Messages

1

General Software Discussion / Re: 32bit Linux distro recommendations

« on: January 08, 2021, 04:26 PM »

Solution found - after googling for some time I found a reference to Ubuntu's 'boot repair tool' which solved the problem. 

Strangely it isn't included in the distros despite the fact that this seems to be a common problem.  Most 'answers' point to a file system corruption of some sort, but clearly this isn't always the problem or the solution and nobody seemed to acknowledge that.

I've subsequently moved to a puppy install as I found some of the windows in Mint wouldn't resize to fit my screen...

2

General Software Discussion / Re: 32bit Linux distro recommendations

« on: December 20, 2020, 04:12 PM »

Gives me the impression that there is something going wrong with the boot partition on your drive. You better use a proper partition management tool to completely wipe all partitions from that SSD. On Windows my personal preference is MiniTool Partition Wizard. But Acronis is also OK. The partition manager built into Windows itself isn't that great, so I would not use that to wipe a drive clean. GParted on Linux is also OK to wipe all muck from a hard disk.

-Shades (December 20, 2020, 03:37 PM)

thats a pretty safe bet 

FWIW the drives been wiped a few times now (its part of the mint setup) so a windows based solution is out of the question.

My guess is that the boot procedure is pointing to the wrong place, but I don't know how to diagnose that

3

General Software Discussion / Re: 32bit Linux distro recommendations

« on: December 19, 2020, 10:42 PM »

thanks for that, I'll have to work through it

Sounds like you ended up in the Grub shell environment.

actually it was busybox (and that was referenced on one of those links, thanks!)

Also, a boot partition on a hard disk needs to have a specific bit set. This is normally managed by the installation software.

this is what I would have expected, but I'm going to have to work through this slowly cos I have no familiarity with nix setups.

I'm actually wondering if the setup isn't selecting the USB as the boot drive.  I noticed in the manual partition setup that was the default, but i'll need to dig into it a bit further

All these installation issues make you see Linux from a not so flattering side.

it does kind of take the shine off all that 'easy to use' propaganda

But Windows 10 also comes with its own problems.

fair to say thats pretty standard for windows 'updates' so it probably doesn't come as a surprise to anyone.

FWIW the SSD I used came out of my old win10 desktop.  The interesting bit is that the netbook booted into win10 straight away, no questions asked.  Impressed me no end considering whats under the hood

4

General Software Discussion / Re: 32bit Linux distro recommendations

« on: December 19, 2020, 02:39 AM »

and on it goes...

got Grub installed, and it boots to a menu listing Mint (woohoo...)

boot mint and splash screen comes up, but it resolves to a command prompt of some sort (with a 'type help for a list of commands' message)

meh...

5

General Software Discussion / Re: 32bit Linux distro recommendations

« on: December 17, 2020, 06:54 PM »

been looking at the setup again this morning and it appears that in order to install you must already have a suitably partitioned disk

I ran through the (mint) install again but used the options to setup partitions for boot and install...

still didn't work though...

6

General Software Discussion / Re: 32bit Linux distro recommendations

« on: December 17, 2020, 04:20 PM »

My previous response was a little stronger than I intended. I guess I'm still disappointed in my purchase I made all those years ago.

-Deozaan (December 17, 2020, 01:12 AM)

HA!  its all good, but its interesting to see how long the sour taste of a disappointing purchase lasts!!

One of the most lightweight Linux distributions (with a desktop environment) I remember having success with on my netbook was CrunchBang. Unfortunately it has been discontinued for many years now.

seems like there are a couple of forks - here's one

7

General Software Discussion / Re: 32bit Linux distro recommendations

« on: December 17, 2020, 03:51 AM »

Update - tonite I was able to successfully install mint BUT grub (apparently) failed to install.

One step forward and...

8

General Software Discussion / Re: 32bit Linux distro recommendations

« on: December 16, 2020, 06:45 PM »

Appreciate your time in responding

How are you installing Linux?

I've sourced the various ISO's and written them to a multiboot USB stick, then booting a distro from usb and selecting install

Do you keep the Windows partition?

