Newer Computers

Hello Linux experts (because I suspect experts are what I need). Being a newbie I tried to choose a linux distro that I could use most like windows XP in particular, to include apps, maintenance and ease. To me it seemed like ZORIN fit the bill so I installed Zorin 9 on a 500 gb HD and configured a desktop with Cairo Dock (that dock being like the quick launch bar in Windows). So far so good.

Two main tasks I have is finding a back up (clone) utility I can use to clone the entire HD to an external USB HD so that I can simply plug in that clone and have the identical Zorin back exactly the way it was. Secondly I want to install my Canon printer (all in one print, copy, scan, and fax) so that I can use it the same way as with XP.

So far I've been disappointed for both because the clone apps I see available are "dd" (terminal) which does not seem to work and/or if it did the advice is that a clone could take days or weeks? Say what? Is that nuts or what. In windows I can clone my HD in 45 minutes, plug it in the computer and have an exact working copy of the source HD. Obviously days or weeks to obtain a HD clone is not good, and I'm not even sure that if I did it anyway that I would actually be able to plug it in (in place of the original HD),having an exact working copy of all files including boot, system, files and apps.

Next, installing my Canon printer seems unlikely if not impossible because I can't find drivers for that printer available for Zorin.

Did I make the wrong distro choice, and if so which Linux distro should I have installed? Ubuntu? Mint? Or maybe I'm looking for more in any Linux that can be had to date? Any advice please? Save me from having to go back to Windows which everyone knows (including M$oft MVP's)sucks.

I am using linux mint and the grub menu gets configured automatically using scripts in /etc/grub.d. The menuentry that gets created is something like Code:

"linux mint (on /dev/sda1)"

. I use external drives sometimes and also have linux on my harddrive which I also switch between computers. It gets confusing when it says /dev/sda2 when it means something else. It boots fine because that actual boot command uses uuid. How can I change the text of the (script generated) description to also use partition labels or uuid (or the first few chars) just so I know which install will actually boot. like this: Code:

"Linux Mint (OFFICESSD)"
"Linux Mint (HOMEHDD)"
"Ubuntu (SANDISK)"
"Ubuntu (IMATION)"

I realise (maybe its the best way) I can change the "GRUB_TITLE=Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon 64-bit" in /etc/linuxmint/info but would rather a smoother way.

Good day everyone,

I'm currently a student and as far as I'm aware I still need windows for some program I need, but I am going over to Linux.
(Thus I'm running Windows 8 at this moment)

Today I was going to install Ubuntu 14.04.01 alongside Windows 8, everything went well till I hit the 4th step (Installation type page) of the installation:

A message like follows showed:
"This computer currently has Debian GNU/Linux (Kali Linux 1.0.7) on it. What would you like to do?"

There are then 3 options available:
1) Install Ubuntu alongside Debian GNU/Linux (Kali Linux 1.0.7)
2) Replace Debian GNU/Linux (Kali Linux 1.0.7) with Ubuntu
3 and 4 is greyed out.
5) Something else (You can create resize partitions yourself, or choose multiple partitions for Ubuntu.

I just want to make sure what option to choose, I cant afford to lose all my data and windows.

Problem: Showing Kali Linux as current OS and not Windows 8.

Possible reason for showing Kali Linux as current OS:
I have a live CD of Kali Linux and ran it a few times in the past, but according to my knowledge it shouldn't have changed anything.

Maybe the 1st option is still the right one even though the current OS isn't listed right? Or the 3rd option is like a manual setting I guess.

Thanks for the time reading and helping!

I just got a new laptop with Windows 8.1 and I cannot figure out how to install Linux Mint by booting from a CD or USB drive. Previously, I had installed Linux Mint on my old desktop and netbook computers that were running Windows XP. I had no trouble booting from a CD. Now that the process has been complicated in Windows 8.1 I don't know what to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated, I would really like to get rid of Windows 8.1 ASAP. Thanks!

