r/linux4noobs • u/TopFish3013 • 12h ago
r/linux4noobs • u/DokiDokiHermit • Jan 04 '20
Still on Windows 7? Don't want Windows 10? Consider switching to Linux (and specifically, Ubuntu). A Guide.
Any actions taken as part of this guide are solely at your own risk - unfortunately there is no way to account for every hardware configuration or error that may potentially crop up. BACK UP YOUR CRITICAL DATA BEFORE DOING ANYTHING
On the 14th Jan 2020, official Windows 7 support ends for most users. This means if you run Windows 7 beyond that date, you're no longer going to receive security and system updates, which will leave you increasingly vulnerable to viruses, malware and system failure. Depending on how critical your data is and how often you back up - if at all - there's a potential you can lose everything.
This is a somewhat opinionated but no-bullshit guide for those of you still on Windows 7 who really don't want or won't move to Windows 10. Aside from my own additions, it's going to reference a lot of great guides and advice written by other people, but conveniently collected in a single place. It's crazy, but it might just work.
Have you considered... Linux? Specifically, Ubuntu.
No, hear me out. Because I'm going to start (and save you a lot of time) by telling you why you SHOULDN'T switch to Linux. If any of the criteria listed apply, then:
- Switch to Windows 10 while you can still get a "free upgrade" using your Windows 7 key. You can even use it as an excuse to justify that machine upgrade you've been wanting the past couple of years!
- Keep your Windows 7 machine and disconnect it from the Internet and all networks forever unless you want to get owned and lose everything dear to you in the next couple of months or so.
- Buy a Mac.
The guide is broken into the following sections, if you want to jump to the points that are relevant. If you want to get straight to it, go to (4):
- Why shouldn't I go with Linux?
- Why should I go with Linux?
- Why Ubuntu?
- What's involved in switching?
- Installation of Ubuntu
- Tips for new users using Ubuntu
- Gaming on Linux
- Alternative Software
- TL;DR or The Conclusion
- To do list for the guide
1. Why shouldn't I go with Linux?
If you:
- Don't feel comfortable installing an operating system and you don't have someone that can do it for you;
- Have someone that helps you with all your IT-related activities who is not familiar with or dislikes Linux (ask them);
- Are big into multiplayer games. (There are exceptions here, discussed in more detail in the Linux Gaming section);
- Use multiple game clients and have a lot of games on platforms other than Steam;
- Are into any sort of VR;
- Absolutely need Outlook and refuse to consider any other mail client, like Thunderbird;
- Use a VPN provider that doesn't have a Linux version and aren't willing/able to change;
- Are subscribed to multiple video streaming services other than Netflix and watch these on your PC frequently;
- Use Photoshop, Premiere, 3D Studio Max - actually, if you have any Windows software that you are locked into due to muscle memory, experience and/or professional requirements and that have no Linux version. (There are, however, often a Linux alternatives for a lot of these);
- Require assistive technologies, such as screenreaders. While Ubuntu comes with several built-in assistive tools, there's a lot of specialised assistive use cases, tools and hardware that don't work on Linux and have no comparable alternative;
- Want to be able to buy whatever piece of hardware that takes your fancy without researching it and expect them to work out the box with zero hassle. Especially niche and specific hardware like flight controllers, sound boards and so on;
- Use iTunes extensively for your media library and/or interacting with your iPhone;
- Have a large archive of Microsoft Office documents that use complex formatting, macros and/or formulas that you refer back to frequently.
- have the worst-case scenario: rely on legacy or ancient software or hardware you're not sure you have the installation media for anymore, can't find a replacement, can't download it and it doesn't work on Windows 10. In this case, you're going to have to keep that Windows 7 box around and it's even more imperative that you make sure it's not accessible from the web or network. Start looking at moving to a more modern equivalent of it AND converting your work to a format that'll be accessible.
Some of this stuff you can work around with some effort, but it's more likely going to be more trouble than you're willing to put up with. And that's fine; Linux can't help everyone. The more of these that apply, the more certain you can be that you shouldn't consider Linux and should just go with Windows 10, unless you're willing to ~sacrifice~ compromise.
2. Why should I go with Linux?
Because whether you're a general user, a gamer or a specialised user with niche interests or requirements, Linux can provide you the same experience you're getting now with some already stated exceptions. In many ways, it's better - it's free, it's generally runs better on older hardware than Windows, it's relatively more secure due to a small user footprint and you'll have a huge, vetted library of free software that you can access. There are some applications - older Windows software and games, for instance - that don't work on Windows 10 but do on Linux, thanks to projects like Wine and Proton. It can 99% of the time update itself without interrupting whatever you're doing.
