My fresh install of Mint 16 - Steamed up

[floppybootstomp]

My install of Linux Mint 16 64 Bit Cinnamon was going a bit flakey on me, main prob was sporadically the whole screen would divide into pixellated squares and everything sieze up. Very occasionally the whole system would freeze and my Bit Torrent client was reporting errors and losing data.

So I carried out a fresh install. Brief system info:

Asus M5A99X EVO Motherboard; AMD FX-4 4100 Black Edition 4 Core Socket AM3+ CPU 3.6Ghz; Corsair 8Gb Memory; MSI 660 2Gb Graphics Card; Asus Xonar DG 5.1 PCI Sound Card.

Linux Mint has a 500Gb primary hard drive all to itself (removable caddies) and I disconnected the 2Tb storage drive during install.

Install went without a hitch, carried out system update; installed Opera, Scribus and latest Nvidia driver (331). All working well, had to configure sound for SPDIF out (using a DAC).

Then I installed Steam. Installed Metro Last Light and it's playing very well. One minor glitch, the sound stutters at the end of some cut scenes but other than that, very fluid gameplay, it's good.

Of the 235 Steam games I have (a lot of which, I have to say, were a waste of money, they're el crapola, imo, but I digress) just 34 of them will work in Linux. I will install them all and try them out though I very much doubt if I want to play the Half Life Franchise complete for the 20th time . I will post the link of games that work in Linux here for me in a while.

I have yet to:

1) Try Printer
2) Attempt to install Epson scanner (they do supply Linux drivers)
3) Try wired Microsoft game controller (don't have high hopes here)
4) Configure email
5) Configure FTP sharing
6) Try and find a program to burn multi different format video files to a common DVD disc.

The new version of Vuse is imo rubbish so I'm using Pick Torrent to download links and then Linux's own Transmission for downloads, it's working well. Disclaimer - all completely legal links you understand

So far all working well, I do like this distro

 

[muckshifter]

interesting ... in Windows we would be blaming the video drivers or the graphics card itself.

wonder if Perp can be run on Linux?

 

[Abarbarian]

I don't know id you are aware that Mint 17 Qiana is now available, Long term support release (LTS), supported until April 2019.

http://www.linuxmint.com/oldreleases.php

Nice to know Metro runs ok on linux. Sounds like you are enjoying yourself in penguin land. Transmission is neat, I just download torrent files from FF and have them set to open with transmission. Have never heard of Pick Torrent, what does it do ?

If you like Mint you might like Makulu Mate. It is a Debian based rolling release so no need to reinstall regularly. Uses some Mint stuff and should be pretty familiar. I thought it was cool enough to use on my travelling pc.Has run really sweetly for the last two months.

http://www.makululinux.com/mate.htm

 

[Abarbarian]

interesting ... in Windows we would be blaming the video drivers or the graphics card itself.

wonder if Perp can be run on Linux?

https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=22164

Test Results

DistributionTest dateWine versionInstalls?Runs?RatingSubmitterCurrentUbuntu 12.04 "Precise" amd64 (+ variants like Kubuntu)Sep 09 20121.4 Yes Yes Gold an anonymous user ShowArch Linux x86_64Jul 04 20111.3.23 Yes Yes Bronze Casey ShowArch LinuxMar 27 20111.3.16 Yes Yes Gold talonz ShowFuntoo Linux AMD64Feb 14 20111.3.13 Yes Yes Gold Samuel Nelson ShowDebian GNU/Linux 6.0 "Squeeze" x86_64Dec 13 20101.3.8 Yes Yes Silver an anonymous user

 

[floppybootstomp]

Aye, I'm aware Mint 17 has just been released, just a short while after I'd configured a fresh install of 16 - would you Adam and Eve it? lol

If I free up a hard disk from an OS I may give Makulu a whirl, presumably it's try-able as a live distro?

 

[Abarbarian]

Aye, I'm aware Mint 17 has just been released, just a short while after I'd configured a fresh install of 16 - would you Adam and Eve it? lol

If I free up a hard disk from an OS I may give Makulu a whirl, presumably it's try-able as a live distro?

Certainly has a live mode. You get best results running from a usb. If you do try out a live version then remember to use the "toram" option.

I tried Makulu from my Easy2Boot usb and it worked fine.

If you wanted persistence on a usb then you could try this guide but it looks a tad fiddly to me,

http://www.makululinux.com/apps/forums/topics/show/12179024

Personally to avoid the fiddling I would do an install to a usb stick, you will need this tip,

http://www.makululinux.com/apps/forums/topics/show/12813509

One thing to watch out for installing to a usb is hdd identification. I never have anything else plugged in when making a usb install and never have anything else plugged in when trying to boot from the usb, if I do this I have no problems.
If I have other stuff pugged in I can not boot.This is due to the way linux assigns hdd credentials.Too complicated for me to explain but if you have the same set up at install them you will find it best to have the same set up when trying to boot.

