Zoris OS Linux

[David Kent]

I installed Linux Mint for my Dad and he absolutely loves it. Versions of this OS are getting better with every release. I was surprised that they are now using Chromium (?) as I thought they always used Firefox by default? Maybe that has changed now. If I'm correct, then Chromium is an open source project and Chrome is a proprietary browser that is based on it and branded by Google. Chrome has additional features such as codecs which are not included with Chromium.

Did you try updating Chromium in the Software Manager? If this doesn't work, you could try opening a terminal and typing: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade. This will upgrade all the packages on your system.

I couldn't find anywhere in software manager to update but I used the terminal as suggested and that updated it all.

I started using Linux when both my Windows laptops hard disk failed, one ran Win 7 and the other Win 8.1. One I did not have a restore disk for and the other the restore disk said it was locked and I couldn't get into it. Someone in the US made up a usb stick for me, running Lubuntu, but the video driver would not set to the correct screen setting, and I got an almost square screen although it was set to the correct resolution. After trying various sites and couldn't get an answer, I bought a new Assus laptop from Currys about 18 months ago. . A couple of months ago that failed and when I tried to use the restore medium I got a message saying "This computer does not have a boot from USB option." I now think the hard disk has failed. I found that someone at our church uses Linux and he put Mint on this Toshiba, and updated the memory stick, but that has now failed. I just managed to backup all my files and then it stopped altogether. Lubuntu used to remind me when there were updates available.
PS I have just noticed that I have Firefox, Chromium and Chrome on Mint.

 

[JesseRaymondBassett]

If there is hard drive failure, you might want to invest in an usb external hard drive.

 

[David Kent]

If there is hard drive failure, you might want to invest in an usb external hard drive.

I do have one of those, but is says there is not USB boot option.

 

[JesseRaymondBassett]

Try pressing F9 OR F10 - F12

 

[JesseRaymondBassett]

The boot menu should be in your computers bios

 

[Anthony2019]

I couldn't find anywhere in software manager to update but I used the terminal as suggested and that updated it all.

I started using Linux when both my Windows laptops hard disk failed, one ran Win 7 and the other Win 8.1. One I did not have a restore disk for and the other the restore disk said it was locked and I couldn't get into it. Someone in the US made up a usb stick for me, running Lubuntu, but the video driver would not set to the correct screen setting, and I got an almost square screen although it was set to the correct resolution. After trying various sites and couldn't get an answer, I bought a new Assus laptop from Currys about 18 months ago. . A couple of months ago that failed and when I tried to use the restore medium I got a message saying "This computer does not have a boot from USB option." I now think the hard disk has failed. I found that someone at our church uses Linux and he put Mint on this Toshiba, and updated the memory stick, but that has now failed. I just managed to backup all my files and then it stopped altogether. Lubuntu used to remind me when there were updates available.
PS I have just noticed that I have Firefox, Chromium and Chrome on Mint.

The graphical software managers are by far the most user friendly way to install software from the repos - very similar to the App Stores you get on Android and Apple. Search, click and you're done. It will check all the dependencies and install. Most of the software managers even handle updates for the whole system and will even upgrade the operating system when the next version becomes available. That sounds easy until it encounters a problem and because they use a simplified interface, you don't get much information about what is going wrong. Using a terminal gives you much more control. You can see every job being processed so when something is not working, you can scroll up and down in the terminal and work out what it is. If you have series of tasks you need to do, eg. installing multiple files under certain conditions, you can write a script using a text editor and execute it in the terminal.
Yes, I think Firefox is normally the default, but nearly all the browsers (Vivaldi, Opera, Chrome) have versions for Mint and they all run very well.

 

[paul1149]

I couldn't find anywhere in software manager to update but I used the terminal as suggested and that updated it all.

To make life easy, you can set a BASH alias for that update command. Go to you home folder, which uses your user name, and find the file .bash_aliases (you might have to enable View Hidden Files to see it). Add the line:

alias up="sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -V"​

Henceforth, when in Terminal simply type up, enter your password, and the two commands will execute.

Mint also has its own Updater. Or in Synaptics you can make an "Updateable" filter, select all, and then update them. But the command line or the dedicated Updater is easier.

Someone in the US made up a usb stick for me, running Lubuntu, but the video driver would not set to the correct screen setting, and I got an almost square screen although it was set to the correct resolution. After trying various sites and couldn't get an answer,

LXDE is very minimal. You might do better with something a bit more robust such as XFCE.