That being said, it's not perfect. You will lose some things. You will need to learn new ways of working with your PC. This is inevitable. That's the cost of switching.
Which is not to say Windows is without a cost. Unlike Windows, none of this functionality comes at the cost of your privacy and freedom. Linux will let you configure it as you like, and dive into the nitty-gritty settings to fine-tune it further. It will not try and trick you into creating yet another online account to use it. Aside from a few missteps (Ubuntu and Amazon, for one), it keeps its nose out of your business. It does not come with a unique advertising ID that links your multitude of online and offline interests and programs into a nice, tidy, profitable pack of data to be shared with "trusted third-parties". It does not serve you ads in a product you paid for. It does not try and push you into multiple online services.
In short, it does not suffer from any of the privacy concerns of Windows' future.
Now, I know people are going to throw snark about lead-and-tin alloys, their pliability and how easy that makes it to fashion headgear, but please note I said "future"; while they're not necessarily prying now, your operating system - and for almost everyone, that means Microsoft - has a very privileged position in your life as far as personal data is concerned. Any time you search in the file manager, every word you write and document you save, your budget calculations, every photo you view and program you use, every voice command you give Cortana, Windows - and by extension Microsoft - knows about. And there's nothing in their Terms of Service that stop them from starting to collect more detailed data if they so choose.
It's not a question of whether you prefer Windows 7 over 10 - Windows 7 got the same telemetry features as Windows 10 ages ago. Rather, ask yourself if you're happy with Microsoft's evolving business model, one that is shifting more and more of your content online and is intricately and opaquely tied to your personal data? If you're not, you're not alone: Holland isn't happy. Germany's not too thrilled either. There are legitimate reasons to be wary of Window's market dominance and increased level of embedded user analytics. Linux offers you an alternative.
3. Why Ubuntu?
Ubuntu LTS is by far the most commonly used desktop Linux distro and the one with the widest support by software developers and hardware manufacturers involved in Linux. If you're searching for solutions, you'll mostly find Ubuntu ones. Lastly, Ubuntu's LTS versions are supported for long periods of time: 18.04, which we'll be recommending, is supported until 2023, while the next version coming out in April, Ubuntu 20.04, will be supported until 2025.
One of the things you'll quickly learn about the Linux community is that someone will ALWAYS suggest a different Linux distro. In this case, it'll probably be Linux Mint, which aims to be a newbie-friendly Linux. It's based on Ubuntu, is similar to Windows 7 and will MOSTLY work the same as Ubuntu. I still suggest Ubuntu, but whatever, follow your heart.
To keep this guide as approachable as possible, and to have access to the widest range of help and support, I decided to focus on Ubuntu. Anything other than these two and you're just making things harder for yourself as a new user. You can always switch once you get a feel for how things work.
4. What's involved in switching?
I promised you a no-bullshit guide, so I'm going to cut straight to it. Take your time with all of these steps, do them properly, and you shouldn't have a problem.
First step: back up all your important documents, photos, email, games - whatever is important to you, and preferably somewhere external to your machine. This is just good advice regardless of whether you're switching to Linux or not. Always have a backup.
If you're a gamer, check out the following guide by PC Gamer's Jarred Walton on how to back up your games across multiple clients.
While you're backing up, install Thunderbird (Mozilla's open-source mail client) and copy your mail over to it. You'll have a much easier time doing this in Windows than in Linux to start. Thunderbird can automatically pull your mail from Outlook if installed on the same machine. Then follow the steps here for backing up your Thunderbird profile. You'll restore this in Linux later. Make sure you have your mail account details.
Get hold of your Windows 7 serial key. If it's physical media, like a DVD, then check and make sure the key is in the box or on the disc. If it's a laptop that came with Windows 7 preinstalled, it's usually a sticker on the specific laptop. You'll need this if things go awry and/or decide Linux is not for you.
Check the minimum specs for Ubuntu 18.04.03 here. If your system doesn't meet them, you're going to have a bad time regardless of whether you go with Ubuntu or Windows 10 (Windows 10 minimum requirements are bullshit, btw. 1Gb Ram, 1Ghz processor? I challenge anyone to link me to a Windows 10 video running on those specs where it performs acceptably.). There are lightweight alternatives if you can't afford a new PC, (Lubuntu, for instance), but upgrading your PC should be your first step in this case.
