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| Thread ID: 78242 | 2007-04-09 02:37:00 | Mepis 6.5 | Murray P (44) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 539155 | 2007-04-10 13:32:00 | From someone who had never tried Linux until a couple of months ago ...... Well I guess I'm a genuine convert now. Have been using Mepis 6.5 in various beta forms and rc's for last 2 months. Now have full version of 6.5 (64) running and am very happy with it. Still am an absolute newbie at linux - but stunned at how easy Mepis installed, found all my hardware (including external SB & MS wireless mouse and kb). Learning curve has not been as hard as expected - as long as you're prepared to read a bit :thumbs: .... and google is definitely your friend in that respect ! Most impressive is the auto installation of correct Nvidia driver (7900GS) allowing me to run Beryl straight out of the box. I find the beryl tweaking a bit confusing (so many options) - but the effects are pretty cool. Even installed Wine so my wife has her Hoyle games running. No trouble with that either. Searched forums, printed instructions, followed them, and even figured out how to get desktop icons so she won't have to run terminal :thumbs: For anyone contemplating trialling Linux - give Mepis a shot. D-load the live CD and have a play. If you like - you can install off same disk. Am still dual booting with XP - a few issues with some of my latest games - but can live with this. Now much prefer Mepis as first choice for the day to day stuff. Murray - if you get Beryl working it really is 'easy on the eye'. Lots of theming options 2. |
Brooko (8444) | ||
| 539156 | 2007-04-10 19:07:00 | Learning curve has not been as hard as expected - as long as you're prepared to read a bit :thumbs: .... and google is definitely your friend in that respect !And there lays the secret to success. Expect a learning curve, take it in your stride and use the available resources at hand to help resolve any questions/issues. Good on you. :) | Jen (38) | ||
| 539157 | 2007-04-11 00:43:00 | Brooko, great to hear you've had a positive and happy experience with Linux :thumbs: Beryl is loaded but I get kicked back to login if I try to apply the effects, where you get the option to choose the default settings for my hardware (which is kind of neat, rather than simply crashing X entirely as it did in 6.0 with Beryl updates added in). If I popped a halfway decent video card in, I don't think I'd have any issues. However, I'll have another read and fiddle with the various settings to see if I can't find a level where my graphics is comfortable. TBH, I haven't RTFM to any extent more than a quick flick. :blush: *** Jen, you need to get that Core stuff out of your system :p |
Murray P (44) | ||
| 539158 | 2007-04-11 00:57:00 | Why the confusion DD? Just being me . . . :D I thought I was pretty up to date with things Linux, I had never heard of it . Mind you, there are so many projects going on, its hard to keep track . My confused icon was also because where on earth did they get the name Beryl from (the wife of the project leader? ;) ) I downloaded eLive which shows off the latest version of Enlightenment . Wasn't too bad . I'll try this Beryl out . |
dolby digital (5073) | ||
| 539159 | 2007-04-11 01:31:00 | Grab the Mepis 6.5 live CD DD. It will make having a gander at Beryl very much easier. especially where hardware detection and drivers are concerned. I think you'll find that Beryl refers to beryl/beryllium, a gem. |
Murray P (44) | ||
| 539160 | 2007-04-11 01:44:00 | Beryl is loaded but I get kicked back to login if I try to apply the effects, where you get the option to choose the default settings for my hardware (which is kind of neat, rather than simply crashing X entirely as it did in 6 . 0 with Beryl updates added in) . If you did an upgrade rather than clean install that may be the cause . Have a look at this page ( . com/articles/AT6383341657 . html" target="_blank">desktoplinux . com) . For example, MEPIS and the Beryl Aquamarine windows decoration set simply do not work well together . You also need to keep your eye on what version of SimplyMEPIS, X . org, and AIGLX and NVIDIA display drivers you're using, to make sure they're all in sync . For example, I discovered the hard way that XGL with X . org 7 . 0, which is what Ubuntu Dapper and MEPIS 6 . 