usb drive install & boot?

[Brandon H Supervisor]

2 minutes ago, patseguin said:

I've been away from Linux for so long that I totally forgot it was going to install grub.

at least it's rather easy to restore the windows boot loader

 

the EasyBCD app allow you to restore the bootloader directly through the app or you can boot into a windows install disc/usb and restore that way

[patseguin Global Moderator]

3 hours ago, Brandon H said:

at least it's rather easy to restore the windows boot loader

 

the EasyBCD app allow you to restore the bootloader directly through the app or you can boot into a windows install disc/usb and restore that way

I thought I remember a command line I could use. Something with /fixmbr or something...

[Brandon H Supervisor]

38 minutes ago, patseguin said:

I thought I remember a command line I could use. Something with /fixmbr or something...

if you can get booted in yes that's an option as well; the disc/usb option is more if you can't get booted back into windows

 

edit: I think that command may only work with legacy BIOS though; not certain if still works with UEFI since the disk is GPT usually.

[patseguin Global Moderator]

4 hours ago, Brandon H said:

if you can get booted in yes that's an option as well; the disc/usb option is more if you can't get booted back into windows

 

edit: I think that command may only work with legacy BIOS though; not certain if still works with UEFI since the disk is GPT usually.

I turned on the PC just now and was able to move the menu selections in grub and booted into Windows. Maybe it was just an anomaly. I might just restore the MBR and do my Linux tinkering in a VM like @BudMansuggested. Aside from formatting the m2, is there a non destructive way to restore the MBR?

[Brandon H Supervisor]

15 minutes ago, patseguin said:

I turned on the PC just now and was able to move the menu selections in grub and booted into Windows. Maybe it was just an anomaly. I might just restore the MBR and do my Linux tinkering in a VM like @BudMansuggested. Aside from formatting the m2, is there a non destructive way to restore the MBR?

if you're on UEFI then there is no MBR; it's done differently with GPT drives.

 

if you boot into a Windows 10 install disc/usb there should be a restore/fix bootloader option in the advanced section; this should cover both MBR and GPT bootloaders

[patseguin Global Moderator]

On 10/7/2019 at 5:39 PM, Brandon H said:

if you're on UEFI then there is no MBR; it's done differently with GPT drives.

 

if you boot into a Windows 10 install disc/usb there should be a restore/fix bootloader option in the advanced section; this should cover both MBR and GPT bootloaders

OK @Brandon Hand @BudManthis is why I don't really enjoy playing with Linux in a VM. I installed Vbox and created a machine and installed elementaryOS. It finished and booted in a tiny window. I need to install the tools in order to have proper hardware and virtual video card. I insert the virtual CD for the installation of the Gues additions. next, I have no idea what to do. There is no point and click installer like in Windows, so I have to try and Google how to run the installer because I don't remember archaic commands from years ago. I take it I have to run the "runasroot.sh" file?

[+BudMan MVC]

Then use a different OS meant for non linux users in ease of use - say Mint would be a good choice.

 

Not sure what you did.. I am downloading it now, and seems pretty easy to follow these instructions

https://linuxhint.com/install_elementary_os_virtualbox/

 

Your on windows 10 right, it has all kinds of problems with 64bit linux under virtualbox.. Atleast it can if you have like hyper-v enabled.

 

edit:  So its updating now, after the install (542 updates - wtf.. You would think they would have a more current download only option I saw was for the 5.iso I got a gui right out of the gate.. Not seeing any issues as of yet.

 

The gui is alike a mac - uggh hehehe little bouncing icons on the bottom of the screen.  Never played with this distro before.

 

Ok all updated, tools installed - screenlooks fine

 

 

Longest part was prob the download from their servers - it was so slow, finally just switched over to p2p and pulled it to my seedbox.. But not seeing any problems with it, gui out of the gate.. Got the tools installed and then changed the res.. Seems pretty responsive, only gave it 4gb and 2 cpu.. And I have a OLD box..

 

Not sure I like that browser - but think this distro meant for mac users it seems. Browsing just fine.

 

Could for sure "evaluate" it this way.. Not sure if going to play some screaming gpu intensive game or anything?  But I don't really play those - only game play really is KSP.. I could try firing that up in it I guess.