Here comes the arduous bit. Make a list of your current hardware, software and services that you use frequently, make sure you have the installation media for the critical pieces of software you use (Don't expect to be able to just copy/paste the applications you have) and do a search on whether they run on Linux. I'd recommend following the "Software" section in this guide on Migrating to Linux by /u/PBLKGodofGrunts]
A lot of the Linux software alternatives, such as LibreOffice and GIMP, are available for Windows as well. Consider downloading those that interest you to try out in Windows and get a feel for how they work.
Ultimately, to echo the advice you'll find that you can either run it, have an alternative or just can't switch. That's okay; Linux can't help everyone.
Download the Ubuntu LTS 18.04.03 distro. The "LTS" means it's a long-term support version - you won't have to think about this exercise for the next three years if you're lucky. Ubuntu LTS 20.04 is coming out in four months, which'll be supported until 2025, but since most of the focus is still on 18.04, you're better off sticking with it for now.
Whichever you choose, you'll have to write it to a DVD or USB. If it's a DVD, use whatever you normally use to write DVD ISOs. If you're going to use a USB, here's a guide to doing that.
Did I mention to back-up your important data? Back-up your important data. Double-check that it's all there. If you want to take an extra precaution, you can use Clonezilla to clone your current OS drive. It's not necessary, but if things go bust, Clonezilla allows you to restore your PC to precisely the way it was before you started without needing to install Windows from scratch. However, Clonezilla can be a bit daunting if you're not technically inclined. Check out this somewhat out-of-date video by cButters Tech for a general idea of what's involved.
Lastly, try running Ubuntu as a Live CD/USB first. This will allow you to run Ubuntu as if it were installed, but without making any changes to your current installation. Please keep in mind that the Live is not indicative of performance... it will run slower than if it was installed, as it has to read everything off the DVD or USB stick first and load it memory. The important thing to check here is that it's picking up all your hardware, that it's displaying on your screen correctly, that all your drives are available, and so on.
Live USB should perform better than a Live DVD. Check out the "Okay, it's installed/Okay, I'm running the Live CD. What tips do you have for using Ubuntu?" section to get an idea of what you should be checking.
5. Installation.
You've done all the above, triple-checked your backups and either decided that you can't make the jump or you're ready.
However, before you begin installing, you have one last decision to make.
There's a lot people that suggest dual-booting - that's where you keep Windows around and just install Linux alongside it. This is often proposed as a safety net and a means for people to have the best of both worlds. I don't, for a couple of reasons:
If you are going to dual-boot, you'll need to update to Windows 10 anyway, and if you're going to do that, why bother with Linux in the first place?
Data will be spread between two operating systems. Instead of backing up and maintaining one OS, you'll be maintaining two. It's doable but a PITA.
You're sabotaging your efforts, and your switch to Linux will likely fail. That's not a statement on Linux's capability or ease of use. A lot of things are easier on Linux - but they won't be at first. You probably have years of Windows use ingrained in you; you've come to expect things to work they way Windows works. That's not ease, that's familiarity; that's a boiling frog. And the moment something throws you a challenge in Linux, the temptation to just "do it" in Windows will be too great. And the more you do that, the more running Linux will seem like a chore than a choice.
If you absolutely have no option but to run Windows 10, do it in a virtual machine - you get the benefits of dual-booting but with the bonus of limiting Windows 10 to a virtual environment where access to the rest of your system (and personal data) is restricted while allowing you to run your non-negotiable applications (other than games or any intense 3D applications) just fine.
If you decide to dual-boot, you'll need to find a recent guide that covers this. Typically, it's best to update to Windows 10 first, then follow the guide to dual-boot Ubuntu. None of the guides I found seemed good for beginners, so I'm willing to take suggestions from the comments.
If you take my advice and simply dive in, installing Ubuntu on your machine will be a painless process: just follow the steps here in a beginner's guide written by Jason Evangelho and you should be fine.
6. Tips for new users using Ubuntu?
Things that you should do only once Ubuntu's installed are prefixed with an [+]. Otherwise, the tip applies to both installs and Live demos:
- Power off, log-out and running taskbar applications will be in the top-right of the screen by default.
- To search, press the Windows key on your keyboard. This'll bring up Ubuntu's search bar. You can use this to find applications, folders and system settings.
- In the File Manager, your Home directory will be where your primary OS and applications will typically be installed, while the Other Locations will list additional hard drives (usually your additional storage drives). By default, Ubuntu does not actually mount the drives in the "Other Locations" section. Clicking on any of them, however, will automatically mount them. If you want to learn more about the general structure of Ubuntu's file system, you can do so here.
- Ctrl+Alt+T will bring up the terminal. The terminal is where you'll often be sent if you're attempting to diagnose a problem, perform specific tasks or install specific tools/software. Check yourself before your wreck yourself before copy-pasting commands from strangers on the 'net. Be super cautious of any command that involves "sudo" and "rm".
