Debian, SuSE or Scientific-Linux .. which to try first ?

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nss000

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Upgrade time for my Xeon workstation. Software and hardware. Its guts are spread across my workbench with new HDD, sys.fan, RAM and front-panel port-toy ready to be installed. Still trying to find 2nd cable for (2) legacy front-panel usb ports. One's cabled & works ... but, all else I can find is the 2nd +5 volt wire! Dammme where are the other three (grnd/hi/low) usb wires ?! Did the dust-bunnies eat them?

Anyrate using my legacy system I downloaded and burned (~ 4 gig ) DVDs for three new OS variants to replace the current U_12.04 on the Xeon system. I sucked-in Debian(7?) testing, SuSE_12.3 and Scientific Linux_6.4. A U_12.4 CD stands ready to rescue any total fail, but it's all good fun. Adventure comes low- risk with an able, un-bespoke 2nd system.

I would appreciate a prudent clue for which OS variant to try first.


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Solution
amdfangirl
There is an update manger for Scientific.

However I tend to prefer CLI

yum update -y

Scientific Linux is pretty neat. Scientists are like that.

Probably the only downside to Scientific is that you should to stay within repos specifically designed for RHEL/CentOS/SciLinux.

You also have to live with the LTS version of Firefox.

And the LiveDVD has LibreOffice 3.4 pre-installed.

So if you like - LiveCD is free of LibreOffice :p

Some useful packages in the official repos
- flash-plugin
- gstreamer-ffmpeg
- ntfs-3g
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nss000

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Damm. First step was to add a fan & 2x4 gig Crucial RAM sticks, approved for the Z77a-gd55 by Crucial. All 4 slots filled with total 2x8 + 2x4 gig RAM. When I try re-booting the system I get **no** monitor display, though all fans and motherboard LEDs turn on !

Thought I would report this strange behavior before removing the 2 new RAM-sticks and re-booting in the original config.
 
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nss000

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BigK:

I'm building out a workstation-type system ... a decade_long fantasy ... just for the heh of it! A summer-time test-bed for Linux distros when I don't need to write lectures! And practically a system to take over as my production box when my current AMD965 system gets "tired". It **should** last 10-years.

The new workstation is centered on:
CPU = 1240.v2 Xeon
mobo = MSI Z77a-gd55
monitor = Auria 27" 2560x1440
I've always used CRUCIAL ram , and first bought 2x8 gig@1333. My current upgrade includes another pair of 4-gig RAMsticks. All approved by-the-Crucial-book!
But I get **no monitor display** with this 24-gig RAM combo ...

I might add that the mobo BIOS has already proven "weak" ... and cannot support a series 6XX NVidia graphics card. So if it fails to support fully populated RAM I cannot be shocked ... MSI has **no great reputation** for robust behavior! But, it does take the Xeon CPU at 1/2 the price of a TYAN and even for a toy I do count pennies. If I can re-establish system function with the original 16-G RAM lucky me! Then perhaps a re-install of the new RAMsticks is worth a shot. No I won't touch the BIOS!! So yes I am hacking around with a kludged system and trying for the best result. Any advise appreciated.



 
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nss000

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I cannot post with **only one** dimm. THAT fact I discovered while I was building during a "cold boot" on top of the motherboard box. The onboard "START" button makes testing easy. With one-dimm I got on/off fan behavior and no post. With two-dimm I got OKey post. Those were the 8-gig sticks successfully running the system for the last 3 months.



 
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nss000

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They **did**. I just removed the two new 4-gig RAMsticks and tried to boot with the original 2x8gig RAM.

Fail! NO POST ... one-short-beep! Monitor says "no signal" & then stays blank. All the fans run and mobo LEDs are on. Dammmmm.



 
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nss000

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Ksham:

I must apologize for falsely reporting my system fail. I have discovered two simultaneous idiot faults:

1) I plugged the monitor into the mobo DVI_slot not the vidcard port.
2) the boot HDD sata cable had come loose.

I was aware of neither when I made my original posts. So .. of-course I could see no video as none was being sent to the monitor. After I discovered **that** issue and got to BIOS and MEMTEST_86 I still could not boot because the boot HDD cable was disconnected. I saw that last! The spare 1-T hard-drive was listed ( had been promoted ??) as 3rd-in-line for boot ... and there is nothing on it. but a testfyle.

So prolly the extra RAM will show-up just fine when re-installed. I re-cabled the boot HDD, but the connection seems flakey. I'll power-up tomorrow morning and see whether both HDDs appear in BIOS and whether I can boot! There is an impolite military term that sums up my blunders ....



 
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nss000

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So flummoxed by the mess ! Yes I **did** have to Super-glue in one of the new fans. BIOS now sees both HDDs and 24-gig RAM. I shuffled in MEMTEST-86 and its crunching away as I type. Never did find the 2nd front-panel USB cable; the new front-panel kit adds a couple USB as well as card-reader, eSATA and mic/headphones .. too bad no audio-in!

