Linux Tips and Tweaks and Other Help

Here is a thread where we can share all of our Linux secrets, tips and tweaks with the community and seek help with any issues getting Linux working correctly. Feel free to share the story behind your move from Windows or Mac OS X to Linux.

Spoiler: Original Post Content

This is included for context relating to the posts that follow. The original content was off-topic in another thread.

Hi bro. High-performance computers are my passion. Up until I started a family 34 years ago (our 5 kids are all adults now and we have grandchildren) my passions were drag racing and motocross. Aside from giving my wife a nightmarish white-knuckle experience for worry over my personal safety, those were no longer reasonable pursuits on a young man's budget with that many baby bottles, diapers and mouths to feed, so I shifted that passion to something more affordable. Computers are where I landed, initially as a gamer. That passion also lead to a part-time business building custom desktop computers and doing network administration at nights and on weekends. The computer bug soon morphed from gaming into an overclocking addiction as soon as I got a taste of what that was like.

My day job changed around 2005 to involve about 70% business travel and that required that I move from desktops to laptops. On that basis, about 12 years was spent with overclocking Alienware, then Clevo, monsterbooks. I would spend time after work overclocking the snot out of them over a hotel room air conditioning unit forcing cold air into the chassis to keep them from overheating while I competed against desktops on HWBOT leaderboards.

A couple of years ago I got fed up with laptop garbage and moved back to desktops and the overclocking addiction continues with the wickedness you see appearing first in my signature. That beast is my hobby. The laptop in my signature isn't a beast by my own standards, but it is a healthy machine that I use almost exclusively for work and business travel. Compared to a normal consumer laptop, it certainly is no slouch in terms of performance. It is not an enthusiast product, but it does allow me to have an enjoyable gaming experience when I am away for business and not able to access my desktop at home.

I don't miss the cars and motorcycles anymore. They bore me. I'm still a sick puppy old dog where computers are concerned.

TL;DR - vanity

 

Reminds me of reading about a guy who put his motherboard in a freezer oh maybe 15 years ago. If I remember correctly, it was a 386 and he was playing Doom or Quake on it. Not very portable though.

 

Yes, that is and was a good way of doing it. There was a guy here (had a different forum name back then) that used to bench his laptop in his chest freezer. @cookinwitdiesel

Certain activities do not require portability to be extremely fun. When you're doing those things you're not really thinking about anything else and nothing else matters.

 

It got results! Lol

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I've never been a gamer beyond simple games like freecell (or maybe real adventuresome and play Zuma). I really enjoyed watching both my kids and grandkids play games. (PC and console). I was never able to keep from falling in the lava pits! I still like watching them play!

 

Been running this MacOS Themed KDE Skin for almost a month on Arch Linux been really enjoying having the bottom dock for apps, makes for a much cleaner desktop. I use Arch Linux as my only OS by the way... love the customization aspect also no bloat stores like Ubuntu based OS with Popshop or snapcraft etc All my Benchmarks are run in a Windows 10 KVM which gives around a 1% performance hit to my Scores but I just am Benching for fun anyway... I use Proton-GE for Steam Games and Wine-Staging through Lutris for others like WoW. Like 80% of my Steam Library works...

 

Very nice! Windows 10 could very well be the death of Micro$lop. Probably not, but if anything has the potential to kill them, it is the severely flawed failure that Windows 10 represents.

 

Microsoft will keep going because the majority of consumers just buy a computer and keep the OS on it... I see Mac Market share rising lately because people who use their computer for business or rely on it to actually function need something that works. Most people want to be told what to do they don't know how to do it themselves nor do they want to learn. Do you ever hear those people who are like what Linux distro should I run? They never say what they want to use it for or what they want out of the OS because they don't know themselves they just want a general answer from someone so they don't have to look into it. I Don't recommend Arch Linux to many people due to it being a complex install it's not bad to maintain but the install is a turn off for some people, but for myself, I enjoy customizing and something that's easy to update and can change anything if I want to use GNOME one day and KDE the next I can... Linux will not grow in popularity without being preinstalled onto machines and sold in retail stores but even then people will still cling to something familiar like windows unless the competing OS offers something they want that Windows/Mac Doesn't. Windows 10 is a joke I try telling people but it just gets old after a while because people just say oh it works I get internet all good... just the enthusiasts that care and people that need to actually have a stable OS that cares.