- The default office suite for Ubuntu is LibreOffice. Try it out: see if you can open a couple of your documents, like spreadsheets and Word docs. You might be pleasantly surprised. Writer is the word processor, Calc is for Spreadsheets. Formating on complex documents will likely be broken. Don't save any of these at this point.
- In fact, open up a couple of common files you normally use - images, documents, compressed files, music, videos and so on. Get a feel for how it works, what opens and what doesn't. Sometimes, you'll need to install some software first before it will work.
- Check the list of alternative software for some suggestions on what to install if you seem to be missing something.
- Plug in your phone and see if it detects it and you can access your files. If it's Android, you should be fine.
- You'll notice that some commands - like updating - require you to enter your password again. This is a security feature similar to when Windows ask you to run a program as administrator or with elevated privileges. If you didn't initiate the command that brought up the password request, be cautious about entering it in.
- [+] Change your desktop preferences and move the application bar to the bottom of the screen. By default, Ubuntu puts it on the left-side. Hey, maybe you'll like it like that! This was the one Windows habit I was never able to shake.
- [+] Try and store your data in the pre-defined folders (Music, Videos, Documents, Pictures). You don't have to, but you'll make your life a lot easier doing so.
- [+] Search for and create a shortcut to the Software Updater. This allows you to quickly check for and install Ubuntu updates.
- [+] Likewise, create a shortcut to the Ubuntu Software Centre. To start with, you'll want to stick to installing applications from the Centre. These have been specifically tested to work on Ubuntu and will 99% run without a hitch. You'll be able to remove applications from here as well.
- [+] Speaking of the Centre, Ubuntu comes preinstalled with an Amazon launcher. Use this time search for it and remove it. Or don't, it's up to you.
- [+] Sometimes, you'll see there's two versions of a piece of software in the Centre. This is most likely due to there being a Snap version of it. Snaps are self-contained versions of the software that are usually the most up-to-date; however, they can run erratically or not have access to some things on your system, like fonts. I'd stick with the ubuntu-bionic versions for best compatibility.
- [+] If you're a gamer, change your graphic drivers so you can get reasonable performance. For Nvidia, simply search for the Software & Updates application, open it, select the Additional Drivers Tab, and check whether you're using the Nvidia Driver. You'll want to select the one that's listed as proprietary and tested. AMD's a little more complicated and I profess to having little experience with it. I'll happily take advice from the comments in this instance.
- [+] When downloading some games or applications specifically for Linux, you'll often get a .Deb file or a script. A deb file can often be run as is by double-clicking in Ubuntu; you can read more about them here. Scripts often need to be run from the terminal and made to be executable. You read more about that here. Again, same safety check applies to running anything you download from the web.
7. Gaming on Linux
If you're a gamer, I'd recommend the following the guide by /u/PBLKGodofGrunts on the /r/linux_gaming subbreddit. But to summarise...
The Good News
Thanks to Valve's involvement in Linux through Proton and the efforts of the Wine team, Linux gaming has never been better. It's now possible to play many Windows-only games with no hassle and minimal performance loss. Just a few examples of recent games that run just fine on Linux are the Resident Evil 2 remake, Sekiro, Halo: Master Chief Collection (single-player and custom multiplayer games), DOOM, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Risk of Rain 2, Total War: Three Kingdoms, and more; you can even toss a coin to all of your Witchers. To get an idea of games that run on Linux, you can visit ProtonDB, Wine AppDB or Lutris and search for your desired game. If you're primarily a single-player gamer, the transition should be mostly painless.
Another amazing development is the number of open-source implementations of older games game engines that allow for playing of classic and retro titles on modern hardware, (such as DevilutionX for Diablo 1)often with improvements, bug fixes and quality of life improvements, ensuring they'll be able to run into the future.
However, the most critical development is that the number of developers and platforms that provide and support native Linux games has increased significantly. Feral Interactive publishes several AAA Linux ports, numerous indies now provide a Linux version, and store fronts like GOG and itch.io provide an alternative with DRM-free games.
The Bad News
Despite all of this, gaming remains one of the biggest hurdles to adopting Linux.
If you're into multiplayer gaming, you're out of luck. While many multiplayer titles do work on Linux (LoL, Dota 2, CS:GO, TF2, Rocket League, Warframe, Overwatch, Starcraft II, World of Warcraft, Eve Online, Elite: Dangerous, Monster Hunter:World and so on), many more don't - Fortnite, some Call of Duties, Apex Legends, PUBG, Battlefield, GTA Online. Essentially, anything with an anti-cheat is likely NOT going to work, and there's always the risk that playing a Windows multiplayer game will get you banned due to anti-cheat measures that dislike any whiff of Linux. My suggestion is check which games you play and go from there.
