Gaming on Linux

[SpyderTracks]

I realise that I’m replying to an old post but I’ve successfully used Revo Uninstaller Pro to remove all the bloat from W11 with no apparent problems.

For future reference if you select English - Worldwide at install, it installs completely clean without any bloat

 

[TonyCarter]

I realise that I’m replying to an old post but I’ve successfully used Revo Uninstaller Pro to remove all the bloat from W11 with no apparent problems.

I use Chris Titus Windows Utility tool via Powershell to configure system stuff at a lower level, but do you Revo for cleaning up apps I've installed and want to remove fully (especially Armory Crate).

The Ultimate Windows Utility

Having Fun with Technology

christitus.com

 

[SpyderTracks]

Ok, so major issue found.

So initially when I installed Fedora, I created a new partition on my existing Windows drive and installed to that.

Turns out that will share the EFI boot partition that Windows has created. Now by default, Windows only allocates 100Mb for the EFI partition, but Linux uses it in an entirely different way and will cache Kernel updates to that partition. If creating a default Linux EFI partition, it will allocate 600Mb!

What this means is that I've just had quite a major Kernel update come through and it can't apply it because it needs more space on the EFI partition, and the way my partitions are structured it would be an absolute nightmare to move partitions around to be able to extend the EFI partition where it needs to be, plus would likely end up bricking the file table on the entire drive.

TLDR: If you're dual booting Linux and Windows, USE A DEDICATED DRIVE FOR LINUX, don't share them or if you do, make sure you install Linux first and then install windows.

But this is a necessary learning curve. Combined with the fact that I'm generally finding Fedora quite challenging, not just from a management perspective, but I also have zero confidence that it's ok at a security level the way I've configured it, I'm taking this opportunity to completely redo the install. I'm going to fully blat everything and start from scratch and I'm going to install Ubuntu instead as it's just far wider supported.

And then I'll stick windows on a dedicated SSD.

Start totally fresh.

 

[sck451]

Ok, so major issue found.

So initially when I installed Fedora, I created a new partition on my existing Windows drive and installed to that.

Turns out that will share the EFI boot partition that Windows has created. Now by default, Windows only allocates 100Mb for the EFI partition, but Linux uses it in an entirely different way and will cache Kernel updates to that partition. If creating a default Linux EFI partition, it will allocated 600Mb!

What this means is that I've just had quite a major Kernel update come through and it can't apply it because it needs more space on the EFI partition, and the way my partitions are structured it would be an absolute nightmare to move partitions around to be able to extend the EFI partition where it needs to be, plus would likely end up bricking the file table on the entire drive.

TLDR: If you're dual booting Linux and Windows, USE A DEDICATED DRIVE FOR LINUX, don't share them or if you do, make sure you install Linux first and then install windows.

But this is a necessary learning curve. Combined with the fact that I'm generally finding Fedora quite challenging, not just from a management perspective, but I also have zero confidence that it's ok at a security level the way I've configured it, I'm taking this opportunity to completely redo the install. I'm going to fully blat everything and start from scratch and I'm going to install Ubuntu instead as it's just far wider supported.

And then I'll stick windows on a dedicated SSD.

Start totally fresh.

Yeah, it used to be easily possible, but since Windows 10 came out it's got a lot harder. Separate drives is the way to go now. (Though I admit I do it the lazy way and just run a VM, but admittedly I'm not gaming.)

 

[SpyderTracks]

So just creating the Ubuntu installer now.

I'm gonna do this properly this time, I'm going to install Ubuntu on a dedicated drive, and then I'm going to containerise Plex in Docker which a few colleagues have recommended, that way in the future, if I ever have an OS install, even if it's moving plex across to MacOS or back to Windows, I don't have to worry about the Plex installation itself, that will all be contained, I just have to install Docker runtime.

 

[_MJF_]

Turns out that will share the EFI boot partition that Windows has created. Now by default, Windows only allocates 100Mb for the EFI partition, but Linux uses it in an entirely different way and will cache Kernel updates to that partition. If creating a default Linux EFI partition, it will allocate 600Mb!

If it's of any interest, I bought my recent 16" Lafité Pro without an OS, however it came with an un-activated copy of Windows 11 pre-installed and the '/boot/efi' partition is 273 MB, i.e. that's what PC Specialist pre-installed.

Whilst I intended to flatten the whole disk, I've actually left the Windows 11 partition there and simply shrunk it down to then add my Linux and data partitions to the remainder of the same disk. I'm not currently desperate for the disk space and thought that if I ever find a need for Windows 11 then it's easier to buy a key for the existing install than re-install from scratch.

Having said that, I've not actually booted into the Windows partition since the day I got it, and that was only to disable BitLocker so I could shrink the partition, but Linux has been fine ever since with no issues.

My knowledge is years out of date, but years ago it was always OK to have Windows and Linux on the same disk, but easier to install Windows first, then install Linux and use GRUB for boot selection. Things could've changed, though.

One last thing, for a Windows user trying Linux I'd definitely give Linux Mint a look, it's based on Ubuntu so you get all the support/compatibility advantages but it's well thought-out and user-friendly.

