Should i try to get Zorin Linux Lite on my secondary PC?

[IDontKnowLiterallyAnything]

I'm currently trying to get Windows not slow on my secondary desktop PC and its just got too much bloatware on the hard drive so im probably gonna wipe it and use it for more storage on my main pc. I have a spare SSD for it, and the specs are ok. On my secondary PC, I have a Core i5 dual-core running at 3.5 ghz. I am not using integrated graphics, but i do have a radeon HD7450 1GB. I also have 8gb of single channel 1333mhz ddr3 ram. I probably need to get some new thermal paste for the processor as its one of those old HP Compaq workstations. It was destined to run Windows 7, but I got a hard drive online with windows already on it so yeah.

[Radium_Angel]

Zorin isn't a bad OS, I've used it on older systems before. How comfortable are you with Linux, and what is your use-case?

[Stahlmann]

3 minutes ago, IDontKnowLiterallyAnything said:

but I got a hard drive online with windows already on it so yeah.

Wait, you bought a hard drive with someone elses data on it and just plugged it in to use yourself?

That's one of the worst security risks you can take.

[IDontKnowLiterallyAnything]

6 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

Wait, you bought a hard drive with someone elses data on it and just plugged it in to use yourself?

That's one of the worst security risks you can take.

i know lol. Thats why i didnt even log into google on it and it was a fresh install of Windows 10 on it. I just wanted to test out the hard ware and make sure it was working.

[IDontKnowLiterallyAnything]

9 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

Zorin isn't a bad OS, I've used it on older systems before. How comfortable are you with Linux, and what is your use-case?

i've never used Linux before, but i kinda wanna get into it and i think this is a good place to start so my use case is using things like SteamOS to play some indie games, play some old abandonware games, and some basic word processing and just regular digital office work. I've tried the HD7450 before and it looks like it will do with CSGO at low settings and 2d games like Hotline Miami run great on it. I just wanna use my SSD and try Zorin Lite or the full fat version of it. 

[Radium_Angel]

The full version works pretty well on older systems, stick with that.

Steam works great under Linux....until it doesn't, and there's not much you can do to fix that, so don't lose sleep over a game misbehaving under Steam for Linux.

 

We are happy to help you with some issues, just be aware there will be a learning curve, sometimes steep, with linux. Zorin is based on Ubuntu, which is good, it's widely known and more user friendly (yes, my opinion) than Arch-based Distros.

 

 

[IDontKnowLiterallyAnything]

Just now, Radium_Angel said:

The full version works pretty well on older systems, stick with that.

Steam works great under Linux....until it doesn't, and there's not much you can do to fix that, so don't lose sleep over a game misbehaving under Steam for Linux.

 

We are happy to help you with some issues, just be aware there will be a learning curve, sometimes steep, with linux. Zorin is based on Ubuntu, which is good, it's widely known and more user friendly (yes, my opinion) than Arch-based Distros.

 

 

ok, thanks. yeah I don't wanna do much with messing with the kernel or anything,  just wanna be able to do some basic work. Thanks for the help!

[Radium_Angel]

1 minute ago, IDontKnowLiterallyAnything said:

ok, thanks. yeah I don't wanna do much with messing with the kernel or anything,  just wanna be able to do some basic work. Thanks for the help!

You won't be playing with the kernel, and if you are lucky, no commandline driver installs either (heaven help you if your wifi/NIC isn't seen outright, however)

 

Speaking of which, what kind of network access does this PC have, is it wired, or wifi.

If wifi, is it USB wifi or a real PCI/PCIe card?

[IDontKnowLiterallyAnything]

Just now, Radium_Angel said:

You won't be playing with the kernel, and if you are lucky, no commandline driver installs either (heaven help you if your wifi/NIC isn't seen outright, however)

 

Speaking of which, what kind of network access does this PC have, is it wired, or wifi.

If wifi, is it USB wifi or a real PCI/PCIe card?

Eventually, I'll have space in my house for ethernet, but right now i have some cheap chinese wifi USB dongle. My motherboard does have gigabit ethernet, so thats my end goal

[Radium_Angel]

Just now, IDontKnowLiterallyAnything said:

Eventually, I'll have space in my house for ethernet, but right now i have some cheap chinese wifi USB dongle. My motherboard does have gigabit ethernet, so thats my end goal

USB wifi is *highly* unlikely to work natively under Linux. Can you give me the exact model please? I'll be happy to look into what kind of pain you are in for trying to get it to work,.