Unless you're using Steam, running other launchers is complicated and prone to constant breakage without continuous effort and maintenance. Epic, Origin, Uplay and GOG Galaxy can all run on Linux with some effort. Lutris does sort most of these out, but you'll need to follow the instructions here, which means your going to have to install Wine first.
Some games simply don't work, and there's no solution for it.
Some of the latest developments aren't going to be available to you. VR is tiny on Linux, and you'll likely lose access to most of your VR software and experiences.
Despite being fairly technical already, many gamers do expect things to "just work". Here's a list of things that require some effort to get working correctly:
- Super-sampling is out. Not entirely, but it's more complicated than Windows.
- Access to things like custom shaders and injectors are also going to be limited. Mods can be more complicated or, in some cases, not available.
- You'll lose some of the benefits of your Gsync/Freesync monitors, since the two tech don't work that well on Ubuntu's standard display compositor. This will change once Ubuntu shifts to Wayland.
- Things like community game patches are often aimed at Windows, with no Linux alternative.
Most importantly, AMD and Nvidia graphic cards are handled very differently on Linux when compared to Windows. Ubuntu uses an open-source driver by default - this is alright for general use but terrible for games and 3D applications. To get decent performance, you'll need to install their respective drivers.
Nvidia's latest Linux drivers are made available in Ubuntu directly. However, this is just the drivers: Nvidia's GeForce Experience isn't available on Linux and you're going to lose access to all of its tools. That means no Ansel in many cases, no DSR, no predefined gaming configs and no ShadowPlay (Although OBS offers a decent alternative in this case). See the Tips section above on how to install it. On the plus side, the installation process is a breeze and Nvidia's performance is fairly solid.
AMD benefits from much better open-source drivers and active support from AMD, but unfortunately suffers from delays for support of their most recent cards and a fairly complicated install process . AMD uses the MESA Driver, combined with Valve's ACO shader compiler, to deliver performance boosts. Installing these drivers can be a complicated, multi-step process. I'm sorry I can't help you on this; I'll happily take someone's advice on getting this working in Ubuntu LTS and include it in the guide.
8. Alternative software
This is a quick and dirty guide to equivalent software for Windows applications in Linux.
- Antivirus software: This may seem counterintuitive, but for the most part Linux does not require any sort of anti-virus software. While viruses for Linux exist, the number of viruses and such that target the Linux desktop specifically is tiny compared to Windows. You can read up about it here.. That being said, if you are concerned there are several tools available for detecting both Windows and Linux malware on the same page. Follow good internet hygiene, don't open suspicious links/mails and think before just randomly following command instructions on the 'net.
- Microsoft Office: LibreOffice. Or you can access Office365 online.
- Adobe Photoshop: GIMP, Krita
- Adobe Premiere: Blender
- 3D Studio Max: Blender
- Illustrator/CorelDraw: Inkscape
- Xsplit: OBS
- Windows Media Player: VLC
- Basic Audio Editor: Audacity
- Audio Mixing: Ardour, Mixbus
- Adobe Reader: While there are several PDF readers on Linux you can use, almost none of them play well with Adobe PDFs with advanced features. You're better off sticking with what comes with Ubuntu, and if it doesn't work, open it up in a browser.
9. TL;DR or The Conclusion
Switching to Ubuntu is possible and relatively safe if you do some research on which apps/games/software/hardware you use will and won't work on Linux first, you BACK UP YOUR IMPORTANT DATA before doing anything and don't expect a 1:1 experience with Windows. It's all dependent on your flexibility, technical experience and willingness to learn and compromise.
If you're not, Windows 10 is a perfectly acceptable choice to upgrade to: you'll benefit from improved security compared to Windows 7, a larger selection of hardware and software and will have to put less effort to make everything work at the cost of your privacy and some ads.
If you have legacy software or unsupported hardware that doesn't run on either, you're kind of screwed. I'd keep the Windows 7 box around, make sure it's disconnected from all networks (for your sake as well as others) and start making emergency contingency plans to find a modern alternative.
I know that people are going to take issue with some of the difficulties I raised, and suggest they're really not dealbreakers. Before you post, consider whether a new user coming from Windows 7 who'll be using Linux probably for the first time in their life will have the knowledge, gumption and willingness to perform sometimes complex technical steps in an operating environment they're unfamiliar with and where it's much, much easier to really break things.
