Best Linux newsgroup?

Right now I'd like to migrate my lab bench PC to Linux but that gets
complicated. It also will need (and now has) Windows 7 in dual-boot.
Long story short the software for the Signalhound spectrum analyzer does
not like its Intel G33 graphics chip. So I have to find out if a Nvidia
NVS 300 would work. There are reports that it's tough in Linux but that
maybe just isolated cases.

What feature of the NVS 300 do you need? I only use AMD RX550 Low Profile cards on my PCs. By the way, why are people still using XP class of Linux. I only use latest Mint 19 for desktop and Ubuntu 19 for servers, except that Ubuntu 19 works better with the amdgpu-pro driver.

 

[Joerg]

On 2019-08-29 07:11, Gerhard Hoffmann wrote:

Am 28.08.19 um 23:30 schrieb Joerg:


I think you can get adapters. However, I'd like to keep things simple
and non-bulky. This PC will never have a monitor setup that goes
beyond VGA capabilities.


I once installed Win7 on a virtual machine that only knew VGA
at that time. The button for accepting Microsoft's license
conditions was outside the visible range of the display.

Here, the cable was meant.

If you knew it had to be somewhere, some blind clicking below
the screen then finally happened to do the job.

That reminds me of my first Linux install. The live system rendered a
nice and crisp screen in native resolution. The installed system was
640^480 and so blurry that the even terminal window looked like riding
through dense fog.

Some software has problems as well, For example, Signalhound Spike seems
unable to handle screens that are "only" 1024 wide. The window runs past
both sides and cannot be zoomed in farther.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

 

[Joerg]

On 2019-08-29 08:18, bitrex wrote:

On 8/29/19 9:50 AM, Joerg wrote:
On 2019-08-28 23:35, bitrex wrote:
On 8/26/19 1:51 PM, Joerg wrote:
For people who are switching to Linux, in my case Lubuntu, what is the
best English-speaking NG for software and which one for hardware
related stuff?

I participate in two German groups. The software group is great though
not many there who use Lubuntu. The hardware group has only little
traffic left.

Right now I'd like to migrate my lab bench PC to Linux but that gets
complicated. It also will need (and now has) Windows 7 in dual-boot.
Long story short the software for the Signalhound spectrum analyzer
does not like its Intel G33 graphics chip. So I have to find out if a
Nvidia NVS 300 would work. There are reports that it's tough in Linux
but that maybe just isolated cases.

Later more fun will come up, such as how to get a Labjack plus SCADA
setup going in Linux. The Labjack is hardly known in Europe so I'd
need a more local North American newsgroup.


I like Linux 85% of the time except for e.g. I have a laptop with an
Xubuntu install that works flawlessly for months and then one morning
you start it up and the equivalent of the "Start" button is gone on the
desktop and the backlight brightness control keys on the keyboard no
longer work.

Why? who knows! It did and then it didn't. hardware? software? searching
for answers is just many forum and Stack Exchange posts of throwing
terminal commands/scripts at the issue until something sticks. you won't
find a problem just like yours and nobody will know why similar ones
happened, either.


That seems to be a serious issue with Linux. On my wife's PC the audio
for Youtube quit after a Lubuntu update.

I can't even start mundane software like VLC Player and Kamoso right
now. The GUI will not throw any error message, just refuses. The
terminal lists cryptic stuff such as this:

VLC media player 3.0.7.1 Vetinari (revision 3.0.7.1-0-gf3940db4af)
[00005630820fd570] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default
interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
QApplication: invalid style override passed, ignoring it.
Gdk-Message: 14:18:44.724: vlc: Fatal IO error 22 (Invalid argument)
on X server :0.

It still happens sometimes but it's so, so much better than it used to
be. Similar probs occasionally happen on Windows 10 too. Ubuntu has
gotten better, Windows (IMO) has gotten a lil worse since Win 7, headed
towards parity on the cryptic-faults.

Except I never had it happen and I use Windows 7 for many years. Also
never had it happen with any Windowxs all the way back to NT4 which I
started using in 1997.

Re-installs end with "you have held broken packages". All this doesn't
leave a very professional taste but unfortunately the time of Windows
7 which is last known good to me) will end in January.


On the upside when it works the way it's supposed to, which to be fair
is most of the time, a lighter-weight Ubuntu distribution like Xu makes
a i7 laptop with 12 gigs of RAM and an SSD "feel" like you have a
machine with the oomph that you paid for when running LTSpice or Octave
or doing big file transfer operations.

I like its minimalist look and interface a lot, I'm okay with flashy
icons and 3D accelerated graphics on a media center or video gamez PC
desktop in the way MacOS and Win 10 and Ubuntu with gnome or KDE are,
stock, but on a work machine it's distracting.

I like the no-frills GUI of Lubuntu. Some people said I'd never get much
group support with that because Mate is more popular and such. I don't
understand it because that's just the GUI, the frosting on the OS.

Win 10 is a combination of some nice features and UI improvements that I
don't mind using when it works right either, and on a
power-consumption-no-object screaming desktop workstation, it's actually
pretty nice.

but it's also just a big beast of an OS. And OEMs are still installing
it on cheaper laptops with 5400 RPM drives which is a criminal thing to do!

I won't use it, for many reasons but mostly the ones Phils had explained
in this NG once. Privacy and "calling home".

