will return later and run through the “make the boot-able flash usb drive” steps …
Note: this will be using Linux to make it … as for me, after switching to Linux and wanting to Disto-Hop … it took a little study to find out how …
It would be the Flathub… AKA Flatpak for most software I’ve been leaning towards Flatpak’s and AppImages … which is why I’m interested in trying the “Mint based on Debian” iso that I’m writing this up on … Ubuntu/Snap is what I’ve been trying to get away from … the below is a copy-pasta from guick search …
Flatpak integrates seamlessly with Fedora, Linux Mint, or Debian . AppImages work great on Arch Linux, CentOS, Debian, OpenSUSE, Red Hat Linux, and Fedora.
Ok … as I said before… this is being done from my Ubuntu 2.04 running, 2008 Dell that I use for all things internet posting and such … and to help those who are still tied to “doze windders” look to Rufus
My focus is using Linux that is already up and running to make new Installation Usb drives to go “Distro Hopping” cause this is part of the learning journey …
But … there is a side note … and one of the first walls that I ran into … Ya just seen a cool new distro that you want to try … and when you check … you don’t have any empty Usb’s …but you have several that have older distros that are outdated … Reformatting is the answer.
I have used all three methods to reformat and reuse USB drives, but decided on “Disks” because it is usually found pre-loaded on most Debian/Ubuntu/Mint Distros…… in fact on this “ol’Ubuntu 20.04” laptop it was on the “Favorites side bar” from installation ….
Just installed Debian 11 32 bit on an old Gateway Laptop I bought for $20. It took forever and I’m missing some firmware apparently, but it’s working pretty good so far.
this is the first true 32bit that I have done … I at first downloaded the Linux Mint 32bit cause I thought my Wife’s old Acer required it … when I tried it in “live mode” to test everything was very slow and spotty… rebooted it with 64bit and it ran like a charm … funny thing is that the Acer manual that came with it said 32bit … Installed it and My wife has been using it since 2020 with no problems … I will continue with the install and set up with Important “first things to do” after install and trouble shooting if problems are encountered … how ever we are dealing with our own Invasion this week end… of the out of state family type … and this is effecting my free time
I went with the Debian 11 32 bit because its supposed to be supported until at least July 2024. It was also pretty easy to find and install the missing firmware, it was for the wifi driver. Just had to edit my repository config to add non-free and installed the missing firmware. Its a little on the slow side compared to my other computers, but it works. If you have too many issues with the Mint install, try the Debian, when you have time of course.
quick note … the LMDE 5 is based on Debian in stead of Ubuntu …(also based on Debian) but without the Ubuntu stuff … which is why it peaked my interest … I run Debian 11 gnome 64 on the newest Dell in my stable that I use for photo/video work and VM’s… and very happy with it … ok back to the chores …
After putting it back together I tried to start it from the installation usb drive and even though it was set to boot from the USB first I hit the first roadblock … As I suspected it was not going to happen …
So I pulled the hard drive back out and went down the road to a little Mom n Pop computer shop …
PS I fired up the drill press in the shop as I went to the car …
every thing seemed to go well …… and when it finished ….
as instructed …… I shut it down completely …… then removed
the USB Installation Drive before I rebooted ……
everything seemed to work fine ……
so before I connected to the internet for up-dates
I make sure that the Firewall is set up …… As with all “Mint Distro’s”
LMDE 5 has “Ufw” (Universal Fire Wall) installed, but it is not turned on ……
I like to use the Terminal to do this and keep a “Text File Cheat-Sheet” on a small USB
for quick “copy-pasta” work …… note: pasta = paste it’s a grammer/spelling joke
note: I got this tip from watching Chris Titus Tech videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxNsyrftJ8I
5-28-23
And this is where things started to go south ……… I connected to my WiFi and opened the “Terminal” ……I really like using the terminal to … [ sudo apt update ]……and …… [ sudo apt upgrade ] …… note: (I have been completely switched to Linux for over a year now and have mostly relied on copying and pasting for most command line operations …… and only here lately have started to learn to use it more with out coping from script …)
The down load seemed to take forever…. And the WiFi connection kept dropping out …… and was never able to “upgrade” with out losing the function of the desk top ……. using the terminal I could access “TimeShift” and revert back to my “snapshot” starting point …… and being stubborn as I am, I proceeded to do it twice with the same results …… I thought that the limited amount of “Ram Memory” ( 1Gb) was the cause ……
So … I threw in the towel and went back and reverted to a lighter “Distro” …. Went all the way back in the steps above and downloaded Q4OS, verified, and made another USB Installation drive……
This time went much faster and I thought I was doing the right thing finally ……
With Q4OS part of the Installation process lets you choose just how “light” you wish the install to be …. again I connected to the WiFi and …… had the same problem …… This is when the “light-Bulb” clicked on …… it was the WiFi/connection …… I have converted over 20 or so computers to Linux in the last year for friends and family and this was the first time I ran into the “WiFi Problem” …… Luckily I was close to a Hard-Wired Network cable …… so I moved into the TV room to continue ….
I went with the Mid-Range Installation as I was still worrying about the lack of Ram memory … and it did have a small number of software titles to choose from …
I did install Konqeuror just to look around … and I don’t think connection to the net is going to be a thing for this old IBM anyway … as when I’m done coping about 4Gb of choice Meme’s n interesting tidbits of red-pilling information that I have accumulated over the last five years I will have something to gift over to the next person who ask’s “What the heck is going on?” … and let them look it over at a speed that is comfortable for them …
any way that is all for this project … best take away’s …
although Linux works great on older machines … I think from here on out I will stick to the 2008 to 2017 models … with Dell being Prime Choice IMHO … and 64 Bit a must …
I do want to down load a copy of LMDE in 64 bit to play with because Debian in stead of Ubuntu may have a future …
If any one would like to way in and point out any mistakes I made … or have any other comments please do as I’m always open to finding a better path …
A little Post Script …… While I was looking in the basement for usable Ram Memory to upgrade this old IBM ……. I found my Father’s old Dell Latitude LM built for Windoze 95 …… he had given to my wife years ago for her writing …. Her first “laptop” …… he had used it so much that he wore the letters off the keys ……. I also found a CD that had been given to me from a friend who worked in IT for a Rail Road Company …… And it turns out that it was my first copy of a Linux Distro …….
That simple utility (that I installed via my Mint/Cinnamon’s Software Manager) made quick work of the checksum verification process which had formerly made my head spin. I even confess to not verifying a previous download…just 'cause I couldn’t figure out how to do it.
THANK YOU for including the Gtkhash info in your post,@I.B.Lurkmore! It’s now among my must-have programs.
Sorry I just saw this … Summer time is very time consuming for me … that is why it took over a month to actually install a 32bit Distro … to be fair I did have a “live session” running in the first post, but when I saw the it would be more involved … thought I’d take a stab at doing a “how to” for helping others … also I’ll confess right back at ya … I’m guilty of the same crime of not verifying my first two downloads for the same reason … don’t tell anyone Hmmmmm “17” days …
don’t tell anyone Hmmmmm “17” days …