Not to up a laptop usage as don't have one, Mrs has a sammy r580 that seems to work fine but not done any extensive usage with one. Like Ben has said, Lenovo, Dell ect generally work with issue , Dell especially as they design there's with linux in mind.

 

[Sp00n]

These days things just work out of the box so it's surprising to learn you're having issues, I only tend to have issues with Broadcom wifi drivers.

Wifi dongle not waking up might be fixed with a minor little script: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2218043&p=12993462

As for the laptop I don't know, what is it?

 

[Whiffle]

Thanks for your replies.

Funnily enough, my laptop is also a Samsung R580.

Specs are as follows:

x@R580 ~ $ inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: R580 Kernel: 4.4.0-53-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.2.7 (Gtk 3.18.9-1ubuntu3.2)
           Distro: Linux Mint 18.1 Serena
Machine:   Mobo: SAMSUNG model: R580
           Bios: Phoenix v: 04JB.M014.20091221.hkk date: 12/21/2009
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core i3 M 330 (-HT-MCP-) cache: 3072 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 8510
           clock speeds: max: 2133 MHz 1: 1333 MHz 2: 933 MHz 3: 1199 MHz
           4: 1066 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA GT218M [GeForce 310M] bus-ID: 02:00.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: nvidia (unloaded: fbdev,vesa,nouveau)
           Resolution: [email protected]
           GLX Renderer: GeForce 310M/PCIe/SSE2
           GLX Version: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 340.101 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 Intel 5 Series/3400 Series High Definition Audio
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Card-2 NVIDIA High Definition Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 02:00.1
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.4.0-53-generic
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8192E/RTL8192SE Wireless LAN Controller
           driver: rtl819xE port: 3000 bus-ID: 03:00.0
           IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Marvell Yukon Optima 88E8059 [PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Controller with AVB]
           driver: sky2 v: 1.30 port: 5000 bus-ID: 07:00.0
           IF: enp7s0 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-3: Realtek RTL8191SU 802.11n WLAN Adapter
           driver: r8712u usb-ID: 002-004
           IF: wlx001f1f690d1e state: N/A mac: N/A
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 60.0GB (14.3% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: OCZ size: 60.0GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 54G used: 7.1G (14%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 1.02GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda1
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 38.0C mobo: 38.0C gpu: 0.0:46C
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 217 Uptime: 2 min Memory: 751.0/3814.5MB
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.461) inxi: 2.2.35
x@R580 ~ $

It is the Realtek RTL8192E/RTL8192SE controller (internal wifi card) that is causing me problems. The Realtek RTL8191SU is the USB adapter that I am temporarily borrowing from my desktop PC).

Unfortunately, I found and followed these instructions (number 9) and now my wifi card has stopped working altogether:

https://sites.google.com/site/easyli...-from-lwfinger

Have I completely screwed things up, now?

 

[opethdisciple]

Can't say I've had any issue running Ubuntu on a budget 8350 desktop. That's using an old 5450 AMD card as well.

I just use the generic drivers. Don't bother installing the AMD proprietary driver. It just works.

 

[Habakkuk]

R9 270X, GCN1.0 support is still experimental and unstable.

The open source driver under 16.04 does not support OpenGL, which means I can't run CAD software under Linux, and the lack of proprietary drivers means games can't run under Linux either.

The OSS driver is fine for desktop use, but that's it.

May I ask what AMD card it is. The thing is All of AMD's cards work out of the box as they use the oss driver by default so the "dropped support" is not really possible . Or are you using the prop driver (Seriously why would you!)

 

[stopper]

I am by no means just going to give up, but it would be good to hear from anyone who has been through this and to tell me that things will get better.

Luckily it gets better but only when you start looking for a distro that works best for you.
Mint really is a **** distro to recommend to a first timer, and its usually recommended purely because of Cinnamon (which can be installed on any distro anyway). It is still Ubuntu underneath and comes with all the same problems, plus more. I also had the wifi problems you had, eventually I figured out that they only came with Mint. No other distro had that problem.
Try distro hopping for a bit and see how you go. Start with SolusOS as that one is focused on beginners and "Windows switchers", it has much better support than any other distro and their devs are constantly active in their community/forums/twitter/etc.

 

[Lartyconshayo]

I used lubuntu without any problems. Only major Linux headache for me was having to use chrome instead of fox for flash support.

