This is the current laptop I use. When I got it in 2020, I had Micro$oft Windows and Ubuntu installed on it. In 2023, I started using Ubuntu full time and the Windows partition broke (I did not miss it). In 2024, I installed Void Linux on it alongside Ubuntu and switched to Void Linux full time (I had considered Arch Linux, but I'm not too keen on its design - Void seems a lot more sensible to me. I had also considered the meta-distribution Bedrock Linux, but I decided it would be unnecessary). I have kept the Ubuntu partition around as a fallback in case I break Void (I haven't yet). In 2025 I installed Debian (intending to replace Ubuntu with a lighter fallback system), and 9front (so that I could explore plan9). I will keep an eye on Chimera Linux as it looks like a good candidate for a daily driver, and even more suitable than Void.
Things I won't need to look at again unless I'm setting up a similar system. May be useful to others.
Internal SSD (1.86 TiB, upgraded)
I have recently configured my system clock to run on localtime, in an attempt to get 9front to tell the time correctly. Probably I should configure 9front instead, but until then, I think this is easier. NOTE: when I had M$Windows installed, it had similar problems. The Arch Linux Wiki recommends that you keep Linux in UTC and configure Windows instead. On the other hand, the handbooks for Chimera Linux and Void Linux are more neutral on the matter. The way to do this varies between distribution; all three of these mentioned work differently!
I installed this on an external hard-drive through the ROOTFS chroot method and copied the partition onto a new one on my internal SSD. If something random isn't working, first consult the handbook! for example, it took quite some head-scratching to get GRUB to work: it turned out I did need to run grub-install as the handbook said, since each Linux installation uses its own GRUB instance.
If I were to do this again, I would prepare a partition, then flash the .iso file to a USB stick and install the normal way.
If you want to add another OS that uses GRUB, add an entry by editing /etc/grub.d/40_custom that links to the other GRUB, and vice versa, for example:menuentry 'Ubuntu...' {
insmod chain
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root UUID
configfile /boot/grub/grub.cfg
}
where UUID can be determined by blkid /dev/PARTITION
emptty is a display manager. I should probably learn how to launch a session directly from the console, but I can't be bothered yet.
emptty does not respect the locale that you choose! Make sure you edit /etc/emptty/conf to select your locale.
My preferred graphical environment. It doesn't try to be flashy and modern, which I appreciate.
Install xfce4. Install xfce4-pulseaudio-plugin for volume control and mn-tray for network management. Disable the screenlocker and install xscreensaver instead - it's more secure, and it has cooler demos.
This effect was most noticeable on the 3D demos provided by xscreensaver.
Edit /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-amdgpu.conf or whichever corresponds to your graphics driver and insert the following lines:Section "Device"
Identifier "AMDgpu"
Driver "amdgpu"
Option "TearFree" " on"
EndSection
See this article for details for other drivers.
Add net.ipv4.ping_group_range="0 2147483647" to /etc/sysctl.conf or run sysctl net.ipv4.ping_group_range="0 2147483647" to enable temporarily. Thanks, SUSE
I had problems with Ethernet not working (enp3s0 NO-CARRIER). It works completely fine now. I don't know why.
Running ethtool enp3s0 seemed to fix things. You might find this guide useful but I didn't.
xtools: combined with xbps-src, you can build your own packages etc.. fcron; bind service /etc/sv/cron: a cron daemon that also lets you set tasks to run once a day at any time. I use it for fetching a daily wallpaper.Flash the .iso to a usb stick and boot from it. Check if your local university has a mirror - that could really speed up the installation.
As of recently, the 9front kernel can be loaded by multiboot. I have tried booting using GRUB, but never successfully.