If not solus, what distro would you be using

WetGeek

[deleted] Because the BIOS or GRUB defaults to 16-bit color. The distribution in itself doesn't.

Okay, you go with that if you want to. I've installed 30 or 40 other distributions in recent years, without ever being asked to change to 32-bit color until now. I'll continue to believe it's part of what's "reduced" about Darkstar compared with regular KDE Plasma.

If it were a BIOS setting, it would affect every distro. And GRUB simply launches OSs. It could care less about their color depth. And, to be honest, it makes absolutely no difference at all which one of us is right. 😀

[deleted]

WetGeek

If it were a BIOS setting, it would affect every distro. And GRUB simply launches OSs. It could care less about their color depth.

Like I said it has nothing to do with the distro's color depth, but instead the graphical presentation of either BIOS or the bootloader, which will then prompt the message.

tomscharbach

WetGeek With a video card that can tolerate its 16-bit graphics, it could be a real contender.

I wonder how far back we would have to go to find a video card that doesn't support 16-bit graphics.

WetGeek

tomscharbach I wonder how far back we would have to go to find a video card that doesn't support 16-bit graphics.

No idea, but that might explain why it runs on modern hardware. (For some value of "runs.")

tomscharbach

WetGeek No idea, but that might explain why it runs on modern hardware. (For some value of "runs.")

I have no idea what kind of a mess you got into with the VM, but 16-bit color support has been around since EGA, which precedes VGA, and that is at least 20-25 years ago. My much-beloved Red Alert 2 uses 16-bit graphics and I started using that on Windows 95/98, 22 years so.

WetGeek

tomscharbach 16-bit color support has been around since EGA, which precedes VGA, and that is at least 20-25 years ago

I'm not surprised to know that 16-bit color was available back in the day, after all, I started writing code for 16-bit PCs sometime in the late '80s. I just didn't expect that newer video cards still supported it. Thanks for enlightening me.

tomscharbach

WetGeek I just didn't expect that newer video cards still supported it. Thanks for enlightening me.

As far as I know, all Intel video cards are backwards compatible to 16-bit because Microsoft requires 16-bit for Windows Compatibility Mode and won't certify the card unless 16-bit is supported. I don't know about NVIDIA and AMD.

brent

tomscharbach A few years of kicking tires, getting all the pieces in place. I think that 3.0 (2017) was the first version to get traction in the Linux market.

Didn't know we had a wikip page! "Solus 1.2.1 was released on October 19, 2016." That was the one I was on but OS version is not in the wiki article. 3.0 might be right.
Remember when Justin was working here? He was doing a curating project on all releases. He alluded to the fact, and I remember this, that there were versions between 3.0 and 3.999. As I remember it anyway..

[deleted]

Tested Darkstar on a VirtualBox (7.0.4) VM. Can't reproduce the display issues, the live system nicely defaulted to 1280x800 and same with the installed and fully updated system. The display settings go up to 2560x1600. VirtualBox guest additions came preinstalled.

Can't point out where the message on color depth comes from, though, as I didn't see such message. I assume it's either an issue with your VM or the guest OS configuration.

[deleted]

tomscharbach I don't know if it even matters whether the actual graphics card supports 16-bit color depth. It's a VM and the host system still runs at 32-bit color depth.

WetGeek

tomscharbach Microsoft requires 16-bit for Windows Compatibility Mode and won't certify the card unless 16-bit is supported

After I found that out, it occurred to me that perhaps gaming could be another reason 16-bit color is still supported. For those paying a lot to get the last shred of video performance out of a computer, I imagine it's possible that using a 16-bit color depth would be an advantage. And it would still provide sufficient resolution to play a game.

After this recent adventure, I decided to revisit my exploration of the KED Plasma version of PCLinuxOS. I've replaced the Darkstar .ISO file with the Plasma .ISO file in the VM's virtual CD drive, and installed without any problems. It's now about to the middle of 555 software upgrades. It'll be interesting to explore its current state.

tomscharbach

I ran Darkstar in a Live session for about an hour this morning. I like what I saw, and might take the time to install it on a portable M.2 later this week. I was glad to see that installation includes a "Don't touch MBA or ESP ..." option that means I won't have Grub2 trying to take over the computer, allowing me to use the Boot Menu, which is what I prefer to do.

