Old XP netbook, laptop, and PC

[omni550]

Yay! it appears that I have [finally] gotten Linux MInt installed on the former XP desktop.

Now its showing a message...(abbreviated here): "Running in software rendering mode.....higher than normal CPU usage.....possible problem with drivers. For best experience, recommend you only use this mode for trouble shooting."

Any advice on how to proceed?

omni

 

[ERD50]

Yay! it appears that I have [finally] gotten Linux MInt installed on the former XP desktop.

Now its showing a message...(abbreviated here): "Running in software rendering mode.....higher than normal CPU usage.....possible problem with drivers. For best experience, recommend you only use this mode for trouble shooting."

Any advice on how to proceed?

omni

Progress! Not so hard, right?

First, are you certain you are running on what you installed, and not still running off the DVD. IOW, you did go through the "Install" process (asks you a few questions about keyboard, language, a name for the computer, etc), and then re-booted with the DVD removed?

If so, I'm not familiar with this error message. A little googling indicated it might be related to support for older video cards. My googling also suggested that this might be an issue with Cinnamon that does not affect the more mainstream distros (but that might be old/wrong info as well - I don't have time now to deep-dive into that.)

You might need some help from those here who are more familiar with Mint/Cinnamon specifically. In either case, I've got to run for a while. Good luck, I'm (pretty) sure this will be a minor bump in the road.

-ERD50

 

[rbmrtn]

Yay! it appears that I have [finally] gotten Linux MInt installed on the former XP desktop.

Now its showing a message...(abbreviated here): "Running in software rendering mode.....higher than normal CPU usage.....possible problem with drivers. For best experience, recommend you only use this mode for trouble shooting."

Any advice on how to proceed?

omni

If you got the cinnamon desktop version it may not like your video hardware. I've read reports that cinnamon has trouble with some GPUs.

Check the resolution, click menu, then display. You can try lowering the resolution, see if that helps.

Try another version with different desktop. Mate and xfce both been reported to work when this error happened with cinnamon, download links here Editions for Linux Mint 16 "Petra" - Linux Mint

I have not seen that error in person.

 

[ERD50]

If you got the cinnamon desktop version it may not like your video hardware. I've read reports that cinnamon has trouble with some GPUs.

Check the resolution, click menu, then display. You can try lowering the resolution, see if that helps.

Try another version with different desktop. Mate and xfce both been reported to work when this error happened with cinnamon, download links here Editions for Linux Mint 16 "Petra" - Linux Mint

I have not seen that error in person.

One comment, and then I really do need to run... And I'm afraid we may be getting into the 'too many cooks' area, but...

Is Mint really the best distro for a newbie? From what I've seen, and this error seems to validate, it is a little less well supported than the more mainstream Ubuntu/Xubuntu releases.

So rather than suggest a different version of Mint (like Mint-Xfce), why not go to Xubuntu (which is the Xfce desktop for Ubuntu)?

I could be wrong, but I get the impression that the odds of a successful install, or an easy fix in case of any problems, are better with Xubuntu versus Mint for an older machine? And I did like Mint when I tried it, but it did seem to be more 'in flux' and less stable than Xubuntu, and I didn't see any big advantages over Xubuntu.

Get Xubuntu « Xubuntu

-ERD50

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Wow. I seldom read about problems running Linux on older machines. Puppy linux is supposed to be good on old hardware, though.

I like Mint over other distros, myself. It is said to have more drivers, etc. , than other Ubuntu distros.

I would prefer PC-BSD, but I have had more problems with it than Mint. Still just playing with them, though.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[omni550]

I searched the Linux Mint forum for this issue and several others have run into it. (At least I'm not alone. )

There's a fix for it that I'm in the midst of downloading. If that doesn't work, I'll consider switching to the simpler XUbuntu.

I'll report back after the download is installed.

omni

 

[omni550]

Well, I got the 'patch' downloaded, but it won't let me install it as I need to be a Super User with appropriate authentication.

Perhaps I need something less "cutting edge" (that has most of the bugs worked out of it already LOL)?

omni

 

[Rustic23]

Linux distros are so easy to install, I would download Ubuntu or XUbuntu, maybe Puppy and try them all. It will only cost you some time and the cd to put it on. I recently put Mint on an old desktop. Then Ubuntu 14.04. I went with Ubuntu. It recognized the usb wireless device I was using and it also recognized and installed my wireless printer.

I played around with Linux about four years ago, and I had about seven different different distros. Like you said, you are doing this to learn, so try several.

 

[ERD50]

Well, I got the 'patch' downloaded, but it won't let me install it as I need to be a Super User with appropriate authentication.

Perhaps I need something less "cutting edge" (that has most of the bugs worked out of it already LOL)?

omni

OK, this should be easy.

