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should i build a pc? whats best for Linux Lite 2.0? - Printable Version

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Re: should i build a pc? whats best for Linux Lite 2.0? - elliott - 11-17-2014

in case you guys wonder why i am so hooked on usb 3.0....

right now i have to login to xp to access my movies i backed up, stupid thinking i was going to ride out xp i used software that needs to open them years ago. i also have a backup hard drive with the same situation, and another with full disk encryption, so we're talking a few tb, and that would literally take me a month to change these files to linux compatibility or just move them off them. i hate that on some of these refurbished computers they seem to leave out if they have usb3, but i'm sure i can find it online. the fact that they are 64bit and have windows7 makes me think they do.

thank you guys again, i had no one to talk to about this and you guys have been great.. i will post after testing ram and old graphic card results if your interested... i may just get on that tonight because i remember this crashing issue only got worse in the past until the computer was not able to play any videos and this is my only source of news, movies, ect i have not had a tv since they were big boxes. lol

ps. oh chris, i did check out the flash issue and found my computer is not the problem, i had a feeling considering vlc crashes occasionally as well, but i did check it out and thanks for the link.

Re: should i build a pc? whats best for Linux Lite 2.0? - ChrisL - 11-17-2014

Good luck with the graphics card Elliott, let us know what happens.  The pcs links you provided seem like good values, but I would make sure to check out specs fully as I expect some of these do not have the ubs 3.0.  I have one of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-DC5800-Desktop-PC-Intel-Core-2-Duo-3-00GHz-4GB-DDR2-Memory-80GB-HDD-DVD-/321576035037?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item4adf6ce2dd
but bought it locally, and while it seems great, fast, solid it only has usb 2.0 and seems to be about the same vintage as at least some of these.  Also check the specs for psu's on these units as some especially the small form factor units have 240W-250W or so, and even the towers often have 300-375W or so. Just something to keep in mind.    Smile

Sorry, still don't understand exactly where the usb 3.o comes in ... you need it to view movies form existing discs, or you need it ti transfer?  I pretty much don't do anything with storing movies so I am not really familiar with all this.  Wondering of Firewire might be an option.

Sometimes OVERSTOCK.com has some decent deals as well: http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Computers/270/cat.html?sort=Lowest+Price&TID=BC:4:Computers

Good luck!
                  Chris

Re: should i build a pc? whats best for Linux Lite 2.0? - rokytnji - 11-17-2014

http://www.computershopper.com/feature/building-the-250-linux-media-pc/(page)/1

Just some generic info since I last posted in case you decide to tear down a old one and put new gear in it.

Posted from my 110 buck Acer C710 dual core intel, 4gig ram, ChromeOS, 11 incher chromebook.
Not real Linux friendly (touchpad and graphics drivers are kernel 3.17 on up and must be configured
for this netbook for certain things to work) Bohdi made a kernel for the c720 but Jeff left Bohdi, so I am not real interested in replacing the default chromeos system on here. I can be patient for a OOTB working iso
later on down the line. Too many hoops to jump through on these proprietary chromebooks presently
with developer mode and poor instructions that vary from chromebook model to chromebook model.
Using crouton for Linux Lite I have never heard mentioned as possible either. Or that the 3.17 kernel version of LL2.0 will handle this netbook anyway with all its ports.


I paid less for this refurbished Acer C710 that plays movies off of SD card to my big screen TV via hdmi
than you will invest in rebuilding your gear. Bad news is. I found this one on ebay when Acer had them cheap. It was a open box return/refurbished unit for 99 bucks and after TX sales tax was when the 110 bucks kicked in.

So you might rethink a little on what to spend money on and what to not spend money on.
Especially if money is tight.

My XP SP3 HP A350N photo in the 1st page of the LL2.2 thread came free. (inxi report on specs)
So did my Dell E5500 dual core laptop with 2 gig of ram and XP.
I spent 10 bucks on the HP for a 2 gig ram upgrade to bump it to 2.5 gigs. I could make it 4 gig and toss the 2 256MB sticks in it but no hurry yet as I have lots of gear.
My gear came semi free as they were given as barter for some scooter work I did. Along with 30 packs of beer. I came out ahead because of my motorcycle knowledge so the computers are considered free by me.