@Mr. Fox I like how Linux is free but not only is Linux free even MacOS is free! So why would anyone spend a dime for an OS that makes your computer slow and filled with bloat!? Makes no sense to me 200$ USD for Windows 10 Pro and 400 for Pro Workstation (needed to use the 3990X with SMT(HyperThreading) enable) that's absurd... even apple one of the most overpriced companies offers there OS free to there user base... cmon now. People just say oh get a license key from one of those key sites for 5-15$ your still paying for garbage over much better free options (Linux and Mac)

 

I agree with almost everything you said. All of it conceptually, but I despise Apple products and Mac OS. Other than that, 100%. I'd rather put up with Windoze OS X than use Mac OS X. I don't like either one of them, but I love Linux and Windows 7.

 

Im not a huge Apple fan myself but if I had to choose between Google Microsoft or Apple I'd take Apple. Apple optimized its software for its own ecosystem but it's understandable there practices are not as bad as Microsoft either. I like how you can air drop files from your iPhone to your Mac all your texts read on your Mac have airpods boom autoconnected to your Mac I want to see a feature set like this on Linux then it would be perfect. I like how everything is just so seamless on Mac it's like all your devices are one. I don't own multiple computers at a time because I hate having 2 different storage devices with different things.. "Oh where did I have that on my desktop or laptop?" I also find I use one system more than the other making the less used system a waste of money. I like Arch Linux over MacOS however I would take MacOS over PopOS Ubuntu Mint etc I find those implementations annoying to use in an everyday environment but that's just me if you value stability I could see why you may need those though my arch has been stable over a year. I can understand you not liking Mac though I know many people that also don't I more like how seamless the OS flows with other devices.

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I think I sounded a little dumb when I said I prefer Mac over PopOS Ubuntu and Mint. I actually like the Mint devs trying to give there userbase what they want, I also find PopOS a breeze to use its blazing fast and enjoyable. It's more maintenance on those Ubuntu Based OS I don't like the terminal commands they use compared to Arch "sudo apt-get install packagename" is annoying to type over "yay - S packagename". I'm also a bleeding edge type of person I want the latest now 1 hour ago released I want it if its to unstable for me I will downgrade back and I'm fine with like 1 week delay on packages but like 7 months is a joke... Especially on an OS that is still getting updated constantly with new game support. Popos is running the 440 Nvidia Driver still cmon released at the end of 2019! As just an example. Im the type of person that likes and Advanced yet simple to use OS I don't want an OS that's really hard to use just to look cool that's stupid and a waste of time. Hence why I don't use LFS or Gentoo compiling my own packages every updated is retarded... I don't hate Ubuntu Based Distros I just don't like the core of them to maintain I've used mint and popos for close to a month as a daily driver no dual boots just fine and I even recommend PopOS to anyone looking to play games on Linux as it's very smooth maybe even smoother than my current Arch Setup and steam and lutris is just a quick install away. Linux still does offer more customization than a Mac at the end of the day... I could heavily mod an Ubuntu install way more than a Mac install to make it the way I like it so in that sense I would still choose Linux.

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I greatly prefer the Windows-like desktop environment of Linux Mint with Cinnamon and even installed Cinnamon in Pop_OS so I could tolerate using it. I do not care for the Unity desktop environment.

 

Have you tried MATE or KDE they are similar to windows also XFCE is nice and lightweight u just have to move some things around to make it more windows like... I tried KDE in PopOS not as smooth as the default GNOME was though.

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Yes, I have tried both. They're ok and definitely better than Unity. Definitely lightweight in comparison, but not as aesthetically pleasing to me. One of the things I despise about Windows 10 is the light-colored UI with no transparency. Cinnamon has most of the pleasant aesthetics that I appreciate about Windows 7 and are missing in Windows 10.

 

That's the beauty of Linux many options to choose from!