 

edit:  Oh your problem is how to install the guest additions on a linux distro in general? Yeah you have to compile them depending so you need to install the build essentials and then run the vboxlinux.run after you mount the addon iso.. Google will find you all the instructions you need.  If you need specific instructions just ask..

 

Install with apt

"sudo apt install build-essential dkms linux-headers-$(uname -r)"

 

then mount the cd from the vbox menu at the top, doesn't seem to auto run with this distro.. But just go to terminal and go to the dir and run the script

 

 

Ah so your issue with virtual machines - is you just don't know how to install the tools for the software in the guest OS?  And you don't have to do that when you install to native hardware?

 

[patseguin Global Moderator]

11 hours ago, BudMan said:

Then use a different OS meant for non linux users in ease of use - say Mint would be a good choice.

 

Not sure what you did.. I am downloading it now, and seems pretty easy to follow these instructions

https://linuxhint.com/install_elementary_os_virtualbox/

 

Your on windows 10 right, it has all kinds of problems with 64bit linux under virtualbox.. Atleast it can if you have like hyper-v enabled.

 

edit:  So its updating now, after the install (542 updates - wtf.. You would think they would have a more current download only option I saw was for the 5.iso I got a gui right out of the gate.. Not seeing any issues as of yet.

 

The gui is alike a mac - uggh hehehe little bouncing icons on the bottom of the screen.  Never played with this distro before.

 

Ok all updated, tools installed - screenlooks fine

 

 

Longest part was prob the download from their servers - it was so slow, finally just switched over to p2p and pulled it to my seedbox.. But not seeing any problems with it, gui out of the gate.. Got the tools installed and then changed the res.. Seems pretty responsive, only gave it 4gb and 2 cpu.. And I have a OLD box..

 

Not sure I like that browser - but think this distro meant for mac users it seems. Browsing just fine.

 

Could for sure "evaluate" it this way.. Not sure if going to play some screaming gpu intensive game or anything?  But I don't really play those - only game play really is KSP.. I could try firing that up in it I guess.

 

edit:  Oh your problem is how to install the guest additions on a linux distro in general? Yeah you have to compile them depending so you need to install the build essentials and then run the vboxlinux.run after you mount the addon iso.. Google will find you all the instructions you need.  If you need specific instructions just ask..

 

Install with apt

"sudo apt install build-essential dkms linux-headers-$(uname -r)"

 

then mount the cd from the vbox menu at the top, doesn't seem to auto run with this distro.. But just go to terminal and go to the dir and run the script

 

 

Ah so your issue with virtual machines - is you just don't know how to install the tools for the software in the guest OS?  And you don't have to do that when you install to native hardware?

 

Yeah I googled the instructions and I compiled the additions files. I had just forgotten a lot about doing that since it's been 10-15 years since I've dabbled in Linux. To me, it' sjust not a great experience in a VM and I have a decent coffee lake rig I built.

[+BudMan MVC]

And what exactly is not "great" about it?  Is it slow?  In doing what exactly?  What amount of resources are you giving it?  if you limit the vm to no ram and only let it run on 1 cpu?

 

I just booted the vm, and it was up in less than 30 seconds to the desktop.. Launch the browser and its up in like a second..

 

I can move it around between my desktops, I can make it full screen so it just looks like that is all I am running or just have it as a window on either monitor.. Just not understanding what is not "great" about the experience to be honest.. I can instantly be in my main os or any of multiple os via having multiple vms running at the same time.. I can be on eOS in one window, Ubuntu on another, freebsd in another. etc. etc.

[patseguin Global Moderator]

1 hour ago, BudMan said:

And what exactly is not "great" about it?  Is it slow?  In doing what exactly?  What amount of resources are you giving it?  if you limit the vm to no ram and only let it run on 1 cpu?

 

I just booted the vm, and it was up in less than 30 seconds to the desktop.. Launch the browser and its up in like a second..