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

 

[Joerg]

On 2019-08-30 07:41, edward.ming.lee@gmail.com wrote:

Right now I'd like to migrate my lab bench PC to Linux but that
gets complicated. It also will need (and now has) Windows 7 in
dual-boot. Long story short the software for the Signalhound
spectrum analyzer does not like its Intel G33 graphics chip. So I
have to find out if a Nvidia NVS 300 would work. There are reports
that it's tough in Linux but that maybe just isolated cases.

What feature of the NVS 300 do you need?

The Open GL support. The G33 chip on the motherboard supports only up to
1.4 but the software for my spectum analyzer requires 2.0 minimum. The
NVC 300 support up to 3.3.

I thought this Open GL stuff was more for gamers but obviously not. The
NVS 300 will be way too powerful for this PC but you can hardly buy
simpler ones anymore. One requirement is no fan. I do not like noise much.

... I only use AMD RX550 Low
Profile cards on my PCs. By the way, why are people still using XP
class of Linux. ...

A couple of the computer here are really low horsepower and require a
lean distro. While the Dell Vostro currently in the works could easily
stomach Mint I like to kerp the same GUI everywhere, for easier maintenance.

Also, isn't it just the GUI and the Debian underneath the surface is the
same as for the leather-seated Linux desktops? I am perfectly content
with a spartan GUI as long as it works. Right now it has some weird
problems.

... I only use latest Mint 19 for desktop and Ubuntu 19
for servers, except that Ubuntu 19 works better with the amdgpu-pro
driver.

Maybe someday I will as well. Being a Linux newbie I do not know how
easy it is to switch Linux versions without having to re-install
everything. If too onerous I just leave all of them with Lubuntu.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

 

[Joerg]

On 2019-08-30 13:16, edward.ming.lee@gmail.com wrote:

On Friday, August 30, 2019 at 11:33:04 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2019-08-30 07:41, edward.ming.lee@gmail.com wrote:

Right now I'd like to migrate my lab bench PC to Linux but
that gets complicated. It also will need (and now has) Windows
7 in dual-boot. Long story short the software for the
Signalhound spectrum analyzer does not like its Intel G33
graphics chip. So I have to find out if a Nvidia NVS 300 would
work. There are reports that it's tough in Linux but that maybe
just isolated cases.

What feature of the NVS 300 do you need?


The Open GL support. The G33 chip on the motherboard supports only
up to 1.4 but the software for my spectum analyzer requires 2.0
minimum. The NVC 300 support up to 3.3.

I thought this Open GL stuff was more for gamers but obviously not.
The NVS 300 will be way too powerful for this PC but you can hardly
buy simpler ones anymore. One requirement is no fan. I do not like
noise much.

Ubuntu 18.03 LTS w/ AMGGPU-pro 18.30 will support OpenGL 4.5.

It's the graphics chip that doesn't support past 1.4 on my system.
However, the NVS 300 just arrived. Said full height but the metal
bracket is way too short. Oh well, looks like some shop time in the very
toasty garage. Maybe I do that on Sunday morning when it's cooler.

Actually, i prefer Mint 19 GUI and never had any problem mentioned
here. Unfortunately, stupid AMD does not provide binary driver for
Mint; so, some of the .so files are in the wrong place. But i use
headline crypto miners (OpenCL 2.0) anyway, never even have screen on
the servers.

I don't know anything about crypto mining. Some people still mine for
gold in this area, the real stuff

The RX550 LP fan is very quiet, even less noise than my CPU or case
fan. For occasional GPU use, you can unplug/disable the fan. I even
have 24/7 miners without fan going for months. Might kill the $50
GPU card eventually, but who care.

Maybe add a simple mechanical "pill thermostat" and affix that on the
heat sink? I hate to destroy hardware needlessly.

By the way, best Linux GPU discussion group is for mining forums,
second best is here, i guess.

I hope this NVS 300 fixes it all for good. Let's see if Linux likes it.
Windows will (dual-boot) so at least I can see that the HW works.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

 

My mobo graphics chip only supports Open GL to 1.4 but need 2.0 minimum.
The card was just flagged as "delivered". "To a neighbor as requested",
which I never requested. Great. Guess it's time for a little
neighborhood walk. Again.

Mobo chip or CPU chip. My AMD A10 CPU comes with a low end Radeon GPU, but even AMDGPU pro does not support it. Counting on AMD or Nivida for software support is unfortunate. Fortunately, open source Mesa driver is coming up soon for AMD GPU, but not Nivida. In few months, Mesa is supposed to support OpenGL 4.6.

I have 5 RX550 on 3 PCs running in my living room. The noise does not bother me much, exact when my brother come to sleep on the couch, then i have to shutdown some of them.

 

[Joerg]

On 2019-08-30 12:58, Jan Panteltje wrote:

On a sunny day (Fri, 30 Aug 2019 11:33:10 -0700) it happened Joerg
news@analogconsultants.com> wrote in
gst8eqF85aoU1@mid.individual.net>:

On 2019-08-30 07:41, edward.ming.lee@gmail.com wrote:
... I only use latest Mint 19 for desktop and Ubuntu 19 for
servers, except that Ubuntu 19 works better with the amdgpu-pro
driver.