Hey guys. So I just went out and bought a Sager 8268-s (clevo p150sm-a) With an i7 4910mq and a Nvidia 980m gt. As I am a computer tech by trade, every time i see Windows i get horrible PTSD so i decided to try Linux instead. After many hours of trying to get a dual boot working finally got Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon installed on my computer, but when I went to install the Nvidia driver it landed me in fallback mode which I could not escape. So then I tried Ubuntu 14.04 LTS thinking maybe Mint was incompatible with the driver and the same thing happened.

So here is my method:

(sorry i don't know how to make a code box :/ )

First I log in to get root access:

$ su

Then I Update the xorg:

$ sudo apt-add-repository ppa:xorg-edgers/ppa

Then update my system:

$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Then i go into Virtual terminal (Ctrl+Alt+F1) and disable the display manager:

$ sudo service mdm (or lightdm for Ubuntu) stop

Then i install the drivers which i have done multiple ways:

$ sudo apt-get install nvidia-current nvidia-settings

or

$ sudo apt-get install nvidia-343 nvidia-settings

or by downloading the driver from Nvidia (first designating the file as executable)

$ sudo sh nvidia.run && sudo apt-get install nvidia-settings

Then after install, I create the config file:

$ sudo nvidia-xconfig

Then I reboot. After I get the low res mode in Ubuntu or fallback mode in Mint and Driver manager doesn't detect any proprietary drivers and I have to reinstall to get the OS working again. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Okay. I got a newer computer to replace one of my two computers. A friend helped me install Xubuntu 14.10. So now I'm trying to get all the software I had on the old one.

In my writing, I write on a laptop. So I have LO 4.2.3.3 on it. So I put 4.2.3.3 on the other two computers, figuring it would be best to have the same versions on all three machines.

Now I have the folder for LO 4.2.3.3 (see screenshot) but don't know how to install it on the newer computer. I have GDebi Package Installer but that only wants to install files. (Unless I open the Debs folder and do 'select all files" and "open" them with the GDebi installer.)

I went to the LO site and they don't offer 4.2.3.3 any more.

Any ideas?

Hey. I just got a newer computer (I have two--one home, one at work) that is more powerful. Only problem is I can't edit my Godaddy website from it. The Godaddy site comes up and I can get into it but the editing features don't work.

I've never been able to edit the site from Firefox, but I have (and am still able to) been able to edit it on the older computer from Chrome.

So yeah, I can't edit the site on the newer computer from either browser.

The only difference I can think of (both computers have Xubuntu 14.10) is that on the newer computer I installed the firewall. I may have on the older one too. I'm not sure at this point and not at the computer.

Anyway, would that firewall be a potential cause or would it be something else?

Any suggestions?

As you may know wubi has become thing of the past and will not work any more.
I tried to use it to reinstall Ubuntu on my Windows machine and it went thru the very 1st phase of install but gave an error which meant something like "the files are not on the ftp site"...and then quit.

I found out that there is no more WUBI support for UB 14.4 so now my question is:
Is there anyway I could install an Older version of Ubuntu (or even the new version)on my Windows machine without risk of destroying my partitions or Win OS?

I did search the site before posting this but most related subjects were from 2007 and so unrelated.
in a way I wished the heck it was 2007, life was much easier then! heh
Thanks!

P.S Frankly I am not impressed by discontinuation of WUBI and dont care for newer versions of Ubuntu. Seems like they did a lot of fixing on the things which were not broken in the 1st place!? Tell me if I am wrong...what's so good about newer versions except a lot more restrictions?

Hello,

I'm a new Linux user (Mint 17.1 Rebecca Mate) going through the learning curve. It's a challenege. Dual boot with Windows 8.1, which provides the motivation!

I have an older Dell Dimension PC with XP. It's old and cranky, but I do love my XP. I want to wipe the hard drive and install a user friendly simple version of Linux that I can reinstall XP into as VM.
I am clueless where to even begin to figure out which version of Linux is best for this aside from the two mentioned below. The PC operatest 2.17 GHz, has 1.25 GB RAM, and a 156 GB Hard Drive.