It depends exactly on how you are installing the patch, if from a command line (CLI), or other method, but when you installed Linux, you would have provided a user name, and a password (that you must write down or remember!). Going to admin is just a matter of entering that password.

if from command line, it might just be prefacing the command with 'sudo' and then responding with your password. BUT - before doing anything as 'sudo', make sure the info comes from a trusted source, some joker could put up some malicious code (unlikely, these get deleted from forums before most people would even see them - but it pays to be cautious.)

Do you have a link to the patch, that would probably help people here walk you through it if you need further help.

You're sounding like a Linux expert already!

You could DL and try another release as was suggested, but if you are this close, I'd give it a try. Nothing to stop you from trying another release later, if you want.

-ERD50

 

[ziggy29]

Linux distros are so easy to install, I would download Ubuntu or XUbuntu, maybe Puppy and try them all. It will only cost you some time and the cd to put it on. I recently put Mint on an old desktop. Then Ubuntu 14.04. I went with Ubuntu. It recognized the usb wireless device I was using and it also recognized and installed my wireless printer.

I played around with Linux about four years ago, and I had about seven different different distros. Like you said, you are doing this to learn, so try several.

Puppy in particular is useful for really ancient systems as it is very lightweight in terms of disk, memory and CPU requirements.

Puppy, in fact, works very well when installed on even an 8 GB USB flash drive, so you can try it installed and booted from a flash drive to test it before wiping out your hard drive. In fact, I've done just that an a very ancient Compaq laptop my work issued to me but never wanted back.

The others are considerably "heavier" than Puppy for the most part, but compared to Windows installs even most heavier Linux variants will take less space, need considerably less memory, and will be much more responsive on limited hardware than Windows XP/7/8 would be. My netbook purrs on Ubuntu when it chugged hard on Windows, and the battery life is around 8 hours compared to 5-6 for Windows with relatively similar settings (wifi on/bluetooth off and same screen brightness usually).

 

[omni550]

I couldn't seem to get around the "running in software rendering mode" issue in Mint (even after downloading and installing the patch). Thus, the system is running soooooo slowly.

Puppy sounds like it would be a good fit for this aging ex-XP desktop.

Perhaps I shall go ahead and download it & install it.

omni

 

[springnr]

 

[Rustic23]

I think you think your machine is worse than it is. As I said, I installed Ubuntu 14.04 on an old HP Xp machine. It is similar to yours 160 gig HD and 2 gig of ram. It ran fine, in fact better than fine.

 

[omni550]

I think you think your machine is worse than it is.

I have high hopes for it, though.

Seriously, it was acting quite sluggish for whatever reason with WinXP. The Linux Mint error message ("running in software rendering mode") states that it will cause the unit to run slowly. (And it does). And the downloaded patch didn't seem to help.

As I said, I installed Ubuntu 14.04 on an old HP Xp machine. It is similar to yours 160 gig HD and 2 gig of ram. It ran fine, in fact better than fine.

I'm persistent (to some point)...and I have not yet given up.

This is as much a learning experience for me as it is getting some added life out of an aging computer (or three).

If nothing else, I can download these software and learn a bit about how they look and feel.

And I appreciate all of the assistance and suggestions I've received here.

omni

 

[ERD50]

I think you think your machine is worse than it is. As I said, I installed Ubuntu 14.04 on an old HP Xp machine. It is similar to yours 160 gig HD and 2 gig of ram. It ran fine, in fact better than fine.

Agreed. Although ziggy's suggestion for Puppy makes perfect sense for an even lower end machine (or for other reasons), I think you'll be fine with Xubuntu on this machine. You might find Puppy to be limiting (I really don't know, I never used it myself, but I'm making an educated guess that the 'lightness' comes at a cost of some features) - and that might give you a less than great feeling about Linux in general.

But if it is all in the spirit of learning, and you don't lose motivation, give 'em all a spin. All the 'flavors' have something to offer (or they would not exist!).

But again, my personal favorite... Get Xubuntu « Xubuntu

-ERD50

 

[meierlde]

Here is a link to a converstation about the topic on the mint forums: Linux Mint Forums • View topic - [Mint 15] Cinnamon running in software rendering mode
Towards the end they suggest applying all the pending updates that may exist, (depending on the maint rate and time since the cd image on the host computer) there could be a lot of them. If mint has apper go into apper and apply updates, and wait while the system downloads and installs the updates.

 

[omni550]

Agreed. Although ziggy's suggestion for Puppy makes perfect sense for an even lower end machine (or for other reasons), I think you'll be fine with Xubuntu on this machine. You might find Puppy to be limiting (I really don't know, I never used it myself, but I'm making an educated guess that the 'lightness' comes at a cost of some features) - and that might give you a less than great feeling about Linux in general.

But if it is all in the spirit of learning, and you don't lose motivation, give 'em all a spin. All the 'flavors' have something to offer (or they would not exist!).

But again, my personal favorite... Get Xubuntu « Xubuntu

-ERD50

I am in the midst of installing Xunbuntu as I am typing this.

Quick Question -- how is it pronounced...is it like zoo-bun-two?

omni

 

[W2R]

I am in the midst of installing Xunbuntu as I am typing this.