Maybe someday I will as well. Being a Linux newbie I do not know
how easy it is to switch Linux versions without having to
re-install everything. If too onerous I just leave all of them with
Lubuntu.

The reality is that Ubuntu, and several other distros are all debian
derivatives, So if debian screws up, as in the case of the brightness
buttons no longer working on Bitrex's laptop, shortly after that same
will happen in ubuntu versions and other versions based on debian.
Some later version of debian had exactly the same problem as Bitrex
has with the laptop buttons, so that is the source, Debian for me in
Dutch has become 'debielian' that is how I often call it.

Again with distros it is: 'If It Works Do Not Fix It (upgrade)'. [1]

I have a feeling that's where it's going with Lubuntu. Or has to. For
example, after an OS update the Youtube audio on my wife's PC quit
working. Gave up after a few steps down into the bilge. Looks like
another bug.

So if I really adopt Linux (not 100% sure yet) I'll also have to look
into snap, in hopes to get rid of those dreaded dependencies. Then
switch each snap container to no update.

As to your graphics card problems on this PC that I assembled I do
not even use a graphic card it is all integrated in the mobo (AMD).
Open GL works but no idea what the version is, would have to look it
up, wrote some simulation code for it back then. This mobo with build
in graphics was, lemme see, from csl-computer-shop.de parts all
together including MDISC Bluray burner, harddisk, processor, several
PCI cards, power supply, housing 329 Euro I have a very powerful
graphics card for it, stored, not used. Graphics could be a bit
faster for pdf files though... But for 2012 ? Not so bad. 24/7 on,
never a problem.

My mobo graphics chip only supports Open GL to 1.4 but need 2.0 minimum.
The card was just flagged as "delivered". "To a neighbor as requested",
which I never requested. Great. Guess it's time for a little
neighborhood walk. Again.

Compile new application from source if you can.

That is seriously beyond my capabilities. I am a hardware guy.

Also there is a lot going on with X, I have one backup PC that runs
Xfree.

These days the forces that ? are have changed X into something that
certainly has its problems, the X.org consortium.

There also seems to be somebody who wrote a 'new' version to replace
X (Wayland). (X = Xwindows, the GUI part) Not sure how many have
adapted that yet. And of course some things will then break.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Window_System

For sure a lot of things have already broken. It looks quite bad. It
wastes so much time to chase all this. One easy way out would be
converting back to Windows 7 and, after January 2020, run Linux in a VM
for stuff that has to have web access, like the browser and email.
Wouldn't be very nice with file handling and all. In Windows 7
everything ran right out-of-the-box, no debug at all. However, there
comes January 2020.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

 

On Friday, August 30, 2019 at 11:33:04 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:

On 2019-08-30 07:41, edward.ming.lee@gmail.com wrote:

Right now I'd like to migrate my lab bench PC to Linux but that
gets complicated. It also will need (and now has) Windows 7 in
dual-boot. Long story short the software for the Signalhound
spectrum analyzer does not like its Intel G33 graphics chip. So I
have to find out if a Nvidia NVS 300 would work. There are reports
that it's tough in Linux but that maybe just isolated cases.

What feature of the NVS 300 do you need?


The Open GL support. The G33 chip on the motherboard supports only up to
1.4 but the software for my spectum analyzer requires 2.0 minimum. The
NVC 300 support up to 3.3.

I thought this Open GL stuff was more for gamers but obviously not. The
NVS 300 will be way too powerful for this PC but you can hardly buy
simpler ones anymore. One requirement is no fan. I do not like noise much..

Ubuntu 18.03 LTS w/ AMGGPU-pro 18.30 will support OpenGL 4.5. Actually, i prefer Mint 19 GUI and never had any problem mentioned here. Unfortunately, stupid AMD does not provide binary driver for Mint; so, some of the .so files are in the wrong place. But i use headline crypto miners (OpenCL 2.0) anyway, never even have screen on the servers.

The RX550 LP fan is very quiet, even less noise than my CPU or case fan. For occasional GPU use, you can unplug/disable the fan. I even have 24/7 miners without fan going for months. Might kill the $50 GPU card eventually, but who care.

By the way, best Linux GPU discussion group is for mining forums, second best is here, i guess.

 

[Jan Panteltje]

On a sunny day (Fri, 30 Aug 2019 11:33:10 -0700) it happened Joerg
<news@analogconsultants.com> wrote in <gst8eqF85aoU1@mid.individual.net>:

On 2019-08-30 07:41, edward.ming.lee@gmail.com wrote:
... I only use latest Mint 19 for desktop and Ubuntu 19
for servers, except that Ubuntu 19 works better with the amdgpu-pro
driver.


Maybe someday I will as well. Being a Linux newbie I do not know how
easy it is to switch Linux versions without having to re-install
everything. If too onerous I just leave all of them with Lubuntu.

The reality is that Ubuntu, and several other distros are all debian derivatives,
So if debian screws up, as in the case of the brightness buttons no longer working on Bitrex's laptop,
shortly after that same will happen in ubuntu versions and other versions based on debian.
Some later version of debian had exactly the same problem as Bitrex has with the laptop buttons,
so that is the source,
Debian for me in Dutch has become 'debielian' that is how I often call it.