No.  I swapped out with a 'spare' 256Gb SSD.  Drive was formatted to ext(x) then I let the installer choose what to do with it (some overwrite everything, some don't)

Not to offend, but the suggestion of my previous post: get a slightly better laptop and try a full-fledged version of Linux on that, still stands.

no offence taken  .  This is not my everyday machine (have a current desktop for that), it is more of a convenience (like a more capable tablet) that I use for a variety of things (nothing serious) at different times.  The intent here is to teach myself some nix familiarity/capability so a desktop type setup seems like the most suitable option, and I don't want to have to faff about with a live distro all the time (for obvious reasons).  Given that purchasing another machine just for this doesn't really make a lot of sense, nor does it make good use of the stuff I've already got. 

All those small Linux distros have one thing in common, compromises in software and functionality in one way or another. Those compromises are likely to bite you in the end, unlike a full version of Linux.

Given that I have no real knowledge or experience with linux at the moment I'm unlikely to recognise or understand what those compromises are.  Should I get to a point where I need/want a full time linux environment then clearly I would need to consider the hardware components.  Just at the moment though this isn't on my radar

9

General Software Discussion / Re: 32bit Linux distro recommendations

« on: December 16, 2020, 04:29 PM »

well, that was interesting, and not at all what I was hoping for.

As I said, I've tried a bunch of live distro's and for the most part they all run fine.  But I don't really want to use a live version, I'd rather setup a regular install which is where the trouble starts.

I've tried puppy (4 versions), peppermint, bodhi, mint, antix, porteus, and several others (after googling for suitable 32bit distro's), both live and (attempted) installs.  And any number of these would probably be suitable if I could only get them to install successfully.  Where I have been able to run thru the install process, the consistent result on reboot is a 'dos' screen with a flashing cursor (not a prompt), and usually a message to the effect that the boot files couldn't be found...

This should be a pretty simple process, especially given that one of the touted benefits of nix is the ability to use it on older hardware.  And FWIW there's absolutely nothing wrong with the netbook, it's been a rock solid little machine that has served me very well.  I understand that its underpowered by today standards (and was probably a little lacking even in the day), but it's still perfectly functional and I'd like to continue to use it albeit in a different role. 

And I really don't see the point of throwing it away just because its old.  I understand its limitations, and am happy to work within them, but buying something else to do the same job isn't a consideration (nor does it need to be)

10

General Software Discussion / 32bit Linux distro recommendations

« on: December 16, 2020, 05:47 AM »

Looking for some recommendations for a nix distro for my atom powered netbook.

I've been trying to install a bunch of different distros but none will actually install.  Some just don't boot properly, or go through the install process then still don't boot.

FWIW I'm a total nix noob.  I've toyed briefly with a few live distros over the years but never made the effort to take it seriously. 

I figure now's as good a time as any to make the effort, and hopefully pick up a few new skills

11

Living Room / Re: How do you get melted rubber out of carpeting???

« on: December 12, 2020, 01:14 AM »

Now I still don't know how Wheat Fungus applies to a house on fire - But...I'll leave this here for other folks to figure out.

-Stoic Joker (December 11, 2020, 05:43 AM)

FWIW flour is potentially explosive.  The attached isn't a great example, but a google search will turn up plenty of very dramatic incidents

12

Living Room / Re: How do you get melted rubber out of carpeting???

« on: December 10, 2020, 08:15 PM »

Hey! Smut is frowned upon.

-cranioscopical (December 10, 2020, 08:02 PM)

just wondering if you guys read what I wrote, not what you think I wrote...

13

Living Room / Re: How do you get melted rubber out of carpeting???

« on: December 09, 2020, 10:24 PM »

if she hasn't noticed the smell of the thinners, then he's probably safe enough (at least for the time being

-Target (December 07, 2020, 04:00 PM)

Light just one match and it will be moot soot.

-cranioscopical (December 08, 2020, 06:01 PM)

Fixed that for you.

-Deozaan (December 08, 2020, 06:14 PM)

-cranioscopical (December 09, 2020, 10:11 AM)

won't that just leave him with a bunch of asholes?

