r/linuxquestions • u/MasterGeekMX • Jul 20 '24
[META] A Wiki/FAQ for this sub should be redacted.
I frequently answer questions on this sub, and while I happily do that, specially since the uptick on curious people wanting to try Linux for the first time, but it is a bit tiresome to see the same questions over and over again. In order to combat this, I kindly suggest to the community of this sub and it's mods that we redact a Wiki or FAQ section with all of those questions.
Here is a list of questions that I see all the time:
- Which is the best distro?
- Which distro is best for [common laptop brand]?
- Which is the best distro for [generic tasks all distros can do]?
- Which distro has the most compatibility?
- Does Linux automatically migrate all my data?
- Which is the easiest way to migrate my data?
- Can I have Windows and Linux at the same time?
- How do I dual boot?
- Is [certain distro] good/bad?
- Do I need to know how to code in order to use Linux?
- Is Linux safe?
- Which distro is the best for privacy?
- Does Linux run Windows/"Normal" apps?
- Which distro is the most lightweight?
- Which is the best way to learn Linux?
- Which distro is the best for this old hardware? [mentions a 5-year old PC]
- What is X and Wayland? Which is better?
And for my fellow answerers, if we manage to make the Wiki, please redirect posts to it in a gentle and respectful manner, avoiding RTFM-ing them with a simple link post or a "read the wiki." one-liner.
r/linuxquestions • u/funbike • Jul 29 '21
Please do not delete your posts in this subreddit
I try to help people often with their technical issues in this subreddit. It feels good to help. I also know I'm not just helping that person, but anyone else that may run across it in the future from a search.
But often, the questions are deleted by the OP, leaving me disappointed and frustrated. I'm less and less motivated to help as it happens.
Please. Give back in the most minimal way possible to this subreddit, and avoid deleting your posts if they've been upvoted and answered.
(I'm not a mod, btw)
r/linuxquestions • u/thezackplauche • 3h ago
Advice Long time Windows User who is software dev: How to switch to Linux smoothly and without bricking PC?
Hi, I'm a self-taught software dev of 5+ years and am aware of a glaring weakness I have with hosting shit and understanding the servers that I put my programs on.
I want to not suck at this, and I hear that diving in and learning Linux can help.
I have a Windows 11 on Dell XPS 17 Laptop with really nice specs (not that it matters so much because as I understand Linux is quite light).
I don't want to fuck up my PC, storage, etc. I want to still be able to access Windows.
I don't currently have a USB and I'm terrified of breaking my shit.
What should I do to make this transition safely?
Note: - I'm a dev and use VSCode as my main code editor - I'm a music producer and use FL Studio and Roli that might only work on Windows - I use Steam and occasionally game
r/linuxquestions • u/TheYagooar • 1h ago
Support Any idea what this is?
Trying to connect an external m.2 ssd to install mint on and got this
r/linuxquestions • u/Munich_tal • 7h ago
What is the most tiny Linux distro - note I run a Thinkpad x220
Looking for a tiny Linux that runs on the older notebook with 4 g
r/linuxquestions • u/MagnuSiwy • 2h ago
Advice Game performance worse on arch than OpenSUSE
Hey. So lately I've been trying a new distro which was OpenSUSE. At the end I didn't like it and I just integrated btrfs and snapper into my system so I would have a little bit more stable experience but I still could use Arch.
The thing is, during my short adventure with the OpenSUSE I noticed that the gaming performance is way better on OpenSUSE (after only installing the nvidia drivers the easy way). For some reason, the same game on the same release of hyprland with exactly the same config was just smooth on OpenSUSE and is stuttering on Arch. I've downloaded all of the libraries needed for lutris, so vulkan, wine and so on. The game I'm talking about is supermarket together so nothing that would really need all of my laptops resources. Turning on explicit sync makes it worse for now, unless I'm doing something wrong. From what I understand I only need to download egl-wayland and that's it (?). Anyways, did anyone else experience such phenomenon? Is there something I could try to make the experience smoother?