Again with distros it is: 'If It Works Do Not Fix It (upgrade)'. [1]

As to your graphics card problems on this PC that I assembled I do not even use a graphic card
it is all integrated in the mobo (AMD).
Open GL works but no idea what the version is, would have to look it up, wrote some simulation code for it back then.
This mobo with build in graphics was, lemme see, from csl-computer-shop.de
parts all together including MDISC Bluray burner, harddisk, processor, several PCI cards, power supply, housing
329 Euro
I have a very powerful graphics card for it, stored, not used.
Graphics could be a bit faster for pdf files though...
But for 2012 ? Not so bad.
24/7 on, never a problem.

Compile new application from source if you can.

Also there is a lot going on with X, I have one backup PC that runs Xfree.

These days the forces that ? are have changed X into something that certainly has its problems, the X.org consortium.

There also seems to be somebody who wrote a 'new' version to replace X (Wayland).
(X = Xwindows, the GUI part)
Not sure how many have adapted that yet.
And of course some things will then break.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Window_System

 

On Friday, August 30, 2019 at 1:41:56 PM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:

On 2019-08-30 13:16, edward.ming.lee@gmail.com wrote:
On Friday, August 30, 2019 at 11:33:04 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2019-08-30 07:41, edward.ming.lee@gmail.com wrote:

Right now I'd like to migrate my lab bench PC to Linux but
that gets complicated. It also will need (and now has) Windows
7 in dual-boot. Long story short the software for the
Signalhound spectrum analyzer does not like its Intel G33
graphics chip. So I have to find out if a Nvidia NVS 300 would
work. There are reports that it's tough in Linux but that maybe
just isolated cases.

What feature of the NVS 300 do you need?


The Open GL support. The G33 chip on the motherboard supports only
up to 1.4 but the software for my spectum analyzer requires 2.0
minimum. The NVC 300 support up to 3.3.

I thought this Open GL stuff was more for gamers but obviously not.
The NVS 300 will be way too powerful for this PC but you can hardly
buy simpler ones anymore. One requirement is no fan. I do not like
noise much.

Ubuntu 18.03 LTS w/ AMGGPU-pro 18.30 will support OpenGL 4.5.


It's the graphics chip that doesn't support past 1.4 on my system.
However, the NVS 300 just arrived. Said full height but the metal
bracket is way too short. Oh well, looks like some shop time in the very
toasty garage. Maybe I do that on Sunday morning when it's cooler.

You got the Low Profile bracket on full height PC. However, i usually got the reverse problem, people send me full height bracket for my Low Profile PC.

Actually, i prefer Mint 19 GUI and never had any problem mentioned
here. Unfortunately, stupid AMD does not provide binary driver for
Mint; so, some of the .so files are in the wrong place. But i use
headline crypto miners (OpenCL 2.0) anyway, never even have screen on
the servers.


I don't know anything about crypto mining. Some people still mine for
gold in this area, the real stuff


The RX550 LP fan is very quiet, even less noise than my CPU or case
fan. For occasional GPU use, you can unplug/disable the fan. I even
have 24/7 miners without fan going for months. Might kill the $50
GPU card eventually, but who care.


Maybe add a simple mechanical "pill thermostat" and affix that on the
heat sink? I hate to destroy hardware needlessly.

RX550 is 14nm vs. NVS300's 40 nm. If i can't destroy it running 24/7 100% mining, nothing you can do to destroy it. The fan is really there for piece of mind for some people. The heat sink, with copper spreaders, is actually good enough without the fan, as long as you remove the heat near it fast enough. Or in my case, just leave the case cover open.

By the way, best Linux GPU discussion group is for mining forums,
second best is here, i guess.


I hope this NVS 300 fixes it all for good. Let's see if Linux likes it.
Windows will (dual-boot) so at least I can see that the HW works.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

 

[Joerg]

On 2019-08-30 13:34, edward.ming.lee@gmail.com wrote:

My mobo graphics chip only supports Open GL to 1.4 but need 2.0
minimum. The card was just flagged as "delivered". "To a neighbor
as requested", which I never requested. Great. Guess it's time for
a little neighborhood walk. Again.

Mobo chip or CPU chip.

According to the manufacturer of the software and the spectrum analyzer
their software is guaranteed not to work with a G33 chip because of
lacking Open GL level. I need this to work in Windows since their SW
will only run with Windows 7 or 10, not in WINE and not in a VM.

... My AMD A10 CPU comes with a low end Radeon
GPU, but even AMDGPU pro does not support it. Counting on AMD or
Nivida for software support is unfortunate. Fortunately, open source
Mesa driver is coming up soon for AMD GPU, but not Nivida. In few
months, Mesa is supposed to support OpenGL 4.6.

I don't think I'll ever need more than 2.0. And not in Linux because
that's all pretty mundane software.

I have 5 RX550 on 3 PCs running in my living room. The noise does
not bother me much, exact when my brother come to sleep on the
couch, then i have to shutdown some of them.

Aside from the noise the other issue is dog hair. We just rescued an
Entlebucher Mountain Dog and he sheds really fine hair. Gets into
anything that has fans. So, one less item to clean on a regular basis.
Labrador hair is a bit easier (we have two).

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

 

[Jan Panteltje]

PS
come to think about it
your scope thing software likely will not run on a Raspberry ARM processor,
but you could ask them for a Raspberry version (big market for them!).
If they release source you could compile on ARM yourself.

