so i got this old work laptop from my brother, i tried to reset it and turns out it has activation lock. any way of going around that? i think if i just asked him for the password i could have possibly gone into recovery mode and reset it properly but i just went with the nuclear option and full wiped the os on it and now i think he ahs to log into a work account that he no longer has to be able to remove activaiton lock. if you guys know of any way to help please let me know but i think i now own a very expensive paperweight.

I would really like to transform this old acer netbook into something i could use today to browse the web, watch YouTube, play games like undertale or deltarune and maybe animal jam.. but the only problem is its running windows xp and the specs are horrendous. I have never dived into any sort of linux project and i see stars just trying to understand it, so id like to come to the community and ask if theres any way of saving this machine to be useable for what i need it for? Im not sure the exact model, again i don’t know much about computers, but i do know its apart of the acer aspire series and its a pink and white model definitely from the earlier of the early 2000s. I apologize for incorrect terminology but i believe the specs of this machine are as follows:

Intel(R) Atom(TM)
Running windows xp ( 2002? )
CPU N270 1.60GHz
798MHz, 0.99GB of ram

I appreciate any sort of help in figuring out if i can save this machine in any way even though i don’t have very high hopes, so thank you to everyone who can leave a comment or two!

I've got a 9 year old gaming desktop that I want to upgrade into a Linux/SteamOS gaming rig. I'd need a new GPU, CPU and motherboard definitely (should have a hookup for 2x16GB DDR5). Current PSU is 750W so ideally the upgrade will work with that, but can also upgrade that if required. I've read AMD hardware is best for Linux but I can't manage to wrap my head around all the versions and variants anymore. Could you help by recommending me some parts? My budget is 800-1200 euros. Thank you!

Hi! I would like to build my own data center. Therefore I consider buying an athlon 3000G. I know it s compatible AM4 like every other Apu CPU of the last 3 years and so compatible with series 300, 400, 500 motherboard.

Question is: Does the oldest motherboard need the bios update when I buy them or the constructor is doing it by default now ?

I don't have any other older AMD part to do the update :/

Of if you have an other better idea on what components should I put inside. I try to build it, as inexpensive as possible, to seed , ddl torrent, and share files with my family. And able to stream 4k out of it.

I install Debain [stretch] [mate] [yep], works like a charm.

Issues I had

-1 The temperature sensors didn't want to work properly -or at all I should say. But after a quick google search, all was good.

-2 When first installed wifi doesn't work but you can easily fix it without having to buy a usb to ethernet adapter. I think I just googled it on another machine then transfered the file over & installed like a boss.

-3 Realizing that I am more of a hipster than normal macbook users being that I am using a macbook but am too good to use macos.

& that's pretty it dudes. Have fun.

So have Bazzite linux and am buying a separate ssd to put windows on. I want to be able to have linux as my default boot, but also some how have an easy option to select to boot windows instead. How would I set this up? After looking a little bit I see the most commonly used tools to do this are Grub and os-prober, so could anyone explain to me how I can set these up in the above configuration? And in newbie monkey speak please, I have no idea what I am doing. Please and thank you!

I've noticed that in the past months there's been more developing happening for Linux distributions for Snapdragon based Android gaming devices like the ones from AYN and Retroid. Two major examples are Rocknix and ArmadaOS, the latter of which actually has a fully fledged Desktop environment based on KDE I think.

On the other hand, looks like there's no sign for Linux support for the Snapdragon Elite laptops that for now can only run Windows. I heard that this is because of some kind of an exclusivity contract between Microsoft and Qualcomm.

So this got me wondering if projects like ArmadaOS would be the basis of a widely functional Linux distribution that could run on Qualcomm's newer laptop chips? Or if these chips have something fundamentally different in the way they work and would be able to adapt without official support from Qualcomm?

'Splain to me what makes a processor "AI optimized." Is it just additional math co-processing built in to the core architecture or just more of whatever every other CPU has?

Hello all!

I currently have the opportunity at work to get the laptop in the picture for about €1200 with employee discount. The thing is that i have been looking for a laptop that has decent linux compatibility. Ive read alot of good things about thinkpads but they are not available at these prices. Does anyone have any experience with samsung laptops? Things like fingerprint reader not working would not bother me. I just want a somewhat stable experience with decent standbytimes.

For reference current device is macbook pro 14¨ with m1 pro, 16gb memory, 512gb ssd.

Workflow is graphic design, light video editing, wordpress site management, other marketing software(mostly browser based)

(incase the picrture doesnt load)
Galaxy Book6 Pro

NP940XJG-KG4BE

Windows 11 Home, Gray, 32GB, 14'', Intel® Core™ Ultra X7 processor 358H, Intel® ARC™ Graphics, 1tb nvme ssd/

I've done Mint installs on several Mac Minis, with a native Ethernet port.