[IDontKnowLiterallyAnything]

Just now, Radium_Angel said:

USB wifi is *highly* unlikely to work natively under Linux. Can you give me the exact model please? I'll be happy to look into what kind of pain you are in for trying to get it to work,.

i honestly don't even know, because i just got one off of ebay. i have the money for a pcie card. Do you know how much a good one usually goes for?

 

[Radium_Angel]

Just now, IDontKnowLiterallyAnything said:

i honestly don't even know, because i just got one off of ebay. i have the money for a pcie card. Do you know how much a good one usually goes for?

 

Well, *nix compatible PCIe cards used to go for 20$, but with things the way they are now...it's closer to 40$, but if you are buying something, you'll want to research native compatibility first, as it'll save you some headache.

I've had good luck with Atheros-based cards.

[IDontKnowLiterallyAnything]

Ok thanks! I'll look for some now.

[IDontKnowLiterallyAnything]

2 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

Well, *nix compatible PCIe cards used to go for 20$, but with things the way they are now...it's closer to 40$, but if you are buying something, you'll want to research native compatibility first, as it'll save you some headache.

I've had good luck with Atheros-based cards.

Good news! I found a Atheros-based one on Amazon for around $16USD. 

https://www.amazon.com/NETELY-Express（PCI-Stations-PCIE-Adapter-Qualcomm-NET-N600/dp/B07FY3ZY74/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=atheros+wireless+card&qid=1619187558&sr=8-3

[IDontKnowLiterallyAnything]

1 minute ago, IDontKnowLiterallyAnything said:

Good news! I found a Atheros-based one on Amazon for around $16USD. 

https://www.amazon.com/NETELY-Express（PCI-Stations-PCIE-Adapter-Qualcomm-NET-N600/dp/B07FY3ZY74/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=atheros+wireless+card&qid=1619187558&sr=8-3

Also, couldn't I just download a firmware update if my USB dongle doesn't work?

 

[Radium_Angel]

Just now, IDontKnowLiterallyAnything said:

Also, couldn't I just download a firmware update if my USB dongle doesn't work?

 

driver installation isn't as straight-forward as it is under Windows.

Look at this for example:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/788855/qualcomm-atheros-ar93xx-wireless-network-adapter-ubuntu-16-04-woes

 

[Radium_Angel]

6 minutes ago, IDontKnowLiterallyAnything said:

Good news! I found a Atheros-based one on Amazon for around $16USD. 

https://www.amazon.com/NETELY-Express（PCI-Stations-PCIE-Adapter-Qualcomm-NET-N600/dp/B07FY3ZY74/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=atheros+wireless+card&qid=1619187558&sr=8-3

This *should* work under Zorin, provided the manufacturer didn't make any changes to the core components when repackaging things.

 

[IDontKnowLiterallyAnything]

Ok, so i should get that card and then try different PCIe slots and try to tweak some system settings? Thats what i took from the thread

[IDontKnowLiterallyAnything]

16 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

This *should* work under Zorin, provided the manufacturer didn't make any changes to the core components when repackaging things.

 

Ok thanks!

[Radium_Angel]

19 minutes ago, IDontKnowLiterallyAnything said:

Ok, so i should get that card and then try different PCIe slots and try to tweak some system settings? Thats what i took from the thread

That distro the person was trying to use was quite old (16.04 on the Kernel, current is 20.04) so swapping PCIe slots won't make a difference.

Really, it's either going to work right out of the box, or it's going to take a ton of work...to make it work.

You should be good to go.

[IDontKnowLiterallyAnything]

11 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

That distro the person was trying to use was quite old (16.04 on the Kernel, current is 20.04) so swapping PCIe slots won't make a difference.

Really, it's either going to work right out of the box, or it's going to take a ton of work...to make it work.

You should be good to go.

Ok thanks for the help!

[Radium_Angel]

Just now, IDontKnowLiterallyAnything said:

Ok thanks for the help!

Anytime, if you get stuck or in too deep, feel free to drop me a PM, I"m pretty handy with Debian-based *nixes....

[Nayr438]

3 hours ago, IDontKnowLiterallyAnything said:

i honestly don't even know, because i just got one off of ebay. i have the money for a pcie card. Do you know how much a good one usually goes for?

 

I would look for one that's built on Intel. It will have the highest chance of working out of the box. Intel is one of the few manufacturers that actually contributes to Linux. Worst case scenario, you need a kernel update and/or a linux-firmware update.

https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/drivers/iwlwifi