MX Linux Forum

The antiX Linux package I downloaded to CD seems to be bare bones, finding files and devices plugged into the computer seems kind of difficult for the newbie users.

When I was running the old Mepis 3.3 it showed the mounted disks and files in a Windows type interface, but this antiX seems to be a bit more difficult for the new users.

There is no video player by default, so how do you get one to associate with the files, also if you download a package like VLC how do you get it running on this OS ?

What did you download exactly? Or, what is the output of Sounds you might have antiX Core or something like that, because your description does not fit MX-16.

anthonycea wrote:The antiX Linux package I downloaded to CD seems to be bare bones, finding files and devices plugged into the computer seems kind of difficult for the newbie users.

When I was running the old Mepis 3.3 it showed the mounted disks and files in a Windows type interface, but this antiX seems to be a bit more difficult for the new users.

There is no video player by default, so how do you get one to associate with the files, also if you download a package like VLC how do you get it running on this OS ?

assuming you downloaded the full antiX 16 version, gnome-mplayer should be the default video player. mpv is also available.

antiX is barebones in a way...we prefer "lean and mean". but usual tasks should be covered.

**edit*** I do see that in the rox-filer, some of the file types are not set up with default actions. You can choose an action by right-clicking a file, and choosing "Set Run Action". in the command box, for a video file, you could use "gnome-mplayer "$@" for instance.

you might be more comfortable using the spacefm desktop mode. in antiX 16, in the system menu, you can go to Desktop>Other Desktops and I would recommend space-icewm for a start. It behaves more like a traditional desktop, although its not quite as "lean" as the default rox desktop setup. and the system spacefm uses for picking up default applications for filetypes is more standard than rox-filer.

antiX-16_x64-full.iso or antiX-16_386-full.iso is what you should have gotten, as you do say antiX Linux package.

The problem is I have to load the OS ISO via CD and you can only get 702 MB on that CD.

I am using the Metapackages loader to install software, is there a program that will give you KDE desktop because I do not see it in there ?

I just found the KDE interface under Window Manager and have downloaded it, how do you get that working with the OS once downloaded ?

OK, got the video player working, so how do I view the devices on this box, I downloaded the KDE software but do not see it, how is that activated.

Since this thread is not about MX Linux, I am going to move it to the antiX forum.

in antiX 16, in the system menu, you can go to Desktop>Other Desktops

I went to the space and that worked fine and I was able to see the devices and drives by clicking show internal drives, I had it working then I switched to the other desktop at the very bottom and lost the OS, you guys should have never included that option in the OS because there was not a way to get out of it and I will have to reload the OS.

Crazy stuff indeed, the problem with Linux for new users is the jumping though hoops mode it puts new users in, they will do it for a few days, but without extensive computer knowledge they will not last long, these OS's have to be fool proof so fools can use them.

that last one is herbsluftwm. I hate it, and I agree with you, it shouldn't be there.

I think cntrl + alt + backspace will get you back to the login manager. then use F1 to cylce back to a system you want to use.

Why not eliminate some of those desktops and just put KDE in there like Mepis did with 3.3 so a dummy can get started ?

In addition since so many users watch videos why not make it easy to click and watch by having a player in the OS by default from the get go, the problem is users are too use to point and click and they will tire of jumping through hoops in trying to get on board with these Linux OS's, I have noticed many problems even with Ubantu that makes it impossible to use, this is why Mepis drew a lot of users in long ago, they made it easy for a novice to get up and running.

anthonycea wrote:Why not eliminate some of those desktops and just put KDE in there like Mepis did with 3.3 so a dummy can get started ?

In addition since so many users watch videos why not make it easy to click and watch by having a player in the OS by default from the get go, the problem is users are too use to point and click and they will tire of jumping through hoops in trying to get on board with these Linux OS's, I have noticed many problems even with Ubantu that makes it impossible to use, this is why Mepis drew a lot of users in long ago, they made it easy for a novice to get up and running.