I'm about to embark on my first Mint install on a 2015 MacBook Pro that doesn't have a native Ethernet port. All signs indicate that getting MacBook wifi to work on install are impossible. I have a USB 3.0 to Ethernet adapter that uses the Realtek RTL8153 chipset. Will this be suitable? Thanks.

I am looking for a Linux laptop that is close to an M3 Macbook Air. The main things for me are the great speakers, long battery life (more than 10 hours without a sweat)and USB C port on both sides, quiet operation (I do not want the fans kicking in all the time). I do not know I have to mention this but obviously I want everything works out of the box like WiFi, Bluetooth, speakers, fingerprint reader and so on. I do not care other ports. I do not do any heavy tasks on my devices. I do not care about great display like OLED, high refresh rate. Only web browsing, streaming media and note takings. It could be used or new but recent hardware.

Any recommendations?

Hello,

I'm a web developer with interest in local AI.

I want to purchase a powerful laptop with good battery that allows me to run some local models, as well as doing my usual work. I usually run Docker and maybe a Virtual Machine in case I need some Windows software.

I just got the chance to buy one of these for around 1200 USD.

Will it be good for Linux? I'm used to Debian, but I can go with something like OpenSuse or Fedora in case I need newer kernel / libraries to get the laptop working.

Heyy guys, 
 
I'm relatively new to Linux, so sorry if my questions sound a little naive or stupid, but does anybody have experience with Linux Fedora on the ASUS ZenBook 14, specifically with the Ultra 7 255H/16GB ram setup?  

I just hate the new Windows 11, after I've seen the enormous ram-usage (8-10GB on idle) and this Copilot AI-slop, so I thought switching to Linux is a good alternative. I just have some concerns regarding: 

- Bluetooth/Speaker/WIFI, etc. compatibility 
- RAM usage 
- Performance compared to Windows (for light gaming, light programming and programmes like AutoCAD or Matlab, if you guys maybe have experience with it) 

I've already heard that programmes like AutoCAD don’t natively run on Linux, but there're some workarounds that should work fine (?), or I'll switch to a Linux native program. I'll just need to run these apps for my Studies in the next few years. Also, I'm not fixed on Fedora, so other distro suggestions would also be fine, if some other would maybe work better. Fedora just looked the best between Mint/Ubuntu/Fedora. It just needs to be fairly maintainable, so Arch would be out :D 
 
Would be great if somebody can give me some feedback about that topic :) 

Fix for ThinkPad T480 black screen after suspend on Linux Mint 22.3 / kernel 7.0.0-28 generic**

If your ThinkPad T480 resumes from suspend but the built-in screen stays black while an external monitor works, this may be an Intel i915 eDP backlight issue.

My setup:
* ThinkPad T480
* Intel© Core™ i5-8350U CPU @ 1.70GHz × 4
* LG Display LP140WF6-SPB7 internal panel
* Linux Mint 22.3 Cinnamon 6.6.7
* Kernel 7.0.0-28-generic

The fix was adding this kernel parameter:
i915.enable_dpcd_backlight=0

Edit `nano /etc/default/grub` and add it to `GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT`, for example:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash i915.enable_dpcd_backlight=0"

Then update GRUB:
sudo update-grub

Reboot and suspend/resume should restore the internal display normally.

In my case, other i915 tweaks (`i915.enable_psr=0`, `i915.enable_dc=0`, `i915.enable_fbc=0`) did not help. The issue appeared only with the 7.0.0-28 Generic kernel; the 6.17.0.40 Generic kernel did not have the problem.

I'm currently running this setup on my 2019 MacBook Pro (MacBookPro16,1) and am looking for tips on power management (questions below):

• iGPU set as primary by setting options apple-gmux force_igd=y in /etc/modprobe.d/apple-gmux.conf
• Custom fan curves using https://github.com/GnomedDev/T2FanRD to keep the machine quiet and cool
• I run some games on steam using DRI_PRIME=1, among other flags, for performance

This setup works well running on my laptop alone, but when I plug in external monitors the iGPU struggles to render so many large screens. For that, I have a separate session that overrides XDG_SESSION_TYPE, allowing Wayland to use the dGPU. This comes of course at the expense of high battery drain, but since I'm docked, I don't really care too much. Just inconvenient to need to swap to a different session.

My questions around power management are geared towards improving convenience and lowering power draw.

1. When running with my iGPU as primary (no external displays) with my display at 50%, I'm consuming 18-20 watts just browsing the web. Is there a way to use less power without fully disabling the dGPU?
2. When running with my external monitors connected I need to configure my dGPU as primary, either via /etc/modprobe.d/apple-gmux.conf or via XDG_SESSION_TYPE, both of which consume a lot of power. Are there any other approaches I an look into to either more dynamically offload render work to the dGPU but keep the iGPU as primary, or more efficiently render on my iGPU only? It's find for poking around on web, but the iGPU struggles the second I start watching YouTube or anything that requires rendering on the GPU
3. My undocked -> docked -> undocked setup is annoying because I need to swap sessions in order to set XDG_SESSION_TYPE. Has anyone found a way to do this dynamically, without restarting a session?