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And the switch in Ubuntu to use Gnome Desktop (away from Unity) is even more horrendous. I've been working on getting a guy at work to switch from Win 10 (due to the great info we've documented in the "Windows Software" thread. He's been using Ubuntu 20.04 for about a month now, and is really struggling. Doesn't like this little thing or that (especially with how the file system UI is presented and its behavior with operations). When time allows I'm going to have him save any data in his Home directory, and we're going to switch him to Mint. I think it will suit him better as he's been a long time Windows user.

 

That is really smart. Mint should make the transition much easier. I really like Windows, but there are too many things about Windows 10 that suck for it to be considered a good product. It is inferior in numerous ways, but familiarity is extremely difficult to compete with, even for anyone with an active interest in transitioning from Windows to Linux.

What I am referring to has very little to do with technical competency and everything to do with normal human nature and plain old-fashioned common sense. And, I am not really referring to resistance to change. I actually like change and embrace it. It makes life more interesting. Resistance to change seems to be something Linux fans are challenged with as much, perhaps more, than the Windows 10 Kool-Aid drinkers. What I do not like (and most people do not) are inconvenience and unnecessary complications. Those things can easily overshadow the benefit of change. If implemented correctly, change doesn't have to be inconvenient or carry too many complications.

The list of things I like about Linux would be a fairly long one, and I would be preaching to the choir in a Linux thread. I really like Linux a lot and my plan is for it to eventually replace Windows 10. In spite of that, there are a few things about Linux that make transitioning more challenging, even for the exceptionally tech-savvy. For me the challenging things are:

• The functionality of the OS is more easily broken due to user error, incompatibilities or package dependencies.
• Inability to run all of the Windows software I am used to and wish to continue using.
• No functional equivalent for all of the Windows software I am used to and wish to continue using.
• Not thrilled with the aesthetic differences. This is a bigger deal than some people think. It ranks very high in importance to me, and coincidentally, it's one of the things I hate about Windows 10, and hated even more about Windows 8.X. The typical Linux UI colors, visual themes, fonts, icons and cursors are frequently very ugly and have an antiquated look and feel to them.
• Inconsistencies between distros, terminal commands, repository-specific nuances, etc. can be terribly inconvenient and often result in wasted time looking for information to do something simple. When it involves something I won't do frequently, the knowledge may not be retained for future use no matter how simple the task might be.
• Far more difficult to find technical information, documentation and support due to the comparatively minuscule experienced user base. What is available, while often comprehensive and technically excellent, is limited to what the Linux experts care about most. This is also a limiting factor in the availability and variety of software for Linux. Linux software developers are fewer in number, many are volunteers and they are not going to burn a bunch of calories on things that are not important to them. I wouldn't either if I were in their shoes, so I am not being critical with this observation and merely pointing out the obvious by stating the fact of the matter.

Setting aside things related to the general suckiness of Apple hardware, a lot of the above could be applied to the prospect of transitioning from Windows to Mac OS X or vice-versa. Micro$lop and crApple both know this and they milk it for all it's worth. They get away with a lot of crap and nonsense because of it. At some point, the convenience of maintaining status quo as a creature of habit is no longer enough to justify tolerating it.

 

1 - I agree that things can get broken easily by installing packages but I feel the Ubuntu Based Distros handle this pretty decently they don't break as easily as say Gentoo or Arch but I'm sure it is still possible to break the OS. I think the solution is not to have some Distros where there are things u just can't delete restricting file system access to the user but instead to notify the user what they are doing before it happens. Sorry I can't comment much on how other distros (as only used most other distros under a month as a daily) handle package installs but for me on Arch when I go to install a package it lets me know the conflicts and what packages will be uninstalled before I actually go through with installing that package. Of course, since this is Arch there is no warning saying hey! this is an important package, but if there were a distro to say Are you really sure you want to delete this package this is crucial and is needed for "blank" function... I think that would help a lot of people learning Linux know what packages are necessities.

