What sends noobs running back to Windows?

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Moem
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by Moem »

gm10 wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2019 3:33 pm
Moem wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2019 3:24 pm I'm on 19.1, I apply all updates, and nothing hit me. I honestly don't know what you are talking about.
It happens when you do a fresh install and then update everything in one go. There have been a few threads about it.
Ah, thanks. I haven't paid close attention to those threads.
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bill_steamshovel
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by bill_steamshovel »

Here is an example

Was able to login using my password on newly installed Linux Mint 19 Cinnamon on small 30GB Aldi laptop. Installed some desklets and applets and a couple of small programs on day 1.

After logging in on Day 2 was unable to use sudo or update software because system did not recognise the password I had just logged in with. So it let me login but then seemed to forget my password. Logged in and out several times .... always the same problem.

Got some assistance from a more experienced user (Thankyou deck_luck) but unable to determine what the problem was.

A suggestion was made to achieve ROOT status via the recovery mode, which is available in the menus accessed by hitting escape during bootup - I searched those menus high and low (rebooting several times in the process) and couldn't find any recovery mode options, Maybe it was there and worded differently and I don't have the experience to recognise it.

Ok lets install again, put the Mint 19 USB in and rebooted but unable to install because now it reckons the disc has not got enough room and the install procedure didnt allow me to reformat the disc or play with the partitions as it has done previously.

OK lets install 18 instead, yes brilliant ! 18 lets me reformat the disc as part of the install, but then fails to load the GRUB so machine wont run.

OK lets try 19 again ........... it has decided to work this time ................... I then reinstall 19 and as a matter of course it reformats the hard drive during the install, maybe 18 softened it up a bit and this allowed 19 to work properly this time.

Working through the post install upgrades ............... oh botheration and nuisance the upgrades hang ............ ok thats fine just kill that screen and start the upgrades again carefully doing a few at a time so that I get a better feel for how its going and what might cause it to hang ....... upgrades worked fine this time

I reckon there is easily 10 hours of my time in all of the above plus deck_luck's time assisting me

So when its good Linux is very very good, but sometimes Linux can be awfully awkward especially for knownothingnewbs.

Bill
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BG405
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by BG405 »

bill_steamshovel wrote: Fri Jul 19, 2019 3:40 am Working through the post install upgrades ............... oh botheration and nuisance the upgrades hang ............ ok thats fine just kill that screen and start the upgrades again carefully doing a few at a time so that I get a better feel for how its going and what might cause it to hang ....... upgrades worked fine this time
Sounds like this is a common problem:
carum carvi wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2019 2:21 pm Any newbie who is currently trying to do a new install of LM19/19.1 wont be able to do updates at all. He must first figure out what hit him.
gm10 wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2019 3:33 pm It happens when you do a fresh install and then update everything in one go. There have been a few threads about it.
I too recently experienced a roadblock .. the installer hung for several minutes before the partition options appeared (IIRC) and bailed out when trying to install GRUB. Trying without installing the bootloader, the initial symptoms were the same but then it just sat there indefinitely at the point GRUB would otherwise be installed. I'll start a new thread if I can't work around it on next attempts, later this evening. First time I've hit a brick wall like that & the installer for 18.2 KDE worked fine on my other netbook, an Acer Aspire ES1.

That would be likely to put off someone less committed or determined. :(
Dell Inspiron 1525 - LM17.3 CE 64-------------------Lenovo T440 - Manjaro KDE with Mint VMs
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by MurphCID »

I guess I have been lucky, each installation went smoothly except for the one on the HP laptop which had a battery issue. The wifi issue on my first one was solved rapidly here and so I don't count that one.
michael louwe

Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by michael louwe »

OTOH, what may send non-noobs running back to Windows is that they can only use Windows or MacOS to unlock the bootloader and root their mid-to-high-end Android devices, in order to install a custom ROM like Lineage OS, ie cannot use desktop Linux. Eg the AutoRoot Tools program is only available for Windows and MacOS. .......
https://qitapso.com/auto-root-tools/
ColdBootII

Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by ColdBootII »

^ Why? I've used Magisk. Not too difficult to muster.
michael louwe

Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by michael louwe »

ColdBootII wrote: Sun Jul 21, 2019 4:11 am ^ Why? I've used Magisk. Not too difficult to muster.
Is it also not too difficult to install a Custom ROM after rooting your Android device with Magisk.?
ColdBootII

Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by ColdBootII »

Sorry, I haven't had the need to do that so far, I'm not aware is it possible or of the difficulty that could incur.
michael louwe

Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by michael louwe »

ColdBootII wrote: Sun Jul 21, 2019 7:50 am Sorry, I haven't had the need to do that so far, I'm not aware is it possible or of the difficulty that could incur.
.
Eg ....... https://www.getdroidtips.com/lineage-os ... mi-note-4/ - Download and Install Lineage OS 16 on Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 based Android 9.0 Pie
. .Instructions to Install:

1. First of all, You need to enable the developer option and activate the OEM unlock and USB debugging.
2. Now you need to unlock the bootloader on your Redmi Note 4.
3. Once you have unlocked, you must install the latest TWRP Recovery on Redmi Note 4.
4. Now the guide will be easy, boot into TWRP Recovery
5. You need to Decrypt and Re-Encrypt Data Partition on Redmi Note 4.
6. You can now take a complete backup of your ROM using TWRP Recovery.
7. Now you need Wipe System Data on TWRP Recovery
8. Tap on Install option and look for the downloaded Lineage OS 16 zip file. [Guide to install Custom ROM using TWRP Recovery]
9. Swipe to confirm the flashing.
10. Now you need to install the Android Oreo Gapps file. (TWRP -> Install -> Select Gapps zip and swipe to flash)
11. You can now reboot to enjoy Lineage OS 16 on Redmi Note 4 (mido).
12. If you want to root you can either try SuperSU root or you can try Magisk root. .
ColdBootII

Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by ColdBootII »

I don't see that the procedure requires Windows except maybe for that Xiaomi driver. Anyways, since it involves a possibility to do irreparably damage to otherwise capable device is a bit too geaky in my eyes. :wink:
But be careful, we are not responsible if you brick your device or do something wrong. This update may not be a stable update and we don’t even say when exactly the next version comes out.
So I never ventured into it(using custom ROMs). Rooting was always good enough for me and Windows is not mandatory for that purpose.
.
Cheers.
CPM

Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by CPM »

What sends noobs running back to Windows?