I hear you.

number 1. antix is not mepis. nothing is mepis anymore.

number 2. antiX is designed for older hardware. running a modern KDE on hardware like yours (and mine) would cripple the system, if it would boot at all. not to mention the fact that no KDE distro will fit on a CD, which is a design criteria for antiX (but not MX).

number 3. the lack of default app settings in the rox file manager was an oversite at launch of antiX 16. past versions were set up, and something got lost during development. Its not intentional.

antiX is really quite good at doing what its designed to do...letting old kit run modern programs.

if you want to try a fuller desktop, mx linux is your next best shot. there is a 32 bit version that might be ok.

remember, mepis 3.3 was release over 12 years ago! (yowza!). the big boy desktops have moved on to much higher hardware requirements than back in the day.

I guess I have nothing to lose since your member showed me how to burn a ISO CD, look I do thank you for your help and all the other members too, I hope my posts give you guys some ideas on how to improve future versions so a novice with little knowledge of entering code can use these distros in the future.

You would not have a link to that OS download that will fit on a CD ?

I actually forgot about the CD requirement when I mentioned MX.

you might try a plop cd image, which could allow booting usb sticks even on systems that don't support usb booting. the downloads are very small.

https://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager/download.html

the zip files in the middle of the page contain .iso CD images as well as floppy disk images (.img), which is actually what I use on my old sony laptop to boot usb sticks. there are other files in there too but all you really need is to burn is the iso file onto a cd exactly like you did with the antiX download you used.

Then you could make a live usb stick of almost any distro you wanted. you would plug the stick in, but boot the plop cd that you made. then use the options on the plop boot screen to boot usb sticks.

If that worked, you wouldn't be limited by CD size anymore.

OK, thanks for everything, please take that desktop out of the next version if you would, you know the one that crashed my OS, for someone who did not back up files that could be a killer.

I think most folks out there want to surf the web, watch videos, do a little word processing, burn CD's and DVD's, and copy and manage files, so if the developers could focus on these things It would make it a much better process, sometimes less is better, like less allowing the user to choose that desktop that doomed me.

If you would PLEASE, open terminal and type in Then copy and past it into your next post.
Mine looks like this. Can your burner read dvds?

Sorry, the OS crashed when I changed the desktop to that one at the very bottom, ruined the entire installation, this old machine only will boot from the CD due to the Bios options.

I had it working fine, then once I changed the desktop to that bottom option it ruined everything, like I said in my prior posts it was seeing all the drives internal and external and all files, then BAMM, doomed.......

I am loading a version of Bodhi Linux from the CD right now, will try to run your command once I get in, don't know how I would cut and paste that data to this machine though, I am posting from a Windows 10 Box.

I downloaded antiX-16_386-full.iso, as it was the largest. from https://sourceforge.net/projects/antix- ... /antiX-16/
Windows says it is 711,689 KB is size.
Burned it to a cd and checked the burned size which was 694 MB.

Might want to do my trick for a while, as the cd is bootable , run from it for a few days until you get use to it.

Then install it. Everything works just like if it was installed, it just has no persistence available. So when I goofed, all I had to do was reboot to the cd.
Yes, that ment resetting wireless, and logging in again on websites.
Rather new to Linux myself.

One of the major problems is getting software packages to work in Linux, it takes a lot of learning to figure it all out, it is not like a Windows box where you automatically get the software extracted and running.

@ anthonycea. Yesterday, I was more than ready to assist you get started in Linux. Today you seem to have a definite preference for Windows. Unless you are prepared to make some effort to understand the differences and learn Linux, may I suggest that a return to Windows could be better for you.

I am doing the best I can with very limited knowledge to be honest, I am not a coder though and have no knowledge of command line computing.

Yes, we do understand.
Linux is different; we feel that it's better
but that feeling does come after some learning.

Apologies, but we tend to feel Windows
is more difficult to understand 'cause
most of us don't use it very much except for work.
Bear with it and you will soon understand.

Relax, read the section at the top of the forum
about asking for support. We do need information
about your equip, what you did,
what you saw or read that happened.

Welcome to the forum.
We may be crotchety, but many of us have been
in your situation and do want to help you to "get it."

Look, if users like me can give the developers feedback on how to make the OS foolproof it would make life easy for the team too, so I hope they take some of the points made in this thread to heart.

anthonycea wrote:Look, if users like me can give the developers feedback on how to make the OS foolproof it would make life easy for the team too, so I hope they take some of the points made in this thread to heart.

