Linux Tips, Tweaks and Troubleshooting Thread

[Mr. Fox]

Okey-dokey. As the title implies, here is a thread for Linux users to share new information, tips, tweaks and help others fix issues they encounter using the Windows replacement of their choice.

[Mr. Fox]

So, I had been using primarily Linux Mint and Pop_OS! with Cinnamon DE. With my recent upgrade to 12900K there were a number of things not working.  

 

I discovered that the latest beta of Fedora adds functionality to what was broken with Mint and Pop_OS! In particular cpupower-gui works as intended. You can now control the clocks of each core (both P and E core). I like it better than the last version of cpupower-gui that I was using with 10th Gen. It adds a good amount of features that older versions did not have.

 

 

 

[Eban]

The biggest issue I had with a few different flavours of Linux was  lack of a control panel (same with windows 10 actually)

 

I couldn't get my head around not being able to see which drivers it was using for what hardware. General setup or change configuration (win 10 really screwed with me trying to hide the control panel  )

 

This was all out of the box linux, no compiling kernels or anything technical.

 

My last experiment was Zorin OS. Based on Ubuntu and looks really similar to windoze. Once I'm more comfortable with command line I might look at other distros.

 

My next 'laptop' will be a Janktop. I will be trying to expunge M$ windows in favour of Zorin at that time. (With a VM windows10 for those softwares that I cant replace immediately)

[Mr. Fox]

The information is there, but it is not at our fingertips the way it was with Windows 7 and earlier versions of Windows 10. 

 

One of the issues that holds Linux back from being a better product is Linux zealots that are driven by irrational hate. They are just little bit worse than the dummies that complain that Linux isn't exactly the same as the reason(s) people leave Windows in favor of Linux. Somewhere in the middle, the "do what makes sense" and not being hesitant to copy or emulate a good idea we would find a solution but for the extremists on opposing ends of the spectrum.

[Eban]

I know you must be right. I just didnt dive deep enough to find the information. Soon its all in, no more toes in the water.

 

Yep, extremism, bane of the world!

[Eban]

Does anyone know of something similar to throttlestop for Linux?

 

 

[Eban]

18 hours ago, Vasudev said:

Actually you can use TS via cmdline undervolt on linux

For GUI version there is AppImage (equivalent to portable app on Windows) https://appimage.github.io/linux-intel-undervolt-gui/ or debian package Github releases

 

Thank you @Vasudev 

This is the kind of valuable information Linux idiots like me require to abandon windoze 

[Vasudev]

4 hours ago, Eban said:

 

Thank you @Vasudev 

This is the kind of valuable information Linux idiots like me require to abandon windoze 

Don't add it as a startup service. I had black screen issues when undervolt was too low and newer microcode didn't accept. With TS it will auto revert but in linux you will be seeing only blackscreen and no info.

You need to disable secure boot to undervolt otherwise kernel will deny any read/write requests to CPU/MMIO. Undervolt package can read from TS ini and could apply the undervolt when cmdline is used.

[drnoob13]

On 5/13/2022 at 8:11 AM, Eban said:

Does anyone know of something similar to throttlestop for Linux?

 

 

Not as close, but TLP is useful to tweak power consumption profile, adjust CPU freq, switch off turbo-boost (assuming you want to do it like me), etc. esp. when you using a laptop.

[Eban]

Thank you

I have put linux on pause for a while. I had a fit gave up trying to get undervolt and nvidia drivers working properly 

 

I will try again with PopOS at some point, it was the best out of the box for nvidia drivers

[drnoob13]

Yeah, PopOS gives the best out-of-the-box linux experience for nvidia, at least for me. Been trying a few distros and DEs over the past few years (for fun and professional purposes) to find myself always come back to PopOS. 🙂

[Papusan]

This New Linux Kernel Update Can Damage Your Laptop Display tomshardware.com

 

According to a report by Phoronix, a new Linux kernel - version 5.19.12, is reportedly damaging laptop displays. 

 

This is one of the very few times we've ever seen a software update - not related to overclocking, have the power to damage a computer component physically. This issue effects all Intel-based notebooks where the integrated display is wired directly to the integrated graphics.