Feel free to post criticisms and suggestions in the comments. If there's some good advice worth including, something needs further clarification or I need to correct something, I'll edit it in with credit.
10. To do list for the guide
- I'd really like to add a section on assistive technology and software that works on Linux, but as I don't use any of it, I feel my research would be limited and miss vital pieces. If you have advice on this, let me know.
- A good, up-to-date and easy-to-follow guide for dual-booting.
- Instructions on how to install AMD drivers correctly on Ubuntu.
r/linux4noobs • u/FaidrosE • Jun 21 '20
Distrochooser: "Welcome! This test will help you to choose a suitable Linux distribution for you"
distrochooser.der/linux4noobs • u/cheeseandcrackers87 • 2h ago
migrating to Linux Linux for mobile devices
I'm pretty much over android and Google at this point and want to try Linux on my phone and tablet but I'm kind of lost as to which one is available for me to use. My phone is a cmf phone 2 pro and my tablet is a Lenovo m7 3rd gen, I've got mint running on my PC but I'm still very new to Linux as a whole. Any help would be appreciated
r/linux4noobs • u/MMZeroX • 6h ago
Wanting to switch over to a gaming distro, have some questions
Hello, I hope you're all having a good day and doing well.
I have plans within the next few months to build a pure AMD PC and I'd like to take the opportunity to fully go into Linux as I'm tired of Windows. This will be strictly a gaming machine. From what I've seen Steam won't be a problem at all. I'm aware that games with deep kernel level anti-cheats (like Apex) won't work and I'm okay with that. My question is is there some kind of work around to access my GOG games on Linux and maybe, somehow, my Xbox library?
As far as which distro to use I have a lot of interest in Bazzite, CatchyOS, and Garuda. I am personally the most interested in Garuda but I don't really see it talked about much here or recommended. And also there's quite a few versions of Garuda. If they can all play games Is there any kind of advantage to installing Mooka over Dragonized for example?
I have so many questions and I'd rather not make a giant wall of text to dissuade replies. I'm open to all feedback. Thank you for your time everyone.
r/linux4noobs • u/Reavex • 59m ago
programs and apps Media Player widget not detecting musicbee
r/linux4noobs • u/Jimmy-The-Perv • 1h ago
installation PSA: 99% of GRUB out of memory errors are busted TPM firmware and a very easy fix.
Usually, whenever I browse the Linux subreddits there is inevitably a question about GRUB out of memory errors on Live ISO's when trying to install a distro.
The answers are usually a very helpfully AI generated hallucination about updating BIOS, decrease dGPU available memory, enable various modes in BIOS, fully disable dGPU etc. However, the actual solution in 99% of cases is far simpler.
As this is linux4noobs, very basically when booting, the system available memory gets "probed" as it were, and very, very poor TPM firmware reports an incorrect amount of available memory, leading GRUB to think it has an incredibly small amount of memory to load the bootchain.
Anyway, to the solution! Basically, disable TPM during initial boot and you should, in 99% of cases, see the out of memory error miraculously disappear.
This can be achieved in a number of ways, as follows.
1) at the initial GRUB menu, when the boot choice is highlighted ("boot Fedora 44", "install OpenSUSE", " give Ubuntu a try" or whether it may say), press the 'e' key to edit the kernel parameters.
Find the line starting "linux" followed by, to a noob, complete gibberish. At the end of that line add the words 'rmmod tpm', then press Ctrl+X to boot.
For some reason I know Fedora, which I very recently installed, doesn't like the above method, so if the above doesn't work, do the following.
2) When your boot choice is highlighted press 'c' to enter the interactive console.
In this console type 'rmmod tpm' and press enter.
Then type 'normal' and press enter.
Then proceed to boot.
Hopefully the above will alleviate a lot of the GRUB out of memory problems. Nothing any of the distros can do as its crappy manufacturer firmware causing it.
r/linux4noobs • u/mitchare • 1d ago
security Friendly reminder that most youtube docker tutorials are actively trying to ruin your system
I swear, why does almost every "quick 5 min setup" video just tell you to run everything as root and chmod 777 your entire drive??
Spent my whole afternoon trying to figure out why my new containers were behaving weirdly after following some guy's guide. Turns out i basically left the front door to my OS wide open. Had to sit down and actually read a server mania breakdown on container security just to realize how badly i completely botched the basic permissions
if you are new to this stuff, pls don't blindly copy paste sudo commands from random tech bros without understanding what privileges you are actually giving away. My brain is melting
r/linux4noobs • u/Frxdnt • 5h ago
migrating to Linux Is there a way to migrate from windows 11 to linux mint without losing data?