 

[Jan Panteltje]

On a sunny day (Fri, 30 Aug 2019 13:16:51 -0700) it happened Joerg
<news@analogconsultants.com> wrote in <gsteh9F9dvcU1@mid.individual.net>:

For sure a lot of things have already broken. It looks quite bad. It
wastes so much time to chase all this. One easy way out would be
converting back to Windows 7 and, after January 2020, run Linux in a VM
for stuff that has to have web access, like the browser and email.
Wouldn't be very nice with file handling and all. In Windows 7
everything ran right out-of-the-box, no debug at all. However, there
comes January 2020.

I wonder, maybe it is me, but I see the new Raspberry Pi
(that actually also runs a debian derivative)
4 GB RAM, OpenGL works (sure it must be the latest version),
2 micro HDMI outputs, WiFi..
Maybe it would be all you need (the 1 GB version is 35 $).
Micro sdcard and some cables ..

I need to order one some day but have plenty to do
I run 3 older ones all day.
Plug in a cheap keyboard and mouse .. or simply connect via ssh to it from some other PC (what I do).
My old ones are very reliable so far.

As a hardware man you can design and build all sort of things controlled by its GPIO (header).
Maybe even your beer system.

And with a simple 5 V stabilizer it can run from 12V.

For sure the Raspberry Pi 4 is compatible to a decent low end PC.
For things like a scope and just to get you power bill down ...

?

Very much plug and play.
Make a backup of its sdcard (I do) and you can always go back to when it was still working ;-)
And YES I did that too, saves time,

 

[Joerg]

On 2019-08-30 23:21, Jan Panteltje wrote:

On a sunny day (Fri, 30 Aug 2019 13:16:51 -0700) it happened Joerg
news@analogconsultants.com> wrote in <gsteh9F9dvcU1@mid.individual.net>:

For sure a lot of things have already broken. It looks quite bad. It
wastes so much time to chase all this. One easy way out would be
converting back to Windows 7 and, after January 2020, run Linux in a VM
for stuff that has to have web access, like the browser and email.
Wouldn't be very nice with file handling and all. In Windows 7
everything ran right out-of-the-box, no debug at all. However, there
comes January 2020.

I wonder, maybe it is me, but I see the new Raspberry Pi
(that actually also runs a debian derivative)
4 GB RAM, OpenGL works (sure it must be the latest version),
2 micro HDMI outputs, WiFi..
Maybe it would be all you need (the 1 GB version is 35 $).
Micro sdcard and some cables ..

Won't work because Signalhound Spike requires native Windows 7 or 10.
Will nit run in a VM and definitely not with WINE.

I need to order one some day but have plenty to do
I run 3 older ones all day.
Plug in a cheap keyboard and mouse .. or simply connect via ssh to it from some other PC (what I do).
My old ones are very reliable so far.

As a hardware man you can design and build all sort of things controlled by its GPIO (header).
Maybe even your beer system.

That's the goal but only if Linux starts to behave less buggy. Else
it'll be a Windows 7 netbook plus Labjack down in the brew chambers.

And with a simple 5 V stabilizer it can run from 12V.

For sure the Raspberry Pi 4 is compatible to a decent low end PC.
For things like a scope and just to get you power bill down ...

Not if you must run a hardcore Windows-only software. In my case
probably just one but that one is crucial.

?

Very much plug and play.
Make a backup of its sdcard (I do) and you can always go back to when it was still working ;-)
And YES I did that too, saves time,

I always make backups.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

 

[Joerg]

On 2019-08-30 13:52, edward.ming.lee@gmail.com wrote:

On Friday, August 30, 2019 at 1:41:56 PM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2019-08-30 13:16, edward.ming.lee@gmail.com wrote:
On Friday, August 30, 2019 at 11:33:04 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2019-08-30 07:41, edward.ming.lee@gmail.com wrote:

Right now I'd like to migrate my lab bench PC to Linux but
that gets complicated. It also will need (and now has)
Windows 7 in dual-boot. Long story short the software for
the Signalhound spectrum analyzer does not like its Intel
G33 graphics chip. So I have to find out if a Nvidia NVS
300 would work. There are reports that it's tough in Linux
but that maybe just isolated cases.

What feature of the NVS 300 do you need?


The Open GL support. The G33 chip on the motherboard supports
only up to 1.4 but the software for my spectum analyzer
requires 2.0 minimum. The NVC 300 support up to 3.3.

I thought this Open GL stuff was more for gamers but obviously
not. The NVS 300 will be way too powerful for this PC but you
can hardly buy simpler ones anymore. One requirement is no fan.
I do not like noise much.

Ubuntu 18.03 LTS w/ AMGGPU-pro 18.30 will support OpenGL 4.5.


It's the graphics chip that doesn't support past 1.4 on my system.
However, the NVS 300 just arrived. Said full height but the metal
bracket is way too short. Oh well, looks like some shop time in the
very toasty garage. Maybe I do that on Sunday morning when it's
cooler.

You got the Low Profile bracket on full height PC. However, i
usually got the reverse problem, people send me full height bracket
for my Low Profile PC.

Yeah, I missed the little comment where the seller said to send a
request if I need a long bracket. So I just made one. _With_ grounding
flange, of course, and mine is real copper

Actually, i prefer Mint 19 GUI and never had any problem
mentioned here. Unfortunately, stupid AMD does not provide
binary driver for Mint; so, some of the .so files are in the
wrong place. But i use headline crypto miners (OpenCL 2.0)
anyway, never even have screen on the servers.