 

[SpyderTracks]

If it's of any interest, I bought my recent 16" Lafité Pro without an OS, however it came with an un-activated copy of Windows 11 pre-installed and the '/boot/efi' partition is 273 MB, i.e. that's what PC Specialist pre-installed.

Whilst I intended to flatten the whole disk, I've actually left the Windows 11 partition there and simply shrunk it down to then add my Linux and data partitions to the remainder of the same disk. I'm not currently desperate for the disk space and thought that if I ever find a need for Windows 11 then it's easier to buy a key for the existing install than re-install from scratch.

Having said that, I've not actually booted into the Windows partition since the day I got it, and that was only to disable BitLocker so I could shrink the partition, but Linux has been fine ever since with no issues.

My knowledge is years out of date, but years ago it was always OK to have Windows and Linux on the same disk, but easier to install Windows first, then install Linux and use GRUB for boot selection. Things could've changed, though.

One last thing, for a Windows user trying Linux I'd definitely give Linux Mint a look, it's based on Ubuntu so you get all the support/compatibility advantages but it's well thought-out and user-friendly.

You can't use the test windows, it's not setup, you'll invariably face instability and certainly reduced performance as the driver layer won't be properly configured.

Mint is great, but it's extremely restrictive and not really suitable for the kinds of workflows I need it for and support for Midi setups especially, it's too restrictive at the driver layer as well as for virtualization purposes. Unless of course you know how to compile custom kernels, but that's way outside my comfort zone.

It's a great basic desktop, but actually, I find Ubuntu far more accessible for mainstream support and adoption. It’s just as polished as Mint IMHO but without the restrictions

I realise as I started this I had very particular uses, as I’ve discovered more of what I can do although with a lot of headbanging, I’ve opened up the uses I’m going to enable the pc for.

 

[TonyCarter]

I wouldn’t trust the internal test build that PCS installs as we’ve seen lots of problems arising from it when people have bought a cheap code and just activated it. Invariably the fix was a clean install.

 

[_MJF_]

You can't use the test windows, it's not setup, you'll invariably face instability and certainly reduced performance as the driver layer won't be properly configured.

I wouldn’t trust the internal test build that PCS installs as we’ve seen lots of problems arising from it when people have bought a cheap code and just activated it. Invariably the fix was a clean install.

Thanks for the info, worth knowing, if I do ever have thoughts/need to use Windows then a fresh install will be the way to go (and I may as well get my 128 GB back too).

 

[SpyderTracks]

I am finding setting up Plex in Docker a little challenging, had it all working and picking up my configuration folder from a mounted partition outside of the container, but it ended up corrupting the database which then caused issues with performance generally. I'm not certain what I did wrong and frankly haven't got the patience to work it out, so I'm just going to blat the container setup and start with a completely fresh Plex metadata config.

The end users will lose their history, but frankly, IF I can get the hosted network configured properly and performance is ok and doesn't result in buffering, then going forwards this will save so much time and hassle in the long term.

I've had to migrate that database 3 times now, 2 of which had issues, containerizing it IN THEORY will render any issues in the future void. And will be 10000% better in security terms which will ease my rather paranoid mind.

Plex is now on a dedicated SSD also.

It's just finding when my brain is working well enough and I have the energy!

But from a gaming perspective, I would actually say so far, Ubuntu is far better from a stability standpoint, and setup even for Steam gaming. I had little niggly bugs on Nobara, specifically with monitor sleep (minor issue), but often resulted after an Nvidia update. The updates on Nobara are rolling so extremely frequent, really too cutting edge IMHO, and sacrifices stability. There's almost certainly a way to reduce when updates are applied, but given the issues I had with Plex, it didn't make any sense troubleshooting it.

I think Nobara is certainly not intended for customization, if you're happy with the general additional packages it supports in the package manager, then it's a good option specifically for gaming and perhaps basic VLC / browser / office applications. If you want to start adding things outside of that, or doing any kind of file management, you'd better be familiar with shell given the limitations in the native file explorer with any file over about 2Gb being limited to very slow transfer speeds from the GUI.

Mint is likely a better option for that kind of use still I would say. Mint is extremely reliable and easy to configure for basic use including gaming.

If you want more generalized customization along with stability and widespread support, Ubuntu is hard to beat.

Although I'm still extremely new to all this, I'm sure Linux guru's are laughing at my noobness

 

[SpyderTracks]

So we had a power cut earlier on today.

All my media drives are still NTFS partitioned until I can back the data off and reformat the drive under Linux.

The power cut ended up borking the parition table on one of my media drives.

So I'm using a tool called TestDisk which I've used before actually in Windows, it's incredibly thorough and low level, repairs partition tables really quickly and easily.

Would highly recommend if you've got a drive that is failing to be read, for both Windows and Linux in command line:

Repairing file structure and partition table on internal HDD

Hi all I've made a rookie mistake this morning, stupidly set a chkdsk /r on one of my HDD's on the server to run at boot instead of unmounting the drive first. I couldn't have the server offline for 8 hours, so force rebooted and it's left that drive in a RAW state after reboot. Have to...

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