PClinuxOS has released a 2009 version - The Digital Darkroom

oldwrinkly · 17-03-2009, 00:35

An updated .iso has been released this week from...

http://www.pclinuxos.com/index.php?o...tpage&Itemid=1

I downloaded and installed it without any driver or internet problems.
Installed a lot smoother than the 2007 version.

Since I had to wipe all my disks and have a complete restart I have tried a couple of 64bit distros but have gone back to PClinuxOS as the easiest Linux to use and Compiz fusion for the eye candy.

Personally I do not want to get bogged down with any command line OS
and I find PClinuxOS very user-friendly

Although if you like a desktop with all the eye candy imaginable, got to...

http://www.elivecd.org/

The distro is based on Debian, using the Enlightenment file manager and incorporating compiz fusion

I downloaded and installed the E17 version,which is still under development and classed as unstable, I have not had any problems with it but would not use it for critical data.
It is a showcase of what can be prettified, altered and effects added to all parts of the desktop. Some of the themes online are amazing, it just shows what can be achieved

Mike

Rebel · 17-03-2009, 01:05

Thanks Mike, I will go and have a look, I keep intending to try Linux, and really liked the look of Ubuntu, but if this is better its worth having a close look at.

oldwrinkly · 17-03-2009, 22:13

rebel

Quote:

really liked the look of Ubuntu, but if this is better its worth having a close look at.

I think PClinuxOS has a more polished and professional feel to it, they only release major updates every couple of years, a more stable approach and the forums are as helpfull and friendly as D.D.

It costs nothing to try, I burn the download as an .iso with `imgburn` at 1:1
the OS can be run off the disc and see what you think before installing anything.

In passing, I have not forgotten the tutorial on coding a web site, I did not expect to spend so long trying to put right whatever nastiness invaded my PC

Regards

Mike

Rebel · 18-03-2009, 00:10

Funny enough Mike, Chris H and I were only talking about your website the other day, both of us want to nick it and use it just as it is

oldwrinkly · 08-04-2009, 00:12

Rebel

I apologise for not answering your reply, only just seen it

Quote:

Funny enough Mike, Chris H and I were only talking about your website the other day, both of us want to nick it and use it just as it is

Your welcome, I can send you a cd with the site, all the images, pages and code.
An old version of Dreamweaver (mine is MX 2004 cost £10.0 off ebay) would help you to cut out what you do not want, change the colours and graphics on the background, header and navigation. copy in your own images, text and titles
and away you go.

Regards

Mike

Fiz · 08-04-2009, 23:03

Hi oldwrinkly

I have been reading this thread you started and then downloaded pclinuxos. Thanks for the heads up.

I tried to install it on an old compaq portable (armada m700, 1gb ram 20gb hdd) and only managed to get half way trough and then it failed. I have successfully installed ubuntu 10.x and some other distros so I know it works on that machine, although when I tried opensuse it failed. Any ideas? I suspect it is some quirky hardware on the m700 that some linux distros don't know about.

But the main question I wanted to ask you is concerning partitions. On another, more up to date portable, (Compaq C700, 2gb ram, 180 gb hdd), I would like to try out pclinuxos, however I want to first save the restore partition that is on that hdd. Do you know an easy way of doing this?

Basically the restore partition is in respect of windows Vista that was originally installed on the c700 and I would like to be able, at some far future date, to be able to restore the restore partition (if you see what I mean) and from there have the ability of being able to reinstall Vista.

Currently I have on the c700 a dual boot setup with ubuntu 10.x using about 20gb (I resized the Vista partition using Vista partition tools to give me the 20gb). This arrangement works just fine, actually more than fine. However I would now like to just dump all of the windows stuff (vista install and its restore partition) and use the whole hdd for linux (maybe pclinuxos, but probably ubuntu) and then use virtual box to install XP as a guest system (maybe some other stuff as well).

Hope you can help? Basic question is "how do I save a particular partition and know that I can restore that saved partition at some later date?"

I have plenty of media to save the partition to (e.g. usb drives, dual layer dvd etc), the partition is only about 7gb big anyway.

tia

sorry for the long post!

oldwrinkly · 09-04-2009, 00:24

Fiz
I will give you my opinions based on what I would do but I am no expert

Taking the last paragraphs first, I use Acronis http://www.acronis.co.uk/ it costs a couple of bob but is brilliant at backing up windows, linux, all the partitions and MBR. Create a bootable cd and you can wipe the hard drive, boot into Acronis and it will restore everything as was.
Because of that I would install acronis on Vista and leave Vista installed even if you do not use it.

You can then play with different distros and have the peace of mind that whatever you backed up can be restored.

Quote:

I tried to install it on an old compaq portable (armada m700,

Try entering armada m700 in the search pane of pclinuxos forums, the link is...http://www.pclinuxos.com/index.php?o..._smf&Itemid=58 there seems to be a couple of pages refering to that compaq.