I don't know anything about crypto mining. Some people still mine
for gold in this area, the real stuff


The RX550 LP fan is very quiet, even less noise than my CPU or
case fan. For occasional GPU use, you can unplug/disable the
fan. I even have 24/7 miners without fan going for months.
Might kill the $50 GPU card eventually, but who care.


Maybe add a simple mechanical "pill thermostat" and affix that on
the heat sink? I hate to destroy hardware needlessly.

RX550 is 14nm vs. NVS300's 40 nm. If i can't destroy it running 24/7
100% mining, nothing you can do to destroy it. The fan is really
there for piece of mind for some people. The heat sink, with copper
spreaders, is actually good enough without the fan, as long as you
remove the heat near it fast enough. Or in my case, just leave the
case cover open.

That would not work with our dogs.

[...]

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

 

[Jan Panteltje]

On a sunny day (Sat, 31 Aug 2019 07:10:33 -0700) it happened Joerg
<news@analogconsultants.com> wrote in <gsvdecFm6cgU1@mid.individual.net>:

On 2019-08-30 23:21, Jan Panteltje wrote:
On a sunny day (Fri, 30 Aug 2019 13:16:51 -0700) it happened Joerg
news@analogconsultants.com> wrote in <gsteh9F9dvcU1@mid.individual.net>:

For sure a lot of things have already broken. It looks quite bad. It
wastes so much time to chase all this. One easy way out would be
converting back to Windows 7 and, after January 2020, run Linux in a VM
for stuff that has to have web access, like the browser and email.
Wouldn't be very nice with file handling and all. In Windows 7
everything ran right out-of-the-box, no debug at all. However, there
comes January 2020.

I wonder, maybe it is me, but I see the new Raspberry Pi
(that actually also runs a debian derivative)
4 GB RAM, OpenGL works (sure it must be the latest version),
2 micro HDMI outputs, WiFi..
Maybe it would be all you need (the 1 GB version is 35 $).
Micro sdcard and some cables ..


Won't work because Signalhound Spike requires native Windows 7 or 10.
Will nit run in a VM and definitely not with WINE.

Yea, I amended that, ask them for a Linux release for Raspberry.

I need to order one some day but have plenty to do
I run 3 older ones all day.
Plug in a cheap keyboard and mouse .. or simply connect via ssh to it from some other PC (what I do).
My old ones are very reliable so far.

As a hardware man you can design and build all sort of things controlled by its GPIO (header).
Maybe even your beer system.


That's the goal but only if Linux starts to behave less buggy.

It all depends, again, my 3 raspies work great:
http://panteltje.com/panteltje/xgpspc/index.html

panteltje12: ~ # ssh -Y pi@192.168.178.73
pi@192.168.178.73's password:
Warning: No xauth data; using fake authentication data for X11 forwarding.
Linux raspberrypi 3.6.11+ #371 PREEMPT Thu Feb 7 16:31:35 GMT 2013 armv6l
Last login: Thu Aug 29 22:12:19 2019 from panteltje12
root@raspberrypi:~# uptime
16:16:57 up 32 days, 18:39, 10 users, load average: 3.44, 3.16, 3.08
root@raspberrypi:~# logout
Connection to 192.168.178.73 closed.

That raspi runs a lot, including AIS rx via DVB-T USB stick, GPS / GLONASS via its serial port (GPIO pins), attitude sensor
uing a 6 axis accelerometer via i2c, water sensor (haha for other poster), magnetic compass via i2c,
temperature, humidity via POE, air pressure via i2c, etc etc, control loops for steering.
reliable?
The basic OS / kernel is reliable, I wrote the GUI directly in X, everything is multithreaded,
Wifi works too.


My clock
http://panteltje.com/panteltje/raspberry_pi_FDS132_matrix_display_driver/index.html
panteltje12: ~ # ssh -Y pi@192.168.178.71
pi@192.168.178.71's password:
Warning: No xauth data; using fake authentication data for X11 forwarding.
Linux raspberrypi 3.6.11+ #456 PREEMPT Mon May 20 17:42:15 BST 2013 armv6l
Last login: Sat Aug 31 07:42:35 2019 from 192.168.178.159
....
starts in the moring, is off last night

My router, the whole LAN hangs on that, has a Huawei 4G USB stick.
panteltje12: ~ # ssh -Y pi@192.168.178.1
pi@192.168.178.1's password:
Warning: No xauth data; using fake authentication data for X11 forwarding.
Linux raspberrypi 3.12.35+ #730 PREEMPT Fri Dec 19 18:31:24 GMT 2014 armv6l

The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by applicable law.
Last login: Sat Aug 31 10:17:52 2019 from 192.168.178.159
root@raspberrypi:~# used

rx / tx / total / estimated
ppp0:
Jul '19 3.50 GiB / 308.50 MiB / 3.80 GiB
Aug '19 2.81 GiB / 252.35 MiB / 3.06 GiB / 3.09 GiB
yesterday 64.79 MiB / 8.12 MiB / 72.91 MiB
today 37.79 MiB / 4.23 MiB / 42.02 MiB / 59 MiB

Else
it'll be a Windows 7 netbook plus Labjack down in the brew chambers.