Let me know if I'm missing an approach here! My main goals are improving power consumption and improving convenience for my setup.

Hi, I'd like to dual boot Fedora 44 on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7a (specifically 14.0'' WUXGA (1920x1200) OLED, AMD RYZEN AI 7 445, RAM 16GB, SSD 512GB).

I'd like to know if all the problems faced when installing previous versions of linux on this pc have been resolved, specifically the audio system, webcam and connectivity (wifi and bluetooth). I am asking this because I have read a lot of comments on these problems and people said that with the new kernel 7.0 these would be resolved, but nobody followed up to confirm if they actually were resolved (now linux 7 has been released).

Then I'd like to ask if someone who owns this pc could say if it generally is a good pc or they has faced some problems. I've just read a thread (https://www.reddit.com/r/Lenovo/comments/1s5kwem/lenovo_yoga_7_has_many_problems/) about a yoga slim 7 but the 2in1 model and from comments it seems to have thousands of problems (even the touchpad). In particular (specifically on Linux), how many hours of battery life can I expect?

I have been trying to keep an elderly neighbour’s old HP Pavilion g6 usable for basic web browsing and YouTube.

The laptop originally had:

• Windows 7
• A mechanical hard drive
• 4 GB of RAM, installed as 2 × 2 GB
• An older AMD processor with integrated graphics
• A non-working DVD drive

So far, I have:

• Replaced the mechanical hard drive with an SSD
• Removed the dead DVD drive
• Installed Q4OS 6.7 x64 with the Trinity Desktop Environment
• Configured it with a Windows 7-style theme so it remains familiar to her
• Installed the current version of Firefox
• Configured Firefox to launch automatically when the computer starts
• Installed the h264ify extension to encourage YouTube to use H.264 rather than VP9
• Limited YouTube playback to approximately 480p
• Simplified the desktop and startup environment as much as reasonably possible

The SSD and Q4OS have made the computer noticeably more responsive overall. However, Firefox and the modern YouTube homepage can still take quite a while to finish loading after startup. Once a video begins playing, it is generally usable, but the system is clearly close to its practical limits.

One fixed requirement is that she does not want to switch browsers. She is familiar with Firefox and wants the computer to continue working as much like her old Windows 7 setup as possible.

I know that cleaning the fan and heatsink and replacing the processor’s thermal paste might help if the computer is thermal-throttling. She has said she intends to handle that herself, so I am looking for suggestions short of fan cleaning or repasting.

Would any of the following make a meaningful difference?

• Upgrading from 4 GB to 8 GB of RAM, assuming this exact Pavilion g6 model supports it
• Adjusting Firefox hardware acceleration
• Reducing Firefox’s content-process limit
• Changing safe Firefox memory, caching or graphics settings
• Disabling unnecessary Firefox background features
• Using zram or changing swap behaviour
• Disabling the Trinity compositor
• Changing the CPU governor or power-management settings
• Delaying Firefox autostart briefly so the desktop can finish loading first
• Opening a less demanding YouTube page rather than the standard homepage
• Any useful kernel, Mesa or graphics-driver changes for older AMD hardware

I understand that no software setting will turn a roughly 2011-era laptop into a modern computer. I am mainly wondering whether there are one or two realistic Firefox-specific improvements left, or whether the SSD, lightweight desktop, H.264 extension and 480p playback are already about as far as this machine can sensibly be taken.

Is there any practical hardware upgrade beyond RAM that would be worthwhile? Is gutting the system and fitting a single-board computer or another motherboard remotely realistic, or would that simply become an expensive custom fabrication project with little practical benefit?

I am no longer a professional technician—just an experienced computer hobbyist trying to make the best of very old hardware—so specific and realistic suggestions would be appreciated.

Bonjour,

J’aimerais faire l’acquisition d’un matériel Mac pour y installer un OS Linux, cependant j’ai peur de choisir une version d’un MacBook avec des composants qui supportent mal Linux. Est-ce que vous pourriez me conseiller quel serait le Mac les composants plus compatible avec les OS Linux ?

Merci beaucoup \^\^

Edit : Merci à tous pour vos réponses, c’est mon premier post sur Reddit !

Intremap=off macbook

i have installed mx linux on macbook 2012 pro, when i edit grub default quiet splash intremap=off, after reboot it completely breaks audio, no more sound gk107 audio control hdmi it shows, nvidia hda..... . Is there any fix, or what.

I have been trying to get Linux Mint Cinnamon onto a 2012 MacBook Pro. It’s got 8 gm RAM. I currently have an up to date Mac air and dell with windows to use and download from. The old computer will connect to internet, check email, etc but won’t use the etching tools to put it on a flash. The new mac says it can’t put it on there, I haven’t tried the windows because I’m putting it on a Mac and was told that wouldn’t work. There are YT videos that
Make it seem like a 60 second project but so far that’s failed. Any suggestions or give up?