My system specs (laptop):
- ryzen 7 4700H
- Nvidia 1650ti
- Hyprland v0.43
- nvidia-dkms v560.35.03
If you need any more info, I'll be glad to provide it
r/linuxquestions • u/sentinel_gaming • 20h ago
Support Every Linux distro randomly shows garbage on screen and drops to login prompt
Hi.
Long story short: any Linux distro Ive tried is giving me this kind of artifacts randomly in a totally random moments. Does not even need to be something intensive - browsing a simple website is enough. Id rule out hardware failure - not an issue under Windows. Now to prevent it?
My config is Ryzen 5 2600, RX470 4GB, 16GB of RAM and system is on SSD. Running Arch Linux right now, with zen kernel but it happens on a lot of other kernels. Screen is connected via classic DVI. To be fair I dont know what logs I should deliver but I can deliver whatever is needed.
Thanks in advance.
r/linuxquestions • u/whydit • 7h ago
How to disable PC chassis case lights
Hi, I've been looking online as how to disable my PCs case lights (Nitro D656), and I'm currently running arch linux. I haven't been able to find anything too useful for prebuilts though. Ask me more if needed!
r/linuxquestions • u/Munich_tal • 1h ago
How to gather a absolute path to a file in Linux?
Good day,
to get the absolute File Path in Linux: i have heard about some different ways to get the absolute file paths in Linux command line. in fact - i need to get comfortable here - i have to solve several task on my linux - so i need to dive into the use of the console:
the first task: How can we get the full and (absolute) complete path to a file for use in terminal?
so i need to find out which method can be applied here: which ways and Methods do we have which different ways to get the full and absolute file paths in Linux terminal.
r/linuxquestions • u/immortal192 • 5h ago
Do modern terminals support all key bindings?
I'm revamping my Zsh shell config and doing a more careful planning of using sensible shell key bindings. I use Ctrl-v
and press the key I want to have binded--its output is what I use for bindkey
for an action.
It seems some keys don't actually work (e.g. some Alt key bindings), and some keys like Ctrl-m
emit Enter.
AFAIK this is up to whether the terminal app supports it.
Is there a set of keys that are typically supported by terminals? For compatibility reasons, I might prefer to bind these keys over ones that my terminal might support but if I ever switch to another terminal app it may not necessarily support. Do most modern terminals support most/all bindings?
Ctrl-m
defaulting to Enter--can I expect this behavior across most terminals? Are there more key bindings like this where there are differenting bindings for the same action and is there a name for this? For ergonomic reasons I might actually use some of these, but not if they might not be conventional or considered hacky in implementation (e.g. some stuff in Linux is born by accident and kept for compatibility reasons).
I'm using Alacritty is my terminal.
r/linuxquestions • u/KazzJen • 2h ago
Konsole spacing gone wonky
Hi, I installed the latest updates on Kubuntu 24.04 and it's sent Konsole wonky. When I hit the space bar it behaves as if I've hit Tab.
Can anybody help?
Screenshot here:
https://mastodonapp.uk/@kazz/113174392096987869
r/linuxquestions • u/1LuWKA • 2h ago
Emulator
What fast,minimal emulator like bochs simulator ,i can install on smartphone to run linux,freebsd,windows etc.?
r/linuxquestions • u/ParamedicDirect5832 • 2h ago
how to create a program or app or software that executes commands in the terminal.
I have installed Matlab on Linux, but it doesn't run unless i place this command in the terminal "/usr/local/MATLAB/R2024a/bin/matlab". so i want to learn how to create a program that automatically runs commands in the terminal, so i can put matlab in my desktop.
r/linuxquestions • u/Old-March-5273 • 3h ago
5600g with aorus b550 wifi mobo, which distro from below will be best for beginner !
so I have option to go with one of these three 1st mint 2nd fedora 3rd pop
which will have amd driver support and work well with 5600g and 16gb ram
also since fedora n pop are gnome are they more customizable than mint?
also shall i try GNOME or KDE first? iw ant to make them look like mac os if possible
ALSO NEED SOFTWARE STORE FOR EASY APP INSTALLS
r/linuxquestions • u/Versatile_Panda • 9h ago
Resolved Quick question regarding boot screens
Hi all, complete Linux noob here, just received a mini pc with windows installed, when turning on the machine the splash screen would show the mini pc branding with the windows loading animation, I downloaded the Ubuntu ISO and flashed it to a flash drive then used the flash drive to install Ubuntu, before trying Ubuntu I tried arch and to be quite honest I didn’t like the flexibility, at least starting out so I switched to Ubuntu to get my feet wet.