If anything sends me back, it will be software installs. The packages that come in the repository are fine, easy enough. But there are a couple of others I want/need that aren't, or the versions that are included are super old. There are Linux versions, but reading the install instructions makes my eyes glaze over. Maybe I'll make it a Saturday project to tackle getting them installed.

But it's so tempting to fire up the Win 10 machine, a couple of clicks and I'd be done.
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by Moem »

CPM wrote: Wed Jul 24, 2019 9:17 pm There are Linux versions, but reading the install instructions makes my eyes glaze over.
If you can find a .deb file, it's a matter of download and doubleclick.
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by MurphCID »

Moem wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2019 5:44 am
CPM wrote: Wed Jul 24, 2019 9:17 pm There are Linux versions, but reading the install instructions makes my eyes glaze over.
If you can find a .deb file, it's a matter of download and doubleclick.
I did not know that either, so thank you.
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by In2Blues »

Personally, when I first tried Linux I loved the stability. I had it running 24 hours a day for a year and never had to reboot except for some kernel updates. Windows made me reboot multiple times a day!

What caused me to go back was two main things:

1. The frustration of trying to figure out commands and install packages which could be done with one click in Windows.

2. Having to find replacements for the programs I used frequently.

Of course, my frustration level with W10 exceeded anything I experienced with Linux, so I finally came to my senses and switched back. This time to Mint (my first Linux distro was Ubuntu).

Now that I'm a little more familiar with Linux, the only real frustration I have is when I'm in a hurry and can't remember a command. :-)
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by smurphos »

In2Blues wrote: Sat Jul 27, 2019 1:12 am I'm in a hurry and can't remember a command. :-)
I use history | grep "partly remembered command snippet" a lot.
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by BG405 »

smurphos wrote: Sat Jul 27, 2019 2:28 am I use history | grep "partly remembered command snippet" a lot.
Same here, although I only recently discovered this useful shortcut. Prior to that I was using cat ~/.bash_history | grep command-snippet. :mrgreen: Often quicker than using the up-arrow. Must tidy the clutter out of my bash history at some point .. :roll:
Dell Inspiron 1525 - LM17.3 CE 64-------------------Lenovo T440 - Manjaro KDE with Mint VMs
Toshiba NB250 - Manjaro KDE------------------------Acer Aspire One D255E - LM21.3 Xfce
Acer Aspire E11 ES1-111M - LM18.2 KDE 64 ----Two ROMS don't make a WRITE
gm10

Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by gm10 »

BG405 wrote: Sat Jul 27, 2019 12:17 pm
smurphos wrote: Sat Jul 27, 2019 2:28 am I use history | grep "partly remembered command snippet" a lot.
Same here, although I only recently discovered this useful shortcut. Prior to that I was using cat ~/.bash_history | grep command-snippet. :mrgreen: Often quicker than using the up-arrow. Must tidy the clutter out of my bash history at some point .. :roll:
Up arrow becomes useful if you've got history search enabled, then you can type the start of a command and cycle through only those history lines that start with it. Here's some useful settings:

Code: Select all

$ cat .inputrc 
$include /etc/inputrc

# command history search
"\e[A": history-search-backward
"\e[B": history-search-forward

# extended command completion with tab
set show-all-if-ambiguous on
set completion-ignore-case on

# colors
set blink-matching-paren on
set colored-completion-prefix on
set colored-stats on

# misc
set mark-symlinked-directories = on
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by BG405 »

Thanks very much for that, gm10. This will speed things up even more, especially as I use the Terminal for lots of things such as admin tasks but also stuff like youtube-dl to grab the likes of The Sky at Night from iPlayer.

Unfortunately it might be the case that the Terminal itself might put off some potentially-ex-Windows users. Still, there's a member on here with an avatar indicating a dislike for the CLI .. ;) :mrgreen:
Dell Inspiron 1525 - LM17.3 CE 64-------------------Lenovo T440 - Manjaro KDE with Mint VMs
Toshiba NB250 - Manjaro KDE------------------------Acer Aspire One D255E - LM21.3 Xfce
Acer Aspire E11 ES1-111M - LM18.2 KDE 64 ----Two ROMS don't make a WRITE
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by RollyShed »

BG405 wrote: Sat Jul 27, 2019 2:30 pm I use the Terminal for lots of things such as admin tasks but also stuff like youtube-dl to grab the likes of The Sky at Night from iPlayer.
Oh!

If I want a YouTube I go to it, check it is the one I want and then put ss in front of youtube in the address bar e.g. www.ssyoutube.com/xxxxx

This brings up another screen and it either down loads the video or it plays the video in a small-ish box. If the latter, Right click on the playing video and "Save video" to where ever you want it to go.

"Bang"!!! - saved. Perfect.
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by In2Blues »

smurphos wrote: Sat Jul 27, 2019 2:28 am
In2Blues wrote: Sat Jul 27, 2019 1:12 am I'm in a hurry and can't remember a command. :-)
I use history | grep "partly remembered command snippet" a lot.
Cool. Thanks for that.
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