 

I can move it around between my desktops, I can make it full screen so it just looks like that is all I am running or just have it as a window on either monitor.. Just not understanding what is not "great" about the experience to be honest.. I can instantly be in my main os or any of multiple os via having multiple vms running at the same time.. I can be on eOS in one window, Ubuntu on another, freebsd in another. etc. etc.

Maybe it's mental, but it feels kind of sluggish plus it won't run in 4K. The install I have off the external drive runs so much better.

[+BudMan MVC]

1 minute ago, patseguin said:

plus it won't run in 4K

ok - yeah because that is really needed to "evaluate" the overall feel of an OS and learn how it works, and how you xyz in it, etc..  Or just use it as "secondary" OS with your main os..

 

7 minutes ago, patseguin said:

Maybe it's mental

That would be my assessment

[adrynalyne]

26 minutes ago, BudMan said:

ok - yeah because that is really needed to "evaluate" the overall feel of an OS and learn how it works, and how you xyz in it, etc..  Or just use it as "secondary" OS with your main os..

 

That would be my assessment

If I was evaluating something for personal use (and to be fair I think he wants to use and play with it without installing it to his internal drives), I’d be ###### if I couldn’t run at full resolution. The performance thing is to be expected but again, if I wanted to get a better feel for the OS, I wouldn’t want that either. As a tool, a hypervisor is fine for me (even hyper-v).  I’ve the impression he wants to evaluate it in its full glory. 
 

In which case @patseguin, get an external SSD, install all the things there, including the boot loader,

boot to it to use Linux, and call it a day. 

Edited October 11, 2019 by adrynalyne

[Brandon H Supervisor]

if virtualbox guest additions give you trouble then you could try VMWare Player instead. there are opensource guest tools for VMWare guests in most linux package managers  

 

the package is called open-vm-tools

 

Oracle's VirtualBox is good in certain situations but I find VMWare to have slightly better support in most cases even with linux guests

[+BudMan MVC]

1 hour ago, adrynalyne said:

I’d be ###### if I couldn’t run at full resolution

Really - you can not evaluate how an OS works an what it can do unless your at 3840 × 2160... Find that really hard to grasp. But sure ok

 

We are not talking 800x600 tiny window being displayed on your 4k monitor..  And it should have full screen mode at whatever resolution it supports.. Looking at the setting in the VM, looks like it can do 2560x1600.. My monitor will not support that so can not actually test..

[adrynalyne]

6 minutes ago, BudMan said:

Really - you can not evaluate how an OS works an what it can do unless your at 3840 × 2160... Find that really hard to grasp. But sure ok

 

We are not talking 800x600 tiny window being displayed on your 4k monitor..  And it should have full screen mode at whatever resolution it supports.. Looking at the setting in the VM, looks like it can do 2560x1600.. My monitor will not support that so can not actually test..

You find that hard to grasp? It all boils down to what you want to evaluate. If it’s 4k performance or scaling, how else would you evaluate it?

 

@patseguin if you want to try out 4k in a VM, I believe the enhanced Ubuntu VMs in Hyper-V support it. 

[Ve7878]

1 hour ago, Brandon H said:

if virtualbox guest additions give you trouble then you could try VMWare Player instead. there are opensource guest tools for VMWare guests in most linux package managers  

 

the package is called open-vm-tools

 

Oracle's VirtualBox is good in certain situations but I find VMWare to have slightly better support in most cases even with linux guests

Was just about to suggest this. I have just tested Elementary OS in VMware Workstation and even in the live environment I was able to install open-vm-tools and get 4k resolutions no problem.

 

As VMware Player is free, I always recommend this over VirtualBox as it's just so much more compatible and the performence in my experience is above and beyond VirtualBox.

[patseguin Global Moderator]

7 minutes ago, Vince800 said:

Was just about to suggest this. I have just tested Elementary OS in VMware Workstation and even in the live environment I was able to install open-vm-tools and get 4k resolutions no problem.

 

As VMware Player is free, I always recommend this over VirtualBox as it's just so much more compatible and the performence in my experience is above and beyond VirtualBox.

I've used VMWare player in the past and really prefer it. However, I tried installing it but it kept giving me errors about having to reboot to finish installing visual basic or something. After 5 reboots and getting the same message, I gave up.