You could also look through the `live cd` section and the `wiki` has a lot of useful info

Hope this helps a bit

Mike

Fiz · 09-04-2009, 08:36

Mike

Thanks for that. Funnily enough I did try Acronis and backed up the partition to an external USB HDD. But then there was no obvious way back once I scrub the internal HDD.

Is there a way using Acronis to create a live CD with some MS operating system (eg XP) and also including an install of Acronis? This way if I ever need to to restore a partition from an external HDD (saved via Acronis) all I would need to do is boot the self-created live CD, run Acronis and from there restore the partition from the external HDD to the internal HDD (which could be a different HDD).

This would save having to retain Vista on the internal HDD (there is always the risk of a Linux distro blowing the Vista install anyway).

Fiz

Rebel · 09-04-2009, 14:19

Acronis can create a rescue disk on cd and that will either just include (at your choice) a basic restore facility or the complete software package both on a bootable CDR.

PS I also use Acronis true image having previously been a fan of Norton Ghost I find true image a more complete but less intrusive package.

HTH

Fiz · 09-04-2009, 14:58

Hi Reb

Thanks for that. I was earlier on looking at the Acronis website as well as their forum (hosted at Wilders) and came away confused. Acronis seem to have several software packages available, each of them with a bewildering array of options. And then they seem to have a overly strict licensing arrangement. I tried to understand how my simple requirements may be met, but as I say I came away confused.

All I want to be able to do is backup a partition (to whatever media is required) and know that I can restore that partition at some future date without having to faf around with added layers of complexity. Making a boot CD should be easy, however I now wonder how the licensing would work.

It might be simpler (and cheaper) to just purchase a new drive and use that. For example I can get a 320gb HDD for just £78, I would need to check for compability but probably is ok.

Rebel · 09-04-2009, 16:01

All I can tell you is I use True image Home edition and that does everything I need and also allows me to backup my drive direct to another HD or DVD with relative ease.

oldwrinkly · 09-04-2009, 22:30

Fiz

Quote:

And then they seem to have a overly strict licensing arrangement.

I will agree with you on that point, I expected to be able to back up my laptop as well as the pc, but to do that I would have to upgrade to `2 pc`s` and could not justify the cost. So I make sure all critical data is copied on to the pc.

I have True Image home 2009 cost is £48.0 and backs up to an external hard drive.
I do a complete back up of 3 hard drives containing partitions for XP home, Vista ultimate, pclinuxos, and elive E17. including the `master boot record` as they all boot off the C drive.
300gb for photos, 150Gb for music, 30Gb for personal stuff and an old 80Gb drive for temporary, swap and cache files.
I have wiped the discs because of a virus and restored all the os`s, partitions and MBR and it all worked ( except if you back up a virus, as I did unknowingly, you restore that as well!)

Mike

Fiz · 09-04-2009, 23:04

Hi Mike

Thanks.

In fact I have now moved on a lot. I found a copy of PC Angel by Softthinks (it came with a machine somewhere along the line) and I have copied the Vista partition to a couple of DVDs , as well as satisfied myself that I can restore from that.

Now typing on the C700 via pclinuxos which occupies 100% of the hdd. Tons of space to play with.

Looks nice. Had to spend about 10 minutes getting the wireless client enabled (used ndiswrapper) and was off to the races.

First impressions?

The install, whilst it went well, was not as intuitive as say ubuntu. I would not give this distro to a noob and expect them to get on with it. The install threw up too many things that would confuse some. But it got there in the end.

I had to install the wireless client, again it was not so intuitive. Luckily I knew a bit about it and could work my way through the process. In ubuntu all that was required was to turn on the wireless client and the os suggested a driver etc which proved to be correct.

There was no automatic prompting to update the distro. I have yet to work out how pclinuxos implements its synaptic package manager. I just need to dig around a bit, I'm sure I will get there. Unless you want to give me a couple of quick clues?

The graphics seems a bit jerky. I suspect I simply need to update the default drivers or fine tune a setting somewhere.

Once I get more comfortable with this distro I will then install virtualbox and as a guest install xp professional and maybe some other distros (like elive you have suggested). Apparently virtualbox will install Leopard as a guest as well. Do you know if Apple sells Leopard and if so the cost?

anyway, back to exploring and playing.

Fiz

oldwrinkly · 11-04-2009, 18:35

Fiz

Quote:

There was no automatic prompting to update the distro. I have yet to work out how pclinuxos implements its synaptic package manager. I just need to dig around a bit, I'm sure I will get there. Unless you want to give me a couple of quick clues?

Click on synaptics (task bar left of centre) once loaded click-reload- when loaded again click- mark all updates and on the list of updates - mark and install

go to the control panel under hardware to sort out the graphics and (depending on your graphic card) you can enable 3d, open gl and compiz fusion to get your menus going up in flames and bounce around the screen with a 3d desktop, great fun!

Mike

Fiz · 11-04-2009, 19:56

Thanks Mike for all your help and advice, very much appreciated.