cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/33505905

This could be especially good for new users who do not understand the command line or those who have used the command line on another os and need to understand the command usage on Linux.

I would like to add another wireless access point near my little deck and 0.1 acre back yard and I have some extra Raspberry/Orange Pi hardware lying around that should easily be up to the task. I remember installing DD-WRT on a WRT54G north of twenty years ago in something like AP mode. Is it still up to the task or is there something better now?

I set up a laptop with linux mint cinnamon within the last two weeks, and while trying to install The Sims 4 today I got a message that the hard drive was out of space. I have installed nothing so far except for Steam, and tools to get The Sims 4 running. I see that 131gb is taken up by .ecryptfs and a web search turned up this thread however I used the utility that was suggested with the same result. Then OP says multiple reboots have cleared up the issue. I am on reboot 4 now with no such luck.

Is it safe to delete this? Is it something with timeshifted?

i’ve been using a USB 2.0 drive to run a live linux OS for the past couple of years, mostly for storing linux ISOs, installing linux on laptops and live persistence. lately, i’ve noticed a huge drop in write speed, currently around 1.8 MB/s, which is pretty slow for the tasks i do. i'm planning to replace it with a USB 3.0 drive in the future, but i wanted to ask:

• how long have you typically used a USB drive for live linux systems, including for live persistence??
• do you still use USB 2.0, or did you upgrade to a 3.0 or higher?
• any tips to extend the lifespan of a USB drive when using it for live linux systems?

i'm mainly looking for advice and insights on how others manage their USB drives for similar use cases. thanks in advance for sharing!

EDIT: it's a usb stick. forgot to tell.

My dad uses Ubuntu as an htpc and has livepatch enabled, but every year or so when I visit it's always out of date. This time it needed a partial patch.

Is Ubuntu just bad, is there a better alternative that's closer to Windows where the machine are actually kept up to date?

Some years ago, I make the mistake of doing a single partition for the system (I'm using EndeavourOS). Now I have a new disk, and I want to move the OS there, but not /home, which I want to stay in the old drive. How can I do it?

My wife has an old Lenovo i5 thinkpad that we would like to use again with linux, before buying a new computer. I was wondering if there is a tool that I can input the model and stats of the device and it will output a few suggested distros for it.

It is the X1 Carbon 20BT with the i5-5300U Processor, it has 8gb ram. https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/pd100509-overview-for-thinkpad-x1-carbon-type-20bs-20bt

Update: I have installed mint xfce but am downloading cinnamon and switching to that.

installed a new battery in a macbook pro a1502, and the battery will not charge when plugged in using the original charger. tried a different charger, no luck.

did some distro hopping and none of the debian-based distros showed the battery charging. currently using debian 12.

tlp recalibrate gives an “error: battery charge thresholds/discharge/recalibrate not available.”

also, tried to reset the smc following the process for intel macs, to no avail.

any help is much appreciated, thanks!

I've been meaning to switch my pc to linux for a while but have only recently gotten enough time to switch. Is there anything that I would need a dualboot for? I was previously concerned with VR, specifically using a quest wirelessly. I heard about a year ago that it is possible but not the best. Has it improved since then?

And is there anything else I would still need a windows machine for? I don't know specifically what doesn't work and I don't mind using FOSS alternatives.

I was running a raspberry pi with raspian on it as a homelab for a few years (until the SD card died :( I still need to fix that) so I am not completely unfamiliar with linux and the terminal and am willing to use it to make programs work as long as they work as well as they would on windows.

(I've decided on swapping to mint if that matters)

Multiple systemd unit failed to start and then systemd hang boot log at github gist

what I did before I ended up here

• changed boot partion
• modified /etc/fstab
• disabled SELinux (I thought file label problem)

[!NOTE] If I add <space>3 at end of kernel command line I will end up with

mmap: Permission denied
mmap: Permission denied

and prompt for username and I can't log; I don't reach password prompt

Hello, I’m not a total Linux noob, but I’m not sure what my plan is for windows 10s shutter, and I’m not going to 11. I have a PC exclusively for games with an nvidia gpu.

My dream setup works something like a headless gaming pc: I keep my tower on my desk with some monitors and mkb, then run Ethernet all over, and I can stream the tower to: my deck, my phone, a steam link, thin client etc. Then I could get a steam link for my driving sim and send it over there, maybe add in a flight sim later with another steam link. Is this possible?