I think you would be much happier with mx if you could get it installed.

Most likely, this is just an experiment with an old box, you know, back in the old days we would tell everyone how easy it was to convert a Windows box over to Linux and it was as easy as running the install CD, well, it is not that easy anymore since Linux Distros are so large, you need the hardware too, something with some to run these modern Linux programs.

herbsluftwm. I hate it, and I agree with you, it shouldn't be there.

please take that desktop out of the next version

Howabout leave its files in place but omit its entry from the "Other Desktops" menu?
I too recall "getting lost in there", but when that happened I just keyed Ctrl+Alt+F6 and restarted slim.

anthonycea wrote:I am doing the best I can with very limited knowledge to be honest, I am not a coder though and have no knowledge of command line computing.

You don't need to know how to code, but you must learn to read instructions carefully and follow them correctly. You need to have ordered or downloaded the full-featured version of antiX, not the core or barebones version, which is for more expert users to build up themselves. With the core version, obviously all the useful programs and application wouldn't have been there on the disk and you would have to install what you want from the repository after installing the core version.

And you have to accept that with the limitations of your hardware, you cannot be running the latest versions of what you knew as KDE in Mepis 3.3. That doesn't exist anymore. Even MX16 which uses XFCE instead of modern KDE (called Plasma) as a desktop interface will be almost too large to fit into your 512MB RAM memory. When you boot up MX16 without opening any other programs you will have used 300+MB of RAM. That leaves you with less than 200MB for opening an internet browser (so you can't open too many tabs) or playing music/video or working on a document.

The recommendation of antiX is because it runs on less RAM. However that means its interface is going to be less flashy with fewer bells and whistles. It has nothing to do with needing to use the terminal and command line instructions. There are still graphical tools and interfaces (if you installed the full-featured version) to help you do tasks; it just looks more minimalistc.

I understand the limitations of what I am trying to do with this limited hardware and am thankful for your understanding and all the help this forum has provided, this version of Bodhi seems to be running fine on this machine so far and they had an app downloader that seems to work like Windows, you search for an app then download it and it gets it on the OS, I just downloaded a WPS word processing program and it installed it, things like this make a difference to novices.

What I've done is get a couple of old desktops from the recycle shop, without HDD, that match RAM I already have (DDR2). The first unit (lenovo) was an office job type with DVD R/W. I was lucky to find 4GB RAM in the second system so have spent my meager funds on a new HDD (instead of just an external 1TB for the same price). The new HDD just has MX-16 and antiX partitions with lots of storage space. I even have a spare sata connection laptop HDD in the drawer with mx-14, mx-15, nx-16 and antix16. I can swap the Lenovo DVD connector to this old HDD at a pinch.

Once you have USB ports, a Live install or running Live USB system opens up so many options. Do hunt around for something if you can.

I find antiX quite a challenge even though I'm comfortable with M11 and MX. As people have noted, antiX is bare bones and geared for older hardware with potential limitations.

* Keep an eye out for anything being tossed out at this time of year too.

what you knew as KDE in Mepis 3.3. That doesn't exist anymore

FWIW, trinity KDE3 desktop is still used by a few distros.
http://exegnulinux.net
http://www.q4os.org
http://trinity.mypclinuxos.com
I booted the newly-released (just this week) exegnulinux and it is fine, as in, same as ever... just like old times.

Not being snide or dismissive, but if you are happy with Bodhi you should stick with it. As an example, you cannot put a two stage high capacity furnace in a small apartment.

As far as easy software installation, that is exactly what MX has, but needs a moderately capable machine to run it. It is basically point, click and install.

Windows users have come over with moderately capable hardware and have learned quickly and easily. The improvements in software and drivers for hardware have been so much improved since 15 tears ago when I started with Linux. That does not mean there is not a learning curve, and as important a Windows unlearning curve.

OK, I will get off my soapbox.

Learn anything from the Windows(BELACH) fan boy?

LOL, I am never happy in life no matter what, you learn that as you age, but this is all an experiment to see what can be done with an old machine and learn at the same time, I highly value what you guys have taught me just in a few days, more than I have learned in years, I will be 57 in a few months, but do not want to go back to learning to enter codes like I did on the old IBM's back in the day with 5" floppy drives.