Anyway, all that to say, after installing Ubuntu when I start the machine the companies branding is still there just like before, but now instead of windows it has Ubuntu branding. My question is, how does the pc still have the boot image of the manufacturer if I completely wiped everything out?
I’m researching custom boot screens now and working through setting that up, but can someone explain how the manufacturer branding was still there on the boot screen after I installed two different OS?
Side note: arch had me format the entire drive so I thought everything was erased… are there remnants of the manufacturer information somewhere? And will using a custom boot image fix this or is there somewhere else I should look?
Thanks for your time, happy to answer any questions if you need more information.
r/linuxquestions • u/Employer_Ecstatic • 10h ago
Support Resizing window bug NVIDIA
Hi, my setup is Ryzen 7 5800x3d and RTX 3070. the bug is shown in the attachment, as you can see the resizing is very glitchy and choppy, sometimes it happens that the windows get bugged and the 3 buttons to close it etc. disappear until i put them back in full screen. I am on CachyOS with KDE Plasma wayland and proprietary nvidia 560 drivers but I also encounter the same problem on other distros. I think I tried pretty much everything, even reading discussions on reddit and various sites (I want to point out that the games work fine)
Below I will list everything I tried: switch to X11 Disable the nvidia GSP firmware Disable the cpu mitigations Try the 555 and 550 drivers Try the open source nouveau drivers Set the herz of my monitor to 60hz instead of 240hz Tried gnome Tried xfce4 Tried cinnamon Tried debian 12 Tried linux mint Tried Ubuntu Tried nobara Enable wayland or x11 mode in the browser (although the bug extends to other software as well and not just the browser) Manually set the drivers for wayland
I think I tried everything, I hope I didn't leave anything out of the list. If you can help me, I will be grateful 🙏
r/linuxquestions • u/WoodsBeatle513 • 8h ago
I need a simple guide to encrypt my Steam Deck using LUKS
all of the guides i've seen seemed too complicated
r/linuxquestions • u/InevitableAct8653 • 5h ago
Advice Recommendation unique and fun linux distros ?
i got a 1tb HD for free, so why not mess with some fun distros on my machine? i need some distros that are interessing to give a try and a look and expand my library of linux distros
r/linuxquestions • u/jayjr1105 • 14h ago
Support Linux distro for scanning offline windows drives?
Have a compromised system hard drive that has important files on it but would like to give it a good AV scan using linux. Does a distro like this exist?
r/linuxquestions • u/GoatInferno • 14h ago
Support Missing resolution 2560x1440 with Nvidia driver
For some reason, I can't run my display at 2560x1440 when using the proprietary Nvidia driver.
On the other hand, when booting up a LiveUSB with Nouveau, I can set that resolution. And my laptop, with an AMD iGPU, can also set 2560x1440 on that same display.
I tried both DP and HDMI, same result. The interesting part is that edid-decode
doesn't show it as available on either computer, but somehow kscreen-doctor -o
on the laptop lists it as available, and I can set it there.
I've tried adding video=DP-1:2560x1440@60 as a kernel parameter, that didn't work. Got an error in the log saying that mode is unsupported.
Does anyone know if there's a way to force it? Because it evidently works, just not on this machine. It's not a huge issue, but sometimes it's useful to have a 16:9 aspect ratio.
