MX-19 Beta 3 Feedback

[chrispop99]

You know what the problem is? Most users install mx19b3 on a VM - just to try it out. I guess very few ppl would risk installing a beta on their "main" PC/Laptop.
I've had a few glitches installing 19 b2.1 on 2 bare-metal Thinkpads, 1 NUC and 1 Latitude - both frech installs and snapshot cloning.
Lenovo's BIOS is the worst - totally geared towards Windows UFI and "scure boot".
With 19b2.1 I managed to ignore the "incorrect settings in minstall.conf" error and finish the install.
Now with 19b3 the installation process is completely broken. Even with "custom install" (after manually creating xt4 and fat32 partitions with Gparted) - I can only progress as far as Grub where it fails.
I'm a professional tester, I know this is a major bug Sev-1 which needs to be fixed urgently. Who cares about the transparency/color of the panel if the install doesn't work?
May I suggest the MX Devs grab a spare Lenovo and try to install on an empty NVMe - hope they get as frustrated as dozens of potential MX users this stupid bug is turning away from otherwise excellent distro!

I have five Lenovo laptops from three different generations specifically for testing. One is left permanently in UEFI mode. All of them boot and install all versions of MX Linux without difficulty.

I have a couple of Dell machines that are temperamental when booting from USB, although they are like that with all distros.

Where are the 'dozens of potential MX users ' being 'turned away'? Certainly not here, or on our Facebook group.

Chris

[SwampRabbit]

there are a few lenovos (my wife's yoga among them) that will not boot any linux I install to the drive. Being that the only one I have like that is my wife's yoga, I really can't go around messing with her secure key settings, but in that machine's case, it apparently will only boot a particular linux (I forget which one at the moment, its not one of the usuals, linpus lite maybe). And same thing on that machine, only a legacy USB boot will work, which is actually what she uses when doing videos, the live USB.

DO I can test the Beta install on my wife’s Yoga 2. If I recall I started it with MX-17 (maybe MX-16) and it’s been running MX-18 for a long time now.... she loves it, it’s her daily driver.

It was one of my first threads here, I have a script tied to a button to allow manual rotation. The rotation issue is a XFCE thing.

[JayM]

Question: how does one "teat" MX?


Edit: Oh, nm, I get it. "Test." (I'm a bit slow today.)

[bpr323]

Forgot to mention: there are some Lenovo how-tos in the Wiki

Thanks mate! Just had a look there and there's bugger all tips on Lenovo BIOS settings. And it's about MX15 vintage
Look, I've read a quite few reviews on Distrowatch, and ppl rarely whinge about this or that pet app didn't work properly. Okay, they will give it a 7 ...
What kills distros is comments like - "this POS couldn't even boot on my laptop. Waste of time"

[SwampRabbit]

Question: how does one "teat" MX?


Edit: Oh, nm, I get it. "Test." (I'm a bit slow today.)

Obviously I am too! Posting from the phone isn’t helping either. Fixed the typo.

[SwampRabbit]

Thanks mate! Just had a look there and there's bugger all tips on Lenovo BIOS settings. And it's about MX15 vintage
Look, I've read a quite few reviews on Distrowatch, and ppl rarely whinge about this or that pet app didn't work properly. Okay, they will give it a 7 ...
What kills distros is comments like - "this POS couldn't even boot on my laptop. Waste of time"

What kills distros is crap hardware manufacturers. Lenovo got a lot of flack for their lack of desire to even allow booting anything other than Windows on certain builds.

This isn’t an MX issue, it’s a hardware manufacturer issue. It’s a shame users have to push their frustration on MX, but it is what it is... we just have to push past it and try and educate.

[bpr323]

You know what the problem is? Most users install mx19b3 on a VM - just to try it out. I guess very few ppl would risk installing a beta on their "main" PC/Laptop.
I've had a few glitches installing 19 b2.1 on 2 bare-metal Thinkpads, 1 NUC and 1 Latitude - both frech installs and snapshot cloning.
Lenovo's BIOS is the worst - totally geared towards Windows UFI and "scure boot".
With 19b2.1 I managed to ignore the "incorrect settings in minstall.conf" error and finish the install.
Now with 19b3 the installation process is completely broken. Even with "custom install" (after manually creating xt4 and fat32 partitions with Gparted) - I can only progress as far as Grub where it fails.
I'm a professional tester, I know this is a major bug Sev-1 which needs to be fixed urgently. Who cares about the transparency/color of the panel if the install doesn't work?
May I suggest the MX Devs grab a spare Lenovo and try to install on an empty NVMe - hope they get as frustrated as dozens of potential MX users this stupid bug is turning away from otherwise excellent distro!