2 - This is due to lack of Linux support why would I develop software for 3% of the OS UserBase? I've even seen it as bad as some game devs saying straight up just install windows like the rest of the population. The more people on the OS Asking for support the more inclined devs will be to develop for it.. but its a two-sided thing people don't want to use something without there familiar apps. There are many great replacements for the average user GIMP, Krita replace Photoshop on an Average level and LibreOffice does what I need it to, instead of Autodesk Maya we get Blender which I agree is definitely not even close to the same but I install a Maya control config and can sort of learn my way around made it much easier to use Blender. We still have Sublime Text VSCODE Brackets etc for Programming IDEs. Overall I say your not giving up much if your willing to try new things and give them a fair chance.

3 - What software are you looking for exactly? Benchmarking tools? We have prime95 you can download right from there site on Arch its called mprime, we also have handbrake. As for alternatives you have Phoronix Suite which does many different tests, we also have all of the unigine benchmarks. http://lbs.sourceforge.net/ here's a link you can find more benchmarks here.

4 - You can freely change the entire Icon Pack, the Cursor, Font, and Font Sizes. I find the colors to be fine you can add background blur to apps with Kvantum for KDE and LXQt I know there's something for Gnome to but this makes it more Windows Aero like. You can even change the border color of apps to match your overall theme. Linux also offers .ICC Monitor Profile Control if that's what your looking for.

5 - Yes the inconsistency between distros bothers me to I actually used mint first but just lightly before Diving headfirst into Arch and failing many many times post-install with deleting the wrong packages and stuff but after using it so long I'm kinda stuck here I don't like the way other Distros commands are nor do I have the willingness to really learn them just to try out there Distro. I think it would be nice to see 1 uniform command line structure and I may upset people in saying that but it would make swapping Distros easier to try new things, However, I feel that Linux should have many flavors of Linux Distros just take Ubuntu, for example, lots of people like the Simplicity of it so they take the back and Improve it in there own way and Boom! You have Mint, PopOS, Zorin OS, Elementary OS, etc. all changing just a few things for the people who may not like Stock Ubuntu just as they don't.

6 - I actually have to disagree with you on this one the Arch Forums have been great and anything not Arch specific like a KVM for example I've been able to find information for without an issue lots of in-depth GitHub writeups out there if you look for a few minutes. However, I do understand that most people who run into an issue there first instinct is not to look up the error. But I know the Ubuntu Forums should be really good for finding solutions also so I don't understand what it is you haven't been able to find. A lot of people volunteer there time is correct and that's a great Community! Does Windows have that heck no! All you get on Windows is Youtube videos to sketchy download links that try to give you viruses some community that is, and I know there are a few good people out there with answers but they get silenced under the many.

I would also like to add to my Previous point even though it wasn't asked I feel it's important, Linux downloads virtually everything through the Repo Stores (If your on Arch Literally Everything... lol) this makes things so much safer to newbies looking for the software no sketchy download links no complete this survey to unlock this software none of that crap just right off the secure store. That is, in my opinion, one of my favorite things about Linux. Again I can't comment much on how much software is on the other stores but as noted on Arch everything is there not just apps drivers even verified tools like libvirt for your KVM not even an app just some commands for a KVM. I find this being the safest way to download software in an internet filled with ads and scammers posting fake links or modified versions of the software. I would like to see the Arch AUR bring over the feature from Elementary OS where they give you the option to donate to the developer that would be a nice way to know the developer is getting your money and make it easy to donate as well for those who don't spam links like most developers, like the ones mentioned earlier just volunteering there time out of the goodness of there heart.

I think most people should do a Full Switch of there OS after testing Linux for a month or so you can get pretty much all the games working but EAC and some other Anti Cheat games working but EAC is currently the main WIP at the moment things are constantly getting improved, Im sure many of you have heard of this site but I'll post the link anyway it's safe to sign in (if you don't trust me that's fine you can still look up any game you're looking for without signing in) and shows your entire library of what works and doesn't for some people what fixes they needed to apply to get said game working, etc this allows everyone to play just by a few people volunteering there time to fix issues. Its also a very convenient way to literally every steam game that may need a fix or a Steam Command line option to run instead of scouring the web, as you mentioned in your 6th point. anyway here's the link for anyone interested - https://www.protondb.com/

EDIT - Mods if Links are an issue please inform me and I will remove them no sense in deleting the entire post.

 

I agree with about 99% of what you said.