[deleted]

tomscharbach I have two ESPs on their respective drives and choose from BIOS what OS I'm going to boot to. I thought that's the least amount of hassle when dealing with a Linux / W10 dual boot.

tomscharbach

WetGeek It'll be interesting to explore its current state.

I'll be interested in knowing what is included in the normal (not loaded) version, as opposed to Darkstar. Darkstar was too minimal in my opinion, missing a lot of the tools I expect to see in a working distro like Solus Plasma.

I've given this a bit more thought, and decided to install PCLinuxOS (probably the "normal" version, depending on what you report) bare metal on my 11-3180. I recently bought a Dell-refurbished Latitude 11-3120 to use with Solus, intending to use the older (and less powerful, by a lot) 11-3180 to look at distros that showed promise in a Live session. I've been holding off turning the 11-3120 to Solus because the laptop runs Windows 11 so well that I enjoy playing with it. Time to move on, I guess.

WetGeek

WetGeek It's now about to the middle of 555 software upgrades. It'll be interesting to explore its current state.

Awww, fsck! After all those hundreds of upgrades finished, this is as far as I could get with it.

That's a never-ending cycle of logon on, and logon again. Never gets to an actual working OS. And by now, I'm ready for this adventure to end. Maybe at a later date, I'll be in a position to repurpose my Precision for exploring various distros on hardware, and I'll revisit this.

Sorry I can't tell you any more about this distro at this time, but maybe later.

tomscharbach

WetGeek That's a never-ending cycle of logon on, and logon again. Never gets to an actual working OS. And by now, I'm ready for this adventure to end.

A pain. I spent time last night reading the first 20-odd Distrowatch reviews and looking into the support forum, and users swear by PCLOS. Consider setting up a USB and running a Live session. That should tell you whether or not PCLOS is worth a second look when the Precision is available again.

WetGeek

tomscharbach users swear by PCLOS.

I don't doubt that it works fine in some circumstances, on some hardware. How is it going with your 11-3120?

tomscharbach

WetGeek How is it going with your 11-3120?

I love that little computer. It is from the Latitude line developed for the education market, built kid-tough, solid as a rock and with a good non-touch non-reflective display. The retail price reflects the build quality (my 11-3120 retails for $669 but I got it Dell-refurbished much, much cheaper), noticably better built than the Inspiron 11-3180. The specs are good -- 8 GB RAM, 128 GB NVMe SSD, 53 WHr battery -- and the Pentium N6000 is more than adequate to run Windows 11. I don't sit and think "come on, already" like I used to do running Windows 10 on the 11-3180. The 11-3120 is obviously not for gaming or serious multitasking, but I have had 10-12 tabs open in Edge without a noticeable effect on performance.

WetGeek

tomscharbach I love that little computer. It is from the Latitude line developed for the education market

When you wrote that it was time to "move on," I thought you were referring to installing PCLinuxOS on it in place of Windows. That's what I was wondering about.

Axios

You can just about pick your poison with all the community builds to.
I just dont do grub anymore.
https://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/os/Linux/distr/pclinuxos/pclinuxos/live-cd/community/

tomscharbach

Axios I just dont do grub anymore.

Me neither. I've banged my head into the "Grub, Grub Uber Alles" wall too many times. I have come to really appreciate the fact that Solus doesn't use Grub.

tomscharbach

WetGeek When you wrote that it was time to "move on," I thought you were referring to installing PCLinuxOS on it in place of Windows. That's what I was wondering about.

Nah. I'll use the 11-3120 for the railroad and general light work, diverting the 11-3180 to become "Mikey", the computer used to test distros that make it through Live testing. I'm about to do another Live test on PCLOS ("normal" build this time rather than Darkstar) and see whether I want to install it on the 11-3180.

I don't know whether I'll keep Windows 11 or install Solus Plasma on the 11-3120. Up in the air right now, because there are some advantages to using Windows 11 at the railroad.

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