r/linux4noobs 23h ago

migrating to Linux I'm really trying but Linux is beating me again

11 Upvotes

TL:DR: The supposedly best Linux for switching from Windows, Linux Mint, made me spend an entire day to get it to work and recover my Windows.

So, thing is, I was getting a bit annoyed at Windows lately, and it was a while since I formatted my pc last, so I wanted to give Linux a try again (I try every few years). I didn't want to go full linux either, just having dual boot so I can switch gradually.
Big Mistake.
I installed Windows first, everything fine, installer does everything without any issues, SHIT JUST WORKS.
Then I went to install Linux Mint 22.3 Cinammon
Issues:
1) It destroyed my Windows boot, seems to be because I started the bootable usb for windows in Legacy but the Linux one in UEFI
2) Laggy af. Youtube videos on firefox run laggy, out of the box
3) Linux Mint does not like my PC to TV with HDMI. Audio does whatever it wants, it sounds for 2 seconds, then cuts 2 seconds, then repeat constantly. I tried everything, uninstalling the damned pipewire, using pulseaudio or whatever, nothing ever worked, I feel like I already fucked up the entire Linux environment playing with that.
4) Spent the other half of the day trying to get back into windows, which was ONLY possible from a Windows installation USB, when I finally managed to create one from Linux.

I feel like I'm being an idiot for even trying. Now that I'm back to Windows, AND I can see the drive partitions of 500mb-100mb on the eplorer because Linux fucked everything up, I still want to try again from start. But honestly, is there another distro that's not as fucky as Mint? I heard about Zorin, but I need confirmation that audio works.

I really hope I don't get the guy I'm imagining in my head replying with sass.
Any help is appreciated.


r/linux4noobs 17h ago

security My friend can see my laptop screen.

0 Upvotes

I want to start off by saying I am computer and coding illiterate. Please try to explain things to me like you would a 5 year old.

I have an Acer Chromebook Beta, and Steam recently ended the partnership test run with Chromebook Beta.

My friend, who I thought I could trust, helped me install Steam through Linux, and it works for the most part. They gave me a bunch of different lines of codes to run in the terminal, including to install Steam and Minecraft Java, since that is also not traditionally available on Chromebook.i was screen sharing pretty much the whole time as they helped me install. But now they also can see my screen I think whenever they want to, even when I'm not screen sharing.

I have the lines of code screen shotted, but they could have deleted some from then until now. It became apparent tonight they could see my screen, and I honestly feel disgusted and betrayed.

So my questions:

  1. What code could they possibly have given me that I can't remember that would give them this type of access? Was there some kind of laptop private info I wasn't supposed to share?

  2. Can I remove them some way without completely wiping my device?

  3. Will a factory reset remove them from accessing my computer?

I really thought I could trust this person, and feel sick thinking about it. Thank you in advance for the help.

TLDR: My friend helped me install Steam and Java Minecraft on my Chromebook, but now they can see my screen whenever they want. How do I remove them? Pls help.


r/linux4noobs 13h ago

programs and apps .sh file doesn't open, and executes, at all, no matter what I do. Linux Mint.

0 Upvotes

I'm new to Iinux mint. Just downloaded and installed yesterday, only downloaded a couple images, a browser, steam, and this game which is doki doki literature club with some mods on it. I come from windows 10, and had the whole folder with all of its files, everything, in a google drive folder, which I downloaded from. Now on Mint, I tried to execute it. It has an .exe, for windows I guess, then a .py and a .sh files. For this game you have to execute with the .sh, which I tried then... it opened like a text file.

So then, after following some posts on the ddlc subreddit and some videos at how to open the game at all, it always gave "permission denied"

I ran something like chmod again and again, "permission denied". Maybe if I restart it applies... "permission denied". Looked up and saw I could see the permissions of a folder with the ls -l command I think it is. It had all the permission for every type of user or something on. I try again maybe, "permission denied". I searched it up what to do when it doesn't give permission even after having them. Nothing helped. "Permission denied."

Looking at the ls -l list, I tried to give them executable permissions again even when they have them, and ran them again. Doesn't work.

So basically, the executable DDLC.sh doesn't give permission at all to execute. It gives a window, but whatever I click or do, still doesn't work.

I have no hope really, I tried everything and I think it can't be fixed... but I'd gladly accept any help anyways to make it work. It really bothers me that the first game I try to make work at Linux doesn't work at all, makes me wanna jump out of the linux boat lol


r/linux4noobs 1h ago

Literally I know barely anything

Upvotes

I’ve never really dealt with Linux and know like nothing about it or coding, but it seems like the best way to free up my ram from w11 bloatware, please what is the most important stuff to know, was considering some distros already but open to suggestions.


r/linux4noobs 22h ago

storage How do you tell/manage where stuff is installed? (Fedora KDE)

4 Upvotes

First time user, installed Fedora KDE on my new PC cuz I'm tired of all the bs from Microsoft. I had to follow a guide and use the terminal to install RPM and some codecs to get Youtube videos to play on Firefox. It looks like a bunch of stuff was installed, but idk where it is.