[/QUOTE] I bought a new Assus laptop from Currys about 18 months ago. . A couple of months ago that failed and when I tried to use the restore medium I got a message saying "This computer does not have a boot from USB option." I now think the hard disk has failed. I found that someone at our church uses Linux and he put Mint on this Toshiba, and updated the memory stick, but that has now failed. I just managed to backup all my files and then it stopped altogether. Lubuntu used to remind me when there were updates available.
PS I have just noticed that I have Firefox, Chromium and Chrome on Mint.[/QUOTE]

You should be able to enable USB boot and set boot order in the BIOS. The USB stick will have to match the BIOS GPT/MBR setting you want to use.

 

[David Kent]

Try pressing F9 OR F10 - F12

Thanks I tried those, but I also tried F2 and that worked although I had tried that before without success, but there is only the option to boot from HD0. By the way, I remembered it wrong it is ACER not ASSUS.

 

[JesseRaymondBassett]

Have you tried pressing the ESC key while the main logo is booting up?

 

[JesseRaymondBassett]

Here's a link that may help:

Boot from usb - Acer Aspire ES1

 

[Anthony2019]

I do have one of those, but is says there is not USB boot option.

There should be a function key on your keyboard that gives you access to the BIOS/UEFI settings if you hold it down when switching on the computer.
From here, you could try going into the Boot options and either enable or disable "Secure Boot". When you restart the computer, you may get more options, including the ability to boot from your USB drive.

 

[Anthony2019]

I thought it would be worth mentioning....
As you may know already, Flash is being retired later in the year, and for a long time, people have recommended not installing the plugin. There is an alternative plugin that works really well called Lightspark. I installed by using: sudo dnf install lightspark,

If you are using Ubuntu or its derivatives (Mint, Zorin, etc) try:

sudo apt-get install lightspark browser-plugin-lightspark

It works with all my browsers, and I can even access many web features including Amazon Prime Video and BBC iPlayer.

 

[JesseRaymondBassett]

Hey to my fellow Linux users, have you heard of WINE ? It lets you run Windows Programs inside of Linux! I am trying it out to see if I can use Itunes as my default media player. I will keep y'all posted!

 

[JesseRaymondBassett]

Well note to self-WINE is a joke. Do not install it on Linux. Never works!

 

[Anthony2019]

If you go to appdb.winehq.org it will tell you what Windows programs are working with Wine and a rating given on how well they work. It also tells you the version of Wine the apps were tested with.

 

[paul1149]

Well note to self-WINE is a joke. Do not install it on Linux. Never works!

WINE works well for some progs. I use it (the 'staging' version) every day to run theWord.net, my desktop Bible program. Not many other uses for it here, but when you need it it's good to have, and appreciated.

 

[David Kent]

There should be a function key on your keyboard that gives you access to the BIOS/UEFI settings if you hold it down when switching on the computer.
From here, you could try going into the Boot options and either enable or disable "Secure Boot". When you restart the computer, you may get more options, including the ability to boot from your USB drive.

Thanks Bro,
I managed to boot from USB. I had to change to Legacy mode. F2 to get into bios

 

[JesseRaymondBassett]

David,
Glad to hear you could restore your computer! Let us know if you need anymore help!

 

[elytron]

Does Zorin Linux come with Google Chrome by default? Almost remember it having Chrome. I used Zorin for a short time many years ago.

 

[Anthony2019]

It's a long time since I tried Zorin OS. I can't remember the browser it used at the time but I think it gave you the option to select one using a "browser picker"?

I think Zorin even had a selection of its own custom software, such as a theme changer and the ability to morph the desktop to resemble different OS styles, eg to use a dock instead of a panel. I'm not sure whether they used Ubiquity as their installer or whether they used their own.

I remember it having a distinct theming for its windows, buttons and icons which seemed to work well with all the apps they had installed. Lots of blues and white and high contrast from what I remember! I wonder what the theming looks like with the current trend of using gtk headerbars.

There are lots of distros that are making the transition from Windows or Mac to Linux more straightforward. Zorin is a very good one and there are others such as Deepin and Elementary.

There are thousands of distros out there all meeting different needs. I usually recommend going for the big distros with a large following and commercial backing. Ubuntu, for example, is backed by Canonical and Fedora (which I use) is sponsored by Red Hat. This usually guarantees their longevity, stability and innovation, as well as extensive documentation and support.