And with a simple 5 V stabilizer it can run from 12V.

For sure the Raspberry Pi 4 is compatible to a decent low end PC.
For things like a scope and just to get you power bill down ...


Not if you must run a hardcore Windows-only software. In my case
probably just one but that one is crucial.

I would rewrite that scope app I guess, not your thing.
Or just do it this way:
http://panteltje.com/panteltje/pic/scope_pic/
That is fun PIC asm.

There are no limits.

?

Very much plug and play.
Make a backup of its sdcard (I do) and you can always go back to when it was still working ;-)
And YES I did that too, saves time,


I always make backups.

Copying a whole SDcard is a cool backup way, much more easy than tar gz a whole partition
from an other live system, and then restoring it on some other disk.
dd if=/dev/sdcard of=./mybackup.img

and back
dd if=./mybackup.img of=/dev/newscard
where /dev/sdcard could be anything like /dev/sdb or whatever device name 'dmesg' shows when you inserted the card.
So far for simple lessons in Linux.
Reliable? Yes
But a car is as good as its driver,

I will leave it at that.

You would probably use some RAM FIFO and hang a fast ADC on GPIO to make a much faster scope.

When you are retired you have plenty of time to learn doing.
Give it a 30 years or so...
;-)

Or you could go to hawaii and sip nice drinks and watch the hula girls.
The way the weather here is now I do not need to go far,
http://www.panteltje.com/pub/clock_IMG_0161.JPG

 

[bitrex]

On 8/30/19 9:58 AM, Joerg wrote:

I like the no-frills GUI of Lubuntu. Some people said I'd never get much
group support with that because Mate is more popular and such. I don't
understand it because that's just the GUI, the frosting on the OS.


Win 10 is a combination of some nice features and UI improvements that I
don't mind using when it works right either, and on a
power-consumption-no-object screaming desktop workstation, it's actually
pretty nice.

but it's also just a big beast of an OS. And OEMs are still installing
it on cheaper laptops with 5400 RPM drives which is a criminal thing
to do!


I won't use it, for many reasons but mostly the ones Phils had explained
in this NG once. Privacy and "calling home".

XP/7/8/10 all run fine for me in a VirtualBox/VMWare sandbox under
Ubuntu too so you can jump in for a bit if you really need it for
something. The USB pass-thru even lets me keep a couple pieces of
USB-connectivity hardware useful even though only XP drivers were ever
made available for them

 

bitrex <user@example.net> wrote in news:L5waF.108932$GI3.81382
@fx03.iad:

>> I like the no-frills GUI of Lubuntu.

The best Ubuntu version is Ubuntu Studio.

The daily builds are fine...

<http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/dvd/>

 

[Joerg]

On 2019-08-31 07:53, Jan Panteltje wrote:

On a sunny day (Sat, 31 Aug 2019 07:10:33 -0700) it happened Joerg
news@analogconsultants.com> wrote in <gsvdecFm6cgU1@mid.individual.net>:

On 2019-08-30 23:21, Jan Panteltje wrote:
On a sunny day (Fri, 30 Aug 2019 13:16:51 -0700) it happened Joerg
news@analogconsultants.com> wrote in <gsteh9F9dvcU1@mid.individual.net>:

For sure a lot of things have already broken. It looks quite bad. It
wastes so much time to chase all this. One easy way out would be
converting back to Windows 7 and, after January 2020, run Linux in a VM
for stuff that has to have web access, like the browser and email.
Wouldn't be very nice with file handling and all. In Windows 7
everything ran right out-of-the-box, no debug at all. However, there
comes January 2020.

I wonder, maybe it is me, but I see the new Raspberry Pi
(that actually also runs a debian derivative)
4 GB RAM, OpenGL works (sure it must be the latest version),
2 micro HDMI outputs, WiFi..
Maybe it would be all you need (the 1 GB version is 35 $).
Micro sdcard and some cables ..


Won't work because Signalhound Spike requires native Windows 7 or 10.
Will nit run in a VM and definitely not with WINE.

Yea, I amended that, ask them for a Linux release for Raspberry.

The Raspberry is too weak for this. I asked them whether a Linux release
could be in the cards but it ain't. Linux just has too little market
share in the PC world and that won't change anytime soon.

I need to order one some day but have plenty to do
I run 3 older ones all day.
Plug in a cheap keyboard and mouse .. or simply connect via ssh to it from some other PC (what I do).
My old ones are very reliable so far.

As a hardware man you can design and build all sort of things controlled by its GPIO (header).
Maybe even your beer system.


That's the goal but only if Linux starts to behave less buggy.

It all depends, again, my 3 raspies work great:
http://panteltje.com/panteltje/xgpspc/index.html

panteltje12: ~ # ssh -Y pi@192.168.178.73
pi@192.168.178.73's password:
Warning: No xauth data; using fake authentication data for X11 forwarding.
Linux raspberrypi 3.6.11+ #371 PREEMPT Thu Feb 7 16:31:35 GMT 2013 armv6l
Last login: Thu Aug 29 22:12:19 2019 from panteltje12
root@raspberrypi:~# uptime
16:16:57 up 32 days, 18:39, 10 users, load average: 3.44, 3.16, 3.08
root@raspberrypi:~# logout
Connection to 192.168.178.73 closed.