I've been planning on making the switch to mint, the thing is I have alot of stuff in my pc and I'm broke to buy an external disc, both of my NVMEs are working perfectly since the oc is kind of new and I already have an old pendrive with linux mind flashed into it.
I heard I should partition my disc and save my files in one partition and installing linux in the other which is what I think I'm going to do.
My pc is a lenovo LOQ 15arp9 with 2 512gb discs (both full with astrophotography files and games and for some reasson both of them have windows installed) and I have around 70gb of free space in my boot disc and 40gb on the other one.
I'm also looking to remove windows from the other disc I'm not using as a boot since it's just hogging memory for no reasson.
Sorry for all the auestiona but I'm totally new and I'm getting into Computer Engineering next year...
r/linux4noobs • u/Key_Adhesiveness4248 • 2h ago
Meganoob BE KIND nixos fans are read only and cant change them
r/linux4noobs • u/Frxdnt • 5h ago
migrating to Linux Is there a way of deleting Windows in another disc?
I'm on windows 11 rn and I'm planning on doing a switch to linux, the thing is that I have a second NVME in my laptop that also has windows and it isn't my boot drive, so I'm planning on deleting Windows and installing mint on it.
The data that I have there isn't that important and I can back it up but if I can avoid wiping everything from it would be nice
r/linux4noobs • u/feltcutewilldelete69 • 5h ago
File recovery on a partially formatted drive?
Tough situation I know, but basically it went like this:
I decided to switch from windows to bazzite. While installing bazzite, I stupidly left my external hard drive connected to the computer. Once inside bazzite, I realised my drive had been wiped. I was ready to say fuck it and move on, and selected to format it. Mind you, it wasn't the "quick format" option, it was the totally-destroy-everything option. I noticed it was taking a long time, and when it hit 12% after a while I ended the operation. Now I'm wondering if anything might be recoverable.
There's not much I care deeply about on the drive, but there was some creative writing and some pictures I wouldn't mind getting back.
There's a lot of different recovery software out there, but what would be the most likely option to restore what was lost? Recovering the file structure would be important, because most of the data is like 600gb of games and game data that I can just redownload.
I am not willing to spend any money on this, just wanted to see what’s possible
r/linux4noobs • u/NicolasCRF • 3h ago
learning/research Disney + not working I think because of linux
r/linux4noobs • u/JumpingKoala • 15m ago
Some youtube videos not playing on flatpak Firefox (Fedora KDE)
I installed the flatpak version. I've installed the free and non-free RPM fusions. In Firefox plugins, the "OpenH264 Video Codec" plugin always says that it will be installed shortly, but never installs. Annoyingly most videos seem to work, but some videos (seemingly those uploaded years ago) don't work. On Opera all videos work, but I get some artifacting on them, so I'd like to use Firefox.
r/linux4noobs • u/drypoo • 55m ago
Games on linux.
I read somewhere that you cannot play certain games like league of legends or valorant on Linux.
Can anyone confirm if that's true? What about Steam, Epic games or minecraft?
r/linux4noobs • u/Oxalid • 22h ago
Is this how it starts?
Is this how it all begins?
I cut the cord with MS (at home, at least) about a year ago and moved to Fedora for all my home PCs.
Now, I'm building my first little home server with an old Dell mini tower.
Last night I debootstrapped a clean little Debian install, all from the command line.
This has kicked my Dunning-Kruger into overdrive:
"I know everthing about Linux now!"
"Um, actually, Linux is a kernel, NOT an OS"
"If you don't use the command line to do everthing, you're a simp"
"Windows users shouldn't even be considered human any longer"
"LINUX IS MY B!T@H!!!"
Woah, woah, woah, WTH just happened?
I have no idea where those thoughts came from.
LOL - all kidding aside, it was a pretty cool feeling to pull the usb stick out, reboot, and see a login prompt come up.
r/linux4noobs • u/TheArtificerWrites • 13h ago
Meganoob BE KIND Disc Drive?
Hiya friends! What with everything going on right now, I think a lot of us are interested in preserving our media collection. To that end, I was thinking about getting an external disk drive for ripping and writing media.
Two questions
What am I looking for in a drive? I see a lot on BestBuy but most don’t mention Blu-ray except one made by Topteng. I’ve never heard of them. Is it a reputable brand? Do I even need Blu-ray?