Agreed... mostly. The lack of Linux support (third-party) is a major reason for the lack of Linux adoption. My contempt for Micro$lop is why I am now using LibreOffice and eM Client (Outlook replacement) instead of Micro$lop Office. GIMP is a close replacement for Photoshop. Not quite as easy to use, probably because I have used Photoshop for roughly 15 years. I also hate Adobe. I am working on transitioning, but it is exactly that... work. It requires learning and effort. That is also a major reason for lack of Linux adoption. Most people are lazy. And, software and driver developers are in it for money. It's their livelihood. If they're not going to make money doing it, they are not going to do it. And, if they don't do it anyway, then they're never going to make money on it because the adoption of Linux, if they don't do it, will make it to where Linux software and driver development is a waste of their time that provides no meaningful income. Kind of a vicious circle. I can understand the reasons for it.

Oh, don't even get me started here, LOL. Linux benchmarking tools are utterly worthless to me. I need everything in this list for Linux to be usable for benchmarking. https://hwbot.org/benchmarks/ and as it stands now, Linux has nothing on the list. This also relates indirectly to the comments above. Lack of support for Linux means a lack of adoption. Most people are not going to give up something they enjoy just because Micro$lop sucks.

Yes, I agree. It is possible and I have done it because the default UI is unacceptable to me. It's not something most people that are looking for a Windows 10 alternative are going to figure out. They'll look at it and say no thank you. Again, it required time and energy on my part because I am serious about wanting to ditch Windows 10. Otherwise, I never would have bothered to figure it out.

Case in point... my X299 Dark Soundblaster Recon3Di 5.1 audio only works in stereo. The additional channels and subwoofer don't function in Linux. I have spent hours looking for a fix and asked for help from Linux experts. Things that some were certain would work, didn't. It appears to be a lack of Linux driver support from Creative. Again, not necessarily the fault of Linux as much as lack of third-party Linux support, but the end result is the same for me as an end-user. The reason(s) doesn't really matter. It just doesn't work. Having a nice community is great and all that, but that didn't make it work and I won't get back any of the time I wasted trying to get it to work. But, that's life in the big city. Not a deal-breaker for me, although it definitely would be for some folks that are passionate about having 5.1 support instead of plain old basic no-frills stereo output.

---

We agree on essentially all of it. My post approaches it from the angle of what matters to me and what the impediments are I am encountering in my quest to replace Windows 10 with Linux. I am still determined to do it (apart from HWBOT benching, which is simply not possible). Most people are not as determined as you and I. Most people are lazy and are only going to do something if it is easy. I think that makes us better than them, but I can certainly see where they are coming from. Switching from Windows to Linux is a big deal, and if you expect it to turn out the same then you're approaching it with a flawed perspective that may lead to disappointment. For me it is a matter of coming to grips with what I am willing to sacrifice to make the switch. It will involve doing without some things I'd prefer not to do without. And, I will probably continue to dual-boot after the full switch so I don't have to do without some things.

Bottom line for me is Linux is better than Windows 10, but it's not perfect... as much as I would like it to be. Neither is Windows 10. They both have pros and cons, but Linux is awesome enough that I want it to replace Windows 10 for almost everything I do with a PC.

 

When you save the data make sure that you get rid of the config files.
Configs from incompatible versions in other distros create problems that will drive you crazy trying to figure out what is causing them.

 

Yeah I know some people use Linux for work and releasing and maintaining a Linux version would be hard for some devs but we have a great community here... maybe Open Source the Software and some people may volunteer they time to make a Linux port? KVM is currently the best way to run Windows apps without a performance hit its around 1% impact no Wine no DXVK overhead BS. For benchmarking though that 1% could mean a higher score I get that. It's an endless circle back and forth hopefully enough people get sick of Microsoft Sh*t and switch over full time so these companies see Linux as a worthwhile platform to develop for, with gaming through Wine becoming more refined its a good step forward, but its not enough. I think it's worth the development as it's great to be able to convert DirectX to Vulkan but I don't see it as an end goal solution more like a bandaid solution while more of the Enthusiast transfer to Linux full time who don't mind applying a tweak or fix here or there to get a game working. Then I think we will start to see more devs launching Native Linux Game support meaning plug and play support like Windows just click play and it works then I think we will see more switch to Linux as it will be as easy to use as Windows. It reminds me of years back when Nvidia and Intel started dominating AMD and everyone was just sitting there still buying Nvidia and Intel saying "I wish AMD would release some competitive hardware" yet they don't support their current line. Without a backend of support, how can R&D be done? People just expect things it seems.