 

[Whiffle]

Luckily it gets better but only when you start looking for a distro that works best for you.
Mint really is a **** distro to recommend to a first timer, and its usually recommended purely because of Cinnamon (which can be installed on any distro anyway). It is still Ubuntu underneath and comes with all the same problems, plus more. I also had the wifi problems you had, eventually I figured out that they only came with Mint. No other distro had that problem.
Try distro hopping for a bit and see how you go. Start with SolusOS as that one is focused on beginners and "Windows switchers", it has much better support than any other distro and their devs are constantly active in their community/forums/twitter/etc.

Thanks for that. I have never heard of SolusOS before but will definitely try it if it has more of a chance to work out of the box - you never know it might solve the resuming from sleep issue on my desktop PC too.

I used lubuntu without any problems. Only major Linux headache for me was having to use chrome instead of fox for flash support.

I noticed that too. Is not a particular problem for me to switch to Chrome instead but did cause me a few problems as a beginner - I just couldn't work out what the problem was.

 

[pete910]

R9 270X, GCN1.0 support is still experimental and unstable.

The open source driver under 16.04 does not support OpenGL, which means I can't run CAD software under Linux, and the lack of proprietary drivers means games can't run under Linux either.

The OSS driver is fine for desktop use, but that's it.

16.04 is wildly behind, also the 270 would still be using the current radeon driver together with Mesa. Which is dependent on disto version/age.

I've run Varicad fine on the oss driver on a 290 for a number of years(Not on ubuntu).

TBH the best bet is either upgrade to a newer version of Ubuntu or install a newer kernel together with mesa via a ppa.

I'm was almost certain that the cat driver still worked on 16.04 but I guess not.

Edit:

You could try installing the binary package direct from AMD.

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop?os=Linux+x86_64

Thanks for your replies.

Funnily enough, my laptop is also a Samsung R580.

Specs are as follows:

Spoiler: Code

x@R580 ~ $ inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: R580 Kernel: 4.4.0-53-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.2.7 (Gtk 3.18.9-1ubuntu3.2)
           Distro: Linux Mint 18.1 Serena
Machine:   Mobo: SAMSUNG model: R580
           Bios: Phoenix v: 04JB.M014.20091221.hkk date: 12/21/2009
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core i3 M 330 (-HT-MCP-) cache: 3072 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 8510
           clock speeds: max: 2133 MHz 1: 1333 MHz 2: 933 MHz 3: 1199 MHz
           4: 1066 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA GT218M [GeForce 310M] bus-ID: 02:00.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: nvidia (unloaded: fbdev,vesa,nouveau)
           Resolution: [email protected]
           GLX Renderer: GeForce 310M/PCIe/SSE2
           GLX Version: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 340.101 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 Intel 5 Series/3400 Series High Definition Audio
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Card-2 NVIDIA High Definition Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 02:00.1
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.4.0-53-generic
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8192E/RTL8192SE Wireless LAN Controller
           driver: rtl819xE port: 3000 bus-ID: 03:00.0
           IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Marvell Yukon Optima 88E8059 [PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Controller with AVB]
           driver: sky2 v: 1.30 port: 5000 bus-ID: 07:00.0
           IF: enp7s0 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-3: Realtek RTL8191SU 802.11n WLAN Adapter
           driver: r8712u usb-ID: 002-004
           IF: wlx001f1f690d1e state: N/A mac: N/A
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 60.0GB (14.3% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: OCZ size: 60.0GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 54G used: 7.1G (14%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 1.02GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda1
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 38.0C mobo: 38.0C gpu: 0.0:46C
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 217 Uptime: 2 min Memory: 751.0/3814.5MB
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.461) inxi: 2.2.35
x@R580 ~ $

It is the Realtek RTL8192E/RTL8192SE controller (internal wifi card) that is causing me problems. The Realtek RTL8191SU is the USB adapter that I am temporarily borrowing from my desktop PC).

Unfortunately, I found and followed these instructions (number 9) and now my wifi card has stopped working altogether:

https://sites.google.com/site/easyli...-from-lwfinger

Have I completely screwed things up, now?

To be frank, She ditched the onboard wifi when she was using windows due to connection problems with the router. Bought her a cheap USB wifi adapter. Put it down to a duff chip/compatibility issue with our router . So may explain why she's not had issues with Linux.

It's got me intrigued, I will have a play at the weekend and post here regards the on board wifi.

 

[Whiffle]

To be frank, She ditched the onboard wifi when she was using windows due to connection problems with the router. Bought her a cheap USB wifi adapter. Put it down to a duff chip/compatibility issue with our router . So may explain why she's not had issues with Linux.

It's got me intrigued, I will have a play at the weekend and post here regards the on board wifi.

Thank you it would be really interesting to see if you manage to get it working with Linux.

Rather annoyingly, I had some more problems with Mint. It has started freezing when I shut it down, plus I have noticed that sleepmode does not work either - again it keeps crashing.