0 use, will not work with MEPIS 6 . 5 . I made the mistake of doing a partial upgrade from 6 . 0 to 6 . 5 and spent far too much trying to get MEPIS 6 . 0's X . org 7 . 0 to work with the MEPIS 6 . 5's Beryl . 20 and the NVIDIA 1 . 0 . 9746 driver . They don't work together . Instead, I needed to upgrade to MEPIS 6 . 5's X . org 7 . 1 . Since you're going to need to replace all your existing Beryl files and setup if you upgrade from Ubuntu or MEPIS 6 . 0 to 6 . 5, you'll be better off doing a clean install, rather then try to save time by preserving your existing 3D desktop setup . Otherwise, as I now know to my sorrow, you'll only end up wasting time . |
FoxyMX (5) | ||
| 539161 | 2007-04-11 01:56:00 | Good point Foxy - I had read this as well - but as it worked for me straight up, I didn't even think of it for Murray's situation . Other neat feature I tried while we were travelling at Easter is making a bootable Mepis USB key (very easy set-up) . Took a 2 Gig key, partitioned it - put OS on one partition and data on the other one . Unfortunately couldn't get it to auto load my settings off the 2nd partition - but at least had key elements for the desktop I prefer - so could set-up manually once I had the key loaded each session . Then I could save any data onto 2nd partition (eg emails etc) . Guess in time someone will come up with a method of doing it automagically . Anyway - then all I did when we were at the in-laws was fire up their PC booting from my key & voila . . . . Linux 6 . 5 . And the key (as opposed to live CD) is much faster:thumbs: Also - recently tweaked home system to allow special keys for keyboard + extra buttons for mouse . Only thing I haven't been able to figure out is horizontal scroll using mouse wheel side tilt . Oh well - more research :lol: |
Brooko (8444) | ||
| 539162 | 2007-04-11 02:36:00 | Tah Foxy, that was indeed the situation when I did the upgrade as per my previous post (which is kind of neat, rather than simply crashing X entirely as it did in 6 . 0 with Beryl updates added in) . , but not the case with the fresh install (where I only preserved my home data) . In fact the upgrade path was rather fraught, because when X crashed it could not find a monitor or drivers to load and was complaining about x11 . Rather than try to fix that from a bash prompt, I chickened and went for the fresh install, which I'd intended to do anyway and was ultimately much more rewarding, in part do to my previous fiddling with Mepis had taken it quite a bit away from the original distro (wherein may lie my issues with the upgrade, though I also read the info you posted) . After all that, from upgrade to new fully functional Mepis install, only took 35-40 or so minutes . I'd like to see someone* do a major update of XP then load Vista and be up and healthy in that time and, not lose a scrap of data in the process (* caveat; a non-tech, bumbling fiddler that is) . The think boots quicker than before, fresh or not, and much quicker than win2k (my other OS) . Brooko, you set up your thumb drive using the On-The-Go app? |
Murray P (44) | ||
| 539163 | 2007-04-11 04:25:00 | Murray - tried "on the go" option first - but all it does is put your desktop image etc on the thumb-drive. Then when you fire up Mepis on another PC, you log in as "on the go" to bring up your thumb drive desktop. This is cool if you're using a different Mepis computer - but won't work unless you're using a comp with Mepis already loaded. In the end, I partitioned the drive with Qparted, then made the first partition bootable - I think it's in same area as "on the go" - sorry working from different PC at the moment so can't check. Basically it puts the CD ISO image on the drive. Then on any PC - you chuck the thumb in the drive, and at start up, bypass to boot from USB. Actually - you've given me a thought now ...... What if I do same as above but have "on the go" on 2nd partition. Will try it tonight and let you know. Just not sure how it will work with a partitioned thumb-drive. Ultimate will be when bigger 'thumbs' become more affordable (ie 8GB) - then I'll just try full install to a thumb-drive & sync it with the PC at home :thumbs: |
Brooko (8444) | ||
| 539164 | 2007-04-11 08:51:00 | Let us know how you get on. | Murray P (44) | ||
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