Yes, I'm aware a lot is lacking. I can definitely agree with you there but without people wanting these tools the companies will not release the tools for Linux using a Vulkan encoder as of course DirectX does work without DXVK.

Is this the same Chip that's used in the EVGA Nu card? I think I saw a driver for that before. I found this with a Quick Search - https://www.reddit.com/r/SoundBlast...ad/sound_blaster_r3dr3dizzxrae5_linux_driver/ also this Z97 Board though https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=236364 sounds more like its the actual card, not the motherboard chip version but worth a shot I guess. Again that's, why more Distros should exist for people looking for the nice UI there are so many OOB Options for Linux but only the same main ones, are constantly recommended, unfortunately.

It shouldn't though there needs to be a Distro that goes out of its way to add a Simplistic UI for the many who wants things to be easy, don't know much about computers, and just works! Everyone's needs from an OS are different there's so much to cover slowly getting there. More bugs reported more people wanting support for things the better in the long run. I suggest looking into setting up a KVM it's not gonna be great for benching if your serious which I'm sure you are but it's worth looking at, this is actually the current method to get Hackintosh working on TRX40 and people are using it in a professional space for Adobe and stuff, so it shows the performance impact is very minimal the benchmarks from my 3990X I posted the other day are also from a KVM, I hate rebooting to use 1 thing KVM is much easier for me at least.

 

I haven't ever been able to get excited about virtualization. I have tinkered with it off and on over the years, and haven't experienced any difficulties with it. I can certainly see where it is very useful for certain purposes. It just isn't useful or interesting to me.

 

My way around this has been to create a small library of shell scripts. I take them / modify them to fit the environment. Then when I run something like :

~/scripts/show_dns.sh or ~/scripts/restart_desktop.sh

I don't need to necessarily recall if there's something specifict to each distro... I just know my script that is used to execute a certain task translates from system from system after I've had to make an adjustment to a certain distro only command.

 

Yes, that is a great idea and I have done something similar. I have a simple text document that I save on a data drive shared between Windows and Linux and I keep adding things to it so I do not have to remember or look through my bookmarked internet shortcuts to find the information. That way when I am setting up a new Linux installation I simply access that text file and copy/paste into a Linux terminal and keep going. I am starting to remember things as I refer to it as a cheat sheet and I expect that I will eventually seldom need to use it as a reference.

This is all fantastic discussion. It probably belongs in another thread since it is off topic. My bad for getting it off track.

 

Moderators - I don't see a good Linux thread for this type of discussion. Would it be possible to put everything from post #2994 forward into this new thread, and then pin the thread? I will change the content of post #2994 after it is moved to make it a suitable thread-starter.

Linux Tips and Tweaks and Other Help

Thanks! Have a nice Friday and a good weekend.

Edit: Thanks for the help!

 

I am the lazy type and like Linux Mint because it looks nice, doesn't require a lot of effort, and generally just works well overall. Plus, I am looking for Linux to replace Windows 10. I have been playing with Linux for 15+ years mostly as a novelty, but only recently getting serious about it because Windows 10 is such a pile of crap. So, while I am not new to Linux, I am still somewhat of a noob in terms of being a useful source of information for others.

There are plenty of Linux experts hanging out around here. @ALLurGroceries seems to be overflowing with Linux knowledge.

 

All of that is old information and from what I can tell all of this support should already be included in the latest Linux kernel. Also, everything I have read (including the links you posted) circles around getting audio working on a system with no audio. I have audio and always have. The issue is I only have stereo output. The center, rear and subwoofer channels are functional and my 5.1 audio works in Windows. I only have front left and front right channel output in any Linux distro that I have installed. At this point I have simply decided I should be grateful that I have functional audio and don't really have any expectation that Linux will support my system's 5.1 audio feature set. I wish it did. It would be nice if it did. Unless it starts working someday, I guess I will have to use Windows if I want to enjoy using the additional speakers.

