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Balmung Since: Oct, 2011
#226: Jul 24th 2012 at 1:16:18 AM

For? I have network drivers (both basic ones that come with Kubuntu and specific drivers) and starting with that, I should theoretically be able to get any other drivers I need from the internet.

I'm first gonna try a network install of Kubuntu tomorrow via the CAT-5 cable I found, and if that doesn't work, I'll try Mint.

edited 24th Jul '12 1:18:31 AM by Balmung

Shaggy Kitty! from Purgatory, ME Since: Jan, 2012
Kitty!
#227: Jul 24th 2012 at 2:14:22 AM

For your video card.

If anyone in the thread wants to kidnap me, I don't mind. We'd just be in their van drinking Mountain Dew and watching MLP for days on end
Balmung Since: Oct, 2011
#228: Jul 24th 2012 at 2:42:45 AM

I figured I could get those after I get working internet. Doesn't nVidia produce Linux drivers?

Shaggy Kitty! from Purgatory, ME Since: Jan, 2012
Kitty!
#229: Jul 24th 2012 at 2:56:01 AM

Yes, but you'll need to install DirectX to play games.

If anyone in the thread wants to kidnap me, I don't mind. We'd just be in their van drinking Mountain Dew and watching MLP for days on end
Balmung Since: Oct, 2011
#230: Jul 24th 2012 at 3:12:59 AM

Well, that ought to be on the internet as well. I mean, if I have to, I can use one of my flash drives to get it from another computer, but I'd rather not if I can avoid it.

Balmung Since: Oct, 2011
#231: Jul 24th 2012 at 3:24:59 AM

Woo! Mint got me what Kubutu would not, an internet connection! Time to go from LiveUSB to install. After I get a proper HDD boot out of it, I'll go installing graphics drivers.

The MATE GUI looks like the bastard child of the Mac OS X and Windows GUIs, but that's fine by me.

It took a whole day to get something that works, but that's still cheaper than replacing my laptop.

EDIT: Sonuvabitch, I have to install the offical nvidia drivers from the test mode because the included nouvaeu drivers hate my GPU.

edited 24th Jul '12 4:42:47 AM by Balmung

Shaggy Kitty! from Purgatory, ME Since: Jan, 2012
Kitty!
#232: Jul 24th 2012 at 4:46:25 AM

Well, good for you. If I remember correctly, Mint currently has the largest userbase.

If anyone in the thread wants to kidnap me, I don't mind. We'd just be in their van drinking Mountain Dew and watching MLP for days on end
Balmung Since: Oct, 2011
#233: Jul 24th 2012 at 4:50:00 AM

Yep, and if I understand the basis of the distro, more or less anything made for Ubuntu should run on it.

Shaggy Kitty! from Purgatory, ME Since: Jan, 2012
Kitty!
#234: Jul 24th 2012 at 4:53:43 AM

Anything with a tar.gz extension should run on Mint.

If anyone in the thread wants to kidnap me, I don't mind. We'd just be in their van drinking Mountain Dew and watching MLP for days on end
Balmung Since: Oct, 2011
#235: Jul 24th 2012 at 4:59:21 AM

Huh, I always wondered why that double extension existed.

Balmung Since: Oct, 2011
#236: Jul 24th 2012 at 7:22:10 AM

Woohoo! It took entirely too long with the text mode, but I finally got proper video drivers, meaning I can actually boot from the HDD! I have a working computer once more.

Tangent128 from Virginia Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
#237: Jul 24th 2012 at 10:38:28 AM

To correct some misconceptions: the Direct X API is provided by Wine, which translates it into the appropriate Open GL calls. Native Linux (not mapped through Wine) games never use Direct X.

.tar.gz files are just the favored form of archive on Linux, like zips or rars. The double extension is because of the Unix each-tool-does-one-thing-well philosophy: a group of files are combined into a single archive via the tar*

program, and then the archive is compressed by the gzip program.

By filesystem, do you mean the whole single-filesystem-your-devices-get-bolted-onto thing? Because I actually like that aspect. Linux has a lot of fun and powerful filesystem tricks.

Or do you mean the messy scattering of files among /bin, /usr, /opt, etc? I can agree that is messy, and wish GoboLinux wasn't semi-dead right now.

Do you highlight everything looking for secret messages?
Balmung Since: Oct, 2011
#238: Jul 24th 2012 at 12:15:46 PM

Both aspects of the file system, actually. Honestly, I have to say, after using the Mac OS, Windows, and Linux, I think if nothing else, Windows has the most readily navigable/least cluttered (at least looking/feeling) file system.

It looks like I should also be able to get SMAC/SMAX and VBA running, so that's more good news.