I tried installing Zorin, both by DVD and USB, but could not get it to install or even work live. Just kept getting the F1 to retry boot, F2 for setup ingfinte loop. Spent a week trying every which way, short of a format, to install Zorin but I just refused to work, despite their excellent suopport.

Also tried every which way to install Robolinux ( all three versions), and again could not get it to install, although I was able to do the Xfce and KLDE versions live. Just went to them for support and it requires a $5 donation per case. Knowing how much supoport I could need, that could really add up.

Any advise is greatly appreciated.
TIA.
Cheers!

What Is Linux Kernel?

Those who don't know what is the Linux Kernel they should know it because Linux kernel is the essential part of any Linux operating system. It is responsible for resource allocation, low-level hardware interfaces, security, simple communications, basic file system management, and more. Written from scratch by Linus Torvalds (with help from various developers), Linux is a clone of the UNIX operating system. It is geared towards POSIX and Single UNIX Specification compliances.

Latest Stable Linux Kernel Version 3.18.1
It's been a quiet week, and the patch from rc7 is tiny, so 3.18 is out.
I'd love to say that we've figured out the problem that plagues 3.17 for a couple of people, but we haven't. At the same time, there's absolutely no point in having everybody else twiddling their thumbs when a couple of people are actively trying to bisect an older issue, so holding up the release just didn't make sense. Especially since
that would just have then held things up entirely over the holiday break.
So the merge window for 3.19 is open, and DaveJ will hopefully get his bisection done (or at least narrow things down sufficiently that we have that "Ahaa" moment) over the next week. But in solidarity with Dave (and to make my life easier too let's try to avoid introducing any _new_ nasty issues, ok?]

To read all the changes and bugs fixed Download the changelog below -
Changelog

Why to Upgrade to the Latest Linux kernel

Recently in December Linux Kernel version 3.18.1 has been released and announced by Linus Torvalds. If you are using Ubuntu 14.04/14.10 or Linux Mint or any other debian/Ubuntu based then you can update to the latest kernel 3.18.1 to fix bugs, increase performance and security of the system.


Install Linux Kernel 3.18.1

Because it is not available via PPA, the needed deb packages of Kernel 3.18.1 are available via kernel.ubuntu.com. Follow the instructions for your system’s architecture exactly, in order to get a successful installation.

To install or update Latest Stable Kernel 3.18.1 on Ubuntu 15.04 vivid vervet, Ubuntu 14.10 Utopic Unicorn, Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr (LTS) , Linux Mint 17.1 Rebecca, Linux Mint 17 Qiana, Pinguy OS 14.04, Elementary OS 0.3 Freya, Elementary OS 0.2 Luna, Peppermint Five, Deepin 2014, LXLE 14.04, Linux Lite 2.0, Linux Lite 2.2 and other Ubuntu derivative systems, open a new Terminal window and bash (get it?) in the following commands:


For Linux system 32 bit :

Pass the following commands in the terminal to download the kernel file.

$ wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa...170637_all.deb

$ wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa...70637_i386.deb

$ wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa...70637_i386.deb

Install Linux Kernel 3.18.1


$ sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-3.18.1*.deb linux-image-3.18.1*.deb

Atfer install complete, update grub and reboot your computer and choose new kernel in grub :

$ sudo update-grub
$ sudo reboot

For Linux system 64 bit :

$ wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa...170637_all.deb

$ wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa...0637_amd64.deb

$ wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa...0637_amd64.deb

Install Linux Kernel 3.18.1

$ sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-3.18.1*.deb linux-image-3.18.1*.deb

Atfer install complete, update grub and reboot your computer and choose new kernel in grub :

$ sudo update-grub
$ sudo reboot

How To Uninstall Linux Kernel 3.18.1

If you come across any problem after installing/upgrading to linux kernel, can uninstall the newly installed kernel and switch back to old kernel.

$ sudo apt-get remove 'linux-headers-3.18.1*' 'linux-image-3.18.1*'