Hurdles:

1. can I still run halo/microsoft games easily? Rocket league? I don’t want to reconfigure every game after every patch.
2. What distro would be best?
3. Can it switch to the right resolution for what I’m streaming to? I have 16:9, 21:9, steam deck and my phone to contend with. When I tried moonlight it always swapped to the plugged in monitor resolution instead.
4. Can it output 4K120hz over the Ethernet?
5. Good option for steam link devices?
6. Can I stream outside the home with Tailscale

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/30407811

Website

It’s almost like the good ol’ days of install fests and the like! ‘End of 10’ is an organization that’s making it easy for Windows 10 users with computers that can’t upgrade to Windows 11, to install Linux instead of sending good hardware to the landfill.

specs: Pop OS // AMD Ryzen 7 5700U // 16GB RAM

Just trying to gauge the opinion on how to proceed in this case

I just set up Pop Os to run i2p and I was thinking about getting pihole as well.

I've read a few posts commenting about setting up pihole as a VM, perhaps even with dietpi to make it less resource intensive

What do you guys recommend? VM or no VM? dietpi or something else?

The machine will only be used for i2p, browsing and watching videos. Perhaps jellyfin and arr suite in the future when I feel more adventurous? idk, one step at a time i guess

Pi hole is intended to be used by other devices as well

Any other recommendations/tutorial links are welcome, thanks in advance

I've noticed that my secondary monitor usually doesn't turn on initially. In order to get it to turn on, I can do a restart after the initial boot and then it will turn on. Any idea what might be causing this or how to fix it? The monitor is hooked up through the laptop's hdmi port.

Fedora 42

KDE Plasma

Wayland

Nvidia RTX 4070

Hi all, I'm planning to do a clean install of Linux Mint on my laptop and completely remove Windows. I have about 300GB of personal data on the system and only one SSD, so everything is currently stored on that single drive.

Here’s what I want to do:

1. Back up all my data safely, without losing any metadata (timestamps, folder structure, etc.).
2. Wipe Windows and do a clean install of Linux Mint.
3. Restore my data with everything intact—timestamps, folder structure, and metadata.
4. Be able to open or run file types that are only supported by Windows, like certain .exe, .msi, or specific file types.

I don’t have a second internal drive, so I’ll probably use an external hard drive or cloud storage.

What i want to know is:

1.What’s the best way to back up and restore my data safely while preserving all metadata?

2.What tools or methods should I use for backup and restore?

3.How can I access or use files that are only supported by Windows once I’ve switched to Linux? Are there workarounds or compatibility layers?

I’m fairly new to Linux, so beginner-friendly advice would be awesome.

Thanks in advance!

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/37507334

I'm trying to generate AppArmor policies to secure my "major/internet-facing" programs.
Most of those programs are Flatpaks.
Flatpaks already have their own sandboxing mechanism, which uses bwrap and XDG portals.
Does AppArmor have any weird interactions with Flatpak, e. g. blocking too much, or blocking too little, or being unable to block anything without rendering the whole program unusable?

What Kernel are you guys using?

I have seen some people claiming that custom kernels like zen cachyos offer better battery life and performance.

Is it true ?

This post is mainly a response to people that have the same needs on reddit, I tried to invite them so please be patient & welcoming !

ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡

Just for information, I tried to lpadmin ppd file only, but had a problem with missing filter file, if someone's from debian/ubuntu based distro struggles like me (error shown by cups ui : /usr/lib/cups/filter/rastertotmtr not available: No such file or directory) just asks here and I'll give you people the right file I guess.

default install

• disclaimer
  • I didn't explain how to build your own app (as it seemed I couldn't properly do it myself)
  • maybe lpadmin will be different after -v because we have different printers/usb stuff ?
  • I'm not natural english speaker & also my brain is a total mess, sorry if reading this post is a hassle
  • maybe someday I'll do a proper documentation but until then it's here, enjoy !
• build it yourself(download ppd with link just underneath) or if on arch install it from aur : https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/epson-thermal-printer-thermal-receipt
• download ppd file https://download.ebz.epson.net/dsc/du/02/DriverDownloadInfo.do?LG2=EN&CN2=US&CTI=205&PRN=Software&OSC=LX
• add driver to cups/lpadmin : lpadmin -p TM-20-3 -v usb://EPSON/TM-T20III?serial=583741561792370000 -P ppd/tm-ba-thermal-rastertotmtr-203.ppd -E
• bonus make it your default printer : lpadmin -d TM-20-3

print !

