Last night, I run pacman -Syu update and let it run overnight.
it failed when I woke up, I didn’t notice it and restart for newer kernel. Then the WM (sddm) fxxked up. I try to reboot it into mutli-user mode and reinstall kde plasma. it shows bunch of corrupted libraries errors LOL.
TL;DR: use Ventoy. Here’s my experience and how-to :)
Great you came to ask here! :)
Experienced distrohopper here.
The best way for your use case is Ventoy. You just download + execute the program. It will format your USB (I recommend 32 gb+) in a way you can boot from it AND use it as a “normal” file system. You then just copy your iso of choice on that “normal” USB.
When booting from it, it will give you a menu from which iso you want to boot from. Remember to disable secure boot and enable CSM in your UEFI, otherwise it might not get recognized. After trying or installing your Linux distro you can revert those changes in the UEFI/ BIOS if your distro supports it.
But I also use other (older) methods, like Etcher or the Fedora media writer, which overwrite the whole stick, too. They are somehow more reliable, and I’m not sure why… From time to time there are boot errors when selecting an iso. Maybe it’s because the files don’t get verified when copying, and then I have a “half copied” system.
(P.S.: Linux handles copying files different than Windows. Sometimes it says “finished” when it actually isn’t. ALWAYS eject your disks!)
The old method “just works”, and I always have one smaller USB lying around in case my boot repair iso doesn’t work.
But, especially for “trying out”, Ventoy is perfect for you. It will save you some time when trying out your ideal distro.
What are possible distro candidates you want to try and install? Just asking :) Just don’t solely place your choice on how it looks and how the first impression is.
For example, Mint might look a bit dated for some people (especially when coming from Win11), but is a fantastic distro. Garuda or EndeavourOS for example on the other hand might look modern and flashy, but will probably ruin your first impression with Linux, since they are less user friendly and more suited for more experienced users.
Remember, Linux is extremely customizable and you can exchange EVERYTHING.
But here’s my opinon, if you’re interested: maybe, just maybe, don’t use Ubuntu. Of course, do what you want. If it appeals to you, that’s great! :)
Ubuntu is often recommended as a good beginner Distro, but that’s not true anymore. That used to be a good choice a few years ago, but it is more and more hated by the community. The company developing it forces way too much of their own stuff onto new users, especially snaps (their own packaging format that sucks). In general, Ubuntu doesn’t provide you the best Linux impression anymore.
If you want to know more, then take a look into this and this video from TheLinuxExperiment.
Also, as long as your laptop isn’t super old (>10 years) it should pretty much run anything, not only those “revive your toaster-laptop”-distros. Try Mint or some other beginner-friendly-mainstream-distros too and take a look on how they perform :)
I personally love Fedora for example (just ask me why) and believe it might also be a solid beginner distro, especially since the default desktop (Gnome) looks so alien compared to Mac or Windows, you automatically assume that it doesn’t work like those two.
Thank you for your recommendations, and thanks for your detailed response in your first comment.
I see your points regarding Ubuntu, I just thought it would be a good compromise because of the amount of advice you can find on how to fix problems in Ubuntu. But I suppose much of that advice can be used for Mint as well… I haven’t tried Ubuntu in a few years, but I trust your assessment.
I currently have MX installed on a seriously old HP laptop and have been quite happy with it. I’m not sure if my mom’s laptop is older or newer, but either way it’s not by much so that’s why I immediately thought of MX for her PC as well. I’ll put Mint on the Ventoy stick as well and see which one works best.
dd is the “standard” way pf doing and my first choice.
First google result for “linux create bootable usb” here
Less shitty guide here albeit a bit more advanced. (Gotta know what you actually want to do)
Good luck :D
EDIT: sorry this was apparently linux4noobs. Hopefully someone can give more detailed instructions, but might as well leave this here if you find any of this useful.
First, install the OS. Then, install SSH and configure it. Watch a tutorial for it, it’s not the simplest thing in the world. If you need not only terminal but also graphical access, then install and configure a VNC or RDP client, the tutorial is probably going to cover this though.
If you just want to learn linux though, it makes more sense to install it on a virtual machine in your windows system, or even on a separate partition.
What desktop environment were you running? I usually recommend GNOME to people who just want an OOB experience and KDE to people who want to invest into a more personal experience.
I don’t actually know. It was Unity I think, whatever that is. Felt a bit, um, amateur and not very polished. Best way I can describe from what I remember.
I will be seriously researching every response here. Very grateful for the help.
Unity was abandoned for a few years by Ubuntu, so I’d assume it’s behind most other DEs in terms of development. Most of what users experience in a distribution is the DE, so using a bad one can ruin it.
That’s really only true of some users. Most people now are used to at least 2 OSs. GNOME acts a bit more like a mobile OS in my opinion, and KDE behaves more like a desktop OS. Ultimately if you’re moving to linux of your own volition, you’re usually going to be more tech friendly than anyone staying on windows.
To be honest, I personally disliked GNOME, but not because it didn’t match Windows. It just didn’t have the level of customization and accessibility that I expected from linux.
Linux Mint. It’s a great intro to Linux. When you’ve got your feet under you — which won’t take long coming from Mac — try Debian or another distro to find the perfect fit.
Second Linux Mint. I’ve tried a bunch of distros and DE for about a decade, and have always returned to Linux Mint. It’s intuitive, the installer is easy, and the OS just works.
I’ve had a look through system76’ site and pop looks interesting, def a contender. Their hardware is a tad pricy. I assume like most of this the hardware is something to research carefully if you choose a distro first, compatibility, drivers, support etc.
It’s a bit of an experiment for me so I won’t be dropping a grand on some HW.
Just use an old PC or laptop if you have one. If not install VirtualBox and give the different distros a try. It’ll run slower than if it was on actual hardware but it’ll let you try the OSes until you find something that you like.
Nothing special/unusual – it finishes running, shows me the results, and then returns me to the prompt. But lsblk returns me with zero partitions, as if no image was written in the disk.
The most obvious solution to boot time is change the HDD to an SSD. Boot time of 90 seconds seems in the ballpark for a HDD. Disk drives are slow. An SSD should also improve battery life slightly. Though, such a short battery life, like that which you described, would point to a failing battery unit. Though, that’s just speculation.
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