Mastodawn

Hello! We are Edinburgh Linux Cafe, joining Mastodon was something we meant to do for a while but never got around to. We are a small but dedicated group helping people to install Linux on their laptops. Our interests are Linux (obviously), repair, reuse, and bicycles. Amazing to see that we have actually been mentioned already (👋 @DoomsdaysCW )!

Show thread

i_dont_like_AI a_programmer Mar 28

@edinburghlinuxcafe @DoomsdaysCW _Wonderful_ what you say about helping people install Linux on their laptops! Here is something-- after having installed it on two different Asus laptops, one inexpensive Vivobook and one expensive gaming laptop, and one inexpensive HP, as of past 12 months:

The internal Wifi/Bluetooth is unstable in today's newest Debian Linux'es (and on some inexpensive HP Bluetooth doesn't even start). On Asus and some HP it can be repaired: my script
https://yoga6dserver.org/setup_for_install-bt-stability-for-mint.txt

Show thread

Edinburgh Linux Cafe

@i_dont_like_ai @DoomsdaysCW that's interesting, have occasionally had issues like this, but usually solved by updating/changing the driver. Though haven't seen many Asus laptops come our way. I've bookmarked the link for future reference, thanks.

Show thread

i_dont_like_AI a_programmer Mar 29

@edinburghlinuxcafe @DoomsdaysCW Awesome! Apart from a selection of Acer and Lenovo, there is usually, in my experience, a profusion of Asus and HP laptops in the typical electronics store. Asus and HP internal Wifi cards which in most cases have been produced by Intel, callibrated so that with slight over-use they break down but Windows is programmed to calm them. _Scores_ of people at forums report B/W instabilities. It is I think the main way in which Microsoft keeps Linux down and they do.

Show thread

J. R. DePriest

:EA DATA. SF:Mar 29

@i_dont_like_ai @edinburghlinuxcafe @DoomsdaysCW I haven't had the WiFi problems you describe on my HP OMEN 15-ax252nr with an Intel i7-7700HQ (2.80 GHz) CPU and NVIDIA GP107M GeForce GTX 1050i Mobile GPU running the current Linux Mint Debian Edition.

The problem I do have is with that GPU. Once I install the official nVidia DKMS drivers from the regular LMDE repo, the various powerstates become unstable. Hibernate is already weird in Linux compared to Windows. I've had issues with it for as long as I've tried to use it. But with the official nVidia drivers, hibernate, sleep, and shutdown don't work correctly most of the time. The screen shuts off and the fans stop running but the lights stay on, including the keyboard lights. Opening / closing the lid doesn't do anything. I have to hold the power button down and force it to shutdown.

The longer the laptop is on, the more likely this is to happen. It's a pain in the ass. I never had these problems for the five years it ran Windows 10 but it's reliability repeatable in the couple of years it's run Linux: Linux Mint, LMDE, and Bazzite all did it.

Show thread

i_dont_like_AI a_programmer Mar 29

@jrdepriest

@edinburghlinuxcafe @DoomsdaysCW

[Btw: Should I delete extra handles when replying to one?]

It is interesting what you say about the GPU stopping to work the longer the laptop is on.

A (vaguely conspiracy-like😅 ) interpretation:

Microsoft has a way of reducing intensities&ensuring that Linux folks don't get to hear about how _essential_ it is to slow the use or tune power management of some chips.

Solution: search for script-adjustments to slowing GPU use or tune powermanag.

Show thread

J. R. DePriest

:EA DATA. SF:Mar 29

@i_dont_like_ai @edinburghlinuxcafe @DoomsdaysCW

Incidentally, I plan to try harder for my next laptop to have an AMD GPU. My current Windows 11 laptop (Lenovo Legion Pro 5 16IRX9) and this Linux laptop are the last two I've purchased and nVidia was cheaper because it was on sale. This is what buying "on sale" gets me.

Looking at these to try to fix my Linux laptop:

Show thread

i_dont_like_AI a_programmer Mar 29

@jrdepriest @edinburghlinuxcafe @DoomsdaysCW

Keep me updated on how it goes!

Of all laptop brands, I have a penchant for liking Asus though obviously the most cheapest Asus are sponsored to have a little instabilities which requires fixing on Linux. But it appears to me that Asus has a higher love for open source than some others (& unlike HP, even inexpensive Asus has battery charger limiter)

An the more expensive gaming Asus laptops I think have a tendency to work top with Linux