Thanks, good enough for me.

Question for Linux users, especially Mint. Does Mint have any hardware restrictions? I'm keeping my Win 7 network running & offline & thinking of pulling a quad core out of retirement & running Mint for Net surfing, e-mailing etc.

Mint is a nice easy distro based on Ubuntu or Debian so will run with anything they do.

I have it as a dual boot on a SFF quad core and it works well.

Why not do dual boot and get the best of both worlds.

I use Mint for microprocessor development \ building but it also works well for everday PC use.

Win 7 is my main however as it has more interesting applications to use or try.
.

Thanks, tried dual booting several years ago & only had issues with it. Liked XP with the various programs I used. Sadly, they ran reduced or with lost features with successive O/S's.
Don't intend trusting MS again with Win 10, which imo, is a pigs dinner.
I've used Mint before & liked it.

Thanks, tried dual booting several years ago & only had issues with it. Liked XP with the various programs I used. Sadly, they ran reduced or with lost features with successive O/S's.
Don't intend trusting MS again with Win 10, which imo, is a pigs dinner.
I've used Mint before & liked it.

XP is still a wonderful OS except when using the internet unless you use a current firefox derivative like 'Basilisk' web browser.

I don't like win 10 but that is just my opinion.

Dual boot works well if you install Win7 first and allow Mint to set the boot \ grub details.

Horses for courses.

Whatever suits you best.

I just installed a 256GB SSD on each of my 2 rigs, disconnected my Windows drives, installed Mint, reconnected the Win drives, jumped into the BIOS to adjust boot options and now if I want to use Win7 I just do a restart + F12 otherwise they just boot into Mint. I've been hit with grub corruption before so I avoid that problem altogether now.

Cheers.

Brilliant option, thanks Wiggo. I have a 1tb drive already installed but not used yet. I'l use that.

Download Mint 19.3 - Check
Burn ISO successfully - Check
Disconnect windows drives - Check
Insert disk, change boot option - Check
Start installing - Check...
...then freezes, no mouse.
Check mouse - Okay, both in bios & Win...
...DOH.
Edit: Checked ISO's already burnt to disk, found 19.1 - Same problem.
Linux , ay?
Mint 13, superb installation, nary a problem.
Mint 14, resolution issues, which someone else experienced as well.
How long has USB been about?
& people talk about M$
DOH!

Linux rules the world HUH?
It couldn't even rule a bog standard usb optical mouse!
19.3 Failed
19.1 Failed
17.3 Failed
LMDE 3 Failed
14 - installed, but failed on updating (couldn't find the required repositories - had net access, other sites no problem to reach).
Now burning Linux Lite 4.8, specially coded for EOL Windows 7 users. If that fails...
...buy a bog standard Win 10 laptop.
Very surprised our resident Linux guru hasn't posted a comment, probably too busy dissing M$ & corporations.

You must have some oddball hardware there Sirius as I havn't had any problems like that even on old WinXP hardware.

Does that rig support booting media from USB device and if so have you tried doing it from a thumb drive?

Cheers.

Don't think it's a hardware problem, but a coding problem. All the O/S that failed were 64 bit. Previously all 32 bit Linux installed without any issues with the exception of Mint 14 on its release & that was a resolution problem.
The problem here is: Device descriptor read/64 - error 32.
Numerous solutions provided but none worked.
Have 5 usb devices connected - 2 printers (laser & inkjet), Mouse, Keyboard & iPhone. Disconnected 3 & retried. Same error.
Funny thing though...
...leave all 5 connected & boot into Windows. All 5 detected...hmm. Linux rules the world does it?
Can recall experiencing some issues with XP64 so pulled my quad core out earlier today. Using win 7 64 plugged in same 5 devices, no issues booting up. Tried all 64 bit Linux all came up with the same error. disconnected 3 still same error.

Definitely a coding problem. Making this post via Mint 19.3 (32 bit). All 5 usb devices detected.
Just have to figure out how to adjust font size on the web browser as it's too small. :-)

Ah, A driver problem. Might need to D/L a 64 bit driver for your particular USB chipset.
The ISO might have been built with an incompatible one.

Ah, A driver problem. Might need to D/L a 64 bit driver for your particular USB chipset.
The ISO might have been built with an incompatible one.

Good point & one the Linux evangelists should take note of. Funny thing though about Windows, it uses generic drivers to get one up & running until one can install the correct drivers. :-)
Also, funny that 4 different distros experience the same issue.
USB optical mice have been around for how long? How difficult is it to code a generic driver either 32 or 64 bit?
As for Mint 19.3, like it. :-) Going to play around with it over the weekend so that I can set up the quad core & rearrange network next week.
What I did find surprising is that it detected my MFC network laser & it functions okay without having to install drivers for it. :-)
@Wiggo. Thanks for that boot option, knocks spots off dual booting. With 8 internal & 1 external drive, 7 Toshiba data drives, Hitachi (Windows) WD (Mint), straight forward enough to select from F12. :-)

Nice. :-)
Thanks Mr Kevvy.
Just need some wu's now.