14

Living Room / Re: How do you get melted rubber out of carpeting???

« on: December 07, 2020, 04:00 PM »

Oh sorry, did I forget to mention that upon walking into a room smelling of eucalypt the first words she will say are, "What have you done?"

-4wd (December 07, 2020, 03:17 PM)

if she hasn't noticed the smell of the thinners, then he's probably safe enough (at least for the time being  )

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General Software Discussion / Re: Vasilios Freeware - really nice page of utilities, donations appreciated

« on: December 02, 2020, 06:22 PM »

:down:Please UPDATE the link, the previous link DOES NOT WORK

-tony01 (December 02, 2020, 12:03 PM)

given that the posts you refer to are from 14 YEARS ago its not surprising

have you tried google?

16

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« on: November 04, 2020, 11:31 PM »

I think you guys are all missing the point...

To paraphrase the pythons, he's not pushing, he's resting...

17

Living Room / Re: Hating on AVG antivirus/firewall (internet security)

« on: October 30, 2020, 12:00 AM »

I have come to view AVG as a loathesome bloated blight.. I strongly advise against using it.  It has become ever more painful and confusing to use over the years.

-mouser (October 29, 2020, 08:46 PM)

Sadly I think that could apply to most (if not all) of the alternatives 

18

Living Room / Re: When rubber (computer mouse) gets old and sticky, what can you do

« on: October 28, 2020, 06:37 AM »

Methylated spirits/denatured alcohol should remove the offending material, but you'll want to clean it all off

19

Living Room / Re: Slightly warm computer killing my internet speeds...I have no idea why.

« on: October 07, 2020, 01:22 AM »

and when you say temp, I assume you mean the ambient temp?  If thats the case, what are your system temps like (Mobo, CPU, etc).  Worth having a look regardless as it could be indicative of a larger issue

20

Living Room / Re: Slightly warm computer killing my internet speeds...I have no idea why.

« on: October 06, 2020, 10:25 PM »

+1 for trying it with another PC/laptop.

failing that, got a spare nic by any chance?   

21

Living Room / Re: DC Weekly Tech News HAS RETURNED! [Episode 1 Linked Within!]

« on: September 24, 2020, 09:40 PM »

not bad (wasn't expecting that accent though  )

might be an idea to provide an outline of the content so we know what to expect (I'm not a console guy, so this one was largely lost on me)

22

General Software Discussion / Re: desktop backup and restore

« on: July 26, 2020, 10:34 PM »

Is there one?         

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General Software Discussion / Re: desktop backup and restore

« on: July 26, 2020, 05:01 PM »

Only a building block for making a script, but worth mentioning: The AutoHotkey function DeskIcons works for me in Win10 and some in its forum thread report that it works for them in Win7 too https://www.autohotk...c.php?f=6&t=3529

Edit: sorry, I read too quickly. The above function only saves/restores the position for already existing icons on the desktop. It does not restore icons/shortcuts that have been deleted.

-Nod5 (July 26, 2020, 06:54 AM)

All good, I'd forgotten about AHK in this context.  I shall have to give some thought to how I might approach it...

24

General Software Discussion / Re: desktop backup and restore

« on: July 26, 2020, 03:17 AM »

Not exactly sure how to snswer shades

This isnt my machine (its my mother in laws) so I'm getting support calls whenever it happens.

Don't know about the system setting but itsvworth a check.

I confirmed the behaviour this afternoon by creating a new shortcut, created a save in desktopOK, then deleting it again.  The restore option in desktopOK failed to reinstate the icon, or the other icons i also deleted as a test

25

General Software Discussion / desktop backup and restore

« on: July 25, 2020, 09:27 PM »

I'm pretty sure I've seen this asked about before but I can't find it now so apologies for asking again

I have a Win7 desktop that forgets/loses/deletes its icons periodically, and to the best of my knowledge without any user input

I've tried a couple of tools that are supposed to backup and restore the layout (Desktop OK, ICU) but they don't appear to work either.

Lots of questions about this on the net, but they all pretty much point to the aforementioned solutions (which aren't working in this instance)

Anyone got any clues or suggestions?