Further to the above, I am hoping that a different distro like SolusOS might make things run better.

There are two versions:

* Solus
A feature-rich, luxurious desktop using the most modern technologies.

* Solus MATE
A traditional desktop for advanced users and older hardware.

Which should I choose? Does the R580 count as "older hardware" now?

 

[stopper]

Which should I choose? Does the R580 count as "older hardware" now?

Solus uses Budgie desktop, and Mate uses Mate desktop. But the OS is still the same on both.
I prefer budgie, it just looks and feels nicer.

 

[InfiniteNoise]

Solus is pretty nice, tried it out for a while on my XPS 13 (9360, non touch screen model), ran wonderfully, currently running Arch + Budgie desktop, I'll check in about using Solus again in a month or two, it's improving nicely though.

I dumped Windows about 3 years ago, best choice I've made, I've been running UNIX/UNIX-like OS exclusively since then (macOS on my MBP and various Linux distros on my XPS 13 as well as some BSD distros in VM).

Looking at all the "features" Windows 10 has, won't be going back, it's a massive privacy nightmare.

Also I don't get why Mint is still recommended, I'm not impressed by it, and after the breach they had sometime ago (website hacked, ISOs replaced with ones with backdoor, etc), I lost any faith I had in them. Even though I'm not a fan of Ubuntu, I'd use it over Mint.

Try out various distros and see which you like the best and which works the best, Fedora, openSUSE, Solus, Antergos (Arch based), Manjaro (Arch based) are all decent.

 

[Whiffle]

Thank you - I shall give the Budgie version a whirl over the next couple of days (fingers crossed).

While we are on the subject, what do you reckon about the server side of things?

My current server runs Windows 10 and works fairly well. I have three hard drives (2 x 2TB and 1 x 6TB) pooled as one, (using Stablebit Drivepool) and NextPVR records all my TV via a couple of digtial tuner cards.

I say fairly well, but the biggest thing that bugs me about it is that does go wrong. I run it heedlessly and it works for weeks on end without fault - however, sometimes, it just stops working and needs to be rebooted. Sometimes, it is completely unclear why, sometimes it is following an update and I recently had this weird problem whereby the PC keeps waking up from sleepmode for no reason and then going back to sleep again.

Ultimately, I do get the feeling that Windows 10 is not really designed to be used as a headless server (it needs too much maintenance). My other half is fed up with me constantly tinkering with things, just so she can watch TV.

I do love NPVR (definitely the best windows-based PVR software I have used) but realise that I shall have to sacrifice this in favour of TVHeadend in the name of ultimate stability.

What do you think I should on my server as a replacement?

I have been experimenting with Openmediavault but did not get on that well - I have had various problems with and there just wasn't the forum support there to get everything up and running.

Do you think I should try something like Ubuntu Server instead?

 

[Jamesyboyjim]

Jumped from Windows to Ubuntu on an older laptop for a while, it was ok, just was what it was really, a stable os that ran well and that I used to browse the internet on. I didn't find it particularly interesting, it just worked!

 

[stopper]

Do you think I should try something like Ubuntu Server instead?

Microsoft recommend Ubuntu server, as Windows 10 is just a desktop OS.
I don't have any experience using a server so I can't personaly recommend any thing.

Windows 10 has auto updates and lots of other background processes that stop and start over time and constantly save to disc, which makes it very unstable for a server, where Linux will only run programs or change any files when you tell it too, which is why you can just install it and forget about it.

 

[Sturm]

I have been using Manjaro XFCE since I jumped to linux last year and have had no problems at all other than the ones I caused myself

 

[Whiffle]

Microsoft recommend Ubuntu server, as Windows 10 is just a desktop OS.
I don't have any experience using a server so I can't personaly recommend any thing.

Windows 10 has auto updates and lots of other background processes that stop and start over time and constantly save to disc, which makes it very unstable for a server, where Linux will only run programs or change any files when you tell it too, which is why you can just install it and forget about it.

Totally agree - I have used Windows as a headless server for years and it just never felt right. I was always connecting a monitor to check what was going on.

Further to earlier posts, I did try Solus and it had the same problems with wifi as Mint. In addition, it had a problem with sleep mode - would keep crashing.

I had a go with Lubuntu instead, and this seems to be the most stable of all distro's tried so far. However, wifi again was patchy and although the PC resumed OK from sleep mode, it left me with a blank screen.

I wonder if my laptop is just one of those bits of hardware that doesn't work very well with Linux. I am sure that with a bit of messing around with drivers etc, I should still get it to work properly.