I have five Lenovo laptops from three different generations specifically for testing. One is left permanently in UEFI mode. All of them boot and install all versions of MX Linux without difficulty.

I have a couple of Dell machines that are temperamental when booting from USB, although they are like that with all distros.

Where are the 'dozens of potential MX users ' being 'turned away'? Certainly not here, or on our Facebook group.

Chris

What do you mean "permanently in UFFI mode"? If I set to UFFI only, my MX USB wouldn't boot at all. The F12 doesn't even list this as an option - just legacy USB, and if I choose that sometimes keeps looping back
And the mininstall.conf issue - I had the same headache with Antix not being able to do a simple "auto" partitioning, always asking to open gparted and create partitions manually. Stone age.
Don't get me wrong - I LOVE MX, it made me trash Windows from my disk ... Ever heard of a spoon of tar that spoils a barrel of honey? :)

[dolphin_oracle]

there are a few lenovos (my wife's yoga among them) that will not boot any linux I install to the drive. Being that the only one I have like that is my wife's yoga, I really can't go around messing with her secure key settings, but in that machine's case, it apparently will only boot a particular linux (I forget which one at the moment, its not one of the usuals, linpus lite maybe). And same thing on that machine, only a legacy USB boot will work, which is actually what she uses when doing videos, the live USB.

On my X1 gen4 the "virgin" install always goes smoothly, the next always fails unless I gut the BIOS. Never had this s*** with Arch
What pisses me off upsets me the most is the "minstall.conf" issue that breaks the GUI (and CLI) install on step 2 doesn't seem to have been given a Sev-1 priority (apparently)

actually we are working on the minstall.conf thing.

what chris is trying to say is that its not a blanket lenovo thing, but an issue with specific lenovos.

for instance, I have 3 UEFI - only lenovos what work without issue, but as I mentioned, my wife's Lenovo yoga has issues.

[bpr323]

Thanks mate! Just had a look there and there's bugger all tips on Lenovo BIOS settings. And it's about MX15 vintage
Look, I've read a quite few reviews on Distrowatch, and ppl rarely whinge about this or that pet app didn't work properly. Okay, they will give it a 7 ...
What kills distros is comments like - "this POS couldn't even boot on my laptop. Waste of time"

What kills distros is crap hardware manufacturers. Lenovo got a lot of flack for their lack of desire to even allow booting anything other than Windows on certain builds.

This isn’t an MX issue, it’s a hardware manufacturer issue. It’s a shame users have to push their frustration on MX, but it is what it is... we just have to push past it and try and educate.

Totally agree on Lenovo whoring to MS, but I've never had a failed boot on Debian or Arch - can't remember what they use - "calamares"?

[bpr323]

there are a few lenovos (my wife's yoga among them) that will not boot any linux I install to the drive. Being that the only one I have like that is my wife's yoga, I really can't go around messing with her secure key settings, but in that machine's case, it apparently will only boot a particular linux (I forget which one at the moment, its not one of the usuals, linpus lite maybe). And same thing on that machine, only a legacy USB boot will work, which is actually what she uses when doing videos, the live USB.

On my X1 gen4 the "virgin" install always goes smoothly, the next always fails unless I gut the BIOS. Never had this s*** with Arch
What pisses me off upsets me the most is the "minstall.conf" issue that breaks the GUI (and CLI) install on step 2 doesn't seem to have been given a Sev-1 priority (apparently)

actually we are working on the minstall.conf thing.

what chris is trying to say is that its not a blanket lenovo thing, but an issue with specific lenovos.

for instance, I have 3 UEFI - only lenovos what work without issue, but as I mentioned, my wife's Lenovo yoga has issues.

Awesome! Can't wait for 19b3.1 (or final :)
Could you please advise - is there an e2e CLI install either from splash or from live desktop?
Any tips like pre-partitioning the ssd (including flags and labels, etc before trying the USB install?
What's the advantage of MX USB creator over Etcher? Is it possible to create a snapshot ISO that one can just burn with Etcher and install without a little song and dance? :)