 

As for 4K, yes I want to run Linux in 4K. This is purely for fun and as a hobby but I want the full experience and speed. I have KDE Neon running on my external drive and it's really nice. I'm just trying the VM route to see if I wanted to just run that full screen.

 

I can see that Linux hasn't progressed much in the user-friendly department. I'll have to re-acquaint myself with a lot in order to start using it.

[adrynalyne]

19 minutes ago, patseguin said:

I've used VMWare player in the past and really prefer it. However, I tried installing it but it kept giving me errors about having to reboot to finish installing visual basic or something. After 5 reboots and getting the same message, I gave up.

 

As for 4K, yes I want to run Linux in 4K. This is purely for fun and as a hobby but I want the full experience and speed. I have KDE Neon running on my external drive and it's really nice. I'm just trying the VM route to see if I wanted to just run that full screen.

 

I can see that Linux hasn't progressed much in the user-friendly department. I'll have to re-acquaint myself with a lot in order to start using it.

It has progressed plenty. What you are trying to do isn’t the typical consumer scenario. 

[Brandon H Supervisor]

XFCE and Cinnamon have come the farthest in terms of user-friendlyness IMO as far as DEs go

 

My Distros of choice would have to be Mint (for native cinnamon support) or Manjaro (great XFCE setup based on the Arch Linux distro)

 

ElementaryOS tries too hard to dumb things down to be MacOS like IMO; I don't care for it personally. I'd highly recommend trying out the 2 distros above or the widely supported Ubuntu or Fedora (both Gnome based; I personally don't care for the direction Gnome 3.x took but that's just my opinion)

 

edit: KDE has evolved quite a bit too but IMO it's still too busy; but a lot of people like it because it's windows like so you may like Kubuntu (Ubuntu but with KDE) as well.

[patseguin Global Moderator]

1 hour ago, Brandon H said:

XFCE and Cinnamon have come the farthest in terms of user-friendlyness IMO as far as DEs go

 

My Distros of choice would have to be Mint (for native cinnamon support) or Manjaro (great XFCE setup based on the Arch Linux distro)

 

ElementaryOS tries too hard to dumb things down to be MacOS like IMO; I don't care for it personally. I'd highly recommend trying out the 2 distros above or the widely supported Ubuntu or Fedora (both Gnome based; I personally don't care for the direction Gnome 3.x took but that's just my opinion)

 

edit: KDE has evolved quite a bit too but IMO it's still too busy; but a lot of people like it because it's windows like so you may like Kubuntu (Ubuntu but with KDE) as well.

Is Gnome still popular and supported?

[Brandon H Supervisor]

10 minutes ago, patseguin said:

Is Gnome still popular and supported?

yes but it feels more like a tablet OS now with Gnome 3.x; you open the apps menu for instance and it fills the whole screen and you have to mouse swipe between pages like you would on an iPad or macOS LaunchPad

 

and the desktop is disabled by default (wallpaper only; can't have shortcuts) unless you install the Gnome customization tools

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

7 minutes ago, Brandon H said:

yes but it feels more like a tablet OS now with Gnome 3.x; you open the apps menu for instance and it fills the whole screen and you have to mouse swipe between pages like you would on an iPad or macOS LaunchPad

 

and the desktop is disabled by default (wallpaper only; can't have shortcuts) unless you install the Gnome customization tools

If you don't like Gnome 3, you can always use MATE...

[Brandon H Supervisor]

Just now, Mindovermaster said:

If you don't like Gnome 3, you can always use MATE...

yes that's another option as well; Mate is a fork of the old Gnome 2.x branch. may or may not be as user-friendly as OP is looking for though which is why I didn't mention it yet

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

4 minutes ago, Brandon H said:

yes that's another option as well; Mate is a fork of the old Gnome 2.x branch. may or may not be as user-friendly as OP is looking for though which is why I didn't mention it yet

True, true... But it is very similar to XFCE, IMO.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

Just now, Mindovermaster said:

True, true... But it is very similar to XFCE, IMO.

depends on the Distro and what customizations are used; but yes at default they're fairly similar.

 

for instance on the XFCE front I love how Manjaro has things laid out and the "start menu" used.