Have fun whatever.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Thanks for the links Abarb.

On the machine where I use/experiment/fall flat on my face with Linux Distros I have one permanently fixed 2Tb storage hard disk and a selection of other hard disks which are slotted in and out of a mounted caddy in the machine's case.

In this way I can switch between OS's with ease.

I ALWAYS disconnect the storage drive when installing a Linux Distro as some of them seem to have a mind of their own and if using auto-configure on install, I have seen some go for my storage disk as first choice. Why, I know not, so I don't take any chances.

With this method I also have the luxury of not having to go for a dual install so don't bite my nails worrying if the latest super duper Debian derirative will wipe my lovingly constructed version of Win 7 whatever.

At the moment I have this lot on seperate disks:

Mint 16 Cinammon Ubuntu based 64 Bit
Suse whatever the latest version is 64 Bit
Win XP 32 Bit SP3
Win 7 Ultimate 64 Bit
Win 7 Ultimate 64 Bit 'Test Bed' for trying stuff out with.
Win 8.1 64 Bit fully up to date (and still horrible, lol) with Classic Shell

 

[Abarbarian]

Slot in caddy's are a great idea.I has some but they were for old style hdd's.

When I had 7 on raid and Arch on a separate sata I pulled the cables when installing and did not install the raid recognition stuff in Arch so had no worries.

Now I have 7 on a ssd when I can bring myself to do a clean install of Arch on its own ssd I will set up dual boot properly as I am fed up with firing up the boot menu on every start.

For testing I have a 60 GB ssd on my travelling pc split into 30 GB for Makulu and 30 GB for testing.

I will not be testing any buntus as I can not see the point when I have a Debian based distro to play with.
Might have a go at a Slackware or something more exotic like Plan9,

Plan 9 continues to change daily. Those changes are distributed to the many Plan 9 users via sources.cs.bell-labs.com as described above. Even so, Plan 9 has remained true to its original vision, and a user of a 1992 first edition system would not need much help in adapting to today’s.

or Nix or Minix3 just for the hell of it.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Finally installed/configured Mint 17 today, I used the Ubuntu-based; 64 Bit; Cinnamon desktop version. It's working fine, thus far I haven't noticed any real differences between this and V.16.

Installed all updates; Latest Nvidia Driver (Version 331 I think, it hasn't changed for at least 6 months now); Deluge; Download Helper in Firefox (Capture online video footage); Scribus; Audacity and Steam. Disabled all power saver settings and enabled digital sound out for Asus Xonar sound card/external DAC.

I read on Tom's Hardware that a full 25% of available Steam Games will now work in Linux. That may sound good but Steam offer quite a lot of old tosh in their catalogue, I know this, I have discovered this thing to the detriment of my satisfaction and my wallet.

Top line titles such as the Bethesda catalogue (Skyrim; Fallout 3; Wolfenstein The New Order et al; Bioshock Series; Call Of Duty Series) all those games most desired will not yet work within Linux, sad but true.

Don't mention the WINE emulator, I won't even entertain it, if you're going to use Linux then installing WINE is like having a bath with your boots on.

We gotta keep it pure people.

However, from my roster of Steam games, these definitely work, there may be others I have that work within Linux, I haven't checked yet, but within Mint 17 and Steam I can play:

All the Half Life titles (There's about ten of them in my Steam app)
Gone Home
Dust: An Elysian Tale
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs
Portal
Portal 2
Sid Meier's Civilisation V
Limbo
Left For Dead 2
Euro Truck Simulator 2
Killing Floor
Metro 2
Millie
Trine 2: The Complete Story
X3: Terran Conflict
XCOM: Enemy Unknown

So, not bad eh? Not perfect but to my mind heading in the right direction and making Linux more attractive.

But, until game developers start realising there is money to be made from folks using Apple and Linux OS's, I guess Gaming fans are stuck with Windows.

 

[Abarbarian]

https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=17740&iTestingId=75803

Bioshock seems to work just fine with wine as it gets a platinum grading. The steam version seems to work fine too.

They have made quite a few changes to wine probably due to the involvement of steam in the gaming area. Of course it would be nice to have all games running natively on linux os's. still the situation is much better than it was say one year ago and changes are coming thick and fast.

 

[floppybootstomp]

I know I've said it before but.... I won't use WHINE

Like having a bath wiv yer boots on innit Squire?

I've found a few others that work in Steam/Linux, I'll update the list presently.

 

[Abarbarian]

Took the time to download PORTAL and ran it through Steam on me Makulu box. Plays nicely a tad slowish but I am just using the inbuilt graphics on the mobo.Will run a lot better when and if I ever use me 4850.
Don't know if steam uses wine in Makulu ?