• take not that i had specific needs with orientation & custom height/width on my .pdf files, also they were already imposed.
• if default try a print lp BAT.pdf -o media=Custom.69x65mm -o orientation-requested=5 -o TmtSpeed=4
• if NOT default try a print : lp -d TM-20-3 BAT.pdf -o media=Custom.69x65mm -o orientation-requested=5 -o TmtSpeed=4

modded installation with speed option ?

• I tried to steal speed options from another epson tm printer & write them inside my own .ppd file : https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10491282/epson-tm-t88v-formatting

*%Head speed settings.
*TmtSpeedValue 1: "13"
*TmtSpeedValue 2: "9"
*TmtSpeedValue 3: "5"
*TmtSpeedValue 4: "1"

*OpenUI *TmtSpeed/Printing Speed: PickOne
*OrderDependency: 10 AnySetup *TmtSpeed
*DefaultTmtSpeed: Auto
*TmtSpeed Auto/Use the printer settings : ""
*TmtSpeed 1/1st (Fast): ""
*TmtSpeed 2/2nd: ""
*TmtSpeed 3/3rd: ""
*TmtSpeed 4/4th (Slow): ""
*CloseUI: *TmtSpeed

• failed attempd ? lpadmin -p TM-20-3-speed-mod -v usb://EPSON/TM-T20III?serial=583741561792370000 -P speed-mod-tm-ba-thermal-rastertotmtr-203.ppd -E
• lpoptions shows it all but -o TmtSpeed=4 won't be read by my printer ╰(　´◔　ω　◔ `)╯

lpoptions -p TM-20-3-speed-mod -l
PageSize/Media Size: *RP80x200 RP80x2000 RP58x200 RP58x2000 Custom.WIDTHxHEIGHT
Resolution/Resolution: *203x203dpi
TmtSpeed/Printing Speed: *Auto 1 2 3 4
TmxPaperReduction/Paper Reduction: Off Top *Bottom Both
TmxBuzzerAndDrawer/Buzzer/ Cash Drawer: *NotUsed InternalBuzzer ExternalBuzzer OpenDrawer1 OpenDrawer2
TmxPaperCut/Paper Cut: *NoCut CutPerJob CutPerPage

• other people talking about thermal printers: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12448803/print-a-postscript-document-with-cups-and-a-thermal-printer

EDIT : adding disclaimer, changing for more clear title

My image viewer (Xviewer) is sufficient for converting still images to still Webp by just "Save as...", but Xviewer and Pinta only produce still single-frame webps from animated GIFs.

It may be too much to ask but here it goes:

I have temporarily installed LMDE6 on an HDD where I had a bit of free space, worked with it, experienced Steam with Proton and now I am convinced: I want to move to Linux from Windows for good.

Have another disk, an SSD in which most of the space is taken up by the Windows C: partition. Would like to move Linux there after shrinking the Windows partition a bit more than what it currently occupies now.

I have tried to do this with Paragon on Windows, but after restarting no change can be seen, despite no error being presented. Tried from Linux with GParted but all attempts end up with an error when running ntfsresize.

So

1. What do I use to do this and how do I do it safely? 2.How do I move the content of my current Linux partition (less than 50 GBs) to that disk keeping the bootloader and everything else working? And what filesystem is best to use?

Thank you in advance for your help!

So, I'm hoping to reduce the substantial screen tearing that I'm encountering while watching videos.

One of the suggestions that I have found is to enable wayland, which did help quite a bit (this is the guide I found). However, I've decided I don't really want to use gnome. Gnome seems great, but I've already become accustomed to using cosmic.

Apparently pop os is in a transitionary phase and will eventually update to wayland as the default, but I'm just wondering if there's other desktop environments I should be considering? I see that Fedora now comes with a KDE cosmic variant, but I don't know if this would be any better or not.

Edit:

I ended up installing kde plasma standard desktop environment (which was listed here). Upon booting into the login screen there's a big on-screen keyboard. Hit enter to bypass it. In the dropdown menu on the top left of the screen, there is an option for 'pop on wayland'

So far, everything seems to be working good. I had to change the steam client to the 'proton hotfix' to get one of my games to play.