Can you trust your proprietary devices?...


Wacom Explains Why Its Tablet Driver Sends Data to Google Analytics (Update)
wrote:

... A software engineer named Robert Heaton reported Wednesday that Wacom's driver sent details about every app he opened to Google Analytics. The driver seemingly recorded when the app was opened too, and the report included a string of characters that could serve as a unique identifier for Heaton's laptop. That's a lot of information for a drawing tablet driver to collect about a customer's system.

Heaton said he needed to use Wireshark, a popular app among the security-conscious that monitors network traffic, as well as a cybersecurity utility called Burp Suite to piece together the information Wacom's driver gathered to share with Google Analytics...

So... Really... What is truly 'troubleshooting diagnostics' and if so, why all obscured/unannounced?

Or... Food for intrusive (and personalized/targeted?) Marketing?...


IT is what we allow it to be...
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Can you trust your proprietary devices?...

NO and fixed.

Can you trust your proprietary devices?...

NO and fixed.

There are also devices that are fully open to inspection.

You can have a far greater level of trust when you (and others) can see inside and review what is in there... (And no, that doesn't compromise any security.)


Really, no obfuscation is needed...

IT is what we allow it to be,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Can you trust your proprietary devices?...

NO and fixed.

There are also devices that are fully open to inspection.

Nope. Doesn't exist. Opening the case to pop the ROMs out will void the warranty. Then you still have to run a disassembler. After all anyone can claim to put some open software in, but unless you verify what is actually in the ROM and the microcode, you can't trust it. Too easy for a really bad actor to man in the middle it.

Devices...
...hmm.

Treated myself to a couple of nice Xmas presents which arrived Xmas eve. USB 3.0 2 & 4 bay DAS enclosures. Much cheaper than the equivalent NAS. :-)
Now, had no new drives to populate them, but did have 6 spare (used) drives totaling 3.8tb. Fitted them & set up as JBOD for testing. Nice bit of kit, though setting up the various options bit fiddly due to the size of the jumpers. :-(
Windows
Had to reformat them as I always clear all disks before removing from systems.All seen, drives J,K,L,M,N & O. All other external drives powered down or would hit the drive letter issue. Had fun playing around with copying files across. Not too shabby. Rebooted using Wiggo's F12 option & into Mint we go. Powered up 1 NAS & 1 USB 2.0 DAS (1 bay in use for some considerable time)
Linux
Sees all Win drives, NAS & DAS. DOES not see the others...
hmm...
Google it.

Okay, Terminal, lsblk.
List comes back dev/sd0, sd1.
Hmmm...
Where is dev sd2, sd3, sd4,sd5, sd6 & sd7?
Played around for a few days, as well as hitting google. No joy, so said stuff it.
Ordered 8x Toshiba P300 3tb drives, which arrived this afternoon. Fitted & booted into Mint.
None seen. Rebooted into Windows, deleted drive G (Mint 19.3) & pulled.
Orderd a 9th 3tb drive this evening to replace it as well as as ordering Win 10 pro for laptop (only want a Net gateway).

When Linux works OOB as much as Windows, that'll be the day my network becomes all Linux, until then...

Before anyone pops in with the USB limits, all devices attached to network using USB, have their own power supplies.

Can you trust your proprietary devices?...

NO and fixed.

There are also devices that are fully open to inspection.

Nope. Doesn't exist. Opening the case to pop the ROMs out will void the warranty. Then you still have to run a disassembler. After all anyone can claim to put some open software in, but unless you verify what is actually in the ROM and the microcode, you can't trust it. Too easy for a really bad actor to man in the middle it.

Or just for insecure sloppiness to leave an open invite for your system to be taken over:

Gigabyte Driver Used to Disable Antivirus Software in RobbinHood Ransomware Scheme
wrote:

... a ransomware called "RobbinHood" has been making use of legitimate, but vulnerable, Gigabyte drivers to infect computer systems and take them over.

The attack works on Windows 7 and newer [Windows] operating systems (OSes)...

This is where so far the open source drivers have not hit the news for anything similar (or they've been quickly fixed).


Agreed, the 'secret' firmware blobs are very prominently a security problem. They are also a problem for there being no guarantee of continued support, regardless of the actual hardware still being perfectly fine... For example, note the Sonos brouhaha about their earlier products no longer being supported or for the perfectly good devices to be deliberately bricked by the firmware so as not to be resold...

Sonos will stop providing software updates for its oldest products...
wrote:

... Sonos will stop providing software updates for its oldest products, and they’ll no longer receive any new features. The decision impacts “legacy” devices that are currently part of the company’s trade-up program...

... “Without new software updates, access to services and overall functionality of your sound system will eventually be disrupted, particularly as partners evolve their technology,” Sonos warned...

... Last month, Sonos ran into criticism over its “recycle mode,” a software kill-switch that renders these legacy products inoperable whenever customers opt to participate in the trade-up program...

Hence we have the hopeful beginnings of various "Open Source Hardware" projects coming onto the scene!


IT is what we allow it to be...
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)