Code:
CHROMEOS_RELEASE_DESCRIPTION
6158.70.0 (Official Build) stable-channel parrot_ivb
CHROMEOS_RELEASE_NAME
Chrome OS
CHROMEOS_RELEASE_TRACK
stable-channel
CHROMEOS_RELEASE_VERSION
6158.70.0processor    : 0
vendor_id    : GenuineIntel
cpu family    : 6
model        : 58
model name    : Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 1007U @ 1.50GHz
stepping    : 9
microcode    : 0x16
cpu MHz        : 1500.000
cache size    : 2048 KB
physical id    : 0
siblings    : 2
core id        : 0
cpu cores    : 2
apicid        : 0
initial apicid    : 0
fpu        : yes
fpu_exception    : yes
cpuid level    : 13
wp        : yes
flags        : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer xsave lahf_lm arat epb xsaveopt pln pts dtherm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid fsgsbase smep erms
bogomips    : 2993.06
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment    : 64
address sizes    : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor    : 1
vendor_id    : GenuineIntel
cpu family    : 6
model        : 58
model name    : Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 1007U @ 1.50GHz
stepping    : 9
microcode    : 0x16
cpu MHz        : 1500.000
cache size    : 2048 KB
physical id    : 0
siblings    : 2
core id        : 1
cpu cores    : 2
apicid        : 2
initial apicid    : 2
fpu        : yes
fpu_exception    : yes
cpuid level    : 13
wp        : yes
flags        : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer xsave lahf_lm arat epb xsaveopt pln pts dtherm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid fsgsbase smep erms
MemTotal:        3981592 kB
MemFree:         2620404 kB
Buffers:           33224 kB
Cached:           561300 kB
SwapCached:            0 kB
Active:           787956 kB
Inactive:         452472 kB
Active(anon):     646648 kB
Inactive(anon):   120048 kB
Active(file):     141308 kB
Inactive(file):   332424 kB
Unevictable:           0 kB
Mlocked:               0 kB
SwapTotal:       5832408 kB
SwapFree:        5832408 kB
Dirty:             10280 kB
Writeback:             0 kB
AnonPages:        645528 kB
Mapped:           145676 kB
Shmem:            121112 kB
Slab:              53736 kB
SReclaimable:      28860 kB
SUnreclaim:        24876 kB
KernelStack:        2336 kB
PageTables:        10744 kB
NFS_Unstable:          0 kB
Bounce:                0 kB
WritebackTmp:          0 kB
CommitLimit:     7823204 kB
Committed_AS:    2748508 kB
VmallocTotal:   34359738367 kB
VmallocUsed:      371140 kB
VmallocChunk:   34359366499 kB
DirectMap4k:       60160 kB
DirectMap2M:     4073472 kB
uname
Linux localhost 3.8.11 #1 SMP Tue Oct 21 08:23:11 PDT 2014 x86_64 Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 1007U @ 1.50GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux

Not bad for a 11 inch netbook that boots in seconds and plays movies on the big screen tv via sd card and hdmi. PS. No 3.0 speeds on the sd card slot.

Re: should i build a pc? whats best for Linux Lite 2.0? - elliott - 11-17-2014

(11-17-2014, 03:28 AM)rokytnji link Wrote: I paid less for this refurbished Acer C710 that plays movies off of SD card to my big screen TV via hdmi
than you will invest in rebuilding your gear. Bad news is. I found this one on ebay when Acer had them cheap. It was a open box return/refurbished unit for 99 bucks and after TX sales tax was when the 110 bucks kicked in.

So you might rethink a little on what to spend money on and what to not spend money on.
Especially if money is tight.

unfortunately money is tighter than it has ever been right now, man i need to find that refurbished Acer C710 deal you found! that is amazing... yea i am scared and what to do next, but i'm shutting down now and trying to find the hp graphic card that came with this pc, and testing the ram too. chris, thanks, i'll post back soon. i'm so scared that it killed all the ram i just got, but i think its slowly breaking like the past it took a long time for it to progress. thanks guys i owe you a lot. computers are my major hobby and only source of entertainment, i want to fix this or figure it out before i'm back to a total broke machine... i'm scared but it's time for me to run tests right now. thanks both of you for your great advice and time, it's so appreciated....

Re: should i build a pc? whats best for Linux Lite 2.0? - elliott - 11-17-2014

chris your right first one i checked that had usb 2 even with 64bit and windows7, i never had a windows 7 desktop but falsely assumed they all were usb 3.0... thanks man.
checking your links then testing ram+card hopefully i can find the right card i have so many old ones. lol thanks for everything

overstock has great prices, but i did not find one computer with ubs 3 yet, i'm thinking if your buying a computer under 250 your best bet is to get one with pci-e and upgrade.. suprised so many 64bit windows 7 computers all have usb 2.0 Sad

Re: should i build a pc? whats best for Linux Lite 2.0? - gold_finger - 11-17-2014

elliot,

I used $500 as an example, not to mean you must spend that much.  I'm pretty sure you can do better than that, especially if you can reuse some components.  Haven't looked at your computer links yet, but will do that later.  Can you provide answers to questions below about current computer please?