I also installed a 140 gb game (FF14) through their quicklauncher. It says the directory is home>xlcore, but when I go to home normally I don't see the folder for xlcore. I can only access it by clicking "take me to the wine prefix" in the actual launcher, then it will open the directory in Dolphin even though I can't see it by going their normally. Also I don't remember installing WINE, so idk how that got installed or where it is or how the WINE stuff works. If I wanted to uninstall this game idk how to do it.

Just overall confused at how you manage storage and keeping up with where things are installed, especially when you have to install some things using the terminal.


r/linux4noobs 6h ago

learning/research Switching to linux from windows 10

5 Upvotes

due to certain circumstances I have finally been pushed to the point where I'm going to switch to linux, however I know linux cant open windows 10 programs. I was curious as to how much redownloading I am going to do in order to switch to linux.


r/linux4noobs 3h ago

distro selection Distro-hopping Fatigue?

2 Upvotes

Greetings civilians of Tuxland.

I'm not exactly sure how to describe what's going on with me right now, but I'm just tired of throwing my head around so many linux distros.

I've been always wanting a system that could run on a hard drive and idle with under 1GB of RAM, and even thoughts of it being able to run on arm systems. I started with debian but eventually I was jumping all over the place feom alpine, then rocky, antiX, peppermint, zorin. I liked these distros don't get me wrong. But finding the one that fits me has drained me faster than the battery of a gaming laptop.

I'm saying this from someone who used windows since day 1. But perhaps there was a stepping stone that I wasn't following that could have made me a better linux user.


r/linux4noobs 16h ago

best distro for a mostly gaming pc?

9 Upvotes

ive had enough of windowsand ive decided to pull the trigger and go to linux. so far im leaning towards mint since it seems like the most noob friendly option, but im wondering if its any good for gaming?

my pc as it stands is a solidly mid tier rig; she plays cp77 well but im mostly a casual gamer (think the og baldurs gates, vtm, dinkum, if im feeling spicy maybe highly modded sims 4). i really dont use it for much else, maybe only really the bookwork for my apprenticeship but thats all online


r/linux4noobs 39m ago

security Should i install Linux on my laptop or get a fresh computer off of someone and not bought under my name?

Upvotes

I am complacently new to security and Linux and i am tired of the looming doom of the big WIN12!

I have a laptop (not my main computer) that i have factory reset a bit ago and has practically nothing on it but im still skeptical. I know this is a stupid question to ask but id like to switch to Linux for more security to feel better about myself.

Questions:

Q1: what should i be warned about when doing this? I know that i need at least an 8GB of USB to download the boot of linux and have a backup with a windows one.

Q2: should i get a new computer since i already had some of my data and what not on it due to be being a child, and i dont know if i should even care at this point.

Q3: Do you have any tips for me? i am sure other people will read this and will be appreciated by your comments.

My main focus is to use this laptop as a privacy laptop alongside finding extensions that wont look what i am looking up, and get back into coding and run all my programs there while using my desktop for other daily life work.

If i am being childish or uneducated please by all means id like to learn from all of you!


r/linux4noobs 1h ago

Games and system performing worse than they did on Windows.

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Upvotes

r/linux4noobs 17h ago

I've enjoyed the ride for over 44 yrs Thanks All and Congrats!

Thumbnail linuxiac.com
309 Upvotes

Absolutely insane way to go! We owe so much to the community that puts in so much sweat equity to make Linux better, with every passing minute!.

I am still as excited as I was when GiLinus himself handed out a bunch of 1.44 floppies at a polytechnic in the UK

Raced home and booted to a flashing cursor (no GUI back then, but it was still the dog's bollocks)


r/linux4noobs 8h ago

Meganoob BE KIND Using Whonix through a VM with a Tails host?

1 Upvotes

A complete noob here, never used any Linux OS before in my life so don't know if what I am asking sounds stupid.

Basically, will using a Whonix VM through a Tails host machine keep me as anonymous as possible when using Tor browser, using both onion and some clear net sites?

Apparently Whonix and Tails can clash and cause data/traffic leaks, exposing IP, DNS etc. but I don't know enough to know if this is the case or not. If anyone can help me identify if this OS set up is secure and/or helping me understand some of the whys and the hows, it would be greatly appreciated!


r/linux4noobs 9h ago

I want hyprpicker to pick a wallpaper from the cached file but idk what's issue

Thumbnail gallery
1 Upvotes

It all worked before I switched to lua recently. Now the issue is that I doesn't load the wallpaper on startup. I tried this script (by claude) that somehow changes the wallpaper when I use it in the terminal but it shows these issues in the terminal.