Quick Question -- how is it pronounced...is it like zoo-bun-two?

omni

"Xubuntu (Pronounced: /zù'búntú/)"
Xubuntu - Linux Wiki

 

[target2019]

I am in the midst of installing Xunbuntu as I am typing this.

Quick Question -- how is it pronounced...is it like zoo-bun-two?

omni

You're showing a lot of resilience and gumption, Omni. This is pretty much how things go in the sysadmin role. Having spare systems around is really like having a Frankenstein available. As you dig further into solutions, you learn more about this hardware than the average bear.

 

[omni550]

Xubuntu is now loaded along with a whole slew of software updates. And no error messages!

I am typing this on Ye Olde eMachine (which was far too sluggish in the past few days to even attempt such a feat).

I thought everything was going along great and had just written a nice post to that effect for this forum. Just when I hit the "submit reply" button, I got a "database error" message and my post "evaporated".

What I've since noticed -- some of the graphics on this forum are not showing up correctly -- like the small rectangles at the bottom of each post (such as Thanks, Quote, etc. ) are incomplete in some psots and complete in others. The Smilies menu looks great, but when I click on one to add it to a post, sometimes it shows up "blank". Very puzzling.

omni

 

[ERD50]

Xubuntu is now loaded along with a whole slew of software updates. And no error messages!

I am typing this on Ye Olde eMachine (which was far too sluggish in the past few days to even attempt such a feat).

Congrats, that's pretty cool!

I thought everything was going along great and had just written a nice post to that effect for this forum. Just when I hit the "submit reply" button, I got a "database error" message and my post "evaporated".

What I've since noticed -- some of the graphics on this forum are not showing up correctly -- like the small rectangles at the bottom of each post (such as Thanks, Quote, etc. ) are incomplete in some posts and complete in others. The Smilies menu looks great, but when I click on one to add it to a post, sometimes it shows up "blank". Very puzzling.

That might not be a Xubuntu specific issue - I've seen it before on my old iMac, and clearing the browser cache cleaned it up. Not sure why anything in the browser cache would be corrupted at this point, but maybe the system is still 'breaking in'

FireFox is the default browser, right?

-ERD50

 

[Sirka]

As cheap as new computers are these days, it hardly seems worth the effort. Computers are getting so low in price that they are almost cheaper than toasters. Seriously, it is not worth the effort IMO.

Like you, in the past I have just removed the platters and beat them to death with a hammer. It's great therapy.

+1
I use a sledge hammer on the old drives (often 200 GB or less size) & take it all to the electronics recycling. Life is too short to spend on reloading OS & try to donate the old computer boxes.
LCD monitors are easy to reuse, though.

 

[ERD50]

...take it all to the electronics recycling. ... Life is too short to spend on reloading OS & try to donate the old computer boxes. ...

Sure, but even a good recycling process will end up with a lot in the landfill - and I've read about some horror stories about some of the recycling processes (kids in 3rd world countries, burning off insulation, breathing in toxic fumes, etc) . And if it can be used by someone else, isn't that a good thing?

And it really isn't much effort. The first time it may seem a bit intimidating, but once you've been through it, it's a cake-walk (usually). If not, little lost - there is little actual face-time, more time waiting for downloads and installs, which can be left unattended.

And, for some of us, it's a 'fun' challenge.

-ERD50

 

[omni550]

Congrats, that's pretty cool!



That might not be a Xubuntu specific issue - I've seen it before on my old iMac, and clearing the browser cache cleaned it up. Not sure why anything in the browser cache would be corrupted at this point, but maybe the system is still 'breaking in'

FireFox is the default browser, right?

-ERD50

Thanks. I'm thrilled to have fotten this far. ANd spent the last hour making changes/additions per a Xubuntu tips and tricks list.

Q: There they referenced a list of known bugs. I scanned it and didn't recognize any immediate concerns, so I didn't do anything. Was that the appropriate (in)action?

Yes, it is FireFox. I found the "cache clearing" area and it is only using 19KB at present, so I'm thinking that might not be the issue.

omni

 

[meierlde]

Xubuntu is now loaded along with a whole slew of software updates. And no error messages!

I am typing this on Ye Olde eMachine (which was far too sluggish in the past few days to even attempt such a feat).

I thought everything was going along great and had just written a nice post to that effect for this forum. Just when I hit the "submit reply" button, I got a "database error" message and my post "evaporated".

What I've since noticed -- some of the graphics on this forum are not showing up correctly -- like the small rectangles at the bottom of each post (such as Thanks, Quote, etc. ) are incomplete in some psots and complete in others. The Smilies menu looks great, but when I click on one to add it to a post, sometimes it shows up "blank". Very puzzling.

omni

Just out of curiosity have you update firefox to 29.0? Often distributions come with firefox as of the date of the distribution, so you need to use the distros update mechanism to apply the fix (as well as likley to fix the heartbleed bug). Luckily its basically a matter of starting the app and waiting while everything is downloaded.