Now if you had posted the inxi -F information, I would have done some research and checked out the system and possibly would have given you recommendation on possible upgrades that could be made.
Seen a lot of XP rigs that had dual core cpus only have 512 MB of ram and even 4200 rpm hdds.

Only 73 myself and still learning.

Without doing all that I can tell you what it is, it is a Dell Dimension 3000 desktop with 512 MB DDR SDRAM with a Pentium 4

Well it will take 2 GB of ram
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatibl ... nsion-3000
And make sure you have a 7200 RPM PATA drive.

Yeah, they are selling RAM for this machine 2Gigs for 14 bucks on Amazon and eBay.....

Your choice as to where to get it. Crucial, which is Microns website, is the best site I have found which will tell you how much ram a computer will take.

But I will admit that I have never had any problem with their ram.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4 ... y&_sacat=0

10 bucks free shipping...........

If you plan to stick with Linux, then good for you. About applications and installing, MX comes with a set of repositories containing more packages than most of us will ever use, and certainly enough to provide a new user with everything needed to get going. The aptitude system provides for you to select a package for the application you require, then will download and install it for you.

Good news, I just need better hardware to use it, will sure let you guys know when I get a better machine, should be soon !!

If you simply MUST have KDE from "back in the day", try TDE Ubuntu or Q4OS.

I don't have to have it, but it was nice because it showed the hard drives and connected devices, on this Bodhi Linux it does not show the hard drive by default, maybe I don't know what I am doing to view it.

MANY Desktops will show that--it depends on the File Manager installed (PCManFM does a good job). KDE SUCKS--literally--RAM, CPU energy, Hard Drive space, you name it!
Try Sparky minimalGUI which uses Openbox, or Bunsenlabs Hydrogen--also Openbox, or Arch-based OBRevenge--again Openbox, or get used to AntiX's IceWM. By the bye, I am 64, been on Social Security Disability since 2011, and have re-taught myself Linux by distro hopping since January, and MX is the most stable--and versatile--distro of the over 100 I have tried in the last 11 months--including Bodhi. I have an ancient homebuilt desktop that I originally put together from parts from Newegg.com in 2002. It has an nVidia motherboard from 2006 (because the original one fried 2 of its memory sockets), a 32bit AMD Athlon 2200+ cpu, and 3 memory cards--a 1 GB, a 512 MB, and a 256 MB. It runs MX-15 perfectly. I also own a plethora of 10" netbooks dating as far back as 2009--all of which originally came with only 1 GB RAM, and all of which I upgraded to 2 GB of RAM, the first time back in 2011 paying $78 for a 2 GB stick! In THESE days of REALLY cheap RAM, only persons with a Scrooge mentality would purposefully shoot themselves in the foot trying to get by with 512MB when their machine will happily take 4 times that!

Yeah, I just got this box last week, so I have not had a chance to even buy the memory yet.

But it is running video from YouTube right now fine, I'm sure some programs might stall with this little of RAM though.

MX is fine, just that I prefer AntiX's IceWM and minimalistic approach. But that is just me.

As a minimum set up I look for a dual core, 4 GB of ram and SATA so I can use a SSD.
I Beta tested Win 10 on this set up with the SSD and it run fine. It now has MX-16 on that drive.

Refurbished has been a way I have cut cost for myself and clients. Started doing that in 2008 and all of them are still working.
Walmart, Best Buy, and newegg all handle them. Just a idea that I use although this silly laptop was gotten at a PC recycle place.

Well, when you get old desktops at salvage missions and Goodwill stores it is highly doubtful that you are going to get a rig like you describe unless someone died and the landlord gave away all his high tech equipment.

http://forum.mxlinux.org/viewtopic.php? ... 1&start=28

15 tears ago when I started with Linux

{giggle}

LOL, that is what it is like trying to learn Linux when you have old machines and so many distros that are so large, today it will cost you more to get hardware that can support the best Linux OS than it would to buy a 275 dollar Windows 10 box brand new.

Then you have the issue with printers I am reading so much about, the lack of drivers to get printers to work right is another problem for the novice Linux user, hope that is solved, I know there was a company out there selling Linux preloads (system76) and a lot of their machines were in the thousands........

So the tables have turned quite a bit in 15 years.