this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2024
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The only distro I can find that successfully configures a functioning bootable GRUB on this (bastard) machine is Nobara, which looks very cool but is way too heavy! Some things are glitchy; attempting tab completion seems to freeze Konsole for ~5 seconds and does not complete the command as expected. We're working with an Intel Atom Z3735F@1.33GHz and 2GB RAM here.

How can a noob figure out what it's doing differently so I can apply that to Linux Mint Debian Edition or Crunchbang Plus Plus?

The weird thing is that once the system is installed, it does not seem to have what I think are the required packages for GRUB to be set up correctly with this type of UEFI.

nextbook@nextbook:~$ sudo grub2-install /dev/mmcblk

grub2-install: error: /usr/lib/grub/i386-efi/modinfo.sh doesn't exist. Please specify --target or --directory.

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[–] fuzzy_feeling@programming.dev 7 points 6 months ago

for older hardware i always stick to antix.

[–] silasmariner@programming.dev 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Why use grub at all? If your laptop is compatible why not use rEFInd or something?

[–] GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml 3 points 6 months ago

Grub can be installed automatically via a GUI distro installer. eEFInd is well at another level of difficulty

[–] monovergent@lemmy.ml 4 points 6 months ago

I also had a netbook with an Atom Z3735F and 2GB RAM, albeit an Ideapad 100s. The 32 bit versions of Debian Stable 11 and 12 worked out of the box for me.

If you are at the terminal, try running apt install grub-efi-ia32-bin before installing grub.

[–] f4f4f4f4f4f4f4f4@sopuli.xyz 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Thanks for replying, everyone! This project is temporarily on hold; downloading and sha256sum-ming some different isos led me to discover that my main system has a RAM issue. 🤦

I just learned to not trust motherboards' automatic RAM voltage setting; only one of four sticks seems to be sensitive to the apparent undervoltage that it was running on.

Edit: I hope that whoever designed the style of RAM slot that has a latch on only one side stubs their toe every day for the rest of their life.

[–] LeFantome@programming.dev 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Came here to recommend Antix or DSL 32 bit. Others have done that already.

Another option that Lemmy introduced me to just recently is Q4OS and the 32 bit Trinity Desktop version.

These are all Debian based ( DSL is basically Antix+ now ).

[–] lemmyreader@lemmy.ml 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)
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[–] Shareni@programming.dev 2 points 6 months ago

X86 uefi and amd64 CPU is a really hard combo to find support for. Your best bet is to use an x86 distro, it will also probably be lighter. The other option is to modify the iso, but I haven't ever done that.

which looks very cool but is way too heavy!

Replace KDE with LXQT/LXDE or a lightweight wm