General Linux Chat and Small Questions v. Year of the Linux Desktop! - Hardware & Software

My biggest problem with Linux is the hardware compatibility. I use a low power PC with a Celeron J1900 as my HTPC, but due to an unknown error somewhere in the intel drivers I have to limit C-state to 1, which makes the computer really hot. This is a quite big problem and has been precent since kernel 3.16. I also had some annoying problems with running Linux on my Macbook Air, where Intel (again) fucked up their drivers for the HD graphics 5000, which caused frequent blinking and glitches on the screen. Over the last 10 years of using Linux I have come to the conclusion that Linux is NOT a good general-purpose OS. Windows and OS X are far better. Linux is, however, brilliant at doing few specialized things which makes it super-super useful as a server OS. Linux has a special place in my heart and I use it every day in VMs, but it will probably never be my primary desktop OS.

Good thing you guys told my about that VT-d thing though because I was about to spend my weekend setting it up and I would've been tearing my hair out trying to figure out why it wouldn't work.

[QUOTE=PredGD;50591054]Skylake does! or at the very least, my 6600k has support for VT-d.[/QUOTE] Oh, huh. Fair enough.

[QUOTE=Dr. Evilcop]I really don't mind Linux staying in the obscure state it's in now. It's got enough community support that there's plenty of development going on from small teams/individuals, and you can get just about anything done on Linux through the applications available.[/QUOTE] I do mind because: [QUOTE=Dr. Evilcop;50590440]but I already went through all the trouble of getting Bumblebee and Optimus set up so fuck it :v:[/QUOTE] Sometimes it doesn't even work so consider yourself lucky. [editline]25th June 2016[/editline] Also game ports like CS:GO perform with about %40 less FPS on average machine when run on Linux instead of Windows.

[QUOTE=BDSMKing;50591171]I do mind because: Sometimes it doesn't even work so consider yourself lucky. [editline]25th June 2016[/editline] Also game ports like CS:GO perform with about %40 less FPS on average machine when run on Linux instead of Windows.[/QUOTE] The CS:GO issue seems to be CS:GO related, not Linux related. Other games utilizing similar technologies run much better, for some reason. At least on my rig.

anyone familiar with void who might know why xbps-query loses its ability to search for packages? I can still sync and install stuff from the repos, I just can't search them.

[QUOTE=mastersrp;50591221]The CS:GO issue seems to be CS:GO related, not Linux related. Other games utilizing similar technologies run much better, for some reason. At least on my rig.[/QUOTE] It's also drivers too, drivers for pretty much every operating system except for Windows are inferior to Windows drivers. Even Mac. Xorg is a nightmare to write for too (AMD and NVIDIA drivers reimplement a lot of X) and it's also just not as much effort goes towards the Linux drivers. [QUOTE=PredGD;50591347]anyone familiar with void who might know why xbps-query loses its ability to search for packages? I can still sync and install stuff from the repos, I just can't search them.[/QUOTE] Using the right flags to put it into repository mode right?

[QUOTE=thelurker1234;50591672]It's also drivers too, drivers for pretty much every operating system except for Windows are inferior to Windows drivers. Even Mac. Xorg is a nightmare to write for too (AMD and NVIDIA drivers reimplement a lot of X) and it's also just not as much effort goes towards the Linux drivers. Using the right flags to put it into repository mode right?[/QUOTE] xbps-query -Rs <query> it used to work but it no longer does

[QUOTE=thelurker1234;50591672]It's also drivers too, drivers for pretty much every operating system except for Windows are inferior to Windows drivers. Even Mac. Xorg is a nightmare to write for too (AMD and NVIDIA drivers reimplement a lot of X) and it's also just not as much effort goes towards the Linux drivers. [/QUOTE] While this is true, that's probably not the problem, when other games and applications running the same technologies (although maybe without some of the later "bug fixes" and so on), run just fine. [QUOTE=PredGD;50591706]xbps-query -Rs <query> it used to work but it no longer does[/QUOTE] DId you try running that command as root, to verify that permissions are not a problem?

[QUOTE=mastersrp;50591916] DId you try running that command as root, to verify that permissions are not a problem?[/QUOTE] that worked, huh. seems like it's a problem with permissions then? no idea what I did to achieve that

[QUOTE=PredGD;50593380]that worked, huh. seems like it's a problem with permissions then? no idea what I did to achieve that[/QUOTE] You should probably hop into the #xbps channel on freenode IRC and ask what could cause it, and what the ideal solution is. It probably involves some chown'ing, but given you already use the command line, it's probably no issue for you. Letting them know what works and what doesn't likely also helps them out. You might also go to the [url=https://github.com/voidlinux/xbps]xbps github[/url] page and fill out a bug report (create an issue), but they'll let you know if that's the step for you to take.