I also located this information: https://forum.manjaro.org/t/sound-blaster-ae-5-5-1-surround-even-possible/113841/11
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewto...xt=we can try:-,1.,Surround 5.1 (or similar.)

What is odd is if I run a speaker test, each channel passes the test and works correctly, but all of the channels are merged as mono (actually not even stereo as I thought) when I look at the output.

If I try configuring alsamixer for multichannel I get an "Unable to find simple control" error. I have tried numerous commands and the end result is always the same.

 

Did you try with pulseaudio installed?

 

Yes, same problem. Although it is stereo (not mono as posted above). I also have the latest libasound2-plugins-extra installed, but 5.1 output is not listed. On HDMI NVIDIA HD Audio it is listed, but not for the sound card.

Edit: It seems like maybe it is just inadequate Linux driver support from Creative.
Otherwise, it should work just like the NVIDIA HD Audio would appear to work.
​

 

I also tried this, and still no dice...

PulseAudio - Debian Wiki

Surround sound system
Many people have a multi-channel sound cards, but use the speakers for the two channels. PulseAudio has no default settings for surround sound support. To enable all channels, edit the file /etc/pulse/daemon.conf: uncomment default-sample-channels (ie remove the semicolon at the beginning of the line) and set it to 6 if you System 5.1 or 8, if your system is 7.1.

# Default
default-sample-channels = 2
# To 5.1
default-sample-channels = 6
# To 7.1
default-sample-channels = 8
After making the changes, restart Pulseaudio.

 

I've been looking but it's not a common chip used in many motherboards mostly the Realtek ones so not a lot of love here I found this - https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/aqfx9l/creative_sound_core3d_x_ae5_series_z_series/ and there's also a Linux Driver on the CreativeLabs Website for a different card u may be able to try. You can also try this - https://forums.evga.com/EVGA-Nu-Audio-Linux-Drivers-m2989187.aspx sorry I'm not able to find a perfect fix for you though.

 

If your sound card is older than 2017 you have very good audio driver creative sound blaster already baked in.
Finally my AW BGA sounds much better on Ubuntu than on Windows 10. In alsamixer you might have to enable SPDIF and surround and also disable Play Enhancements if your SB card supports it.

 

Much as I prefer Linux overall, truth be told, Windows will always support newer hardware before Linux does. Manufacturers support OS with biggest audience first (and sometimes ONLY!) You will likely need to put up with sound card being only stereo until manufacturer sees fit to release Linux drivers (don't hold your breath), or until some Linux genius reverse engineers drivers.

This is not so much a measure of the quality of the Linux kernel as simple (and often upsetting) economics. Linux driver developers cannot pull a rabbit out of the hat!

That said, I still prefer Linux because it is more efficient with resources, more stable, runs 20 degrees cooler (on my CF-31 ToughBook), less prone to viruses, and less commercially driven. I have a Windows 10 caddy with small SSD for the rare occasions when I truly need Windows, which (thanks to those Linux geniuses) is less and less often.

 

Looks like the sound problem (no 5.1) was definitely no driver support for the Creative chipset in my X299 board. The new Z490 audio works fine.

Everything seems to work right with the 10900KF. Even the RAM clocks are reading correctly.

 

Creative audio should work on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS w/o any fuss. If its newer Sound Blaster then you may have to install custom packages and turn off secure boot or install dkms to make it compatible with Secure boot.
Realtek ALC codec works w/o any issues and is flawless.

 

Maybe you posted it earlier, but what board was your x299 system?

 

x299 EVGA Dark, I presume.

 

it did work fine as long as I did not care about 5.1 output. It only supported stereo.

yes x299 Dark

It was the Recon3Di audio chipset, which has been buggy in one way or another for every platform it has been used on.

 

I still find the issues on my BGA AW 15r2 aka the same audio IC from m17x r4.
I stopped tweaking/enabling 5.-7.1 audio setup and always went with Analog Duplex. On TV, speakers it works fine but when you switch to HDMI on projector the audio disappears.