Now I just need to either get something with a USB 2.0 port or trick Linux into mounting an NTFS external HDD. If I can get something else with USB 2.0 ports, I can just (slowly) transfer my files from the external HDD to a regular flash drive and bring them back to my Linux machine that way. It'd be faster if I could manage to mount it, but the relevant systems can't seem to find it, and the other computer I have access to only has USB 1.1 ports.

Also, this thing asks for my password more often than Windows Vista/possible hyperbole

EDIT: Apparently, it's actually FAT 16, which explains why my attempts to mount an NTFS drive have failed.

edited 24th Jul '12 12:51:22 PM by Balmung

DemonSharkKisame Since: May, 2009
#239: Jul 24th 2012 at 11:30:26 PM

That has me wondering how an external hard drive is still formatted as FAT16 to begin with.

Also, while Windows does, on first glance, appear to have the least-cluttered file system layout, IMO it's only achieved thanks to lots and lots of hiding stuff. *NIX file systems only really hide files/folders with a . in front of the name, plus I like how stuff is usually separated into /bin, /lib, /usr/whatever, /home and so on. Feels more organized. I also like the idea of how external devices are treated as attached to the main one instead of each one getting a letter and its own root.

Balmung Since: Oct, 2011
#240: Jul 24th 2012 at 11:41:33 PM

Actually, I think my Linux machine is just misreading the damn thing while our older desktop has issues reading/powering it with its old USB 1.1 ports. I'm just gonna wait until I can use my netbook and transfer the stuff via flash drives.

Speaking of flash drives, in the process of making a working Live USB, I wound up with a 16 GB flash drive that thinks it's only about 890 MB and I can't format it back to 16 GB. Any idea how to solve this?

edited 25th Jul '12 10:36:43 AM by Balmung

Tangent128 from Virginia Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
#242: Jul 25th 2012 at 8:50:05 AM

890 MB, you mean? tongue

As a first guess, the disk image you wrote onto it is probably a single 890 MB partition; try to repartition the flashdrive? (Yes, removable drives are as partitionable as any other, they just usually aren't.)

Do you highlight everything looking for secret messages?
Balmung Since: Oct, 2011
#243: Jul 25th 2012 at 10:38:36 AM

Shouldn't that happen when I try to reformat it?

Balmung Since: Oct, 2011
#244: Jul 25th 2012 at 11:50:56 PM

So, I leanred that Flash Player's audio does not play nice with some combination of my Linux distro and Chrome. Fortunately, it works fine in Firefox and I can bypass it in Chrome by using the HTML 5 version of You Tube.

Tangent128 from Virginia Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
#245: Jul 26th 2012 at 6:48:17 AM

Hmm... audio could be a bug, or something involving ALSA settings, which are very poorly documented...

Anyways, the operating system sees each partition as a separate device on both Windows and Linux technically

; you need to explicitly repartition the device to make the former-livedisc partition take yup the whole drive again. I think gParted is the usual Linux tool if you want a GUI, or there's the volume manager in Windows.

Again, warning that repartitioning usually wipes out all filesystems on the drive, though I don't think you care in this case.

Do you highlight everything looking for secret messages?
Balmung Since: Oct, 2011
#246: Jul 26th 2012 at 8:53:34 AM

Yeah, the only use I still have for it is that I have a buddy who might want to try Linux as well.

Deboss I see the Awesomeness. from Awesomeville Texas Since: Aug, 2009
I see the Awesomeness.
#247: Jul 26th 2012 at 10:19:22 AM

Wait, there's a way to bypass flash player on youtube? Howwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww?

Fight smart, not fair.
Tangent128 from Virginia Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
#248: Jul 26th 2012 at 10:38:22 AM

https://www.youtube.com/html5 works for some videos.

Do you highlight everything looking for secret messages?
Balmung Since: Oct, 2011
#249: Jul 26th 2012 at 11:05:52 AM

I haven't checked terribly many, but it seems to work for most of them, really.

My main problem is that I like Chrome much more than Firefox, but Flash only works right in Firefox on this system.

edited 26th Jul '12 11:06:41 AM by Balmung

DemonSharkKisame Since: May, 2009
#250: Jul 30th 2012 at 1:39:17 PM

Just in case it hasn't been posted yet: one more really big reason to use Linux. I don't think this will be a Windows-killer by itself, but it should be a huge bolster to the Linux population, especially after seeing the train-wreck that is Windows 8. (Note that I'm back on Windows for the time being, since Wine shat the bed and wouldn't allow me to use Steam. TF2 promos are serious business, yo.)

edited 30th Jul '12 1:48:14 PM by DemonSharkKisame


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