How would I go about copying my current home folder to a new user? Just copy and rename? Also would it be better to disable the default user account(pi on the raspberry) or just straight delete it? My guess is that theres a propably a few things in raspbian that rely on the pi user so disabling seems the better option, incase I need it one day.

[QUOTE=Torekk;50602097]How would I go about copying my current home folder to a new user? Just copy and rename? Also would it be better to disable the default user account(pi on the raspberry) or just straight delete it? My guess is that theres a propably a few things in raspbian that rely on the pi user so disabling seems the better option, incase I need it one day.[/QUOTE] Home folders can be copy / pasted or moved. Just make sure to set the owner recursively to the new user. In raspian, it's safe to remove the pi user. Just make sure your new user is in the same groups as pi.

Thanks, ended up renaming the pi account. The only thing that broke is the GUI config tool, but who needs that?

Heya! I have absolutely no idea where to go with this, and I'm really hoping one of you has an idea as to what is wrong. I want to boot a computer from a USB drive, so I formatted the drive, set it to FAT16 filesystem, used dd to copy the image over and then put it into a PC, tried booting off it but failed every time. I then tried in my main computer, which it also did not boot from. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing wrong, does anyone mind helping me out a bit?

[QUOTE=AG;50610255]Heya! I have absolutely no idea where to go with this, and I'm really hoping one of you has an idea as to what is wrong. I want to boot a computer from a USB drive, so I formatted the drive, set it to FAT16 filesystem, used dd to copy the image over and then put it into a PC, tried booting off it but failed every time. I then tried in my main computer, which it also did not boot from. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing wrong, does anyone mind helping me out a bit?[/QUOTE] Have you tried reading up the arch wiki here? [url]https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/USB_flash_installation_media[/url] You should probably double check if you're booting in UEFI or BIOS, UEFI on some motherboards can't boot anything except windows by default due to SecureBoot™.

[QUOTE=Naelstrom;50610310]Have you tried reading up the arch wiki here? [url]https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/USB_flash_installation_media[/url] You should probably double check if you're booting in UEFI or BIOS, UEFI on some motherboards can't boot anything except windows by default due to SecureBoot™.[/QUOTE] Fantastic, thank you very much! I now know to go to visit Arch in the future!

[QUOTE=AG;50610255]Heya! I have absolutely no idea where to go with this, and I'm really hoping one of you has an idea as to what is wrong. I want to boot a computer from a USB drive, so I formatted the drive, set it to FAT16 filesystem, used dd to copy the image over and then put it into a PC, tried booting off it but failed every time. I then tried in my main computer, which it also did not boot from. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing wrong, does anyone mind helping me out a bit?[/QUOTE] When you're dd'ing an image to a USB drive, you shouldn't first create a partition and format it. Instead, you should simply dd the image to the raw USB drive. For instance, if your USB drive is the /dev/sdc device, and your USB partition is /dev/sdc1, you would write something like [code]dd if=someimage.iso of=/dev/sdc[/code] One thing to keep in mind though is that USB devices are usually backed with buffers, and may not syncronize at an instant, so even though dd is done running, the data may still be writing to the USB. Look for the activity light on the USB, or alternatively wait a few minutes before plugging it out.

[QUOTE=mastersrp;50611363]When you're dd'ing an image to a USB drive, you shouldn't first create a partition and format it. Instead, you should simply dd the image to the raw USB drive. For instance, if your USB drive is the /dev/sdc device, and your USB partition is /dev/sdc1, you would write something like [code]dd if=someimage.iso of=/dev/sdc[/code] One thing to keep in mind though is that USB devices are usually backed with buffers, and may not syncronize at an instant, so even though dd is done running, the data may still be writing to the USB. Look for the activity light on the USB, or alternatively wait a few minutes before plugging it out.[/QUOTE] Oh, didn't know that. Thanks a lot for the information, I will be sure to remember for next time!

[QUOTE=mastersrp;50611363]One thing to keep in mind though is that USB devices are usually backed with buffers, and may not syncronize at an instant, so even though dd is done running, the data may still be writing to the USB. Look for the activity light on the USB, or alternatively wait a few minutes before plugging it out.[/QUOTE] You can use the 'sync' command to block until the disk has caught up with the buffers.