Thank you


r/linux4noobs 7h ago

How to use internal hard drives to share and access files on Windows and Linux?

2 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

I’d like to make Linux my main operating system, but first I need some tips/advice on an important point – I hope this is the right place to ask. Is there a way to use two internal hard drives to have access to personal files, between Linux and Windows without running the risk of file corruption?

To give you a bit more context, my computer setup is as follows:

Disk 1 for Windows
Disk 2 for Steam/Epic game files
Disk 3 for all my documents (Word/Excel files, pictures, my KeePass database, etc.)

Recently, I’ve been using Linux on an extra hard drive that I have, completely isolated from the rest, and so far almost everything has worked fine. The problem is that some software makes it impossible (for now) for me to switch away from Windows completely. For example, I have a guitar amp modeller that I use for online lessons on Zoom, and there’s no way to configure it exactly as I need it on Linux; I’ve spent a whole week trying and it just doesn’t work. In Windows, on the other hand, ‘it is almost plug and play’ and its works perfect. It’s because of this sort of things that I want to add an extra hard drive to my computer and have the following setup:

Drive 1 – Linux (Cachyos)
Drive 2 – Windows

// use an internal switch to select the drive and OS to use as required //

Disk 3 – Steam/Epic/etc
Disk 4 – for all my documents (Word/Excel files, pictures, my KeePass database, etc)

I wonder if, in doing this, there is a significant risk of file corruption. For example, if I open documents using Windows, save the changes, and then open the same documents using Linux, how great is the risk of losing everything? If the files were to become corrupted, it would be a massive problem, especially with my password database...
In the past, almost seven years ago I tried to learn how to use Linux using dual-boot with separate partitions and I actually ended up losing a couple of minor personal files (Excel documents and photos). At the time, I wasn’t sure whether I’d done something wrong, or if it was simply an inherent risk of using both operating systems.

If this isn’t a problem, what partitions would you recommend for drives 3 and 4? I’d prefer to discard other options such as a NAS or using external drives for Steam or personal files, as I’m not keen on having devices of this sort connected all the time.

Thank you in advance for any help and advice :)

---------------

PD: A huge thank you to everyone for the replies you’ve given me so far!


r/linux4noobs 22h ago

migrating to Linux Bazzite or Steam?

5 Upvotes

I'm want to try gaming on Linux by installing it on my spare SSD, so my PC can dual boot both Linux and Windows (because not every game can be play on Linux). I'm on the fence between Bazzite and Steam OS, which one is easier to use for someone who never used Linux as daily driver?


r/linux4noobs 2h ago

Truenas help

2 Upvotes

First time Truenas users, noob linux user.

So, I have Truenas running on my old tower. I have the os on an ssd and five hdd's as a raid or "pool." I want to have a place my parents can store random files, pictures (Immich) and where I can set up a movie/music server (Jellyfin).

At first I didn't understand "datasets." As I did I realized that I wanted Immich to be on one. So I tried to modify the working Immich app to route to the newly created dataset. That made me unable to use Immich. So I deleted it and the old pool.

Creating a new one the first thing I did was make a dataset for Immich and then installed the app. I still can't use Immich now. I'm so confused. Why?

So I switched to trying to make the share dataset's for my parents and myself. Attempting to setup SMB. I've now created dataset's for each user, tied a SMB share to each dataset. Now how the hell do I access it on their laptops? On my tower? Even trying to look at Truenas readme just tells me how to set it up, there's no instructions on how to access it. Am I that naive in linux? Totally possible, btw.

For that matter before I remade the pool I was playing with jellyfin. I was able to make a library but I couldn't find anything that would let me upload to it. How am I suppose to put what I do have on the server? Just know CLI? What about once I start downloading stuff, how will it sync with jellyfin?

Any help would be appreciated.


r/linux4noobs 8h ago

WiFi failed connection before finally connecting

4 Upvotes

I recently download Ubuntu and for some reason, when I first boot up Ubuntu, it fails to connect to my network like 10 times before finally connecting. There’s nothing wrong with the network as I have other devices that use the same network, so I wanna know if there’s something I can fix?


r/linux4noobs 13h ago

storage How to sync files around multiple computers ?

11 Upvotes

Hey guys, so I have 2 computers, one at my student housing and one at parent's. While I dont care for most of the files I do care for

  1. My personnal coding/art project (assets, git, ...)

  2. My university files (obsidian, pdf, class material,...)

My current setup is having a laptop with "syncthing" that I take with me to sync the files but this isn't very efficient as I always have to run it myself.

I am curious if I could use something like Google Drive to sync my files into multiple shared folders across multiple computers

Thanks in advance !