Linux Suggest a distro

Aces170

Aces170

ex-Mod
Pardon me if you guys are sick of the topic but...

Hehe, this has become a routine for me now every year. I will try to use Linux before it crashes my system.

Well its that time of the year :p again.

What I want:

1. Ease of installation

2. Out of the box support for AMD HD 4850, and Sandy Bridge platform

3. Out of the box support for major audio/video codecs

4. Should not play havoc with Windows

5. Installation from a pen drive (do not have any optical drive)
 
Get Google Chrome OS. Get a Hexxeh Build, It will even run off a pen drive for you.. You can work anywhere (on other machines too) you want.

If you want Linux, then I'd suggest Gnome 3.2 on Ubuntu 11.10. You'll actually notice the improvement in Linux UI and how friendlier (Mac'sh) it's become now.
 
Stay away with ubuntu as of now, the kind of integration they offer with catalyst is not worth, loads of artifacts/

Try mandriva 2011.0 or linux mint. Check the features http://www.mandriva.com/en/linux/features/

1. Ease of installation

Yes

2. Out of the box support for AMD HD 4850, and Sandy Bridge platform

Yes

But its advisable to install fglrx from MCC

3. Out of the box support for major audio/video codecs

N/A - Some codecs are installed and other can be installed by adding repo http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/

4. Should not play havoc with Windows

No - As soon as you do correct installation



5. Installation from a pen drive (do not have any optical drive)

Yes
Click to expand...
 
Booted live cd from USB and posting from there. Well I hope I advance to being a noob, as I got stuck in installation process. However the live version has detected my network drivers (am surprised as Windows 7 was unable to detect automatically Intel Lan drivers), with the help of youtube am installing it :p

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

Dammit the installer crashed when installing the boot loader (hope windows MBR is not screwed)..
 
Not sure if it was me, but Mint 11 was damn slow running from a pen drive (used both Kingston and Corsair); it was slower after installing the distro in the pen drive; only option which worked was live usb with persistence.
 
Why not just stick with a live boot system running off of a usb drive if you just want to potter around occasionally?
Click to expand...

Need the USB drive for other purposes :)

So its a strike down for Linux Mint (crashed 2 times while installing). I will try Mandriva (as Ubuntu uses the same installer as Linux mint).
 
If u r interested in more polished KDE distro then try Pardus 2011.2..so far an elegant and rock solid distro using more than 3months..

Yes ofcourse it works well out of the box..!:cool2:
 
As i see it there seems to be some problem with ubuntu's latest version.

I managed to get it installed in 5 different machines,but none of them would boot after that.

Very confusing :S

Give Damn Small Linux a go too :)
 
Aces170 said:
Need the USB drive for other purposes :)
So its a strike down for Linux Mint (crashed 2 times while installing). I will try Mandriva (as Ubuntu uses the same installer as Linux mint).
Click to expand...
Honestly Linux Mint is the best distro for you ... try to re-download the ISO and give it another shot... if not then Ubuntu just because there are so Many tutorials on how to get everything you want out of it...
 
i have used slitaz,macpup,ubuntu,lubuntu,kubuntu etc.

new interface of ubuntu 11.10 is totally disaster.

i like the xubuntu most, easy,good compatibility,light on resources,very useful in usb persistance mode,ubuntu software center support.
 
Guys I need some feedback on Linux Mint.

Some background first:
I am really tired and irritated with Win7 on my DL rig. The Intel Atom setup I reviewed some time back. I always shut it down properly but I get the "windows did not start properly" and it goes into repair mode, which runs for like ~4-5 hours, but still never reaches the desktop. Last week it happened so bad, that the OS went corrupt. I have lost ~4-5 days of seeding time which is really bad. Overall it shows that the OS is not stable.

Questions:
Now if I install Linux Mint, is it more stable. Will it cause issues while shutting down and booting up like Win7. Am sure the footprint too will be less, though HDD space is not a problem for me since it is 2TB in size. I just want a smooth hassle free OS which will not force me for re-installs. Also how is Bittorrent client on Linux Mint. I just need some assurance and will do the new OS install.

Any other feedback would be great.

Thanks.
 
Win7 is definitely not the reason why you are having issues. If so, everyone using Win7 would have had problems, not just you. To start with I'd suggest you verify that your hardware is in proper working order. Specifically your harddrive and RAM.

As far as mint is concerned, all by themselves most *nix distros perform much better these days, as compared to a few years ago. You shouldn't have any issues getting up and running with any of the major distros (debian/ubuntu/suse/etc etc). Linux mint is being bandied around here as a good choice primarily because it tries to take a much more proactive handholding spoonfeeding approach to helping a user. Most software that would be needed by a user comes pre installed and configured (for example, proprietary binaries for Adobe Flash, which aren't distributed with most other distros). And linux has it's fare share of torrent clients that should be able to take care of all your needs.

I'll still say though, that your primary issue is not the OS but possibly hardware. In the oft-chance that your hardware comes clean through tests, I'd suggest reinstalling Windows once.
 
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