It’s not really broken, couldn’t get the microphone to work with any program

  • teft@lemmy.world
    0·
    8 months ago

    Pffft. I just boot from a live cd so changes are gone at reboot. Why install if you’re just going to break something?

  • Tyoda@lemm.ee
    0·
    8 months ago

    My laptop’s mic seems to have some contact issues. It never worked for a second on windows. I put Linux on it, and it usually just works. When it doesn’t, some percussive maintenance does a quick job of fixing it. I guess I was dealt the opposite hand than usual.

  • azvasKvklenko@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    0·
    8 months ago

    Would change distro to something easier to maintain (like Arch for example), rice the experience to the oblivion, keep it forever :3

    • lemmyvore@feddit.nlEnglish
      0·
      8 months ago

      Easier to maintain… Arch?

      If OP managed to break a distro that releases once every 2 years and then only issues stable updates I don’t think they’ll cope well with a rolling distro.

      • nifty@lemmy.worldOP
        0·
        8 months ago

        (that’s the joke, and then I replied with Gentoo being beginner friendly)

        Edit but you’re totally right, I wouldn’t be able to troubleshoot Arch or anything tougher

      • azvasKvklenko@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        0·
        8 months ago

        Around 12 years ago, I was able to break Debian or Ubuntu installs on weekly basis due to certain packages being too old, something being missing from repos so being forced to compile stuff manually, dealing with junky 3rd party repos etc. Then after switching, I hardly ever messed anything on Arch while also spending less time tweaking it than I did with Ubuntu. Even if I did break something, it was my fault. And it’s not that I cannot handle Debian-based OS installs if I have to. I think those systems are fine if they work for you by default and stock repos contain everything you need (and it’s usually enough for servers) The problem is, it’s not always like that and you just have to add some custom package (prepared by you or someone else) every once in a while, not necessarily with an official support. This is just plain easier on Arch.

    • Sabata@ani.social
      0·
      8 months ago

      I have saved 3 reinstall or 1 week of troubleshooting in only 3 “fuck around and find out” incidents.

    • SzethFriendOfNimi@lemmy.world
      0·
      8 months ago

      Ok. I’ve downloaded, tar and gunzipped the files for it.

      Then did a make build and then make install. Now my system won’t start. What do I do?

      • Lettuce eat lettuce@lemmy.ml
        0·
        8 months ago

        Same, it’s saved my butt so many times. Once in the middle of a tech conference, I was messing around in the terminal with my networking and borked something really bad.

        I spent 5 minutes trying to get my networking back but couldn’t figure out what I had screwed up and ended up breaking it more.

        I just went into Timeshift and restored to the beginning of that day and in a few minutes I was back up like nothing had happened.

  • Ashyr@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    8 months ago

    This is why I’ve yet to make the leap from windows. I just don’t have the technical chops nor spare time to make my OS a hobby.

    • Gestrid@lemmy.caEnglish
      0·
      8 months ago

      I’d say I have the technical chops. I just don’t have the time and energy needed to try to fix something.

      I’m also the kind of person that, if everything’s not working exactly the way I want it to, then I need to fix it right now. So I know I’d waste hours trying to fix something that (for me) just works on Windows.

    • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
      0·
      8 months ago

      Not really the case with user-focused distros these days. I have far more driver woes when I have to deal with Windows.

    • nifty@lemmy.worldOP
      0·
      8 months ago

      In fairness, I suck at Linux. Ubuntu and Linux Mint are relatively easier systems. No one I know has issues with Ubuntu fwiw

        • 7U5K3N@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          0·
          8 months ago

          It’s a different world now.

          All jokes aside. Anything you use these days is going to be pretty stable, have all of your driver’s (unless it’s absolutely the bleeding edge) and play steam games.

          Hell Nvidia isn’t even an issue anymore.

          But I’ll qualify that by saying I’m on a 47xx i5 and a 1060.

        • Gestrid@lemmy.caEnglish
          0·
          8 months ago

          I installed Mint on a USB to give it a go.

          My wifi driver doesn’t work on it. I have to plug my phone in to use it as a tethered hotspot to get it to connect. And I tried what a lot of the guides said online. Nothing.

    • fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      0·
      8 months ago

      This is why I’ve gone back to windows on the machines I care about and don’t plan on going back. Open source software is cool, but it also kinda sucks. I’ll use Linux all day on servers. But my primary desktop is windows and my secondary desktop is Mac OS and I doubt that’s changing any time soon.