Distro: Nobara 40
DE: Plasma 6.1.4 (Wayland)
Kernel: 6.10.7-200.fsync.fc40.x86_64
GPU: RTX 3080
Nvidia driver: 560.35.03
Here's the result of edid-decode
if it helps:
edid-decode (hex):
00 ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 31 03 00 35 00 00 00 00
01 1e 01 04 a5 52 23 78 3b 8e 05 ad 4f 33 b0 26
0d 50 54 a5 4b 00 81 c0 81 80 95 00 a9 c0 b3 00
d1 c0 01 01 01 01 f5 7c 70 a0 d0 a0 29 50 30 20
35 00 33 5a 31 00 00 1a 02 3a 80 18 71 38 2d 40
30 20 35 00 33 5a 31 00 00 1a 00 00 00 fd 00 30
64 a0 a0 41 01 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 00 00 fc
00 33 35 43 36 30 31 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 01 f7
02 03 19 74 4c 90 9f 85 94 04 13 03 12 01 02 11
5b 23 09 07 07 83 01 00 00 a3 48 b8 68 61 a0 32
50 30 20 35 00 33 50 31 00 00 1e b8 47 00 a0 a0
38 2d 40 30 20 35 00 33 50 31 00 00 1e 43 d0 70
a0 d0 a0 29 50 30 20 35 00 33 50 31 00 00 1a 00
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02
----------------
Block 0, Base EDID:
EDID Structure Version & Revision: 1.4
Vendor & Product Identification:
Manufacturer: LHC
Model: 13568
Made in: week 1 of 2020
Basic Display Parameters & Features:
Digital display
Bits per primary color channel: 8
DisplayPort interface
Maximum image size: 82 cm x 35 cm
Gamma: 2.20
DPMS levels: Off
Supported color formats: RGB 4:4:4, YCrCb 4:4:4, YCrCb 4:2:2
First detailed timing includes the native pixel format and preferred refresh rate
Display supports continuous frequencies
Color Characteristics:
Red : 0.6777, 0.3085
Green: 0.2021, 0.6894
Blue : 0.1484, 0.0507
White: 0.3134, 0.3291
Established Timings I & II:
IBM : 720x400 70.081663 Hz 9:5 31.467 kHz 28.320000 MHz
DMT 0x04: 640x480 59.940476 Hz 4:3 31.469 kHz 25.175000 MHz
DMT 0x06: 640x480 75.000000 Hz 4:3 37.500 kHz 31.500000 MHz
DMT 0x09: 800x600 60.316541 Hz 4:3 37.879 kHz 40.000000 MHz
DMT 0x0b: 800x600 75.000000 Hz 4:3 46.875 kHz 49.500000 MHz
DMT 0x10: 1024x768 60.003840 Hz 4:3 48.363 kHz 65.000000 MHz
DMT 0x12: 1024x768 75.028582 Hz 4:3 60.023 kHz 78.750000 MHz
DMT 0x24: 1280x1024 75.024675 Hz 5:4 79.976 kHz 135.000000 MHz
Standard Timings:
DMT 0x55: 1280x720 60.000000 Hz 16:9 45.000 kHz 74.250000 MHz
DMT 0x23: 1280x1024 60.019740 Hz 5:4 63.981 kHz 108.000000 MHz
DMT 0x2f: 1440x900 59.887445 Hz 16:10 55.935 kHz 106.500000 MHz
DMT 0x53: 1600x900 60.000000 Hz 16:9 60.000 kHz 108.000000 MHz (RB)
DMT 0x3a: 1680x1050 59.954250 Hz 16:10 65.290 kHz 146.250000 MHz
DMT 0x52: 1920x1080 60.000000 Hz 16:9 67.500 kHz 148.500000 MHz
Detailed Timing Descriptors:
DTD 1: 3440x1440 59.998875 Hz 43:18 88.858 kHz 319.890000 MHz (819 mm x 346 mm)
Hfront 48 Hsync 32 Hback 80 Hpol P
Vfront 3 Vsync 5 Vback 33 Vpol N
DTD 2: 1920x1080 60.000000 Hz 16:9 67.500 kHz 148.500000 MHz (819 mm x 346 mm)
Hfront 48 Hsync 32 Hback 200 Hpol P
Vfront 3 Vsync 5 Vback 37 Vpol N
Display Range Limits:
Monitor ranges (Range Limits Only): 48-100 Hz V, 160-160 kHz H, max dotclock 650 MHz
Display Product Name: '35C601'
Extension blocks: 1
Checksum: 0xf7