Case cabling is so horrific I'm afraid to look! When the front-panel-kit and 2nd 1-T SATA connections go in no human could make sense of the tangled spaghetti wire-maze . It's a wonder air can flow thru at all. Yet only then will I be ready to try the new Linux OS varients I have waiting. Would **MINT** add any new features/obstacles/amazement to the three I've chosen ?



 
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nss000

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Yes I am thinking your way about MINT .. sameoldsameold. Ms. AMDgurl suggests Scientific Linux as a robust and stable version. She may distrust Shuttlesworth as much as I do. Minor googling shows "SL" to be RHEL by another name ... compiled under the hand of major research labs. Now that's both good and bad.

Good because the code-guts ought to be complete 1st class. OKey until 2020!
Bad because it likely assumes a frisky competent lusr ... which I will never claim.

Thinking broadly about the upgrade, and my blunders I consider myself lucky for not already burning-up the hardware. (official MSI forum folks opinioned I was an idiot for not upgrading BIOS for the Xeon). And there's still the front-panel ports-kit and another 1-T HDD to install ... yes I will do both, but a prudent lusr counts his current blessings.

I may chicken-off the new 1-T HDD, work with the legacy 320-G drive and install on that the sequence of Linux versions I have already burned to disc. When I choose a Linux version for my long-term upgrade (gawd suppose I like WinME best !!!) I can then stabilize hardware, & exchange out the smaller legacy HDD.




 
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nss000

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The VM issue has shown up before. I had to admit total ignorance. My plan is to sequentially wipe-clean, install, configure and use each of the DLoaded Linux versions. When I get tired-of or crushed-by one OS version I simply pour a cup of coffee, breath deep & re-install the next! Simple ? And should I need updating for any version my DSL is 13-meg down so stuff happens fast.



 
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nss000

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I downloaded 4+ gig versions of each Linux variant ... so I've immediately got most desktop function as soon as I install the CD/DVD. I have been careful to establish **no** important documents on this Xeon test system or to install the few special purpose ( ex// SPICE) programs I use.

All the good-stuff (including scanner & printer) remain safely tethered to my legacy AMD965-UBUNTU_10.04 system. Only after I've decided on a total HW/SW configuration package for the new Xeon box will it become my production system. Then all tasks/documents will be transferred.

Let me add: my lab experiments run on purpose-built Windows SW/HW so that does not complicate the issue.



 
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nss000

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If you mean "limiting" .. I say certainly. This workstation experiment has a clear, primary goal ... to robustly transfer my common usrland computer tasks into the next generation of HW/SW. My criteria for success is well-defined. When more able hardware works then 3-cheers. If novel methods appear and succeed then good for them. If I over-reach toward amusing novelty then bad for me. Aristotle would approve of the middle-way.



 
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nss000

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Gents:

Installing Scientific Linux = FAIL --> malware ! I burned **one** DVD. Prior to installing SL asked if I wanted a full desktop. I said **YES** and then it demanded two (2) DVDs. I said no thanks and tried to reboot on my hard-drive into Ubuntu. I get the error:

"file not found"
"grub rescue>"

So before verifying that an SL install is possible, SL destroys current GRUB ! Nice work Jackson ... That's **malware** behavior. So much for SL. On the Debian ... at least it will ..

... NO, the Debian disc will not boot. Instead I get the SL error:

"error: file not found"
"grub rescue>"

Yesyesyes I boot 1st from my DVD ... pussy...cat Debian gets smothered by SLs error. Or bad burn, but that's Debians fauylt also as all cd/DVD birns I';ve done are OKey ... mebby Debian is too busy watching that kidpr0n some of its supporters love ... anyrate on to SuSE !

GawdblesAmerika at least it boots! And installs. Obscurely ... and W/O auto-enable of a network connection, but I found those hidden pop-up boxes ... worse than RedHat-6 but nevermind ... It's running now supposedly in GNOME, but in a Steven-King like "a-l-i-e-n" GNOME format I've never seen before.

Just another day on the inter-tube hiway. I wonder how the SuSE vid.codecs come down ... FLASH is wanting to take forever assuring me there is waiting line so I can play KNOCKIN ON HEAVENS DOOR @ UTUBE.

Ah yes ... a bit later SuSE reluctantly yields. Thru UTUBE & digital speakers, Mr Garcia is playing Terrapin Station ... all is well.

A bit later. Audi_CDs run, but DVDs fail in Suse .. otherwise most functions work, but the usr interface is pretty much of a mess. Where is the CLI Terminal? Where are the work-spaces? No clues. Cartoonish Icons pile upon icons and pop-up windows on-top-of windows ... overlapping/blocking/confusing. And there's no sense of what is important! No **gravitas**. No threat here to desktop dominance.

Yes I'm sure as MINT looks like MATE/Ubuntu it is better. I hoped SuSE made for a novel try.
 
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nss000

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SuSE fever serious as Ebola! Printing also fails in SuSE with a well-documented error, but tests show SuSE believing it's printing like Gutenberg. Some error also in using the pkg_manager YAST, but it looks like a dirty interface anyway; always multiple windows flashing about. It's certainly no SYNAPTIC!
 
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amdfangirl

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I did tell you to use the LiveCD didn't I?
 
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