 

Do any of you know how to cap the wattage of an Nvidia GPU in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS? I am trying to lower the power limits on my GS66 with the RTX 2070 Super Max-Q.

Since there is a lack of a voltage/frequency curve in Ubuntu I can't undervolt like I did in MSI Afterburner with Windows, and I want to be able to set undervolted profiles because my GPU is shunt modded so lowering the power limits is the only real viable solution in Ubuntu. If anyone could help me I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Try Green with Envy (GWE) or TuxClocker. I have not tried the latter. GWE works great.

To enable overclocking (which includes changing parameters the opposite direction) run this command in terminal, then reboot.

Code:

sudo nvidia-xconfig --cool-bits=24

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I gave it a try, but he power limit slider is still locked out though. I just ended up redoing the shunt mod so that it has a lower limit on the power. Ubuntu just doesn't give me much control over the power in software for my RTX 2070 Super Max-Q gpu.

 

Well, I just did a clean install of the latest POP_OS! in Legacy BIOS mode and discovered that 5.1 audio works great on the Z490 Dark K|NGP|N mobo.



FWIW... DOOM runs on Linux with official support. DOOM Eternal is not "official" but using Photon Experimental it seems to work just as well as the prequel.
I just tested it and it seems perfect.

I do not care for Middle Earth: Shadow or Mordor or Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. I own them primarily because they have a built-in benchmark. Both of those run fine as well.

 

I finally found time to carve out half of my 1TB Windows 7 SSD to make some room for Linux on the CPU binning bench. Now every computer I own is running Linux, including the TongFang turdbook. Lutris works well for running Cinebench (spoofing Windows 7).

The all-core turbo is 5.0GHz but the BIOS set 5.2GHz on the two favored cores, so Cinebench is seeing that. These are running at 5.0GHz, not 5.2 as Cinebench indicates.

 

hey is there any sheets that tell which vendors play nice with linux?

looking to get po_os on a gaming laptop but weary of what to purchase as i read some systems dont play nice (ex: newer ryzen) where as i know some vendors even sell linux preinstalled (lenovo and dell)

 

Clevo works well with Linux and so does my Eluktronics MECH-15 (TongFang). In fact, System76 (POP!_OS creators) sell Clevos with Linux pre-installed.

 

what about gigabyte? i was looking at the Aero 15 with rtx 3070 (light/smaller and decent enough battery to use for 4 hours on the go for media/browsing).

 

I am not sure. Maybe @Spartan@HIDevolution knows since he owns a Gigabyte laptop.

The trouble you can run into with many laptops is there are some that rely on crappy Windoze 10 software to function correctly and that software is not available for Linux. When that is the case can sometimes end up having missing functionality using anything other than Windoze 10. That is a very dishonorable and dishonest business practice, but it is sadly common.

 

We're looking at you Alienware...

Is it dishonorable and dishonest or just trying to save money by not developing multi-pronged applications for the ever branching ecosystem that is Linux? Now, not making at least some of the code open-source is a different matter. Screw those guys for not at least letting us develop our own stuff (without reinventing the wheel).

 

With nvidia proprietary driver running all the time for no-optimus it should be fine. There are cases when everything works fine in LiveCD mode but fails post-install with no display or RGB lighting.
Don't expect more than 3 hrs on stock linux settings. You need to tune your system either by undervolting or by using TLP/Tuned-gtk. Main issue is nvidia gets toasty when in battery mode and thinks opening file manager needs max performance and still cause stutters or frame skips on 460.x drivers.

Its been 6 yrs and products are EOL still no support from Dell and they insist to buy XPS 13/15 developer edition after buying AW costing $2k+ so that Linux runs smoothly even when AW are perfectly suitable to run Linux w/o RGB lighting of course!

 

A better approach would be to stop building computers that rely on software to make hardware work correctly. If something needs to happen, then they need to take the time and effort required to make the settings available in the BIOS and stop the stupidity of relying on software. Having Windows software available to make it easier for those scared to venture into the BIOS is fine. I support that 100%. But, making software the only available option for adjustments from within the OS is just totally lame and it sucks.