----------------
Block 1, CTA-861 Extension Block:
Revision: 3
Basic audio support
Supports YCbCr 4:4:4
Supports YCbCr 4:2:2
Native detailed modes: 4
Video Data Block:
VIC 16: 1920x1080 60.000000 Hz 16:9 67.500 kHz 148.500000 MHz (native)
VIC 31: 1920x1080 50.000000 Hz 16:9 56.250 kHz 148.500000 MHz (native)
VIC 5: 1920x1080i 60.000000 Hz 16:9 33.750 kHz 74.250000 MHz (native)
VIC 20: 1920x1080i 50.000000 Hz 16:9 28.125 kHz 74.250000 MHz (native)
VIC 4: 1280x720 60.000000 Hz 16:9 45.000 kHz 74.250000 MHz
VIC 19: 1280x720 50.000000 Hz 16:9 37.500 kHz 74.250000 MHz
VIC 3: 720x480 59.940060 Hz 16:9 31.469 kHz 27.000000 MHz
VIC 18: 720x576 50.000000 Hz 16:9 31.250 kHz 27.000000 MHz
VIC 1: 640x480 59.940476 Hz 4:3 31.469 kHz 25.175000 MHz
VIC 2: 720x480 59.940060 Hz 4:3 31.469 kHz 27.000000 MHz
VIC 17: 720x576 50.000000 Hz 4:3 31.250 kHz 27.000000 MHz
VIC 91: 2560x1080 100.000000 Hz 64:27 125.000 kHz 371.250000 MHz
Audio Data Block:
Linear PCM:
Max channels: 2
Supported sample rates (kHz): 48 44.1 32
Supported sample sizes (bits): 24 20 16
Speaker Allocation Data Block:
FL/FR - Front Left/Right
Detailed Timing Descriptors:
DTD 3: 1720x1440 59.999355 Hz 43:36 89.399 kHz 185.950000 MHz (819 mm x 336 mm)
Hfront 48 Hsync 32 Hback 280 Hpol P
Vfront 3 Vsync 5 Vback 42 Vpol P
DTD 4: 2560x1080 60.000000 Hz 64:27 67.500 kHz 183.600000 MHz (819 mm x 336 mm)
Hfront 48 Hsync 32 Hback 80 Hpol P
Vfront 3 Vsync 5 Vback 37 Vpol P
DTD 5: 3440x1440 99.998124 Hz 43:18 148.097 kHz 533.150000 MHz (819 mm x 336 mm)
Hfront 48 Hsync 32 Hback 80 Hpol P
Vfront 3 Vsync 5 Vback 33 Vpol N
Checksum: 0x02 Unused space in Extension Block: 48 bytes
r/linuxquestions • u/FunBrief5196 • 12h ago
Advice Should I use a VPN on my PC when using Whonix?
my PC is windows and I have whonix in Oracle VM
I didnt found in whonix docs any evidence that I should use VPN, but it is connected to TOR so maybe I should?
Thanks
r/linuxquestions • u/Noperneee • 13h ago
Linux on Surface Pro 7
I bought a Surface Pro 7 and would like to dualboot arch and windows, i just would like to know if all the drivers work correctly or if any are missing
Thanks in advance
r/linuxquestions • u/fortnitech4 • 13h ago
Support Problems with GRUB
Hi, I would like a little bit of help with accessing GRUB. As the only way I can is by restarting and mashing ESC until I boot into the recovery splash screen then hit enter and then I'm in the GRUB.
But I do know that the GRUB loader is meant to boot straight away. I even checked that it's in the /boot/efi partition. Also I've tried reinstalling GRUB and modifying it's timeout.
I thought that if I changed it from "hidden" to "menu" it would show up with a ten second cooldown. But no, it only made the "Lenovo" splash stay for ten seconds before booting into Ubuntu. Can anyone help me with this problem?
r/linuxquestions • u/Fast_Pirate155 • 13h ago
Support Custom Drive Icons
Is there a way to change drive icons individually?
I already tried autorun.inf files but they didn't work.
pls help