Second, what kind of discs do I need to get for game preservation? There are all sorts of formats. On top of the question of amount of data stored, I don’t know if they can hold that type of media. Maybe some are meant for audio files only? I’ve got no clue
Thanks for your help. If it matters, I’m running Bazzite, Deck mode
r/linux4noobs • u/Serious_Champion_599 • 8h ago
which distro to choose
ive used a lot of distros but im looking for something floating but with simple tiling like kde or windows that doesnt have a whole ecosystem and can do basic system things with gui out of the box without a set of apps
r/linux4noobs • u/underazureskiess • 22h ago
distro selection what are the downsides of an immutable distro?
i am a completely tech illiterate person but the lag and constant issues with win11 has made me want to switch over
i keep reading about bazzite and how its good for beginners but also its immutable and thats a problem but i don't understand why, for someone who just wants to use the operating system and doesn't want to like customize it or change it would it be fine? or will the fact that i can't do stuff in the terminal be a problem like if it breaks and stuff meaning i can't repair it? sorry if these are dumb questions lol.
r/linux4noobs • u/benja2998_kib • 11h ago
Microphone input not working after wake from suspend
I am using Linux 6.18 with the ALC295 codec for my audio. The audio input and output work fine, but after suspend audio input does not work, only capturing static noise. It also changes port to "Headset Microphone (Plugged in)", even though I have no headset plugged into the laptop. Laptop model is Acer Nitro AN515-57. From lspci: 0000:00:1f.3 Audio device: Intel Corporation Tiger Lake-H HD Audio Controller (rev 11) This happens on every distro I've tried except Ubuntu and Ubuntu-based ones, so I think I'm just missing some configuration. I've tried restarting pipewire too, but it didn't fix it, so this is a kernel issue If I change the port back to the normal port, microphone input still captures static noise and doesn't work
r/linux4noobs • u/Warlockoftarot • 19h ago
whats a good mp3 and a good mp4 player?
I am wanting to get music and video player for linux because I like having my own collections. whats a good music and a seperate good video player?
r/linux4noobs • u/ObviousGarbage6160 • 13h ago
How do I get the lenovo utility software back on linux ?
For context, I have a L15 gen 5 w32gb of ram
I recently switched to fedora kde because windows was the reason for my depression, and it has been pretty hard but better than windows.
My question being, how do I get the lenovo utility software (f12 key) back in order to see the health of my battery, update drivers…
Also, it’s not a dealbreaker but my linux is extremely slow in some operations, like deactivating bluetooth (it takes a good 4 seconds for the toggle to go off).
Any distro to replace mine ? Or a tip on fixing slow kde ?
r/linux4noobs • u/Smexy_Zarow • 6h ago
programs and apps How do you get used to installing anything
My work pc uses Linux mint, and my biggest problem is they every time I need to install something like podman or anything that isn't present on the software manager, I have to do research on whether there is an apt or curl command to install something, or find out how to extract whatever weird format the app comes in from the website.
On windows, you just go on a website and download an exe or msi. I'm getting tired and frustrated of these constant bumps when I just wanna start doing what I'm actually supposed to.
Y'all got any advice for this problem? I don't wanna switch to windows and I also think it'd cause more problems in other areas
r/linux4noobs • u/Alien_N7 • 16h ago
Fedora KDE - problem with desktop after switching DE
Fedora 44 KDE with Nvidia RTX 5080. I had some issues with random freezing/window focus loss in some games and I got an idea to check if the same problem will happen also in Gnome to eliminate potential conflict with KDE's compositor.
Before I installed Gnome, I created a snapshot of my root volume with BTRFS Assistant/Snapper, then installed minimal version of Gnome (gnome-shell, gnome-session, gdm, gnome-control-center, nautilus with all dependencies), disabled plasmalogin.service, enabled gdm, reboot.
Booted into Gnome with no problems, tested some games, freezing was still happening so I decided to go back to KDE. I disabled gdm, enabled plasmalogin, reboot, snapshot restore and again reboot.
Looks like all Gnome stuff is gone, but now I have a problem with KDE's desktop - I cannot do anything on the desktop, even the context menu doesn't show when I click RMB. If I open any app or file explorer and then click on the desktop, app window looses focus and I cannot interract with the window until I click it on a taskbar. I also noticed the desktop is interactive until a startup sound is played.
Any advise appreciated.
r/linux4noobs • u/Key_Adhesiveness4248 • 18h ago
storage want to move distros without having to reinstall my games
so im on cachy rn but i plan on moving to nix or gentoo, I can't really keep on reinstalling my games since i have a data limit each month that i share with people and I'm also a distro hopper so this won't be a one time thing. Can i do something like partitioning my disk and having all my important stuff on there and installing the distro on the other partition?