I'm getting ready to switch but there are a few things that I could not figure out how to do optimally. Here's one of those, maybe you can help me with that:

For the past 30 years on Windows when I found a new application I wanted to use I put it in D:\Tools. Almost all applications don't actually need to be installed even if they are only distributed in an installer. That meant that to move my tool collection to a new computer I pull out the D-Drive, mount it in the new computer as D and I'm instantly ready to go.

On Linux there are 2 scenarios flatpak or traditional Package Manager distributions.

For flatpaks putting them on a specific drive seems easy enough.

But how do I handle applications that are not (yet?) available as a flatpak? I tried Nix but decided I'm not ready for that. I could put everything in a bash script but that seems clumsy and would be work to maintain. Is there any other clever way to avoid manually installing my defaults when I updgrade / reinstall my OS?

Hello, I am looking for help with some small issues I've been having with gnome (bazzite), mostly annoyances. Their discord is okay ish as a resource but takes a long time to get replies to specific issues, especially when they are more generally Linux questions and not specific to bazzite. So here goes:

I have 3 drives installed, one of them an old HDD for media storage. During the bazzite setup I selected all of them to be included since was about to reinstall the OS (and had them retroactively mounted in the old install and figured they might be treated more natively this way in the new installation).

Well the plan worked too well, and I now have no discernible drives I can locate individually outside the drive manager app, which doesn't really bother me beyond not knowing if the system will use it inefficiently (I.e store things aside from data and media on the slow HDD). Is there a way to configure how it will use the drives?

Second, I was given a pre-made admin account during setup. I really want to not have to log in with a password on each boot, is it possible to skip (only) that somehow and auto log in? I still like the password for admin level privileges.

And last, part of the reason for my reinstallation was constant issues with the stupid keyring app (seahorse?). Most of the time it would prompt me on boot, when my VPN app would try to retrieve its credentials, to set up a new keyring for it despite there being literally dozens of keyrings from its previous boots with the needed info, all freely accessible.

I have so far begrudgingly refrained from installing the VPN again because I want to find a solution for this first; and discovered that i can also set up a VPN connection directly in the OS. However from what I can tell this would prevent me from switching locations / slow servers easily, is there an alternative I am missing such as a different keyring app I could install or a function in Linux to change servers effectively (with load info and preferably without having to set up vpns manually for all the hundreds of possible servers I can choose from my VPN provider)?

Thank you for reading the wall of text this has become 👀

TLDR:

• different types of hard drive are being used. How does the system, which manages them apparently as one, utilize them?

• pre made admin account requires password which makes login tedious. How to skip the password only for login?

• keyring issues. Is there any alternative to it?

Hello all, Recently Firefox 137 was announces with the addition of HEVC playback with hardware acceleration support for Linux. I am using Firefox 137 installed via DNF on Fedora 41, but if I try to play HEVC video for example from my Jellyfin, it will have to transcode, if I go try this test sample it straight up not play, so what's up with that ? Playing content with mpv will work just fine. Firefox also reports HEVC decoding as supported. Same result with both my desktop with AMD iGPU and dGPU, as well as my laptop with just Intel iGPU.

vainfo
Trying display: wayland
libva info: VA-API version 1.22.0
libva info: Trying to open /usr/lib64/dri-nonfree/radeonsi_drv_video.so
libva info: Trying to open /usr/lib64/dri-freeworld/radeonsi_drv_video.so
libva info: Found init function __vaDriverInit_1_22
libva info: va_openDriver() returns 0
vainfo: VA-API version: 1.22 (libva 2.22.0)
vainfo: Driver version: Mesa Gallium driver 25.0.2 for AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (radeonsi, navi10, LLVM 19.1.7, DRM 3.61, 6.13.10-200.fc41.x86_64)
vainfo: Supported profile and entrypoints
      VAProfileMPEG2Simple            :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileMPEG2Main              :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileVC1Simple              :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileVC1Main                :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileVC1Advanced            :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline:	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline:	VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileH264Main               :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileH264Main               :	VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileH264High               :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileH264High               :	VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileHEVCMain               :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileHEVCMain               :	VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileHEVCMain10             :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileHEVCMain10             :	VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileJPEGBaseline           :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileVP9Profile0            :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileVP9Profile2            :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileNone                   :	VAEntrypointVideoProc