      • citrusface@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        8 months ago

        Funny I’m the opposite - I have to use Windows bullshit all day long at work. The last thing I want at home is to deal with it there - pop_os is stable and works perfect for me.

    • scifun@lemmy.world
      0·
      8 months ago

      Check Fedora Atomic. It’s pretty much an install and forget system (with auto upgrade enabled)

      Using Fedora Atomic is like having a dedicated team of fedora engineers manage your system and you only have to mess with your desktop settings.

  • Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee
    0·
    8 months ago

    In the olden days, I would have spent hours to fix it, completely forget everything I’ve done over the course of those several hours and then having to reinstall it bcs I’ve broken something else in those unsuccessful attempts and now dont have the energy to figure out this clusterfuck too.

    Ahh, good memories.

      • Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee
        0·
        8 months ago

        That was a decade+ ago, closer to two.

        I’ve always had far more driver issues with Windows.
        I have a niche laptop that for mic & speakers doesn’t really have drivers for that exact ID and a close (working) match are ancient, so can’t avoid crackling sounds. No issues out of the box with Linux.

  • brachypelmasmithi@lemm.ee
    0·
    8 months ago

    It’s funny seeing this like literally a couple days after I decided it would be easier to reinstall my Mint sysyem than to fix the audio issues Pipewire was causing. I’m back on PulseAudio and haven’t had issues since.

    • IninewCrow@lemmy.caEnglish
      0·
      8 months ago

      I’ve been on Linux for about 15 years now … I’m no pro and I’ve never really advanced in anything with the terminal

      I tried doing stuff years ago but then I came at a crossroad … either spend my life learning the dark arts of the terminal and all the details of how every major system works … reinstall every time I have a new problem that I caused … or just leave everything alone and never tweak or adjust anything.

      For the past few years, I just install the latest stable version of anything I use and never bother touching or tweaking anything … never had a problem since.

      • brachypelmasmithi@lemm.ee
        0·
        8 months ago

        For the past few years, I just install the latest stable version of anything I use and never bother touching or tweaking anything … never had a problem since.

        And that’s exactly how I’m trying to approach everything after the reinstall. I like tinkering with my system, but after a couple months it really starts messing with everything.

  • Lexi Sneptaur@pawb.socialEnglish
    0·
    8 months ago

    Got into an argument about this once. The other person insisted that if I wipe my hard drive and reinstall, that I’m a pathetic moron who doesn’t deserve to use a computer.

    In fairness, it’s usually better to fix things so you can learn, but dang they were toxic.

    • jelloeater@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      8 months ago

      People like that are why more folks don’t like Linux and tech in general.

      Bro, gatekeeping computers is something children do.

      “You much get invited to a lot of parties?” is generally a good response. “Everyone makes mistakes, you’re living proof”.

    • Gestrid@lemmy.caEnglish
      0·
      8 months ago

      To be fair, at least with Windows, if you do a reinstall I’ve always found that it never runs quite like it used to. I’ve sometimes had to deal with some weird quirks afterwards. A friend of mine who kept switching between Google Android and open-sourve Android on his phone said the same thing. Every time he reinstalled Google Android, it simply wouldn’t run as well as it did beforehand.

      It’s like taking a plumbing pipe out and putting it back in. Or taking apart a car engine and putting it back together. It never quite fits together the way it used to anymore.

      • Sonotsugipaa@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        0·
        8 months ago

        I had the opposite experience with Windows (7 up to 10), every now and then I would have to reinstall it to get some random feature working, which made the system run smoothly for a while - which checks out, considering Windows’ affinity for software rot.

        Then again, I increasingly debloated it as time went on, which I’d assume contributes to its instability.

  • SrTobi@feddit.de
    0·
    8 months ago

    How about NixOS where the OS automatically installs the correct software and chooses the right settings. Then you have the time fiddle on your config for hours 🌈

  • spikederailed@lemmy.world
    0·
    8 months ago

    You learn plenty by breaking and reinstalling. I don’t considering it an invalid option for a home user. I had to reinstall MacOS7/8 and Windows 95/98 so many times as a kid. Learned a lot doing it, sysadmin now 🤷‍♂️

    • Chee_Koala@lemmy.world
      0·
      8 months ago

      Whenever we (Brother and I) broke our W95 install, it was a pretty high stakes race against the clock to get it to work as expected again, because if my dad got home from work and found out about the broken machine, there would be consequences (him being frustrated, us not allowed to play C&C red alert or Warcraft II)