 

This means all Nvidia Optimus laptops, and some potential Intel + Radeon combined laptops (though we effectively never see those) are at risk as well - since the iGP is driving the primary display even while the discrete GPU is active.

 

The only exception to this, is if the notebook in question can disable Nvidia Optimus entirely or the internal display is not hooked up to an Intel integrated graphics solution at all. Such laptops are rare, but they do exist. Thankfully, this only applies with Intel graphics solutions, and means all AMD-based notebooks with AMD CPUs or APUs are not affected.

The Fix Is Already Here

Fortunately, the Linux community has already released a new kernel that reverts all the problematic issues found in the graphics driver back to what they were in previous kernel updates.

This new kernel is known as 5.19.13, and has already been released for everyone to use. However, chances are that most users will have to wait for their respected Linux distros to roll out the kernel update before the mainstream users get a chance to use it.

 

I'm sure there is some here that remember the black screen issues a few years ago with windows machines (Alienware and Clevo's). Not a fun experience. Now they are at risk with Linux as well. Not so sure it will be as easy this time to fix destroyed displays. So take your precautions before it's too late.

 

It seems Linux follow another well known OS.....

 

[Etern4l]

On 10/4/2022 at 11:26 PM, Papusan said:

This New Linux Kernel Update Can Damage Your Laptop Display tomshardware.com

 

According to a report by Phoronix, a new Linux kernel - version 5.19.12, is reportedly damaging laptop displays. 

 

This is one of the very few times we've ever seen a software update - not related to overclocking, have the power to damage a computer component physically. This issue effects all Intel-based notebooks where the integrated display is wired directly to the integrated graphics.

 

This means all Nvidia Optimus laptops, and some potential Intel + Radeon combined laptops (though we effectively never see those) are at risk as well - since the iGP is driving the primary display even while the discrete GPU is active.

 

The only exception to this, is if the notebook in question can disable Nvidia Optimus entirely or the internal display is not hooked up to an Intel integrated graphics solution at all. Such laptops are rare, but they do exist. Thankfully, this only applies with Intel graphics solutions, and means all AMD-based notebooks with AMD CPUs or APUs are not affected.

The Fix Is Already Here

Fortunately, the Linux community has already released a new kernel that reverts all the problematic issues found in the graphics driver back to what they were in previous kernel updates.

This new kernel is known as 5.19.13, and has already been released for everyone to use. However, chances are that most users will have to wait for their respected Linux distros to roll out the kernel update before the mainstream users get a chance to use it.

 

I'm sure there is some here that remember the black screen issues a few years ago with windows machines (Alienware and Clevo's). Not a fun experience. Now they are at risk with Linux as well. Not so sure it will be as easy this time to fix destroyed displays. So take your precautions before it's too late.

 

It seems Linux follow another well known OS.....

 

 

Good news is that 5.19 is cutting edge, common distros are on 5.15. Teething issue 😉

[Linux]

I am running Linux Mint and WIn11 in dual-boot mode.

 

Is there a way to make GRUB use the external display as primary for boot selection? In addition i have the issue that BT isn't yet active in GRUB and i always have to open the laptop until the OS is being loaded. The BIOS of my P670HP6-G is outdated and doesn't have options regarding the display or BT like more modern ones.

 

And yes, i always have to open the lid a little bit for pushing the power button, but that is nothing against the current ordeal. Especially when switching OS a couple of times during the day.

[Etern4l]

Does the BIOS boot selection menu (F11 etc) show up on the secondary monitor? If so, choosing which OS to boot via that might be easier for you.

[Linux]

Only visible on the laptop display and selection is only possible with the laptop also, because BT isn't loaded yet.

[Etern4l]

Laptops...

[Ishayin]

I've been testing out a range of different distributions over the past few months. Here is a tool I found to be very useful on a couple of different occasions for rescuing non-booting Ubuntu based systems:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair
https://askubuntu.com/questions/77666/how-do-i-recover-documents-from-a-broken-ubuntu-installation

E.g. from CTRL-ALT-F2 for terminal prompt or from a live CD:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install boot-repair
boot-repair