That raspi runs a lot, including AIS rx via DVB-T USB stick, GPS / GLONASS via its serial port (GPIO pins), attitude sensor
uing a 6 axis accelerometer via i2c, water sensor (haha for other poster), magnetic compass via i2c,
temperature, humidity via POE, air pressure via i2c, etc etc, control loops for steering.
reliable?
The basic OS / kernel is reliable, I wrote the GUI directly in X, everything is multithreaded,
Wifi works too.

The kernel is reliable but sometimes updates break software packages
because of all those dependencies. I'll have to see how far snap would
reduce that problem.

My clock
http://panteltje.com/panteltje/raspberry_pi_FDS132_matrix_display_driver/index.html
panteltje12: ~ # ssh -Y pi@192.168.178.71
pi@192.168.178.71's password:
Warning: No xauth data; using fake authentication data for X11 forwarding.
Linux raspberrypi 3.6.11+ #456 PREEMPT Mon May 20 17:42:15 BST 2013 armv6l
Last login: Sat Aug 31 07:42:35 2019 from 192.168.178.159
...
starts in the moring, is off last night

My router, the whole LAN hangs on that, has a Huawei 4G USB stick.
panteltje12: ~ # ssh -Y pi@192.168.178.1
pi@192.168.178.1's password:
Warning: No xauth data; using fake authentication data for X11 forwarding.
Linux raspberrypi 3.12.35+ #730 PREEMPT Fri Dec 19 18:31:24 GMT 2014 armv6l

The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by applicable law.

That is one of the reasons why Linux isn't used much on business PCs.
Not any warranty but the risk that one sunny day the OS updates and an
application or two no longer work. Happened to me several times.

Last login: Sat Aug 31 10:17:52 2019 from 192.168.178.159
root@raspberrypi:~# used

rx / tx / total / estimated
ppp0:
Jul '19 3.50 GiB / 308.50 MiB / 3.80 GiB
Aug '19 2.81 GiB / 252.35 MiB / 3.06 GiB / 3.09 GiB
yesterday 64.79 MiB / 8.12 MiB / 72.91 MiB
today 37.79 MiB / 4.23 MiB / 42.02 MiB / 59 MiB





Else
it'll be a Windows 7 netbook plus Labjack down in the brew chambers.




And with a simple 5 V stabilizer it can run from 12V.

For sure the Raspberry Pi 4 is compatible to a decent low end PC.
For things like a scope and just to get you power bill down ...


Not if you must run a hardcore Windows-only software. In my case
probably just one but that one is crucial.

I would rewrite that scope app I guess, not your thing.
Or just do it this way:
http://panteltje.com/panteltje/pic/scope_pic/
That is fun PIC asm.

There are no limits.

If you are married, there are

?

Very much plug and play.
Make a backup of its sdcard (I do) and you can always go back to when it was still working ;-)
And YES I did that too, saves time,


I always make backups.


Copying a whole SDcard is a cool backup way, much more easy than tar gz a whole partition
from an other live system, and then restoring it on some other disk.
dd if=/dev/sdcard of=./mybackup.img

and back
dd if=./mybackup.img of=/dev/newscard
where /dev/sdcard could be anything like /dev/sdb or whatever device name 'dmesg' shows when you inserted the card.
So far for simple lessons in Linux.
Reliable? Yes
But a car is as good as its driver,

I will leave it at that.

You would probably use some RAM FIFO and hang a fast ADC on GPIO to make a much faster scope.

I don't want to re-invent the wheel. I've got several scopes here and
some can easily pipe data into a PC. Not sure how to do that in Linux
yet but I am sure it'll work.

When you are retired you have plenty of time to learn doing.

Depends on what you are doing. For me that means a lot of volunteering
and that reduces available time. Wrestling 2h to get something to work
that takes seconds in Windows is frustrating but right now I chalk that
up as "education". As long as this doesn't continue for long.

Give it a 30 years or so...
;-)

Or you could go to hawaii and sip nice drinks and watch the hula girls.

But don't get too cozy with them, else ...

The way the weather here is now I do not need to go far,
http://www.panteltje.com/pub/clock_IMG_0161.JPG

Similar here, it's nice.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

 

[Joerg]

On 2019-08-31 08:10, bitrex wrote:

On 8/30/19 9:58 AM, Joerg wrote:

I like the no-frills GUI of Lubuntu. Some people said I'd never get
much group support with that because Mate is more popular and such. I
don't understand it because that's just the GUI, the frosting on the OS.


Win 10 is a combination of some nice features and UI improvements that I
don't mind using when it works right either, and on a
power-consumption-no-object screaming desktop workstation, it's actually
pretty nice.

but it's also just a big beast of an OS. And OEMs are still installing
it on cheaper laptops with 5400 RPM drives which is a criminal thing
to do!


I won't use it, for many reasons but mostly the ones Phils had
explained in this NG once. Privacy and "calling home".


XP/7/8/10 all run fine for me in a VirtualBox/VMWare sandbox under
Ubuntu too so you can jump in for a bit if you really need it for
something. The USB pass-thru even lets me keep a couple pieces of
USB-connectivity hardware useful even though only XP drivers were ever
made available for them

It would but for teh Signalhound analyzer that wee bit of extra USB
latency causes device disconnects.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/