Do you have working DVD player?  If so, what kind of connection -- SATA or IDE?

Is your hard drive still good and do you plan to keep using it?  If so, is it SATA or IDE connection?

What is exact model# of your monitor?

What is exact model# of your power supply and how old is it?

Are there any other components that you are thinking of re-using?  If so, list them and their connector types.

Please provide list of current hardware specs by doing the following:

*  Install inxi program by opening a terminal and entering following two commands:
Code:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install inxi

*  Enter following command to list basic specs of machine:
Code:
inxi -Fxz

*  Copy entire output of last command and paste it back here in forum.  (See here for best way to post terminal output)


Once I have above info, I'll take a look at components on Newegg and see if I can come up with a reasonably priced example of possible build for you.

Re: should i build a pc? whats best for Linux Lite 2.0? - elliott - 11-17-2014

#System:    Host:
Kernel: 3.13.0-36-generic i686 (32 bit, gcc: 4.8.2)
          Desktop: Xfce 4.11.6 (Gtk 2.24.23) Distro: Ubuntu 14.04 trusty
Machine:  System: HP Pavilion 061 product:
          Mobo: ASUSTek model: EMERY version: 1.05 Bios: Phoenix version: 3.06 date: 01/25/2006
CPU:      Dual core Intel Pentium D CPU (-MCP-) cache: 2048 KB flags: (lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 vmx) bmips: 12004.1
          Clock Speeds: 1: 3001.015 MHz 2: 3001.015 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA G96 [GeForce 9500 GT] bus-ID: 01:00.0
          X.Org: 1.15.1 drivers: nvidia (unloaded: fbdev,vesa,nouveau) Resolution: [email protected]
          GLX Renderer: GeForce 9500 GT/PCIe/SSE2 GLX Version: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 331.38 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:    Card: Intel NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
          Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.13.0-36-generic
Network:  Card-1: Intel NM10/ICH7 Family LAN Controller driver: e100 ver: 3.5.24-k2-NAPI port: ee00 bus-ID: 02:08.0
          IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>

          IF: wlan1 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 1300.3GB (16.8% used) 1: id: /dev/sdb model: WDC_WD3000JS size: 300.1GB temp: 32C
          2: id: /dev/sda model: ST1000DM003 size: 1000.2GB temp: 32C
Partition: ID: / size: 269G used: 203G (80%) fs: ext4 ID: swap-1 size: 6.98GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap
RAID:      No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors:  System Temperatures: cpu: 40.0C mobo: N/A gpu: 0.0:47C
          Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 171 Uptime: 28 min Memory: 629.9/3282.1MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.2
          Client: Shell (bash 4.3.11) inxi: 1.9.17
#

so far i checked the ram, i am now going to check the card, ram passed... gut feeling is power supply even tho its way newer than card i heard they break and it was cheap.. Sad
sorry this did not post right, i do not see the menu like on the link describing how to add the #, ill try to make it readable...

Re: should i build a pc? whats best for Linux Lite 2.0? - gold_finger - 11-17-2014

Answer the other questions I asked too.

Also, I forgot to ask if having Windows is a requirement or desire for you also?

I looked at links you provided for refurbs and on average I would say you're paying about an extra $75-100 over what you could get those for because of having Windows loaded on them.  Particularly the HP's, which I've seen numerous times on Craigslist for much less.  The AMD-based Asus I'm not too familiar with, but am guessing it's a little high also.

However, you likely have more "peace of mind" purchasing through Tiger Direct or Newegg than taking chance on Craigslist.  So take that into account also.

Will wait for rest of answers before looking into potential build components for you.

Re: should i build a pc? whats best for Linux Lite 2.0? - elliott - 11-17-2014

sorry i think someone just stole 120 dollars from me and im steamed....
the hd is 1tb sata
no windows wanted
pleny of dvd-r (both)
its a logisys power supply 650 about 3 years old. cheap tho
hanns g monitor i dont see a # on it, its big tho

ill use the power supply or graphics once i put the original that came with pc and find out which (if any of the two) are broke.
i was going to do it now but i'm so pisssed writing this is difficult, thanks for taking the time i'm sorry if i did not give you all you need.

will post later need to cool off but thanks so much man, its really bad timing for someone to burn me just now is all and i don't take s##t like that well especially now.

Re: should i build a pc? whats best for Linux Lite 2.0? - ChrisL - 11-17-2014

I was looking at some of the available motherboards, thinking a new motherboard and reusing your processor might be a inexpensive way to get more features such as usb 3.0; however all the ones I saw only have usb 2.0 (there may be others with 3.0 but I have not seen them yet).

I came across this article though: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2043035/how-to-add-usb-3-0-to-your-desktop-pc.html

Chris