It's a real tragedy that Deadbeef has no support for SF2 soundfonts. Otherwise it would be the best media player I've ever used on Linux. Converted my SF2 files to what Deadbeef uses. Doesn't sound correct, but whatever.

Do any of you guys use Arch Linux on a server? If so, how has it been stability-wise? I was thinking of axing all of my current VPSes just getting a single VPS to do all my shit on, and thought hey, may as well try something new. Obviously it'd be a bad idea to use Arch Linux on something that actually matters, but I just run a few personal things that aren't essential to anyone but me and a couple of friends.

How likely is a failed Btrfs balance going to screw my system when adding a new device? Also I have dmesg output: [code][ 1623.608052] ata1.00: error: { UNC } [ 1623.624344] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133 [ 1623.674761] ata1.01: configured for UDMA/133 [ 1623.674774] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#0 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_SENSE [ 1623.674778] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#0 Sense Key : Medium Error [current] [descriptor] [ 1623.674782] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#0 Add. Sense: Unrecovered read error - auto reallocate failed [ 1623.674786] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#0 CDB: Read(10) 28 00 11 b2 8f a0 00 00 08 00 [ 1623.674789] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev sda, sector 296914849 [ 1623.674792] BTRFS: bdev /dev/sda2 errs: wr 0, rd 5, flush 0, corrupt 0, gen 0 [ 1623.674805] ata1: EH complete[/code] Does this mean the hard drive is faulty or something?

I ran arch on my VPS and fileserver/media center for a while. Never had any problems, but I got tired of updates and maintaining them so I switched to Debian on the VPS and Ubuntu on the media center. [editline]5th July 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Adam.GameDev;50649836]How likely is a failed Btrfs balance going to screw my system when adding a new device? Also I have dmesg output: [code][ 1623.608052] ata1.00: error: { UNC } [ 1623.624344] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133 [ 1623.674761] ata1.01: configured for UDMA/133 [ 1623.674774] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#0 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_SENSE [ 1623.674778] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#0 Sense Key : Medium Error [current] [descriptor] [ 1623.674782] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#0 Add. Sense: Unrecovered read error - auto reallocate failed [ 1623.674786] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#0 CDB: Read(10) 28 00 11 b2 8f a0 00 00 08 00 [ 1623.674789] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev sda, sector 296914849 [ 1623.674792] BTRFS: bdev /dev/sda2 errs: wr 0, rd 5, flush 0, corrupt 0, gen 0 [ 1623.674805] ata1: EH complete[/code] Does this mean the hard drive is faulty or something?[/QUOTE] Are you using RAID1/5/6?

[QUOTE=IpHa;50649861]Are you using RAID1/5/6?[/QUOTE] No RAID, just a simple multi-device filesystem

Then you might have lost something then, you should do a scrub to verify all the files against checksums: [code]btrfs scrub start /mointpoint[/code] This will take a while to run depending on how much data you have. You can check progress with: [code]btrfs scrub status -d /mountpoint[/code] and check the smart data for the drive to see if it's failing.

According to GNOME Disks, sda has one bad sector, my Windows drive has failed and the drive I was adding to sda has 6064 bad sectors. Should I be worried?

[QUOTE=Adam.GameDev;50649929]According to GNOME Disks, sda has one bad sector, my Windows drive has failed and my empty drive has over 6000 bad sectors. Should I be worried?[/QUOTE] Start making backups(which you already have, right?). One bad sector doesn't always mean failure, but it's a pretty good hint.

[QUOTE=thelurker1234;50649626]Do any of you guys use Arch Linux on a server? If so, how has it been stability-wise? I was thinking of axing all of my current VPSes just getting a single VPS to do all my shit on, and thought hey, may as well try something new. Obviously it'd be a bad idea to use Arch Linux on something that actually matters, but I just run a few personal things that aren't essential to anyone but me and a couple of friends.[/QUOTE] My HTPC/media server runs Arch. I've never had any major problems, though the real test will be if one of the hard drives ever fail. I haven't had to repair the btrfs array yet.

[QUOTE=thelurker1234;50649626]Do any of you guys use Arch Linux on a server? If so, how has it been stability-wise? I was thinking of axing all of my current VPSes just getting a single VPS to do all my shit on, and thought hey, may as well try something new. Obviously it'd be a bad idea to use Arch Linux on something that actually matters, but I just run a few personal things that aren't essential to anyone but me and a couple of friends.[/QUOTE] I got an Arch VPS from Digital Ocean back in the early days when they still supported it. I still have it, but I had to work out some janky setup with kexec so it's not stuck on kernel 3.5. It's pretty stable, I've never had any unexpected downtime that was due to the OS.